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DUKE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 Treasure %gom 
 
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Advert ifement. 
 
 Thefe three Volumes, with the 
 Tatlers, Spectators, Guardians, 
 and Freeholder, compleat Mr, 
 Addison's Works in Twelves. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS 
 
 W O R K S 
 
 :• 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ • IN 
 % 4- 
 
 rse ancr Pro 
 
 Of the Late Right Honourable 
 
 JOSEPH ADDISON, Efq; 
 
 In Three Volumes, 
 
 Confiftlng of fuch as were never before Printed 
 in 'Twelves, 
 
 With fome Account of the Life and 
 Wr i t i n g s of the A u t h o r, 
 
 By Mr. Tickell. 
 
 DUBLIN: 
 
 Printed by R. Reilly, on Cork-Hill, 
 
 For George Risk, George Ewi 
 andW uliamSmith, Bookfellers in Dame- 
 Street, Mdcc xxxv. 
 
 i 
 
MISCELLANEOUS 
 
 WORKS, 
 
 I N 
 
 Verse and Prose, 
 
 Of the Late Right Honourable 
 
 JOSEPH ADDISO TV, Efq; 
 
 With fome Account of the Life and 
 
 W R I T I N G S Of the A U T H O R, 
 
 By Mr. Tickell, 
 V o l u m e the F I R ST. 
 
 DUBLIN: 
 
 Printed by R. R e i l l y, on Cork-Hill^ 
 For GeorgeRisk, George Ewing, and 
 William Smith, Bookfellers in Damg- 
 Street, Mdcc xxxv. 
 

 To the Right Honourable, 
 
 JAMES CRJGGS, Efq; 
 
 His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State. 
 
 BEAR SIR,. 
 
 [Cannot wifli that any of 
 
 NK^S^^I lonprer than the Memo- 
 
 IB 
 
 ry of our Friend/hip, 
 
 and therefore I thus publickly 
 bequeathe them to You, in return 
 for the many valuable inftances 
 of Your Affe&ion. 
 
 A 4 That 
 
 b( 336 9 
 
["J 
 
 That they may come to You 
 with as little Difdvantage as poili- 
 ble, I have left the care of them to 
 one, whom, by the experience of 
 fome Years, I know well qualified 
 to anfwer my Intentions. He has 
 already the Honour and Happi- 
 nefs of being under Your Protec- 
 tion ; and, as he will very much 
 Hand in Need of it, I cannot 
 wifh him better, than that he 
 may continue to deferve the Fa- 
 vour and Countenance of fuch a 
 Patron. 
 
 I have no Time to lay out in 
 forming fuch Compliments, as 
 would but ill fuit that familiarity 
 
 between 
 
[ iii ] 
 
 between us, which was once my 
 greateft: Pleafure, and will be my 
 greateft Honour hereafter, 
 ftead of them, accept of my 
 hearty Wifhes, that the great Re- 
 putation, You have acquired fo 
 early, may increafe more and 
 more: And that you may long 
 ferveYour Country with thofe ex- 
 cellent Talents and unblemished 
 Integrity, which have fo power- 
 fully recommended You to the 
 moft gracious and amiable Mo- 
 narch that ever filled a Throne. 
 May the Franknefs and Generofi- 
 ty of Your Spii it continue to fof- 
 ten and fubdue Your Enemies^ 
 and gain You many Friends,, if 
 poffible, as fincere as Your felf. 
 A 5 When 
 
[iv] 
 
 ih You have found fuch, they 
 anot wifh you more true Hap- 
 :nefs than I, who am, with the 
 ^reateft Zeal, 
 
 D E a r S I R r 
 
 Tour moft Entirely Affectionate Friend^ 
 
 and Faithful Obedient Servant. 
 
 JUNE 4, 
 1719. 
 
 
 J. Addison. 
 
THE 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 JOSEPH AD DI S O N, the Ton of Lancelot 
 Addifon, D. D. and of Jane the daughter of 
 Nathaniel Gulfton, D. D. and filler of Dr. 
 William Guljlon Bifhop of Brijlol, was born at 
 Mil/Ion near Ambrofebury, in the county of IVilts, 
 in the year 1671. His father, who was of the 
 county of JVeftmorland, and educated at Queens 
 College in Oxford, pafied many years in his travels 
 through Europe and Africa , where he joined, to 
 the uncommon and excellent talents of nature, a 
 great knowledge of letters and things; of which 
 ieveral books published by him are ample telli- 
 monies. He was Rector of Milfton above menti- 
 oned, when Mr. Addifon- his eldeft fon was born : 
 and afterwards became Arch-deacon of Coventry^ 
 and Dean of Litchfield. 
 
 Mr. Addifon received his firft education at the 
 Chartreux, from whence he was removed very 
 early to Queen's College in Oxford. He had been 
 there about two years, when the accidental fight 
 of a paper of his verfes, in the hands of Dr. Lan- 
 cajler y then Dean of that houfe, occafioned His 
 being elected into Magdalen College. He employ 'd 
 his rirft years in the ilud.y of the old Greek and 
 
 Roman 
 
, The P REFAC E. 
 
 Ro?nan writers ; whofe language and manner he 
 caught at that time of Kfe, as ftrongly as other 
 young people gain a French accent, or a genteel 
 air. An early acquaintance with the claflics is 
 what may be called the good-breeding, of Poetry, as 
 it gives a certain gracefulnefs which never forfakes 
 a mind, that contract it in youth, but is feldom 
 or never hit by thofe, who would learn it too late. 
 He nrit diftinguifhed himfelf by his Latin compo- 
 sitions, publifhed in the Muftz Anglicana, and was 
 admired as one of the beft authors fince the Augujlan 
 age, in the two Univerfities, and thegreateft part of 
 Europe^ before he was talked of as a Poet in Town. 
 There is not perhaps any harder task than to tame 
 the natural wildnefs of wit, and to civilize the fancy. 
 The generality of our old Englijh Poets abound in 
 forced conceits, and affe&ed phrafes; and even 
 thofe, who arefaid to come the nearer!: to exaetnefs. 
 are but too often fond of unnatural beauties , 
 and aim at fomething better than perfection. It- 
 Mr. Addifons example and precepts be the occafion, 
 that there now begins to be a great demand for cor- 
 rec~lnefs, v/e may juftly attribute it to his being firffc 
 fafhioncd by the ancient models, and familiarifed to 
 propriety of thought, and chaftity of Stile. Our 
 country owes it to him, that the famous Monfieur 
 Boileau firft conceived an opinion of the Englijh 
 genius for Poetry, by perufing the prefent he made 
 him of the Muf<z Anglic an a. It has been current- 
 ly reported, that this famous French Poet, among 
 the civilities he {hewed Mr. Addifon on that occafi- 
 on, affirmed, that he would not have written againft 
 Perrault, had he before ken fuch excellent pieces 
 by a modern hand. Such a faying would have been 
 impertinent and unworthy Boileau, whofe difpute 
 «vith Perraidt turned chiefly upon fomc paflages rii 
 
 the 
 
the PREFACE. ffi 
 
 the ancients, which he refcued from the mif-inter- 
 pretations of his adverfary . Thetrue and natural com- 
 pliment made by him, was, that thofe books had 
 given him a very new Idea of the Englijh politenefs, 
 and that he did not queftionbut there were excellent 
 compofitions in the native language of a country, that 
 pofTefled the Roman genius in fo eminent a degree. 
 
 The firft Englijh performance made public by 
 him, is a fhort copy of verfes to Mr. Dry den ^ with 
 a view particularly to his tranflations. This was 
 ibon followed by a verfion of the fourth Georgic of 
 Virgil^ of which Mr. Dry den makes very honoura- 
 ble mention, in the poftfcript to his own tranflation 
 of all Virgil's wo^ks : wherein I have often won- 
 dered that he did not, at the fame time, acknow- 
 ledge his obligation to Mr. Addifon, for giving him 
 The Eflay upon the Georgics, prefixed to Mr. Dry- 
 dens tranflation. Left the honour of fo exquifite a 
 piece of criticifm mould hereafter be transferred to 
 a wrong author, I have taken care to inlert it in this 
 collection of his works. 
 
 Of fome other copies of verfes, printed in the 
 Mijcellanies, while he was young, the largeft is An 
 Account of the greatejl Englijh Poets ; in the clofe of 
 which he infinuates a defign he then had of going 
 into holy orders, to which he was ftrongly impor- 
 tuned by h-is father. His remarkable ferioufnefs 
 and modefty, which might have been urged as pow- 
 erful reafons for his choofing that life, proved the 
 chief obftacles to it. Thefe qualities, by which 
 the priefthood is fo much adorned, reprefented the 
 duties of it as too weighty for him ; and rendered 
 him ft ill the more worthy of that honour, which 
 they made him decline. It is happy that this very 
 circumftance has finceturn'd fo much to the advan- 
 tage of virtue and religion, in the caufeof which he 
 
 has 
 
iv the PREFACE. 
 
 has beftowed his labours the more fuccefsfully, as 
 they were his voluntary, not his neccflary employ- 
 ment. The world became infenfibly reconciled to 
 wifdom and goodnefs, when they faw them recom- 
 mended by him with at Icait as much fpirit and ele- 
 gance, as they had been ridiculed for half a century. 
 
 He was in his twenty eighth year, when his in- 
 clination to fee France and Italy was incouraged by 
 the great Lord Chancellor Somen, one of that kind of 
 patriots, who think it no wafte of the public treafure 
 to purchafe politenefs to theircountry. The Poem 
 upon one of King TFlHianis campaigns, addreft to 
 his Lordfhip, was received with great humanity, and 
 occafioned a melTage from him to the author to de- 
 fire his acquaintance. He foon after obtained, by 
 his intereft, a yearly penfion of three hundred 
 pounds from the Crown, to fupport him in his tra- 
 vels. If the uncommonnefs of a favour, and the 
 diftinftion of the perfon who confers it, enhaunce 
 its value : nothing could be more honourable to a 
 young man of learning, than fuch a bounty from fa- 
 eminent a patron. 
 
 How well Mr. Addljon anfwered the expectations 
 of my Lord Somen, cannot appear better, than from 
 the book of Travels he dedicated to his Lordihip at 
 his return. It is not hard to conceive, why that 
 performance was at firft but indifferently relilhed by 
 the bulk of readers; who expected an account, in a- 
 common way, of the cuftoms and policies of the 
 feveral governments in Italy, reflexions upon the ge- 
 nius of the people, a map of their provinces, or a 
 meafureof their buildings. How were they difap- 
 pointed, when, inftead of fuch particulars, they were 
 prefented only with a journal of poetical travels, with 
 remarks on the prefent picture of the country, com- 
 pared with the landJdps drawn by clalfcc authors, and 
 
 others 
 
fhePKEFACE. v 
 
 others the like unconcerning parts of knowledge f 
 One may eafily imagine a reader of plain fenfe, but 
 without a fine tafte, turning over thefe parts of the 
 volume, which make more than half of it, and won- 
 dering, how an author, who feems to have (o folid 
 an underftanding, when he treats of more weighty 
 fubjecls in the other pages, mould dwell upon fuch 
 trifles, and give up fo much room to matters of mecr 
 amufement. There are indeed but few men fo fond 
 of the ancients, as to be tranfported with every little 
 accident, which introduces to their intimate acquain- 
 tance. Perfons of that caft may here have the fa- 
 tisfacYion of feeing annotations upon an old Roman 
 poem, gathered from the hills and vallies where it 
 was written, The Tyber and the Po ferve to ex- 
 plain the verfes, that were made upon their banks ; 
 and the AJpes and Appenntnes are made commenta- 
 tors on thofe authors, to whom they were fubjects fo 
 many centuries ago.. Next to perfonal converfation 
 with the writers themfelves, this is the fureft way of 
 coming at their fenfe : a compendious and engaging 
 kind of criticifm, which_convinces at firft fight, and 
 (hews the vanity of conjectures, made by antiquaries 
 at a diftance. If the knowledge of polite literature 
 has its ufe, there is certainly a merit in illuftrating 
 the perfect models of it,, and the learned world will 
 think fome years of a man's life not mif-fpent in fo 
 elegant an employment. I {hall conclude what I 
 had to fay on this performance, by obferving, that 
 the fame of it increafed from year to year, and the 
 demand for copies wasfo urgent, that their price rofe 
 to four. or five times the original value, before it 
 came out in a fecond edition. 
 
 The Letter from Italy to my Lord Halifax may 
 be considered as the text upon which the book of 
 Travels is a large comment, and has been efteemed 
 
 by 
 
vi the PREFACE. 
 
 by thofe, who have a relifli for antiquity, as the 
 moft exquifite of his poetical performances. A tran- 
 flation of it by Signor Salvini, profeflbr of the 
 Greek tongue at Florence, is inferted in this edition, 
 not only on the account of its merit, but becaufe it 
 is the language of the country which is the fubje£t.of 
 this poem. 
 
 The materials for the Dialogues upon Medals, 
 now firft printed from a manufcript of the Author, 
 were collected in the native country of thofe Coins. 
 The book it felf was begun to be caft into form at 
 Vienna, as appears from a letter to Mr. Stepney, then 
 Minifter at that court, dated in November 1702. 
 
 Some time before the date of this letter, Mr. Ad- 
 difon had defigned to return to England, when he re- 
 ceived advice from his friends, that he was pitched 
 upon to attend the army under Prince Eugene, who 
 had juft begun the war in Italy, a3 Secretary from 
 His Majeity. But an account of the death of King 
 JVilUam, which he met with at Geneva, put an en'd 
 to that thought ; and as his hopes of advancement in 
 his own country were fallen with the credit of his 
 friends, who were out of power at the beginning of 
 Her late Majefty's reign, he had leifure to make the 
 tour of Germany in his way home. 
 
 He remained for fome time, after his return to 
 England, without any public employment^ which he 
 did not obtain 'till the year 1704, when the Duke 
 of Marlborough arrived at the higheft pitch of glo- 
 ry, by delivering all Europe from flavery, and fur- 
 nifhed Mr. Addifon with a fubjecl worthy of that 
 genius which appears in his Poem called The Cam- 
 paign. The Lord-Treafurer Godolphin, who was 
 "a fine judge of Poetry, had a fight of this work, 
 when it was only carried on as far as the applauded 
 fimile of the Angel } and approved the Poem > by be- 
 
 flowing 
 
The P R E F A C E. vii 
 
 flowing on the Author, in a few days after, the place 
 of Commiflioner of Appeals, vacant by the removal 
 of the famous Mr. Locke to the council of Trade. 
 
 His next advancement was to the place of Under- 
 fecretary, which he held under Sir Charles Hedges, 
 and the prefent Earl of Sunderland. The Opera of 
 Rofamond was written, while he pofTefTed that em- 
 ployment. What doubts foever have been raifed 
 about the merit of the mufick, which, as the Italian 
 tafte at. that time begun wholly to prevail, was thought 
 fufficiently inexcusable, becaufe it was the compofi- 
 tion of an Englijh-man ; the Poetry of this piece 
 has given as much pleafure in the clofet, as others 
 have afforded from the ftage, with all the afiiftance 
 of voices and inftruments. 
 
 The Comedy call'd the Tender Husband appear- 
 ed much about the fame time, to which Mr. Addi- 
 fon wrote the Prologue. Sir Richard Steele furprized 
 him with a very handfome dedication of this play, 
 and has fince acquainted the public, that he owed 
 Come of the moft taking fcenes of it to Mr. Addifon. 
 
 His next ftep in his fortune, was to the poll: of Se- 
 cretary under the late Marquefs of Wharton, who 
 was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland in the 
 year 1709. As I have propofed to touch but very 
 lightly on thofe parts of his life, which do not regard 
 him as an Author, I' {hall not enlarge upon the great 
 reputation he acquired by his turn to bufinefs, and 
 his unblemifhed integrity, in this and other em- 
 ployments. It mull not be omitted here that the 
 falary of the Keeper of the Records in Ireland was 
 confiderably raifed, and that poft beftowed upon him, 
 at this time, as a mark of the Queen's favour. He 
 w T as in that Kingdom, when he firft difcovered Sir 
 Richard Steele to be Author of the Tatler, by an 
 obfervation upon Virgil, which had been by him 
 
 com- 
 
viii Fix P REF AC E. 
 
 communicated to his friend. The a^'iftance^ he 
 occafionally gave him afterwards in the courfe of 
 the paper, did not a little contribute to advance its 
 reputation ; and, upon the change of the miniftry, 
 he found leifure to engage more constantly in that 
 work, which however was dropt at laft, as it had 
 been taken up, without his participation. 
 
 In the laft paper, which clofed thofe celebrated 
 performances, and in the preface to the laft volume, 
 Sir Richard Steele has given to Mr* Addijvn the ho- 
 nour of the moft applauded pieces in that collection. 
 But as that acknowledgment was delivered only in 
 general terms, without directing the public to the 
 feveral papers: Mr. Addifon, who was content with 
 the praife arifing from his own works, and too deli- 
 cate to take any part of that which belonged to- 
 others, afterwards thought fit to diftinguifh his wri- 
 tings in the Spefiatorsznd Guardians Jay fuch marks, 
 as might remove the leafc poftibility of miftake in 
 the moft undifcerning readers. It was neceflary 
 that his (hare in the Tatlers fhould be adjufted in a 
 complete collection of his works; for which reafon 
 Sir Richard Steele, in compliance with the requeft of 
 his deceafed friend, delivered to him by the editor, 
 was pleafedto mark with his own hand thofe Tatlers^ 
 which are inferted in this edition, and even to point 
 out feveral, in the writing of which they both were 
 concerned. 
 
 The plan of the Spec! a tor •, as far as it regards the 
 feigned perfon of the Author, and of the feveral 
 characters that compefe his club, was projected in 
 concert with Sir Richard Steele. And, becaufe 
 many paflages in the courfe of the work would 
 otherwife be obfeure, I have taken leave to infert 
 one fingle paper, written by Sir Richard Steele, 
 wherein thofe characters are drawn, which may ferve 
 
 as 
 
the PRE F AC E. ix 
 
 as a Dramatis Perfonce, or as fo many pictures for 
 an ornament and explication of the whole. As for 
 the diftinc'T. papers,, they were never or feldom mown 
 to each other by their refpective authors -, who fully 
 anfwered the promife they had made, and far out- 
 went the expectation they had raifed, of purfuing 
 their labour in the fame fpirit and ftrcngth, with 
 which it was begun. It would have been impoffible 
 for Mr. Addifon, who made little or no ufe of letters 
 fent in by the numerous correfpondents of the Specta- 
 tor, to have executed his large fhare of this task, in 
 fo exquifite a manner; if he had not ingrafted into 
 it many pieces, that had lain by him in little hints 
 and minutes, which he from time to time colecled, 
 and ranged in order, and moulded into the form in 
 which they now appear. Such are the eflays upon 
 Wit, the Pleafures of the Imagination, the Critique 
 upon Milton, and fome others, which I thought to 
 have connected in a continued Series in this edition, 
 though they were at firft publifhed with the inter- 
 ruption of writings on different fubjecls, But as 
 fuch a fcheme would have obliged me to cut off feve- 
 ral graceful introductions and circumftances, peculi- 
 arly adapted to the time and occafionof printing 
 them, I durft not purfue, that attempt. 
 
 The Tragedy of Cato appeared in publick in the 
 Year 17 13, when the greateft part of the laft Act 
 was added by the Author to the foregoing, which 
 lie had kept by him for many years. He took up a 
 defign of writing a play upon this fubjecl, when he 
 was very young at the Univerfity, and even attempt- 
 ed fomething in it there, . though not a line as it now 
 Hands. The work was performed by him in his 
 travels, and re-touched in England, without any 
 formed refolution of bringing it upon the ftage, 'till 
 his friends of the. firft quality and diftin&ion prevail- 
 ed 
 
x The PRE FACE. 
 
 cd with him to put the laft finifhingto it, at a time 
 when they thought the doctrine of Liberty very fea- 
 fonable. It is in every body's memory, with what 
 applaufe it was received by the public ; that thefirft 
 run of it laired for a month ; and then flopped, only 
 becaufe one of the performers became incapable of 
 acting a principal part. The Author received a 
 meflage, that the Queen would be pleafed to have it 
 dedicated to her : but as he had defigned that com- 
 pliment elfewhere, he found hi mfelf obliged by his 
 duty on the one fide, and his honour on the other, to 
 lend it into the world without any dedication. The 
 fame of this Tragedy foon fpread through Europe, 
 and it has not only been tranflated, but acted in moft 
 of the languages of Chrifcendom. The tranflation 
 of it into Italian, by Signor Sa faint, is very well 
 known; but I have not been able to learn, whether 
 that of Signor Valetta, a young Neapolitan noble- 
 man, has ever been made public. 
 
 If he had found time for the writing of another tra- 
 gedy, the deathof Socrates would have been the ftory. 
 And, however unpromifing that fubjeft may appear, 
 it would be prefumptuous to cenfure his choice, who 
 was fo famous for raifing the nobleft plants from the 
 moft barren foil. It ferves to fhew, that he thought 
 the whole labour of fuch a performance unworthy to 
 be thrown away upon thofe intrigues and adven- 
 tures, to which the Romantic tafte has confined mo- 
 dern Tragedy ; and, after the example of his prede- 
 ceflbrs in Greece, would have employed the Drama 
 to wear out of our minds every thing that is mean or 
 little ; to cherijh and cultivate that humanity which is 
 the ornament of our nature ', to /often infolenceto footh 
 afficlion, and fo fubdue our minds to the difpenfations 
 of Providence. * Upon 
 
 • Spectator, N°. 39. 
 
the PREFACE. xi 
 
 Upon the death of the late Queen, the Lords Ju- 
 ftices, in whom the administration was lodged, ap- 
 pointed him their Secretary. Soon after His Maje- 
 fty's arrival in Great Britain^ the Earl of Sunder- 
 land being conftituted Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland^ 
 Mr. Addijhn became a fecond time Secretary for the 
 affairs of that Kingdom ; and was made one of the 
 Lords- Commiffioners of Trade, a little after his 
 Lordfhip refigned the poft of Lord Lieutenant. 
 
 The paper, called the Freeholder^ was undertaken 
 at the time, when the rebellion broke out in Scotland. 
 The only works he left behind him for the pub- 
 lic, are the Dialogues, upon Medals ', and the Trea- 
 tife upon the Chrijlian Religion. Some account has 
 been already given of the former, to which nothing 
 is now .to be added, except that a great part of the 
 Latin quotations were rendered into Englijh^ in a 
 very hafty manner, by the Editor, and one of his 
 friends, who had the good-nature to afTift him, du- 
 ring his avocations of bufinefs. It was thought 
 better to add thefe tranflations, fuch as they are, than 
 to let the work come out unintelligible to thofewho 
 do not pofTefs the learned languages. 
 
 The fc he me for the Treatifeupon the Chrijlian 
 Religion was formed by the Author, about the end 
 of the late Queen's reign ; at which time he careful- 
 ly perufed the ancient writings, which furnifh the 
 materials for it. His continual employment in bu- 
 finefs prevented him from executing it, 'till he re- 
 figned his office of Secretary of State ; and his death 
 put a period to it, when he had imperfectly performed 
 only one half of the defign ; he having propofed, as 
 appears from the introduction, to add the Jewijb to 
 the Heathen teftimonies, for the truth of the Chri- 
 ftian hiftory. He was more afliduous, than his 
 •health would well allow, in the purfuitof this work, 
 
 and 
 
xii tte P R E F A C E. 
 
 and had long determined to dedicate his Poetry alfo, 
 for the future, wholly to religious fubjedls. 
 
 Soon after he was, from being one of the Lords- 
 Commiflioners of Trade, advanced to the poft of Se- 
 cretary of State, he found his health impaired by 
 the return of that afthmatic indifpofition, which con- 
 tinued often to afflict him during his exercife of that 
 employment, and at laft obliged him to beg His Ma- 
 jefty's leave to refign. His freedom from the anxiety 
 of bufinefs fo far re-eftablifhed his health, that his 
 friends began to hope he might laft for many years ; 
 but (whether it were from a life too fedentary, or 
 from his natural conftitution, in which was one 
 circumftance very remarkable, that, from his cradle, 
 he never had a regular pulfe) a long and painful re- 
 lapfeinto anafthma and dropfie deprived the world 
 of thisgreat man, on the 17th of June, 1719. He 
 left behind him only one Daughter, by the Coun- 
 tefs of Warwick^ to whom he was married in the 
 year 17 16. 
 
 Not many days before his death, he gave me direc- 
 tions to collect his writings, and at the fame time 
 committed to my care the Letter addreft to Mr. 
 Craggs (his fuccefFor as Secretary of State) wherein 
 he bequeaths them to him, as a token of friendfhip. 
 Such a teftimony, from thefirft man of our age, in 
 fuch a point of time, will be perhaps as great and 
 lading an honour to that gentleman, as any even he 
 could acquire to himfelf ; and yet is no more than 
 was due from an affection, that juftly increafed to- 
 wards him, through the intimacy of feveral years. 
 I cannot, without the utmoft tendernefs, Tefleclon 
 the kind concern, with which Mr. Addifonlzfc me as 
 a fort of incumbrance upon this valuable legacy. Nor 
 muft I deny my felf the honour to acknowlege, that 
 the goodnefs of that great man to one, like many other 
 
 of 
 
The PREFACE. xiii 
 
 of his amiable qualities, feemed not fo much to be re- 
 newed as continued in his fucceflbr ; who made me 
 an example, that nothing could be indifferent to 
 him, which came recommended by Mr. Addifon. 
 
 Could any circumftance be more fevere to mc, 
 while I was executing thefe laft commands of the 
 Author, than to fee the Perfon, to whom his works 
 were prefented, cut off in the flower of his age, and 
 carried from the high office wherein he had fucceed- 
 ed Mr. Addifon, to be laid next him in the fame 
 grave! I might dwell upon fuch thoughts, as natu- 
 rally rife from thefe minute refemblances in the for- 
 tune of two perfons, whofe names probably will be 
 feldom mentioned afunder, while either our language 
 or ftory fubfift, were I not afraid of making this 
 preface too tedious ; efpecially fince I fhall want all 
 the patience of the reader, for having enlarged it 
 with the following verfes. 
 
 • To the Right Honourable, the 
 
 E A R L of WAR JV I CK, &c 
 
 IF, dumb too long, the drooping Mufe hath flay d? 
 And left her debt to Addison unpaid -, 
 Blame not her ftlence, Warwick, but bemoan^ 
 And judge, oh judge, my bofom by your own, 
 IVhat mourner ever felt poetic fires ! 
 Slow co?nes the verfe, that real Woe infpires : 
 Grief unaffecled fuits but ill with art, 
 Or flowing numbers with a bleeding heart. 
 Can 1 forget the difmal night, that gave 
 My foul 's be ft part for ever to the grave / 
 How ft lent did his old companions tread, 
 By mid-night lamp, the manfions of the dead, 
 
 Tbrf 
 
xiv The PRE FA C £, 
 
 Thro' breathing flatues, then unheeded things, 
 
 Thro' rowes of warriors, and thro'' walks of kings ! 
 
 What awe did the flow folemn knell infpire ', 
 
 The pealing organ, and the pau frag choir ; 
 
 The duties by the lawn-rob' d prelate pay d; 
 
 And the laji words, that dujl to dujl convey dl 
 
 While Jpeechlefs o'er thy clofing grave we bend, 
 
 Accept thefe Tears, thou dear departed friend, 
 
 Oh gone for ever, take this long adieu ; 
 
 Andfcep in peace, next thy lov'd Montagu ! 
 
 Tojlrow jrejh laurels let the task be mine, 
 
 A frequent pilgrim, at thy f acred Jhrine, 
 
 Mine with true fighs thy abfence to bemoan, 
 
 And grave with faithful epitaphs thyjlone. 
 
 If e'er from me thy lov'd memorial part, 
 
 May Jbame afflicl this alienated heart ; 
 
 Of thee forgetful if I form a fong, 
 
 My lyre be broken, and uniuri d my tongice, 
 
 My griefs be doubled, from thy image free, 
 
 And mirth a torment, unchajlifed by thee. 
 
 Oft, let me range the gloomy Ifies alone 
 (Sad luxury ! to vulgar minds unknown) 
 Along the walls where fpeaking marbles [how 
 What worthies form the hallow' 'd mould below : 
 Proud names, who once the reins of empire held ; 
 In arms vjho triumph' d\ or in arts excell'd; , 
 Chiefs, grac' d with fears, and prodigal of blcod; 
 Stern patriots, who for facred freedom flood ; 
 Jujl men, by whom impartial laws were given ; 
 And faints, who taught, and led the way to heaven* 
 Ne'er to thefe chambers, where the mighty rejl, 
 Since their foundation, came a nobler gueft, 
 Nor e'er was to the bowers of blifs convey d 
 A fairer fpirit, or more welcome /hade. 
 
 In what new region, to the jujl affign d, 
 IVhat new employments pleafe th' unbody'd mind? 
 
 A 
 
The P RE FACE. xv 
 
 J winged Virtue, through th 9 ethereal sky , 
 
 From world to world unwearfd does he fly ? 
 
 Or curious trace the long laborious maze 
 
 Of heaven 9 s decrees, where wondering angels gaze ? 
 
 Does he delight to hear boldferaphs tell 
 
 How Michael battel 1 'd, and the dragon fell? 
 
 Or, mixt tvith milder Cherubim, to glow 
 
 In hymns of love, not ill effayd below ? 
 
 Or do'fl thou warn poor mortals left behind* 
 
 A task wellfuited to thy gentle mind ? 
 
 Oh, If fometimes thy fpotlcfs form defend, 
 
 To me thy aid, thou guardian genius, lend f 
 
 JVJoen rage mifguides me, or when fear alarms 9 
 
 When pain diflreffes, or when pleafure charms* 
 
 In ft lent whifperings purer thoughts impart, 
 
 And turn from ill a frail and feeble heart ; 
 
 Lead through the paths thy virtue trode before, 
 
 'Till blifs fhall join, nor death can part us inore. 
 
 That aivful form (which, fo ye heavens decree* 
 Muflfill be lovd and fill deplor 9 d by me) 
 In ?iight ly vifions fcldom fails to rife, 
 Or, rouzd by fancy, meets ?ny waking eyes. 
 If bvfinefs calls, or crowded courts invite, 
 Th 9 unblemijh 9 d flat efman fe ems toflrike my fight > 
 If in the fl age I feek to footh my care, 
 I meet his foul, which breaths in Gato there ; 
 
 If pen five to the rural Jhades I rove, 
 His Jimp e overtakes me in the lonely grove : 
 9 Tivas there ofjujl and good he reafen djlrong, 
 Clear d feme great truth, or rais 'dfome ferious fong 
 There patient /how 9 d us the wife courfe to fleer, 
 A candid cenfor, and a friend fevere ; 
 TJiere taught us bow to live ; and (oh ! too high 
 The price for knowledge) taught us how to die. 
 
 Thou hill, whofe brow the antique flruclures grace, 
 Rear d by bold chiefs of Warwick's noble race, 
 
 V o L. I. B jn y , 
 
xvi . fhe PREFACE. 
 
 Why, once fo lovd, wheneer thy boiver appear*, 
 O'er my dim eye-balls glance thefudden tears f 
 Howfweet were once thy pro/peels frejh and fair, 
 Thy flcping walks, and unpolluted air / 
 Hoiv fweci the glooms beneath thy aged trees ; 
 Thy noon- tide fiadoiv, and thy evening breeze! 
 His image thy for/a ken bowers reft ore ; 
 Thy walks and airy profpecls charm no more, 
 No more the fummer in thy glooms allay' d, 
 Thy evening breezes, and thy noon-day fiade. 
 
 From other ills, however fortune froivn'd, 
 Some refuge in the mufe's art I found ; 
 Reluclant now I touch the trembling firing, 
 Bereft of him, who taught me how to fing, 
 And thefe fad accents, murmur' d o'er his urn, 
 Betray that ab fence, they atte?npt to mourn. 
 Oh ! mufl I then (nowfrejh my bofom bleeds, 
 And C R A G G s in death f<? Addison fucceeds) 
 The verfe, begun to one lofl friend, prolong, 
 And weep a fecond in th 9 unfinijV d feng ! 
 
 Thefe works divine, which on his death-bed laid 
 To thee, O Craggs, th' expiring Sage convey' d, 
 Great, but ill-omen' 'd monument of fame, 
 Nor befurviv'd to give, nor thou to claim. 
 Swift after him thy focial fpirit flies, 
 Andclofe to his, hozv foon ! thy coffin lies. 
 Bleft pair ! whofe union future bards JJjall tell 
 In future tongues : each other s boafl ! farewel. 
 Farewell vSho?n join' d in fame, in friend/hip trfd, 
 No chance could fever, nor the grave divide. 
 
 Tho. Tickell. 
 
POEMS 
 
 O N 
 
 Several Occasions. 
 
 n^r.DRYDEN. 
 
 HO W long, great poet, mall thy facred lays 
 Provoke our wonder, and tranfcend our praife ? 
 Can neither injuries of time, or age, 
 Damp thy poetick heat, and quench thy rage ? 
 Not fo thy Ovid in his exile wrote, 
 Grief chill'd his Breaft, and check'd his rifing thought; 
 Penfive and fad, his drooping mule betrays 
 The Roman genius in its laft decays. 
 
 Prevailing Warmth has frill thy mind poffefr, 
 And fecond youth is kindled in thy breaft ; 
 Thou mak'ft the beauties of the Romans known, 
 And England boafts of riches not her own > 
 
 B a Thy 
 
2 Poems on fever al Occasions. 
 
 Thy lines have heighten'd Virgifs majefty, 
 And Horace wonders at himfelf in thee. 
 Thou teacheft Perjias to inform our ifle 
 In fmoother Numbers, and a clearer ftyle»; 
 And Juvenal, inftrufted in thy page, 
 Edges his Satyr, and improves his Rage. 
 Thy copy cafts a fairer light on all, 
 And Hill out-fliines the bright original. 
 
 Now Of id boafts th' advantage of thy fong, 
 And tells his flory in the Britijh tongue ; 
 Thy charming verfe, and fair translations, (how ; 
 How thy own laurel firft began to grow ; 
 How wild Lycao7i chang'd by angry gods, 
 And frighted at himfelf, ran howling through the Woods. 
 
 O mayft thou flill the noble tafk prolong, 
 Nor age, nor ficknefs interrupt thy fong : 
 Then may we wondering read, how human limbs 
 Have water'd kingdoms, and diffolv'd in ftreams ; 
 Of thofe rich fruits that on the fertile mould 
 Turn'd yellow by degrees, and ripen'd into gold : 
 How fome in feathers, or a ragged Hide, 
 Have liv"d a fecond life, and different natures try'd. 
 Then will thy Ovid, thus transform'd, reveal 
 A nobler change than he himfelf can tell. 
 
 Magd. Coll. Oxon, 
 June 2. 1693. 
 
 Vie Author 1 s dge 22. 
 
#######$«►#.•<»#*#$###### 
 
 POEM 
 
 T O H I S 
 
 MAJESTY 
 
 Prefented to the Lord-Keeper. 
 
 ##*<8>######.-###*##$##®® 
 
 AT/ag William. Printed in the Year i 695 . !T£<? J5*> 
 /£wV ^, 24. 
 
 &4fe 
 
 B3 
 

Poems on feveral Occasions. 5 
 
 To the Right Honourable 
 
 Sir John SOME R S, 
 
 Lord-Keeper of the Great Seal. 
 
 IF yet your thoughts are loofefrom ftate affairs, 
 Nor feel the burden of a kingdom's cares, 
 If yet your time and anions are your own, 
 Receive the prefent of a mufc unknown: 
 A mu/e that in advent* rous ?iumbers ftngs 
 The rout of armies, and the fall oj kings, 
 Britain advancd, and Europe'* peace rcftord, 
 isomers' Counfels, and by N a s s a v "s fibord. 
 
 To you, ?ny Lord, thefe daring thoughts belong 
 Who help' d to raife thefubjeel of my fong ; 
 To you the Hero of my verje reveals 
 His great diftgns, to you in council tells 
 His inmoft thoughts, determining the doom 
 Of towns unftormd, and battels yet to come. 
 And well coii d you, inyour immortal Jl rains, 
 Defcribe his conduct, and reward his pains : 
 But fine e theftate has allyour cares engraft, 
 And poetry in higher thoughts is loft, 
 Attend to what a lefjer Mu/e indites, 
 Pardon her faults, and countenance her fights. 
 
 On you, my Lord, with anxious fear I wait, 
 And from your judgment muft expect my fate, 
 Who, free from vulgar paffions, are above 
 "Degrading envy, or mi (guided love ; 
 If you, vjell-pleas'd.ftiallfmile upon my lays, 
 Secure of fame, my voice Til boldly raife, 
 For next to what you write, is what you praife. 
 
 B 4 TO 
 
 \ 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 TO THE 
 
 KING 
 
 WHEN now the bufmefs of the field is o'er, 
 The trumpets fle;p, and cannons ceafe to roar, 
 Wh:n ev'rydi final echo is decayM, 
 And all the thunder of the battel laid ;. 
 
 id, aufpiciQUS Prince, and let the mufe 
 In humble accents milder thoughts infufe. 
 
 Others, in bold prophetick numbers skill'd, 
 Set thee in arms, and led thee to the field ; 
 My mufe expecting on the Brit>fh ftrand 
 Waits thy return, and welcomes thee to land : 
 She oft has feen thee prefling on the foe, 
 When Europe was concerned in ev'ry blow; 
 But duril not in Heroick flrains rejoice ; 
 The trumpets, drums, and cannons drownM her voice : 
 She faw the Boyne run thick with human gore, 
 And floating corps lye beating on the more: 
 She faw thee climb the banks, but try'd in vain 
 To trace her Hero through the dufly plain, 
 When through the thick enibattePd lines he broke, 
 Now plungM ainidfl: the foes, now loft in clouds of fmoke. 
 
 O that fome Mufe, renown'd for lofty verfe, 
 In daring numbers woud thy toils rehearfe ! 
 Draw thee belov'd in peace, and fear'd in wars, 
 Inur'd to noon-day fweats, and mid-night cares! 
 But ftill the God-like man, by fome hard fate, 
 Receives the glory of his toils too late ; 
 
 Too 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions.' 7 
 
 Too late the verfe the mighty aft fucceeds, 
 One age the hero, one the poet breeds. 
 
 A thoufand years in full fucceffion ran, 
 Ere Virgil rais'd his voice and fung the man, 
 Who, driv'n by ftrefs of fate, fuch dangers bore 
 On ftormy feas, and a difaftrous more, 
 Before he fettled in the promis'd earth, 
 And gave the empire of the world its birth. 
 
 troy long had found the Grecians bold and fierce, 
 Ere Homer mufter'd up their troops in verfe ; 
 Long had Achilles quell'd the Trojans luft, 
 And laid the labour of the Gods in duft, 
 Before the tow'ring mufe began her flight, 
 And drew the hero raging in the fight, 
 Engag'd in tented fields, and rolling floods, 
 Or flaught'ring mortals, or a match for Gods. 
 
 And here, perhaps, by fate's unerring doom, 
 Some mighty bard lies hid in years to come, 
 That (hall in WILLIAM* God-like arts engage, 
 And with his battels, warm a future age. 
 Hibernian fields fhall here thy conquefts fhow, 
 And Boyne be fung, when it has ceas'd to flow ; 
 Here Gallic labours fhall advance thy fame, 
 And here Seneffe (hall wear another name. 
 Our late pofterity, with fecret dread, 
 Shall view thy battels, and with pleafure read 
 How, in the bloody field, too-near advanc'd, 
 The guiltlefs bullet on thy moulder glanc'd. 
 
 The race ofNASSAUS was by heav'n defign'd 
 To curb the proud oppreflbrs of mankind, 
 To bind the tyrants of the earth with laws, 
 And fight in ev'ry injur'd nation's caufe, 
 
 B 5 The 
 
8 Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 The world's great patriots ; they for juftice call, 
 
 And as they favour, kingdoms rife or fall. 
 
 Our Britijh youth, unus'd to rough alarms, 
 
 Carelefs of fame, and negligent of arms, 
 
 Had long forgot to meditate the foe, 
 
 And heard unwarm'd the martial trumpet blow; 
 
 But now, infpir'd by thee, with frefh delight, 
 
 Their fwords they brandifh, and require the fight, 
 
 Renew their ancient conquefts on the main, 
 
 And act their father's triumphs o'er again; 
 
 Fir'd, when they hear how Agincourt was ftrow'd 
 
 With Gallic corps, and CreJJt fwam in blood, 
 
 With eager warmth they fight, ambitious all 
 
 Who firft mail florin the breach, or mount the wall. 
 
 In vain the thronging enemy by force 
 
 Would clear the ramparts, and repel their courfe ; 
 
 They break through all, for Wl L L I A M leads the way, 
 
 Where fires rage moft, and loudeft engines piay. 
 
 Namure's late terrours and deftruttion (how, 
 
 What W1L L I AM, warm'd withjuft revenge, can do: 
 
 Where once a thoufand turrets rais'd on high 
 
 Their gilded fpires, and glitter'd in the sky, 
 
 And undiftinguinYd heap of dull: is found, 
 
 And all the pile lies fmoaking on the ground. 
 
 His toils for no ignoble ends defign'd, 
 Promote the common welfare of mankind ; 
 No wild ambition moves, but Europe's fear?, 
 The cries of orplians, and the widow's tears ; 
 Oppreft religion gives the firft alarms, 
 And injar'd Juflice fets him in his arms ; 
 His conquefts freedom to the world afford, 
 And nations blefs the labours of his fword. 
 
 Thus when the forming mufe wou'd copy forth 
 A perfect pattern of heroick worth, 
 
 She 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 She fets a man triumphant in the field, 
 O'er giants cloven down, and monfters kill'd, 
 Reeking in blood, and fmeer'd with duft and fweat, 
 Whilfl angry gods confpire to make him great. 
 
 Thy navy rides on feas before unpreft, 
 And ftrikes a terror through the haughty Eajli 
 Algiers and Tunis from their fultry fhoar 
 With horrour hear the Briti/b engines roar, 
 Fain from the neighb'ring dangers wou'd they run, 
 And wifh themfelves flill nearer to the fun. 
 The Gallic fhips are in their Ports coniin'd, 
 Deny'd the common ufe of fea and wind, 
 Nor dare again the Briti/h ftrength engage ; 
 Still they remember that deftruclive rage, 
 Which lately made their trembling holt retire, 
 Stunn'd with the noife, and wrapt in fmoke and fire ; 
 The waves with wide unnumber'd wrecks were ftrow'd, 
 And planks, and arms, and men, promifcuous flow'd. 
 
 Spain 's numerous fleet that periflit on our coaft, 
 Cou'd fcarce a longer line of battel boaft, 
 The winds cou'd hardly drive 'em to their fate, 
 And all the ocean labour'd with the weight* 
 
 Where-e'er the waves in reftlefs errors rowle, 
 The Sea lies open now to either pole : 
 Now may we fafely ufe the Northern gales, 
 And in the Polar Circle fpread our fails ; 
 Or deep in Southern climes, fecure from wars, 
 New Lands explore, and fail by other ftars ; 
 Fetch UncontrolFd each labour of the fun, 
 And make the product of the world our own. 
 
 At length, proud prince, ambitious Lewis, ceafe 
 To plague mankind, and trouble Europe's peace y 
 
 Think 
 
io Poems on- fever al Occasions, 
 
 Think on the Struftures which thy pride has rafe'd, 
 
 On Towns unpeopled, and on fields laid wafte ; 
 
 Think. on the heaps of corps, and ftreams of blood ; 
 
 On every guilty plain, and purple flood, 
 
 Thy arms have made, and ceafe an impious war, 
 
 Nor wafte the lives entrufted to thy care. 
 
 Or if no milder thought can calm thy mind, 
 
 Behold the great avenger of mankind, 
 
 See mighty NASS A U through the battel ride, 
 
 And fee thy fubjecls gafping by his fide: 
 
 Fain wou'd the pious prince refufe th' alarm, 
 
 Fain wou'd he check the Fury of his arm ; 
 
 But when thy cruelties his thoughts engage, 
 
 The hero kindles with becoming rage, 
 
 Then countries ftoln, and captives unreftor'd, 
 
 Give itrength to every blow, and edge his fword. 
 
 Uehold with what refiftlefs force he falls 
 
 On towns befieg'd, and thunders at thy walls ! 
 
 Afk Hllcroy, for Villeroy beheld 
 
 The town furrender'd and the treaty feal'd ; 
 
 With what amazing ftrength the forts were won, 
 
 Whilfl the whole pow'r of France flood looking on. 
 
 Eut flop not here : behold where Berkley flands, 
 And executes his injur'd King's commands; 
 Around thy coaft his burfting Bombs he pours 
 On flaming cittadels, and falling tow'rs ; 
 With hizzing ftreams of fire the air they ftreak, 
 And hurl deftru&ion round 'em where they break ; 
 The fkies with long afcending flames are bright, 
 And all the fea reflects a quivering light. 
 
 Thus ALtna, when in fierce Eruptions broke, 
 Fills Heav'n with afhes, and the earth with fmoke ; 
 Here crags of broken rocks are twirl'd on high, 
 Here molten Hones and fcattei'u cinders fly : 
 
 Its 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. h 
 
 Its fury reaches the remoter! coait, 
 And ftrows the Afiatick fhore with dull. 
 
 Now does the failor from the neighbouring main 
 Look after Gallic towns and forts in vain ; 
 No more his wonted marks he candefcry, 
 But fees a long unmeafur'd ruine lie ; 
 Whilit, pointing to the naked ccaft, he mows 
 His wond'ring mates where towns and fteeples rofe, 
 Where crowded citizens he lately view'd, 
 And fingles out the place where once St. Makes flood. 
 
 Here RuJ/ePs.^iom mould my mufe require; 
 And wou'd my ftrength but fecond my defire, 
 I'd all his boundlefs bravery rehearfe, 
 And draw his cannons thund'ring in my verfe; 
 High on the deck fhou'd the great leader iland, 
 Wrath in his look, and lightning in his hand ; 
 Like Homers Heclar when he flung his fire 
 Amidfl a thoufand mips, and made all Greece retire. 
 
 But who can run the Britifb triumphs o'er, 
 And count the Flames difperft on ev'ry more ? 
 Who can defcribe the fcatter'd victory, 
 And draw the reader on from fea to fea ? 
 Elfe who coudOrmcmtTs- God-like ads refufe, 
 Ormond the theme of ev'ry Oxford mufe ? 
 Fain wou'd I here his mighty worth proclaim, 
 Attend him in the noble chafe of fame, 
 Through all the noife and hurry of the fight, 
 Obferve each blow, and keep him hull in fight. 
 Oh, did our Britijh Peers thus court renown, 
 And grace the coats their great fore-fathers won ! 
 Our arms wou'd then triumphantly advance, 
 Nor Henry be the laft that ccno^uer'd Franec, 
 
 What 
 
12 Poems on fever al Occasions, 
 
 What might not England hope, if fuch abroad 
 
 Purchas'd their country's honour with their blood : 
 
 When fuch, detain'd at home, fupport our flate 
 
 In W I L L I A Ms Head, and bear a kingdom's weight, 
 
 The fchemes of Gallic policy o'er-throw, 
 
 And blaft the counfels of the common foe ; 
 
 Direft our armies and diflribute right, 
 
 And render our M A R I A's lofs more light. 
 
 But flop, my mufe, th' ungrateful found forbear, 
 M A R I A*s name Hill wounds each Britijh ear : 
 Each Britijh heart MARIA ftill does wound, 
 And tears burft out unbidden at the found ; 
 MARIA ftill our rifing mirth deflroys, 
 Darkens our triumphs, and forbids our joys. 
 
 But fee, at length, the Britijh mips appear! 
 Our NASSAU comes ! and as his fleet draws near, 
 The rifing malls advance, the fails grow white, 
 And all his pompous navy floats in fight. 
 Come, mighty prince, defir'd of Britain, come ! 
 May HeavVs propitious gales attend thee home ! 
 Come, and let longing crowds behold that look, 
 Which fuch confufion and amazement ftrook 
 Through Gallic hofts : but, oh ! let us dcfcry 
 Mirth in thy brow, and pleafure in thy eye ; 
 Let nothing dreadful in thy face be found, 
 But for a-while forget the trumpet's found ; 
 Well-pleas'd, thy people's loyalty approve, 
 Accept their duty, and enjoy their love. 
 For as when lately mov'd with fierce delight, 
 You plung'd amidft the tumult of the fight, 
 Whole heaps of death encompafs'd you around, 
 And fleeds o'er-turn'd lay foaming on the ground : 
 So crown'd with laurels now, wliere-c'er you go, 
 Around you blooming joys, and peaceful bleifings flow. 
 
 A Tran- 
 
I 
 
 Poems on feveral Occasions. 13 
 
 A Tranflation of all 
 
 Virgil's Fourth Georgick, 
 
 Except the Story of Akistjevs. 
 
 ET H E R I A L fweets mall next my mufe engage, 
 And this, Mec&nas, claims your patronage. 
 Of little creatures wond'rous atts I treat, 
 The ranks and mighty leaders of their itate, 
 Their laws, employments, and their wars relate, 
 A trifling theme provokes my humble lays, 
 Trifling die theme, not fo the poet's praife, 
 If great Apollo and the tuneful nine 
 Join in the piece to make the work divine. 
 
 Firfl, for your bees a proper ftation find, 
 That's fenc'd about, and ihelter'd from the wind ; 
 For winds divert them in their flight, and drive 
 The fwarni5, when loaden homeward, from their hive. 
 Nor fheep, nor goats, mutt pafcure near their ftores, 
 To trample under foot the fpringing flowers ; 
 Nor frifking heifers bound about the place, 
 To fpurn the dew-drops off, and bruife die rifing grail : 
 Nor mull the lizard's painted brood appear, 
 N or wood-pecks, nor the fwallow harbour near. 
 They wafte the fwarms, and as they fly along 
 Convey the tender moriels to their young. 
 
 Let purling ftreams, and fountains edg'd Wick mofs, 
 And mallow rills run trickling through the grafi ; 
 Let branching olives o'er the fountain grow, 
 Or palms moot up, and made the flreams below; 
 That when the youth, led by their princes, fhun 
 The crowded hive, and fport it in the fun, 
 
 Refreshing 
 
1 4 Po em s on fever at O c c a s i o ns . 
 
 Refrelhing fprings may tempt 'em from the heat, 
 And fhady coverts yield a cool retreat. 
 
 Whether the neighbouring water Hands or runs, 
 Lay twigs acrofs, and bridge it o'er with ftones - r 
 That if rough ilorms, or fudden blafts of wind 
 Should dip, or fcatter thofe that lag behind, 
 Here they may fettle on the friendly ftone, 
 And dry their reeking pinions at the fun. 
 Plant all the flow'ry banks with lavender, 
 With ftore of fav'ry fcent the fragrant air, 
 Let running betony the field o'erfpread, 
 And fountains foak the violet's dewy bed. 
 
 Tho' barks ot plaited willows make your hive, 
 A narrow inlet to their cells contrive ; 
 For colds congeal and freeze the liquors up, 
 And, melted down with heat, the waxen buildings drop. 
 The Bees of both extremes alike afraid, 
 Their wax around the whittling cranies fpread, 
 And fuck out clammy dews from herbs and flow'rs, 
 To fmear the chinks, and plaifter up the pores : 
 For this they hoard up glew whofe clinging drops, 
 Like pitch or birdlime, hang in ftringy ropes, 
 They oft, 'tis faid, in dark retirements dwell, 
 And' work m fub terraneous caves their cell ; 
 At other times th' induftrious infe&s live 
 In hollow rocks, or make a tree their hive. 
 
 \ 
 
 Point all their chinky lodgings round with mud, 
 And leaves muft thinly on your work be ftrow'd ; 
 But let no baleful eugh-tree flourifh near, 
 Nor rotten marines fend out fleams of mire ; 
 Nor burning crabs grow red, and crackle in the fire. 
 Nor neighb'rmg caves return the dying found, 
 Nor echoing rocks the doubled voice rebound. 
 
 Things thus prepared '- * »■ """ ■ ■ 
 
 When 
 
I 
 
 I 
 
 Poems on feveral Occasions. 15 
 
 "When th' under-world is feiz'd with cold and night, 
 
 And fummer here defcends in ilreams of light, 
 
 The Bees thro' woods and forefts take their flight. 
 
 They rifle ev'ry flow'r, and lightly ikim 
 
 The chryftal brook, and fip the running ftream ; 
 
 And thus they feed their young with ftrange delight, 
 
 And knead the yielding wax, and work the flimy (weet. 
 
 But when on high you fee the Bees repair, 
 
 Born on the winds thro' diitant tradls of air, 
 
 And view the winged cloud all blackning from afar ; 
 
 While fliady coverts, and frefh ftreams they chufe, 
 
 Milfoil and common Honey -fuckles bruife, 
 
 And fprinkle on their hives the fragrant juice. 
 
 On brazen veflels beat a tinkling found, 
 
 And fhake the cymbals of the goddefs round ; 
 
 Then all will haltily retreat, and fill 
 
 The warm refounding hollow of their cell. 
 
 If once two rival kings their right debate, 
 And factions and cabals embroil the flate, 
 The peoples adlions will their thoughts declare ; 
 All their hearts tremble, and beat thick with war; 
 Hoarfe bro!;en founds, like trumpets' harfh alarms, 
 Run thro' the hive, and call 'em to their arms ; 
 All in a hurry fpread their fhiv'ring wings, 
 And fit their claws, and point their angry itings : 
 In crowds before the king's pavilion meet, 
 And boldly challenge out the foe to fight : 
 At laft, when all the heav'ns are warm and fair 
 They rufh together out, and join the air ; 
 Swarms thick, and echo's with the humming war. 
 All in a firm round clufter mix, and ftrow 
 With heaps of little corps the earth below j 
 As thick as hail-ftones from the floor rebound, 
 Or lhaken acorns rattle on the ground. 
 No fenfe of danger can their kings controul, 
 Tlieir little bodies lodge a mighty foul :. 
 
 Each 
 
 i 
 
1 6 Poems on fever at Occasions. 
 
 Each obftinate in arms purfues his blow, 
 'Till fhameful flight fecures the routed foe. 
 This hot difpute and all this mighty fray 
 A little dull flung upward will allay, 
 
 But when both kings are fettled in their hive, 
 Mark him who looks the worft, and left he live 
 Idle at home in eafe and luxury, 
 The lazy monarch muft be doom'd to die ; 
 So let the royal in feci rule alone, 
 And reign without a rival in his throne. 
 
 The kings are different; one of better note 
 All fpeckt with gold, and many a Alining fpot, 
 Looks gay, and gliftens in a gilded coat j 
 But love of eafe, and (loth in one prevails, 
 That fcarce his hanging paunch behind him trails : 
 The people's looks are different as their king's, 
 Some fparkle bright, and glitter in their wings ; 
 Others look loathfome and difeas'd with floth, 
 Like a faint traveller whofe dufty mouth 
 Grows dry with heat, and fpits a maukifh froth. 
 
 The firft are beit 
 
 From their overflowing combs, you'll often prefs 
 
 Pure lufcious fweets that mingling in the glafs 
 
 Correct the harfhnefs of the racy juice, 
 
 And a rich flavour through the wine diffufe. 
 
 But when they fport abroad, and rove from home, 
 
 And leave the cooling hive, and quit th 1 unfinim'd comb ; 
 
 Their airy ramblings are with eafe confin'd, 
 
 Clip their king's wings, and if they flay behind 
 
 No bold ufurper dares invade their right, 
 
 Nor found a march, nor give the fign for flight. 
 
 Let flow'ry banks entice 'em to their cells, 
 
 And gardens all perfum'd with native fmells ; 
 
 Where carv'd Priapus has his fix'd abode, 
 
 The robber's terror, and the fcare-crow god. 
 
 Wild 
 
 } 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 17 
 
 Wild Thyme and Pine-trees from their barren hill 
 Tranfplant, and nurfe 'em in the neighbouring loil, 
 Set fruit-trees round, nor e'er indulge thy floth, 
 But water 'em, and urge their fhady growth. 
 
 And here, perhaps, were not I giving o'er, 
 And ftriking fail, and making to the more, 
 I'd (hew what art the Gardner's toils require, 
 Why rofy Paftum blufhes twice a year ; 
 What dreams the verdant fuccory fupply, 
 And how the thirty plant drinks rivers dry ; 
 What with a chearful green does parflcy grace, 
 And writhes the bellying cucumber along the twifted graft : 
 Nor wou'd I pafs the foft acanthus o'er, 
 Ivy nor myrtle-trees that love the more ; 
 Nor daffodils, that late from earth's flow womb 
 Unrumple their fwoln buds, and (how their yellow bloom, 
 
 For once I faw in the Tarentine vale, 
 Where flow Gale/us drencht the wafhy foil, 
 An old Cor ic tan yeoman, who had got 
 A few neglected acres to his lot, 
 Where neither corn nor pafture grae'd the field, 
 Nor wou'd the vine her purple harveft yield ; 
 But fav'ry herbs among the thorns were found, ^ 
 
 Vervain and poppy -flowers his garden crown'd, > 
 
 And drooping lillies whiten'd all the ground. 3 
 
 JSleft with thefe riches he cou'd empires flight, 
 And when he rcfted from his toils at night, 
 The earth unpurchas'd dainties wou'd afford, 
 And his own garden furnifli out his board : 
 The fpring did firft his opening rofes blow, 
 Firft ripening autumn bent his fruitful bough. 
 When piercing colds had burft the brittle ftone, 
 And freezing rivers itiffen'd as they run, 
 He then wou'd prune the tender'!* of his trees, 
 Chide the late fpring, and lingring weilern breeze : 
 
i8 Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 His bees firft fwarm'd, and made his veffels foam 
 
 With the rich fqueezing of the juicy comb. 
 
 Here lindons and the fappy pine increased ; 
 
 Here, when gay flow'rs his imiling orchard dreft, 
 
 As many bloffoms as the fpring cou'd mow, 
 
 So many dangling apples mellow 'd on the bough. 
 
 In rows his elms and knotty pear-trees bloom, 
 
 And thorns ennobled now to bear a plumb, 
 
 And fpreading plane-trees, where fupinely laid 
 
 He now enjoys the cool, and quaffs beneath the made. 
 
 But thefe for want of room I mull omit, 
 
 And leave for future poets to recite. 
 
 Now I'll proceed their natures to declare,. 
 Which Jove himfelf did on the bees confer ; 
 Becaufe, invited by the timbrel's found, 
 Lodg'd in a cave, th' almighty babe they found 
 And the young god nurfl kindly under ground. 
 
 Of all the. wing'd inhabitants of air, 
 Thefe only make their young their pubi:;.: care : 
 In well-difpos'd focieties they live, 
 And laws and ftatutes regulate their hive ; 
 Nor flray, like others, unconfin'd abroad, 
 But know fet ftations, and a fix'd abode : 
 Each provident of cold in fummer flies 
 Thro' fields and wood?, to feek for new fuppiler, 
 And in the common flock unlades his thighs. 
 Some watch the food, fome in the meadows ply, 
 Tafle evVy bud, and fuck each blofTom dry ; 
 Whilil others, lab'ring in their cells at home, 
 Temper Narcijfu? clammy tears with gum, 
 For the firft ground-work of the golden comb ; 
 On this they- found their waxen works, and raife 
 The yellow fabrick on his glewy bafe. 
 Some educate the young, or hatch the feed 
 With vital warmth, and future nations breed ; 
 
 I 
 
 whim 
 
I 
 
 rife.) 
 
 \ 
 
 Poems on feveral Occasions. 19 
 
 Whilft others thicken all the flimy dews, 
 
 And into pureft honey work the juice ; 
 
 Then fill the hollows of the comb, and fwell 
 
 With lufcious ne&ar ev'ry flowing cell. 
 
 By turns they watch, by turns with curious eyes 
 
 Survey the heav'ns, and fearch the clouded Ikies 
 
 .To find out breeding ftorms, and tell what tempefts 
 
 By turns they eafe the loaden fwarms, or drive 
 
 The drone, a lazy infeft, from their hive. 
 
 The work is warmly ply'd through all the cells, 
 
 And ftrong with Thyme the new-made honey fmells. 
 
 So in their caves the brawny Cyclops fweat, 
 When with huge ftrokes the ftubborn wedge they beat, 
 And all th" 1 imfhapen thunder-bolt compleat ; 
 Alternately their hammers rife and fall ; 
 Whilft griping tongs turn round the glowing ball. 
 With purring bellows fome the flames increafe, 
 And fome in waters dip the hifling mafs ; 
 Their beaten anvils dreadfully refound, 
 And JEtna fhakes all o'er, and thunders under ground. 
 
 Thus, if great things we may with fmall compare, 
 The bufie fwarms their different labours mare. 
 Defire of profit urges all degrees ; 
 The aged infects, by experience wife, 
 Attend the comb, and fafhion ev'ry part, 
 And fhape the waxen fret-work out with art : 
 The young at night, returning from their toils, 
 Bring home their thighs clog'd with the meadows fpoils. 
 On lavender, and fafFron buds they feed, 
 On bending ofiers, and the balmy reed, 
 From purple violets and the teile the)- bring. 
 Their gather'd fweets, and rifle all the fpring. 
 
 All work together, all together reft, 
 The morning ftill renews their labours paft ; 
 
 Then 
 
20 Poems on fever al Occasions. 
 
 Then all rufh out, their different tafks purfue, 
 Sit on the bloom, and fuck the rip'ning dew ; 
 Again when evening warns 'em to their home, 
 With weary wings, and heavy thighs they come, 
 And crowd about the chink, and mix a drowfie hum. 
 Into their cells at length they gently creep, 
 There all the night their peaceful ftation keep, 
 Wrapt up in filence, and diflblv'd in ileep. 
 None range abroad when winds or florins are nigh, 
 Nor truft their bodies to a faithlefs fky, 
 But make fmall journies, with a careful wing, 
 And fly to water at a neighbouring fpring ; 
 And left their airy bodies mould be caft 
 In reftlefs whirls, the fport of ev'ry blaft, 
 They carry ftones to poife 'em in their flight, 
 As ballaft keeps th' unfteady vcffel right. 
 
 But of all cuftoms that the bees can boaft, 
 'Tis this may challenge admiration moft ; 
 That none will Hymen's fofter joys approve, 
 Nor wafte their fpirits in luxurious love, 
 But all along virginity maintain, 
 And bring forth young without a mother's pain : 
 From herbs and flowers they pick each tender bee, 
 And cull from plants a buzzing progeny ; 
 From thefe they chufe out fubjecls, and create 
 A little monarch of the riling ftate ; 
 Then build wax- kingdoms for the infant prince, 
 And form a palace for his refidence. 
 
 But often in their journies, as they fly, 
 On flints they tear their filken wings, or lye 
 Grov'ling beneath their flowVy load, and die. 
 Thus love of honey can infect fire, 
 And in a fly fuch generous thoughts infpire. 
 Yet by re-peopling their decaying date, 
 Tho' feven fhort fprings conclude their vital date, 
 
 I 
 
 Their 
 
Poems on fever at Occasions. 21 
 
 Their ancient flocks eternally remain, 
 
 And in an endlefs race the childrens children reign. 
 
 No proftrate vaffal of the eaft can more 
 With flavifh fear his haughty prince adore ; 
 His life unites 'em all ; but when he dies, 
 All in loud tumults and diffractions rife ; 
 They vvafte their honey, and their combs deface, 
 And wild confufion reigns in every place. 
 Him all admire, all the great guardian own, 
 And crowd about his courts, and buzz about his throne. 
 Oft on their backs their weary prince they bear, 
 Oft in his caufe embattled in the air, 
 Pur fue a glorious death, in wounds and war. 
 
 I 
 
 Some from fuch inftances as thefe have taught 
 " The bees extract is heav'nly ; for they thought 
 " The univerfe alive; and that afoul, 
 '1 Difms'd throughout the matter of the whole, 
 " To all the vaft unbounded frame was giv'n, 
 " And ran thro' earth, and air, and fea, and all the deep of 
 
 heav'n ; 
 " That this firft kindled life in man and beaft, 
 " Life that again flows into this atlaft. 
 " That no compounded animal could die, 
 " But when difTolv'd, the fpirit mounted high, 
 « Dwelt in a ltar, and fettled in the fky. 
 
 When-e'er their balmy fweets you mean to feize, 
 And take the liquid labours of the bees, 
 Spurt draughts of water from your mouth, and drive 
 A loathfome cloud of fmoak amidfl their hive. 
 
 Twice in the year their ilowVy toils begin, 
 And twice they fetch their dewy harveft in ; 
 Once when the lovely Pleiades arife, 
 And add frefh luflre to the fumrner fkies ; 
 
 And 
 
 I 
 
22 Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 And once when haft'ning From the watry fign 
 They quit their ftation, and forbear to mine. 
 
 The bees are prone to rage, and often found, 
 Toperifh for revenge, and die upon the wound. 
 Their venom'd (ling produces aking pains, 
 And fwellsthe fleih, and moots among the veins. 
 
 When firft a cold hard winter's florins arrive, 
 And threaten death or famine to their hive, 
 If now their finking Hate and low affairs 
 Can move your pity, and provoke your cares, 
 Frelh burning Thyme before their cells convey, 
 And cut their dry and hufky wax away ; 
 For often Lizards feize the lufcious fpoils, 
 Or drones that riot on another's toils : 
 Of broods of moths infeft the hungry fvvarms, 1 
 
 And oft the furious wafp their hive alarms > 
 
 With louder hums, and with unequal arms ; J 
 
 Or elfe the fpider at their entrance fets 
 Her fnares, and fpins her bowels into nets. 
 
 When ficknefs reigns (for they as well as we 
 Feel all th' effe&s of frail mortality) 
 By certain marks the new difeafe is feen, 
 Their colour changes, and their looks are thin ; 
 Their funeral rights are form'd, and ev'ry bee 
 With grief attends the fad lolemnity ; 
 The few difeas'd furvivors hang before 
 Their fickly cells, and droop about the door, 
 Or flowly in their hives their limbs unfold, 
 Shrunk up with hunger, and benumb'd with cold; 
 In drawling hums, the feeble infects grieve, 
 And doleful buzzes eccho thro' the hive, 
 Like winds that foftly murmur thro' the trees, 
 Like flames pent up, or like retiring feas. 
 
 Now 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 23 
 
 Now lay frefh honey near their empty rooms, "\ 
 
 In troughs of hollow reeds, whilft frying gums V 
 
 Caft round a fragrant mid of fpicy fumes. J ; 
 
 Thus kindly tempt the famifh'd {warm to eat, 
 
 And gently reconcile 'em to their meat. 
 
 Mix juice of galls, and wine, that grow in time 
 
 Condensed by fire, and thicken to a flime ; 
 
 To thefedry'd rofes, time and centry join, 
 
 And raifins ripen'd on the Pfythian vine. 
 
 Befides there grows a flow'r in marfhy ground 
 
 Its name Amellus, eafy to be found ; 
 
 A mighty fpring works in its root, and cleaves 
 
 The fprouting (talk, and fhews it felf in leaves : 
 
 The flow'r it felf is of a golden hue, 
 
 The leaves inclining to a darker blue ; 
 
 The leaves (hoot thick about the flow'r and grow 
 
 Into a bufh, and fhade the turf below : 
 
 The plant in holy garlands often twines 
 
 The altars' polls, and beautifies the fhrines ; 
 
 Its taile is (harp, in vales new-fhorn it grows, 
 
 Where Mellds ftream in watry mazes flows. 
 
 Take plenty of its roots, and boil 'em well 
 
 In wine, and heap up 'em up before the cell. 
 
 But if the whole flock fail, and none furvive ; 
 To raife new people, and recruit the hive, 
 I'll here the great experiment declare, 
 That fpread th' Arcadian fhepherd's name fo far. 
 How bees from blood of flaughter'd bulls have fled, 
 And fwarms amidft the red corruption bred. 
 
 For where th' Egyptians yearly fee their bounds 
 RefrenYd with floods, and fail about their grounds, 
 Where Perfia borders, and the roling Nile 
 Drives fwiftly down the Avar thy Indians foil, 
 'Till into feven it multiplies its ftream, 
 And fattens Egypt with a fruitful flime ; 
 
 Vol. I. C In 
 
24 Poems on fevered Occasions, 
 
 In this laft pra&ice all their hope remains, 
 And long experience juftifies their pains. 
 
 ' Firft then a clofe contrafted fpace of ground, 
 With ftraighten'd walls and low- built roof they found ; 
 A narrow (helving light is next aflign'd 
 To all the quarters, one to every wind ; 
 Thro* thefe the glancing rays obliquely pierce : 
 Hither they lead a bull that's young and fierce, 
 When two years growth of horn he proudly (hows, 
 And makes the comely terrors of his brows : 
 His nofe and mouth, the avenues of breath, 
 They muzzle up, and beat his limbs to death. 
 With violence to life and ftifling pain 
 He flings and fpurns, and tries to fnort in vain, 
 Loud heavy mows fall thick on ev'ry fide, 
 'Till his bruis'd bowels burft within the hide. 
 When dead they leave him rotting on the ground, 
 With branches, Thyme, and Caffia, ftrow'd around. 
 All this is done when firft the weftern breeze 
 Becalms the year, and fmooths the troubled feas; 
 Before the chattering fwallow builds her neft, 
 O: fields in fpring's embroidery are drefl. 
 Mean while the tainted juice ferments within, 
 And quickens as it works : and now are feen 
 A wond'rous fwarm; that o'er the carcafs crawls, 
 Of fnacelefs, rude, unfinifh'd animals. 
 No legs at firft the infect's weight fuftain, 
 At length it moves its new-made limbs with pain ; 
 Now itrikes the air with quiv'ring wings, and tries 
 To lift its body up, and learns to rife ; 
 Now bending thighs and gilded wings it wears 
 Full grown, and all the bee at length appears ; 
 From every fide the fruitful carcafs pours 
 Its fwarming brood, as thick as fummer-fhow'rs, 
 Or flights of arrows from the Parthian bows, 
 When twanging firings firft fhoot 'em on the foes. 
 
 Thus 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 25 
 
 Thus have I fung the nature of the bee ; 
 While Ceefar, tovv'ring to divinity; 
 The frighted Indians with his thunder aw'd, 
 And claimed their homage, and commenced a god ; 
 I flourifh'd all the while in arts of peace, 
 Retir'd and fhelter'd in inglorious eafe : 
 I who before the fongs of ihepherds made, 
 When gay and young my rural lays I play'd, 
 And fet my Tttyriu beneath his made. 
 
 I 
 
 A Song. For St. Ceci l 1 a's Day 
 
 at Oxford. 
 
 CECILIA, whofe exalted hymns 
 With joy and wonder fill the blei% 
 In choirs of warbling feraphims 
 
 Known and diftinguinYd from the reft, 
 Attend, harmonious faint, and fee, 
 Thy vocal fons of harmony ; 
 
 Attend, harmonious faint, and hear our prayVs ; 
 Enliven all our earthly airs, 
 And, as thou fmg'ft thy god, teach us to fing of thee : 
 Tune ev'ry firing and ev'ry tongue, 
 Be thou the mufe and fubject of our fong. 
 
 II. 
 
 Let all Cecilia's praife proclaim, 
 Employ the echo in her name. 
 Hark how the flutes and trumpets raife, 
 At bright Cecilia's name, their lays ; 
 The organ labours in her praife. 
 
 C 2 Cecil- 
 
26 Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 Cecilia's name docs all our numbers grace, 
 From ev'ry voice the tuneful accents fly, 
 In (baring trebles now it rifes high, 
 And now it finks, and dwells upon the bafe.' 
 Cecilia's name through all the notes we fmg, 
 
 The work of ev'ry fkillful tongue, 
 The found of ev'ry trembling firing, 
 The found and triumph of our fong. 
 
 III. 
 
 For ever confecrate the day, 
 To mufick and Cecilia ; 
 Mufick the greatefl: good that mortals know, 
 And all of heav'n we have below 
 Mufick can noble hints impart, 
 Engender fury, kindle love ; 
 With unfufpe&ed eloquence can move, 
 And manage all the man with fecret art. 
 When Orpheus ilrikes the trembling lyre, 
 The ftreams fland ftill, the flones admire ; 
 ThelihVning favages advance, 
 
 The wolf and Lamb around him trip, 
 The bears in aukward meafures leap, 
 And tygers mingle in the dance. 
 The moving woods attended as he play'd, 
 And Rbodope was left without a fhade. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Mufick religious heats infpires 
 
 It wakes the foul, and lifts it high, 
 And wings it with fublime defires, 
 And fits it to befpeak the deity. 
 Th* almighty liftens to a tuneful tongue, 
 And feems well-pleas'd and courted with a fong. 
 Soft moving founds and heav'nly airs 
 Give force to ev'ry word, and recommend our pray'rs. 
 
 When 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 27 
 
 When time it felf mall be no more, 
 And all things in confufion hurl'd, 
 
 Mirfick mall then exert its powV, 
 And found furvive the ruins of the world: 
 Then faints and angels mall agree 
 In one eternal jubilee : 
 All heav'n mail echo with their hymns divine, 
 
 And God himfelf with pleafure fee 
 Tlie whole creation in a chorus join. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 Confecrate the place and day, 
 To Mufick and Cecilia. 
 Let no rough winds approach, nor dare 
 
 Invade the hallow'd bounds, 
 Nor rudely make the tuneful air, 
 
 Nor fpoil the fleeting founds. 
 Nor mournful figh nor groan be heard, 
 
 But gladneis dwell on evVy tongue ; 
 Whilft all, with voice and firings prepar'd, 
 
 Keep up the loud harmonious fong, 
 And imitate the bleft above, 
 In joy, and harmony, and love. 
 
 An Account of the great eft Englifli Poets. 
 To Mr. Henry Sacbeverell, April 3. 1694. 
 
 SINCE, dearejl Hurry, you nvill needs requejl 
 AJbort account of all the mufepojfeft, 
 That do-ujnfrom ChaucerV days to DrydenV times, 
 Have /pent their noble rage in Britifh rhimes ; 
 Without more preface, writ informal length, 
 Tofpeak the undertaker's want of frength, 
 
 c 3 ru 
 
2 5 Poems on fever -al Occasions, 
 
 77/ try to 7nake their feiPral beauties known, 
 Andjhow their <verfcs worthy tho not my own 
 
 Long had our dull forefathers flept fupine, 
 Nor felt the raptures of the tuneful nine ; 
 'Till Chaucer firil, a merry bard, arofe, 
 And many a ftory told in rhime, and profe. 
 But age has rufted what the poet writ, 
 Worn out his language, and obfeur'd his wit: 
 In vain he jells in his unpolifh'd flrain, 
 And tries to make his readers laugh in vain. 
 
 Old Spenfer next, warm'd with poetick rage, 
 In ancient tales amus'd a barb'rous age ; 
 An age that yet uricultivafe and rude, 
 
 .re- e'er the poets fancy led, purfu'd 
 Thro' patlilefs field:, and unfrequented floods, 
 
 s of dragons, and enchanted woods. 
 
 But now the myitick tale, that pleas'd of yore, 
 Can charm an underffondrng age no more ; 
 The long fpun allegories fulfome grow, 
 While the dull moral lyes too plain below. 
 We view well pleas'd at diftance all the fights 
 Of arms and palfries, battels, fields and fights, 
 And damfels in diftrefs, and courteous knights. 
 But when we look too near, the fhades decay, 
 And all the pleafing landfchape fades away. 
 
 Great Cowley then (a mighty genius) wrote, 
 O'er-run with wit, and lavifli of his thought : 
 His turns too clofely on the reader prefs : 
 He more had pleas'd us, had he pleas'd us lefs. 
 One glittering thought no fooner ltrikes our eyes 
 With filent wonder, but new wonders rife. 
 As in the milky -way a ihining white 
 O'er-flows the heav'ns with one continu'd light ; 
 
 That 
 
Poems on fever al Occasions. 29 
 
 That not a Angle ftar can fhew his rays, 
 Whilit jointly all promote the common blaze. 
 Pardon, great poet, that I dare to name 
 Th' unnumber'd beauties of thy verfe with blame ; 
 Thy fault is only wit in its excels : 
 But wit like thine in any ihape will pleafe. 
 What mufe but thine can equal hints infpire, 
 And fit the deep-mouthM Pindar to thy lyre : 
 Pindar, whom others in a labour'd ftrain, 
 Andforc'd expreffion, imitate in vain? 
 Well pleasYi in thee he foars with new delight, 
 And plays in more unbounded verfe, and takes a nobler 
 
 (flight. 
 
 Bleft man ' whofe fpotlefs life and charming lays 
 Employed the tuneful prelate in thy praife : 
 Blelt man ! who now malt be for ever known, 
 In Sprat's fuccefsful labours and thy own. 
 
 But Milton next, with high and haughty (bilks, 
 Unfetter'd in m;ijeitick numbers walks ; 
 No vulgar heroe can his mufe ingage ; 
 Nor earth's wide fcene confine his hallow'd rage. 
 See ! fee ! he upward fprings, and tow'ring high 
 Spurns the dull province of mortality, 
 Shakes heavVs eternal throne with dire alarms. 
 And fets tn' almighty thunderer in aims. 
 What-e'er his pen defcribes I more than fee, 
 Whilft ev'ry verfe arrayM in majefty, 
 Bold, and fublime, my whole attention draws, 
 And feems above the critick's nicer laws. 
 How are you ftruck with terror and delight, 
 When angel with arch-angel copes in fight ! 
 When great Mefliah's out-fpread banner Alines. 
 How does the chariot rattle in his lines ! 
 What founds of brazen wheels, what thunder, fcire, 
 And ftun the reader with the din of war ! 
 
 C 4 With 
 
30 Poems on fever al Occasions.. 
 
 With fear my fpirits and my blood retire, 
 To fee the feraphs funk in clouds of fire ; 
 But when with eager fteps, from hence I rife, 
 And view thy firft gay fcenes of Paradife ; 
 What tongue, what words of rapture can exprefs 
 A virion fo profufe of pleafantnefs. 
 Or had the poet ne'er profan'd his pen, 
 To varnifli o'er the guilt of faithlefs men ; 
 His other works might have deferv'd applaufe ! 
 But now the language can't fupport the caufe ; 
 While the clean current, tho' ferene and bright, 
 Betrays a bottom odious to the fight. 
 
 But now, my mufe, a fofter ftrain rehearfe, 
 Turnev'ry line with art, and fmooth thy verfe; 
 The courtly Waller next command \ thy lays:. 
 Mufe tune thy verfe, with art, to Wallers praife. 
 While tender airs and lovely dames infpire 
 Soft melting thoughts, and propagate defire ; 
 So long mall Waller's ftrains our paffion move, 
 And Sacbarijpis beauties kindle love. 
 Thy verfe, harmonious bard, and flatt'ring fong, 
 Can make the vanquifh'd great, the coward ftrong. 
 Thy verfe can fhow ev v n CromnvelPs innocence, 
 And compliment the ftorms that bore him hence* 
 Oil had thy mufe not come an age too foon, 
 But feen great NASSAU on the Britijb throne f 
 How had his triumphs glitter'd in thy page, 
 And warm'd thee to a more exalted rage ! 
 What fcenes of death and horror had we view'd, 
 And how had Boms wide current reek'd in blood! 
 Or if Marians charms thou wou'dll rehearfe, 
 In fmoother numbers and a fofter verfe ; 
 Thy pen had well defcrib'd her graceful airj 
 And Gloriana wou'd have feem'd more fair. 
 
 Nor 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 Nor mufl Rof common pafs neglected by, 
 That makes ev'n rules a noble poetry : 
 Rules whofe deep fenfe and heavenly numbers (how 
 The beft of criticks, and of poets too. 
 Nor, Denham, muft we e'er forget thy ftrains, 
 While Coopers Hill commands the neighb'ring plains. 
 
 But fee where artful Dry den next appears 
 Grown old in rhime, but charming ev'n in years. 
 Great Dryden next, whofe tuneful mufe affords 
 The fweeteft numbers, and the fitted words. 
 Whether in comic founds or tragic airs 
 She forms her voice, fhe moves our fmiles or tears. 
 If fatire or heroic ftrains fhe writes. 
 Her heroe pleafes, and her fatire bites. 
 
 From her no harm unartful numbers fall, 
 She wears all dreffes, and fhe charms in all. 
 How might we fear our Englijh poetry, 
 That long has flourifh'd, fhou'd decay with thee ; 
 Did not the mufes other hope appear, 
 Harmonious Congreve, and forbid our fear : 
 Congreve ! whofe fancy's unexhaufted ftore 
 Has given already much, and promis'd more. 
 Congreve fhall flill preferve thy fame alive, 
 And Dryden 's mufe fhall in his friend furvive. 
 
 I'm tir'd with rhiming, and would fain give o'er,. 
 But juftice flill demands one labour more : 
 The noble Montague remains unnam'd, 
 For wit, for humour, and for judgment fam'd ; 
 To Dorfet he directs his artful mufe, 
 In numbers fuch as Dorfet\ felf might ufe. 
 How negligently graceful he unreins 
 His verfe, and writes in loofe familiar ftrains ,* 
 How NASSAVs god-like acts adorn his line?, 
 And all the heroe in full glory fhines ? 
 
 C s We 
 
52 Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 We fee his army fet in juft array, 
 
 And Boin\ dy'd waves run purple to the fea. 
 
 Nor Simois choak'd with men, and arms, and blood ; 
 
 Nor rapid Xanthus' celebrated flood, 
 
 Shall longer be the poet's higheft themes, 
 
 Tho' gocb and heroes fought promifcuous in their ftreams. 
 
 But now to NASSAlPs fccret councils rais'd, 
 
 He aids the heroe, whom before lie praisM. 
 
 I've done at length ; and now dear Friend, receive 
 Thj lajl poor prefent that my mufe. can give. 
 1 leave the arts of poetry and verfe 
 To them that pradlife ''em with more fucce/s. 
 Of greater truths I'll ncrvj prepare to tell, 
 Jhdfo at once, dear friend and mufe, farcweL 
 
 LET- 
 
34 Poems on fevered Occasions. 
 
 wj^^j^gS^ny. 
 
 ^^^^y^^S^j^^g^j 
 
 LETTERA SCRITTA HIT ALIA 
 
 AL MOLTO ONORABILE 
 
 CARLO Conte HALIFAX. 
 
 Dal Signore Giuseppe Addison V Anno 
 MDCCI. In Verfi Ingle fu 
 
 1 TRADOTTA IN VERSI TOSCANI,* 
 
 Salve magnc parens frugum Satumia tellus, 
 Magna <virum / tibi res antique laudis et art is 
 Aggredior, fanttos anfus. recludere fontes. 
 
 ME N TR E, Signor y romhre <villefcbe attraggonvi,. 
 E di Britannia dagli JJfici toltovi 
 jtianpiu, ch ' afuoi ingrati Figli piaccia 
 Per lor vantaggio, ~>ojiro ozio immolate ', 
 Me in.efteri Regni il Fato invia 
 Evtro genti feconde in car mi eterni 9 
 V la dolce Jlagion, £1 <vago Clima 
 Fan no, che vojira quiet e in verjio io turbi. 
 
 O-vunque io girt i miei rapiti lumi, 
 Scene auree, liete y e chiare mijle inalzanfi,. 
 dttornianmi Poetiche Campagne, 
 Par mi ognor di calcar clajpeo /nolo ; 
 Sifovenle i<vi Mufa accordo V Arpa, 
 Che nan cantata niun cclle forgevi, 
 Celebrs in <verji i~oi ogni pianta crefce,. 
 E in celejie armonia ciafcun rio corre. 
 
 Come 
 
 * By the Abbot Anton. Maria Salvini Greek Profcfor at 
 Florence. 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 A 
 LETTER from I^ALY, 
 
 To the Right Honourable 
 
 Charles Lord Halifax. 
 
 In the YearMDCCI. 
 
 $al<ve magne parens frugum Saturttza tellus, 
 Magna njirum ! tibi res antique laadis et artis 
 Aggredior y fan3os aufus reciudere fontcs. 
 
 Virg, Geor. z. 
 
 WHILE you, my Lord, the rural fhades admire,. 
 And from Britannia's public ports retire. 
 Nor longer, her ungrateful fons to pleafe, 
 For their advantage facrifice your eafe ; 
 Me into foreign realms my fate conveys, 
 Through nations fruitful of immortal lays, 
 Where the foft feafon and inviting clime j 
 
 Confpire to trouble your repofe with rhime. 
 
 For wherefoe'er I turn my ravifh'd eyes, 
 Gay gilded fcenesand mining profpe&s rife, 
 Poetic fields encompafs me around, % 
 
 And ftill I feem to tread on clafTic ground ; . 
 For here the mufe fo oft her harp has ltrung;,. 
 That not a mountain rears its head unfung, 
 Renown'd in verfe each Ihady thicket grows, 
 And Qv'ry (beam in heavenly numbers flows. 
 
 How 
 
$6 Poems an fiver at Occasions. 
 
 Come mi giova a cercar poggi, c hofchi 
 Per chiare fonti, e eclebrati fiumi, 
 Alia Nera <vederfiera in fuo corfo 
 Tracciar Clitumno chiaro infiua firgente, 
 Veder condur fua fchiera a" acque il Mincio 
 Pi r lungbi giri di feconda ripa, 
 E <T Albulacamtta ilguado infitto 
 Suo caldo let to di fumante Jolfo. 
 
 Di mi lie eftafi accefo io fopraveggio 
 Correre il Po per prat eric fiorite 
 De Fiumi Re, cbe fovra i pian fecrrendo, 
 Le torreggianti Alpi in natia muraglia 
 Delia met a di hro umore afciuga : 
 Supt-rbo, e gonjio del? hiberne ncoi 
 V abbendauza comparte ov* egli corn . 
 
 Talor fmarriio dal drappcl fonoro 
 I rii rimiro immortalati in canto, 
 Che giaccinofi in/Slejizia, e obblicper, 
 (Muti i lor fonti fin, feccbe lor <vcne) 
 Pur, per fenno di Mufi, ei fin psrenni, 
 Lor mormon o perenne in tcrfi car mi. 
 
 Talor a al gentil Tebro io mi ritirq, 
 Le <vote ripe del gran Fiume ammiro, 
 Cbe pri-vo di potcr fuo corfo i ragge 
 D\na gretta urn a, e fieri/, firgente \ 
 Pur fuona ei mile bocche de Poeti, 
 Siccbe V miro a: Danubio, e al Nil far fcorno i 
 Cos) Mufia immortak in alto il leva. 
 TaP era il Ecin pfcvero, ignobilfiume, 
 Cbe nelle Hiberne <valli of euro erra<va, 
 E inoj/ervato in fuoi giri fiber zava. 
 Quando per Vofiri Verfi, e per la Spada 
 Di Naff), rinomato, f onde Jue 
 Legate in alto pel mondo rifuotian* 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 37 
 
 How am I pleas'd to fearch the hills and woods 
 For rifmg fprings and celebrated floods ! 
 To view the Nar, tumultuous in his courfe, 
 And trace the fmooth Clitumntu to his fource, 
 To fee the Mmcio draw his watry ftore 
 Through the long windings of a fruitful more 
 And hoary AJbula\ infe&ed tide 
 O'er the warm bed of fmoaking fulphur glide. 
 
 Fir'd with a thoufand raptures I furvey 
 ErUanus through flowery meadows ftray, 
 The king of floods ! that rolling o'er the plains 
 The towering Alps of half their moifture drains, 
 And proudly fwoln with a whole winter's mows, 
 Diftributes wealth and plenty where he flows. 
 
 Sometimes, mifguided by the tuneful throng, 
 I look for itreams immortaliz'd in fong, 
 That loft in filcnce and oblivion lye, 
 (Dumb are their fountains and their channels dry) 
 Yet run for-ever by the mine's fkil), 
 And in the fmooth defcription murmur flill. 
 
 Sometimes to gentle Tiber I retire, 
 And the fam'd river's empty mores admire, 
 That defiitute of ftrength derives its courfe 
 From thrifty urns and an unfruitful fource ; 
 Yet fung fo often in poetic lays, 
 With fcorn the Danube and the Nile furveys ; 
 So high the deathlefs mufe exalts her theme ! 
 Such was the Bcyn, a poor inglorious ftream, 
 That in Hibernian vales obfcurely flray'd, 
 And unobferv'd in wild Meanders play'd ; 
 'Till by your lines and Naffaih fword renown'd, 
 Its rifmg billows through the world refound, 
 
 Where- 
 
2$ Poems on feveral Occasions, 
 
 O'Ounque dello Eroe le divin opre y 
 E ove andrafama <T immortal <verfo. 
 
 Ob I'efatico mio petto infpiraffe 
 Mil fa con un furor Jimile al <vofiro I 
 Infinite bellezze avria V mio <vcrfc t 
 Cederia di Firgilio a quel f Italia. 
 
 Mir a quali auree fehe attornv ridonmi, 
 Che della tempefiofa di Britannia 
 lfolaji ne fcbivano la cofta, 
 O trapiantate, e con penjier guar date 
 Male di con la fredda Region e, 
 E nelly aria del Norte illanguidifcono. 
 Calor dolor il montante umor ne lie<vita- 
 A nohilgujiie, e piu efaltati odori. 
 Rozze ancor rupi molle mirto menano 
 Ricco profumo, pejie erbette olezzano. 
 Portimi un Dio di Baiaa i gent i I Seggi, 
 O ne <verdi ritiri a" Uubria traggami,. 
 Ove i Ponenti eterna ban rcjidenza> 
 Tutte fagioni lor pomp a profondono, 
 Germogliy efrutti^ e fiori infieme allegano, 
 £ in gaia confujion ft a V anno tut to. 
 
 Glorie immortali in mia mente rivi'vono, 
 Combatton nel cuor mio ben mille ajfetti* 
 Allorache di Roma V ef alt ate 
 Belezze giugiaccrji io ne difcuopro, 
 Magnificenti in Moli di ruine. 
 X)' Anfiteatro una fupenda altezza 
 Di terror mi riempie, e di diletto, 
 Che Roma ne fuoi pubblici fpettacoli 
 DiJpopola<va, e Nazioni intere 
 Agiatamente in fuo grembo capia. 
 PaJ/anvi i del Colonne afpre d' intaglio,, 
 Di Trionfo fuperbi Archi la/orgono, 
 
 Vit 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 39 
 
 Where e'er the heroe's god -like atts can pierce, 
 Or where the fame of an immortal verfe. 
 
 Oh cou'd the mufe my ravifh'd breaft infpire 
 With warmth like yours, and raife an equal fire, 
 Unnumber'd beauties in my verfe fhou'd mine, 
 And VirgiVs Italy fhou'd yield to mine ! 
 
 See how the golden groves around me fmile, 
 That fliun the coaft of Britain's ftormy Ifle, 
 Or when tranfplanted and preferv'd with care, 
 Curfe the cold clime, and ilarve in northern air. 
 Here kindly warmth their mounting juice ferments 
 To nobler taftes^ and more exalted fcents : 
 Ev'n the rough rocks with tender myrtle bloom, 
 And trodden weeds fend out a rich perfume. 
 Bear me fome god, to Baias gentle feats, 
 Or cover me in Umbria\ green retreats ; 
 Where weftern gales eternally refide, 
 And all the feafons lavifh all their pride : 
 Bloffoms, and fruits, and flowers together rife* 
 And the whole year in gay confufion lies. 
 
 Immortal glories in my mind revive, 
 And in my foul a thoufand paffions ftrivc, 
 When Rome's exalted beauties I defcry 
 Magnificent in piles of ruine lye. 
 An amphitheater's amazing height 
 Here fills my eye with terror and delight, 
 That on it's publick (hows unpeopled Rome, 
 And held uncrowded nations in its womb: 
 Here pillars rough with fculpture pierce the fkies : 
 And here the proud triumphal arches rife, 
 
 Where 
 
40 Po e ms on fever al Occasions, 
 
 V de prifchi Roman T immortal opre 
 Difpiegate alia <vijia ognor rinfacciano 
 La <vile loro tralignatafiirpe. 
 Qui tutti i Jiumi lafciangiu lor plant, 
 Per aerei condotti in alto corrono. 
 
 Semprs a novelle Scene ?nia vagante 
 Mufa szfi ntragge, e muta ammtra 
 L altofpettacold" animate Rupi, 
 Ove moftrofcalpeltutta fua forza r 
 Ed in came addolci fcabrcfo fajfo. 
 In folcttnefilenzio, in maefu ft 
 Eroifiannofi, e Dsi, e Romx.n Confoli. 
 lorvi Tiranni in cruMta famofi, 
 E impercdori in Park Mar mo acciglianfi £ 
 Mentre Dame brillanti, a cut con umile 
 Servitujlan fogctti, ogncra mo/lrano 
 Ivezzi, chegli altieri cuor domaro, 
 
 Volentieri io vorria di Rajaele 
 Contar Parte divho, s Jar <vedere 
 Gl^ immortali lavori net mio vcrfo. 
 La" <ve da mifiajiru* ctombre, e luce 
 Nuova creazion forge a mia vijla, 
 Tai celejli figure efcon da fuo 
 Pen-nello, e i mefiicati fiwi colori 
 Caldi di <vita cost ne sfanjillano, 
 Difoggctto infoggettol d'un f egret o 
 iW*v prcfo, e infiammato attorno io giro 
 Tra lafoave varieta perduto. 
 Miojirabilito jpirito qua confondono 
 sine ^vezzofe incircolanti note. 
 P ^Jeggianti, e in fonori labirinti. 
 <~upole y e lempU i alzan la in dljianti 
 Yedute ed tn Palagi aperti, ed ampli 
 Acelebrargli inqjitano la Mufa. 
 
 Come 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 4* 
 
 Where the old Romans deathlefs acts difplayd, 
 
 Their bafe degenerate progeny upbraid : 
 
 Whole rivers here forfake the fields below, 
 
 And vvond'ring at their height through airy channels flow 
 
 Still to new fcenes my wandYing mufe retires, 
 And the dumb (how of breathing rocks admires ; 
 Where the fmootli chiiTel all its force has mown, 
 And foften'd into flefli the rugged itone. 
 In folemn filence, a majeftick band, 
 Heroes, and gods, and Roman confuls (land, 
 Stern tyrants, whom their cruelties renown, 
 And emperors in Parian marble frown ; 
 While the bright dames, to whom they humbly hVd, 
 Still ihow the charms that their proud hearts fubdu'd. 
 
 Fain wou'd I RaphaePs godlike art rehearfe, 
 And lhow t,Y immortal labours in my verfe, 
 Where from the mingled ftrength of made and light 
 A new creation rifes to my fight, 
 Such heav'nly figures from his pencil flow, 
 So warm with life his blended colours glow. 
 From theme to theme with fecret pleafure toll, 
 Amidit the foft variety Fm loft : 
 Here pleafing airs my ravifnt foul confjund 
 With circling notes and labyrinths of found j 
 Here domes and temples rife in diilant views, 
 And opening palaces invite my mufe. 
 
 Kow 
 
42 Poems on fever at Occasions. 
 
 Come indulgente Cielo adorno mai 
 Lafortunata terra, e fovra quella 
 Verso benedizioni a plena mano ! 
 Ma che <vaglion le lor dcvizie eterne, 
 Fioriti monti, e foleggiate rive 
 Con tutti don, che Cielo, e Suol ' compartono, 
 
 I rijl di Natura, e i vezzi a" Arte, 
 
 Men t re alt i era OppreJJion regna in fue Fa lit, 
 E Tirannia fuoi Pi an felici u fur pa? 
 
 II povreo Abitante mira indarno 
 
 11 rolfeggiante Arancio, e'l pingue Grano, 
 Cre/cer dolente ei mira ed oh, e <vini y 
 E de mirti odarar Vambra ft fdegna, 
 In mezzo alia Bonta della Natura 
 Maledetto languifce, e dentro a cariche 
 Di vim <vigne muere per la fete, 
 
 O Liherta, o Dea Celefte, e Bella ! 
 Di ben profufa, e pregna di diletto 
 Piaceri eterni te prefe?ite regnano. 
 Guida tuo gaio tren lieta dovlzia 
 Vien nel fuo pefo > c '.i^gexion pin lieve; 
 P overt a Jcmhra allegra in tua veduta ; 
 Fai di Na.'ura il -vifo ojcuro gaio ; 
 Doni al Sole bellezza, al giorno gioia. 
 
 Te Dea, te la Britannia Ifola adora 9 
 Come ha foventc ella ogni ben fuo efaujloy. 
 E fpejfo Cha di morte in campi cerco ! 
 Niuno pen fa il tuo poffente pregio 
 A troppo caro prezzo ejfer comprato. 
 Puofopri efteri monti il Sole i grappoli 
 Per dolce fugo fnaturare a vino ; 
 Di bofchi di cedrati ornare il fuolo, 
 Gonfiar la graj/a oliva infiutti <T olioi 
 
 m» 
 
Poems on fever al Occasions. 43 
 
 How has kind heav'n adorn'd the happy land, 
 And fcatter'd bleffings with a wafteful handi 
 But what avail her unexhaufted ftores, 
 Her blooming mountains, and her funny fhores, 
 With all the gifts that heav'n and earth impart, 
 The fmiles of nature, and the charms of art, 
 While proud oppreffion in her vallies reigns, 
 And tyranny ufurps her happy plains ? 
 The poor inhabitant beholds in vain 
 The red'ning Orange and the fwelling grain ; 
 Joylefs he fees the growing oils and wines, 
 And in the Myrtles fragrant made repines : 
 Starves, in the midft of nature's bounty curft, 
 And in the loaden vineyard dies for thirft. 
 
 O Liberty, thou Goddefs heavenly bright, 
 Profufe of blifs, and pregnant with delight ! 
 Eternal pleafures in thy prefence reign, 
 And fmiling plenty leads thy wanton train ; 
 Eas'd of her load fubje&ion grows more light, 
 And poverty looks chearful in thy fight ; 
 Thou mak'it the gloomy face of nature gay, 
 GiVIt beauty to the fun, and pleafure to the day. 
 
 Thee, goddefs, thee, Britannia!* ifle adores ,• 
 How has me oft exhdufted all her ftores, 
 How oft in fields of death thy prefence fought, 
 Nor thinks the mighty prize too dearly bought ! 
 On foreign mountains may the fun refine 
 The grape's foft juice, and mellow it to wine, 
 With citron groves adorn a diftant foil, 
 And the fat Olive fwell with floods of oil 1 
 
 We 
 
45 Poems on fevered Occasions. 
 
 Non invidiamo il piu fervent e Clima . 
 DeW Etcre piu do Ice in died gradi ; 
 Di nojlro del maledi%i>n non duo/mi, 
 Ne a Not in capo Pleiadi ghiacciate, 
 Corona Liberia la Britanti I/o/a, 
 Efajuejierilbianche rupi rider e. 
 
 Le torreggianti Moli altrui dikttino, 
 E le fuperbe ambiziofe Cupole, 
 Vngentil colpo a una viltela dare, 
 Od infegnar SaJJi animati a vivere. 
 D 1 Europafuldejiin vegliar Brittanni* 
 Ha cur a, e bilanciar gli Emuli Stati; 
 Diguerra minacciare arditi Regi 
 Degli affiitti Vicimudire ipreghi. 
 Dano, e Sveco attaccati in fiere Allarme 
 Di lor armipietcfe be?iedicono 
 La prudente Condotta, e 7 buon Govemo. 
 Tefto chepoi le nafire Flotte appaiono, 
 Ccjfanotutti i lor fpaventi, e in Pace 
 Tut to USettentrional Mondo figiace. 
 
 Vambiziofo Gallo confegreto 
 Tremito vede dlP afpirante fua 
 Tcfta mirar di lei il Gran Tonante, 
 E volenti en i fuoi divini Figli 
 Vorrebbe difuniti per Jiranicro 
 Oro, o pur per domeftica contefa. 
 Ida acquiflare, o divider* in van provafi, 
 Cut Par me di Nafso, e'l fenno guida. 
 
 Del name accefo, cut fovente ho trovo 
 Remoti C/imi, g lingue rifonare, 
 Con pena imbriglio mia lottante Mufa, 
 Che ama lanciarfi in piu ardita proves 
 
 Ma 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions 44. 
 
 We envy not the warmer clime, that lies 
 In ten degrees of more indulgent fkies, 
 Nor at the coarfenefs of our heaven repine, 
 Tho' o'er our heads the frozen Pleiads ihine : 
 'Tis liberty that crowns Britannia's ifle, 
 And makes her barren rocks and her bleak mountains 
 
 (fmile. 
 
 Others with towering piles may pleafe the fight, 
 And in their proud afpiring domes delight ; 
 A nicer touch to the ftretcht canvas give, 
 Or teach their animated rocks to live : 
 'Tis Britain's care to watch o'er Europe's fate, 
 And hold in balance each contending ftate, 
 To threaten bold prefumptuous kings with war, 
 And anfwer her afflicted neighbour's pray'r. 
 The Dane and Swede, rous'd up by fierce alarms : 
 Blefs the wife conduct of her pious arms : 
 Soon as her fleets appear, their terrors ceafe, 
 And all the northern world lies hufh'd in peace. 
 
 TrT ambitious Gaul beholds with fecret dread y / / Li 
 
 Her thunder nim'd at his afpiring head, ^*y/* 
 
 And fain her godlike fons wou'd difunite , fr 
 
 By foreign gold, or by domeftick fpite ; /J^tf" 
 
 But ftrives in vain to conquer or divide, /£-/ v 
 Whom Najfaus arms defend and counfels guide. 
 
 Fir'd with the name, which I fo oft have found 
 The diftant climes and different tongues refound, 
 I bridle in my ftrugling mufe with pain, 
 That longs to launch into a bolder ibain. 
 
 But 
 
ifi Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 Ma to di gia bo r u<vi turbato ajjai 
 Ne tentar ofo un piu fublime Canto. 
 Piu dolce Thema il bajfb <verfo cbiedemi, 
 Fioriti prati, o gorgoglianti rivi, 
 Mai propria per gli Eroi : che i Car mi eterni 
 Quai di VirgiliOf o Vojlri onorar debbono* 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 47 
 
 But IVe already troubled you too long 
 Nor dare attempt a more advent'rous fong. 
 My humble verfe demands a fofter theme, 
 A painted meadow, or a purling ftream ; 
 Unfit for heroes ; whom immortal lays, 
 And lines like Virgil % or like yours, (hou'dpraife. 
 
 Vol. I. 
 
 D 
 
 Milton** 
 
4$ Poems on fever al Occasions. 
 
 Milton's Style imitated, in a Tranjlation 
 of a Story out of the Third iENEiD. 
 
 LO S T in the gloomy horror of the night 
 We ftuck upon the coaft where jEtna lies, 
 Horrid and wafte, its entrails fraught with fire, 
 That now calls out dark fumes and pitchy clouds, 
 Vaft mowers of allies hov'ring in the fmoke ; 
 Now belches molten Hones and ruddy flame 
 Incenft, or tears up mountains by the roots, 
 Or flings a broken rock aloft in air. 
 The bottom works with fmother'd fire, involved 
 In peftilential vapours, flench and fmoke. 
 
 'Tis faid, that thunder-fcruck Enceladus 
 Groveling beneath th' incumbent mountain's weight 
 Lyes ftretcli'd fupine, eternal prey of flames • 
 And when he heaves againfl: the burning load, 
 Reluctant, to invert his broiling limbs, 
 A fudden earthquake moots through alltheifle, 
 Andi Etna thunders dreadful under ground, 
 Then pours out fmoke in wreathing curls convolv'd, 
 And (hades the fun's bright orb, and blots out day. 
 
 • Here in the fhelter of the woods we lodg'd, 
 And frighted heard ftrange founds and difmal yells, 
 Nor law from whe nee they came j for all the night 
 A murky florm deep louring o'er our heads 
 Hung imminent, that with impervious gloom 
 Oppos'd it ie\f to Cynthia's filver ray, 
 And (haded all beneath. But now the fun 
 With orient beams had chas'd the dewy night 
 
 From 
 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 49 
 
 From earth and heav'n; all nature flood difclos'd: 
 
 When looking on the neighb'ring woods we faw 
 
 The ghaftly vifage of a man unknown, 
 
 An uncouth feature, meagre, pale, and wild ; 
 
 Affliction's foul and terrible difmay 
 
 Sate in his looks, his face impair'd and worn 
 
 With marks of famine, fpcaking fore diftrefs ; 
 
 His locks were tangled, and his fhaggy beard 
 
 Matted with filth ; in all things elfc a Greek. 
 
 He firft advancM in hafte-; but when he faw 
 Trojans and Trojan arms, in mid career 
 Stopt fhort, he back recoii'd as one furpriz'd : 
 But foon recovering fpeed, he ran, he flew 
 Precipitant, and thus with piteous cries 
 Our ears a flail -d : " By heavVs eternal fires, 
 «' By ev'ry God that fits enthron'd on high, 
 " By this good light, relieve a wretch forlorn, 
 u And bear me hence to any diftant lhore, 
 " So I may fhun this favage race accurft. 
 " 'Tis true I fought among the Greeks that late 
 " With fword and fire o'erturn'd Neptunian Troy, 
 " And laid the labour of the Gods in duft ; 
 u For which, if fo the fad offence deferves, 
 " Plung'd in the deep, for ever let me lye 
 " Whelm 'd under feas; if death muft be my doom, 
 u Let man inflict it, and I die well-pleas'd. 
 
 He ended here, and now profufe of tears 
 In fuppliant mood fell proflrate at our feet : 
 We bade him (peak from whence, and what he was, 
 And how by ftrefs of fortune funk thus low ; 
 Anchifes too with friendly afpecl mild 
 Gave him his hand, fure pledge of amity; 
 When, thus encouraged, he began his tale. 
 
 D 
 
 »m 
 
50 Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 I'm one, fays he, of poor defcent, my name 
 Is Achamenides, my country Greece, 
 UlyJJes' fad compeer, who whilfl he fled 
 The raging Cyclops, left me here behind 
 Difconfolate, forlorn ; within the cave 
 He left me, giant Polypbeme''s dark cave ; 
 A dungeon wide and horrible, the walls 
 On all fides furr'd with mouldy damps, and hung 
 With clots of ropy gore, and human limbs, 
 His dire repaft : himfelf of mighty fize, 
 Hoarfe in his voice, and in his vifage grim, 
 Intraftable, that riots on the flefh 
 Of mortal men, and fwills the vital blood. 
 Him did I fee fnatch up with horrid grafp 
 Two fprawiing Greeks, in either hand a man.; 
 I faw him when with huge tempeftuous fway 
 He dafht and broke 'em on the grundfil edge ; 
 The pavement fwam in blood, the walls around 
 Were fpatter'd o'er with brains. Helapt the blood, 
 And chew'd the tender flefh ftill warm with life, 
 That fwell'd and heav'd it felf amidft his teeth 
 As fenflble of pain. Not lefs mean-while 
 Our chief incens'd, and ftudious of revenge, 
 Plots his destruction, which he thus effe&s. 
 The giant, gorg'd with flefh, and wine, and blood, 
 Lay ftretcht at length and fnoring in his den, 
 Belching raw gobbets from his maw, o'er-charged 
 With purple wine and cruddled gore confufed. 
 We gather'd round, and to his fingle eye, 
 The fmgleeye that in his forehead glar'd 
 Like a full moon, or a broad burnifh'd fhield, 
 A forky ilafF we dext'roufly apply'd, 
 Which in the fpacious focket turning round, 
 Scoopt out the big round gelly from its orb. 
 But let me not thus interpofe delays ; 
 Fly, moruls, fly this curft detefted race: 
 
 a 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 51 
 
 A hundred of the fame ilupendous fize, 
 
 A hundred Cyclops- live among the hills, 
 
 Gigantick brotherhood, that ftalk along 
 
 With horrid flrideso'er the high mountains tops, 
 
 Enormous in their gait; I oft have heard 
 
 Their voice and tread, oft feen 'em as they pafi, 
 
 Sculking and fcowring down, half dead with fear. 
 
 Thrice has the Moon wafh'd all her orb in light, 
 
 Thrice travelled o'er, in herobfeure fojourn, 
 
 The realms of night inglorious, fince I've liv'd 
 
 Amidft thefe woods, gleaning from thorns and fhrubs 
 
 A wretched fuftenance. As thus he fpoke, 
 
 We faw defcending from a neighb'ring hill 
 
 Blind Polypheme; by weary fleps and flow 
 
 The groping giant with a trunk of Pine 
 
 Explor'd his way ; around, his woolly flocks 
 
 Attended grazing ; to the well-known fhore 
 
 He bent his courfe, and on the margin flood, 
 
 A hideous moniler, terrible, deform'd; 
 
 Full in the midlt of his high front there gap'd 
 
 The fpacious hollow where his eye-ball roll'd, 
 
 A ghaflly orifice ; he rins'd the wound, 
 
 And wafh'd away the firings and clotted blood 
 
 That cak'd within ; then (talking through the deep 
 
 He fords the ocean, while the topmafl wave 
 
 Scarce reaches up his middle fide ; we flood 
 
 Amaz'd be fure, a fudden horror chill 
 
 Ran through each nerve, and thrill'd in ev'ry vein, 
 
 'Till ufing all the force of winds and oars 
 
 We fped away ; he heard us in our courfe, 
 
 And with his out-flretch'd arms around him grop'd, 
 
 But finding nought within his reach, he rais'd 
 
 Such hideous fhouts that all the ocean fhook. 
 
 Ev'n Italy, tho' many a league remote, 
 
 In diflant echo's anfwer'd ; JEtna roar'd, 
 
 Through all its inmoft winding caverns roar'd. 
 
 D 3 RousM' 
 
52 
 
 Poems on feveral Occasions, 
 
 Rous'd with the found, the mighty family 
 Of one ey'd brothers haften to the fhore, 
 And gather round the bellowing Poiyphemt, 
 A dire aflembly : we with eager hafte 
 Work ev'ry one, and from afar behold 
 A hoft of giants covering all the more. 
 
 So Hands a foreft tall of mountain oaks 
 Advanced to mighty growth : the traveller 
 Hears from the humble valley where he rides 
 The hollow murmurs of the winds that blow 
 Amidft the boughs, and at a diftance fees 
 The fliady tops of trees unnumber'd rife, 
 A ftatcly profpecl, waving in the clouds. 
 
 THE 
 
T II E 
 
 CAMPAIGN, 
 
 A 
 
 POEM, 
 
 To His G R A C E, the 
 
 Duke of MAR LBORO UGH. 
 
 -Rheni pacatoret Ifti 
 
 Omvls in hoc Uno vat-iis difcordiacef/tt 
 Ordinibus ; l&tatur Eques, plauditque Senator, 
 Votaque Patricio certant Pkbeia fa-vori 
 
 Claud, de Laud. Stilic. 
 
 EJfe aliquam in tcrris gentem qua fud impenfd, fuo labo- 
 re ac periculo bella gerat pro libertate aliorum. Nee hoc 
 
 Jimtimis, aut propinqute <vicinitatis homintbus, aut ter- 
 ris continenti juncJis praejict. Maria trajiciat : ne quod 
 toto orbe ten-arum injufium imperium fit, et ubique jus, 
 
 fas, kxypotentijpimafait* Li v. Hilt. lib. 33. 
 
 #$$###$#$$$$##$#:$*#$♦ 
 
 D 4 
 
THE 
 
 C A M P A I G N, 
 
 POEM 
 
 WHILE crouds of princes your deferts proclaim, . 
 Proud in their number to enroll your name ; 
 While emperors to you commit their caufe, 
 And A N NA y s praifes crown the vail applaufe ; 
 x\ccept, great leader, what the mufe recites, 
 That in ambitious verfe attempts your fights, . 
 Fir'd and tranfported with a theme fo new, 
 Ten thoufand wonders op'ning to my view, 
 Shine forth at once ; fieges and ilorms appear, 
 And wars and conquefts fill th' important year, 
 Rivers of blood I fee, and hills of (lain, 
 An iliad rifingout of one campaign. 
 
 The haughty Gaul beheld, with tow'ring pride,. 
 His ancient bounds enlarg'd on ev'ry fide, 
 Pirenis lofty barriers were fubdued," 
 And in the midfl of his wide empire flood ; 
 Aufonias Mates, the vidtor to reflrain, 
 Oppofed their Alpcs and Appenines in vain, 
 Nor found themfelves, with flrength of rocks immur'd,. 
 Behind their cverlafling hill fecurU; 
 
 I>5 The: 
 
56 Poems onfeveral Occasions. 
 
 The rlfing Danube its long race began, 
 
 And half its courfe through the new conquefls ran ; 
 
 Amaz'd and anxious for her fovereign's fates, 
 
 Ger mania trembled through a hundred ftates ; 
 
 Great Leopold KimfeN was feiz'd with fear ; 
 
 He gaz'd around, but faw no fuccour near ; 
 
 He gaz'd and half abandon'd to defpair 
 
 His hopes on heav'n, and confidence in pray'r. 
 
 To Britain* Queen the Nations turn their eyes, 
 On her refolves the weftern world relies, 
 Confiding ftill, amidft its dire alarms, 
 In JN N A\ councils, and in Churchill's arms. 
 Thrice happy Britain, from the kingdoms rent, 
 To fit the guardian of the continent ! 
 That fees her braveft fon advane'd fo high, 
 And flourifhing fo near her prince's eye ; 
 Thy fav'rites grow not up by fortune's fport, 
 Or from the crimes, or follies of a court ; 
 On the firm bafis of defert they rife, 
 IVom long-try'd faith, and friendfhip's holy tyes : 
 Their fovereign's well-diftinguifh'd fmiles they (hare, 
 Her ornaments in peace, her ftrength in war ; 
 The nation thanks them with a publick voice, 
 By fhow'rs of bleffings heaven approves their choice ; 
 Envy it felf is dumb, in wonder loft, 
 And factions ftrive who mall applaud 'em moll, 
 
 Soon as foft vernal breezes warm the fky, 
 Britannia's colours in the zephyrs fly ; 
 Her chief already has his march begun, 
 Croffing the provinces himfelf had won, 
 'Till the Mofelle, appearing from afar, 
 Retards the progrefs of the moving war. 
 Delightful ftream, had nature bid her fall 
 In diftant climes, far from the perjur'd Gaul\ But 
 
Poems on fever al Occasions. 57 
 
 But now a purchafe to the fvvord fhe lyes, 
 Her harvefts for uncertain owners rife, 
 Each vineyard doubtful of its mailer grows, 
 And to the victor's bowl each vintage flows. 
 The difcontented lhades of flaughter'd holts, 
 That wandered on her banks, her heroes ghofts 
 Hope'd, when they faw Britannia's arms appear, 
 The vengeance due to their great deaths was near, 
 
 Our god-like leader, ere the ftream he pall, 
 The mighty fcheme of all his labours call, 
 Forming the wond'rous year within his thought; 
 His bofom glow'd with battles yet unfought. 
 The long laborious rrfrrch he firit furveys, 
 And joins the diftant "Danube to the Maefe, 
 Between whofe floods, fuch pathlefs forefts grow, 
 Such mountains rile, fo many rivers flow : 
 The toil looks lovely in the heroe's eyes, 
 And danger ferves but to enhance the prize. 
 
 Big with the fate of Europe, he renews 
 His dreadful courfe, and the proud foe purfues : 
 Infected by the burning'^ccrpion's heat, 
 The fultry gales round his chaf'd temples beat, 
 'Till on the borders of the Maine he finds 
 Defenfive fhadows, and refre filing winds. 
 Our Britijb youth, with in-born freedom bold, 
 Unnumber'd fcenes of fervitude behold, 
 Nations of Haves, with tyranny debased, 
 (Their maker's image more than half defac'dj 
 Hourly infirucled, as they urge their toil, 
 To prize their Queen, and love their native foil. 
 
 Still to the riling fun they take their way 
 Through clouds of dull:, and gain upon the day. 
 When now the Neckar,on its friendly coall 
 With cooling ftreams revives the fainting hoil, 
 
 That 
 
58 Poems on fever al Occasions. 
 
 That chearfully its labours paft forgets, 
 
 The midnight watches, and the noon-day heats. 
 
 O'er proftrate towns and palaces they pais, 
 (Now cover'd o'er with weeds, and hid in grafs) 
 Breathing revenge ; whilft anger and difdain 
 Fire ev'ry breaft, and boil in ev'ry vein : 
 Here fhatter'd walls, like broken rocks, from far 
 Rife up in hideous views, the guilt of war, 
 Whilft here the Vine o'er hills of mine climbs, 
 Induftrious to conceal great Bourbon's crimes. 
 
 At length the fame of England's heroe drew 
 Eugenio to the glorious interview. 
 Great fouls by inftincl to each other turn, 
 Demand alliance, and in friendship burn ; 
 A fudden friendship, while with ftretch'd out rays 
 They meet each other, mingling blaze with blaze. 
 Polifh'd in courts, and harden'd in the field, 
 Kenown'd for conquer!, and in council fkill'd, 
 Their courage dwells not in a troubled flood 
 Of mounting fpirits, and fermenting blood; 
 Lodg'd in the foul, with virtue over-rul'd, 
 Inflam'd by reafon, and by reafon cool'd, 
 In hours of peace content to be unknown, 
 And only in the field of battle mown : 
 To fouls like thefe, in mutual friendfhip join'd, 
 Heaven dares entruft the caufe of human-kind. 
 
 Britannia's graceful fons appear in arms, 
 Her harras'd troops the heroe 's prefence warms, 
 Whilft the high hills and rivers all around 
 With thund'ring peals of Britifh fhouts refound : 
 Doubling their fpeed they march with frefh delight, 
 Eager for glory, and require the fight. 
 
 So 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 59 
 
 So the ftanch hound the trembling deer purfues, 
 And fmells his footfteps in the tainted dews, 
 The tedious track unrav'ling by degrees: 
 But when the fcent comes warm in ev'ry breeze, 
 Fir'd at the near approach, he fhoots away 
 On his full ftretch, and bears upon his prey. 
 
 The march concludes, the various realms are paft, 
 Th' immortal Schellenberg appears at laft : 
 Like hills th' afpiring ramparts rife on high, 
 Like vallies at their feet the trenches lye ; 
 Batfries on batt'ries guard each fatal pafs, 
 Threat'ning deftruclion ; rows of hollow brafs, 
 Tube behind tube, the dreadful entrance keep, 
 Whilft in their wombs ten thoufand thunders ileep : 
 Great Churchill owns, charm'd with the glorious fight, 
 His march o'er-paid by fuch a promis'd fight. 
 
 The Weftern fun now fhot a feeble ray, 
 And faintly fcatter'd the remains of day, 
 Ev'ning approach'd ; but oh what hofts of foes 
 Were never to behold that ev'ning clofe f 
 Thick'ning their ranks, and wedg'd in firm array, 
 The clofe compacted Britons win their way ; 
 In vain the cannon their throng'd war deface'd 
 With tracts of death, and laid the battle wafte; 
 Still preffing forward to the fight they broke, 
 Through flames of fulphur, and a night of fmoke, 
 'Till flaughter'd legions fill'd the trench below, 
 And bore their fierce avengers to the foe. 
 
 High on the works the mingling hofts engage ; 
 The battel kindled into tenfold rage 
 
 With 
 
60 Poems on fever al Occasion's. 
 
 With fhow'rs of bullets and with ftorms of fire 
 Burns in full fury ; heaps on heaps expire, 
 Nations with nations mix'd confus'dly die, 
 And loft in one promifcuous carnage lye. 
 
 How many gen'rous Britons meet their doom, 
 New to the field, and heroes in the bloom ! 
 Th' illuftrious youths, that left their native fliore 
 To march where Britons never march'd before, 
 (O fatal love of fame ! O glorious heat 
 Only deftru&ive to the brave and great f 
 After fuch toils o'ercome, fuch dangers part, 
 Streteh'd on Bavarian ramparts breathe their laft. 
 But hold, my mufe, may no complaints appear, 
 Nor blot the day with an ungrateful tear : 
 While Malbro lives Britannia's liars difpenfe 
 A friendly light, and mine in innocence. 
 Plunging thro' feas of blood his fiery fleed 
 Where-e'er his friends retire, or foes fucceed ; 
 Thofe he fupports, thefe drives to fudden flight, 
 And turns the various fortune of the fight. 
 
 Forbear, great man, renown'd in arms, forbear 
 To brave the thickeft terrors of the war, 
 Nor hazard thus, confus'd in crouds of foes, 
 Britannia's fafety, and the world's repofe ; 
 Let nations anxious for thy life abate 
 This fcorn of danger, and contempt of fate : 
 Thou liveft not for thy felf; thy queen demands 
 Conqueft and peace from thy victorious hands ; 
 Kingdoms and empires in thy fortune join, 
 And Europe's defliny depends on thine. 
 
 At length the long difputed pafs they gain, 
 By crouded armies fortify'd in vain; 
 
 The 
 
Poems on fever al Occasions. 61 
 
 The war breaks in, the fierce Bavarians yield, 
 And fee their camp with Britijh legions filPd. 
 So Belgian mounds bear on their fhatter'd fides 
 The fea's whole weight encreas'd with fwelling tides ; 
 But if the rufliing wave a pafTage finds, 
 Enraged by wat'ry moons, and warring winds, 
 The trembling peafant fees his country round 
 Cover'd with tempefts, and in oceans drown'd. 
 
 The few furviving foes difperft in flight, 
 (Refufe of fvvords, and gleanings of a fight) 
 .In ev'ry rufsling wind the victor hear, 
 And Marlbro's form in ev'ry fhadow fear, 
 'Till the dark cope of night with kind embrace 
 Befriends the rout, and covers their difgrace. 
 
 To Donatvert, with unrefifted force, 
 The gay victorious army bends its courfe. 
 The growth of meadows, and the pride of fields, 
 Whatever fpoils Bavaria* fammer yields, 
 (The Danube % great increafe) Britannia fhares, 
 The food of armies, and fupportof wars: 
 With magazines of death, deftructive balls, 
 And cannons doom'd to batter Landaus walls, 
 The victor finds each hidden cavern ftor'd, 
 And turns their fury on their guilty lord. 
 
 Deluding prince ! how is thy greatnefs croft, 
 And all the gaudy dream of empire loft, 
 That proudly fet thee on a fancy'd throne, 
 And made imaginary realms thy own .' 
 Thy troops, that now behind the Danuhe join, 
 Shall fliortly feek for fhelter from the Rhine, 
 Nor find it there : furrounded with alarms, 
 Thou hope'ft th' afTiftance of the Gallic arms ; 
 
 The 
 
62 Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 The Gallic arms in fafety fhall advance, 
 And crowd thy ftandards with the power of France, 
 While to exalt thy doom, th' afpiring Gaul 
 Shares thy deitru&ion, and adorns thy fell. 
 
 Unbounded courage and companion joinM, 
 Temp'ring each other in the victor's mind, 
 Alternately proclaim him good and great, 
 And make the hero and the man compleat. 
 Long did he ftrive th' obdurate foe to gain 
 By proffer' d grace, but long he ftrove in vain ; 
 'Till nr'd at length he thinks it vain to fpare 
 His rifing wrath, and gives a loofe to war. 
 In vengeance rous'd the foldier fills his hand 
 With fword and fire, and ravages the land, 
 A thoufand villages to afhes turns, 
 In crackling flames a thoufand harvefls burns. 
 To the thick woods the woolly flocks retreat, 
 And mixt with bellowing herds confus'dly bleat ; 
 Their trembling lords the common made partake, 
 And cries of infants found in ev'ry brake : 
 The lirVning foldier fixt in forrow Hands, . 
 Loth to obey his leader's juft commands; 
 The leader grieves, by gen'rous pity fway'd, 
 To fee his juft commands fo well obey'd. 
 
 But now the trumpet terrible from far 
 In fhriller clangors animates the war, . 
 Confed'rate drums in fuller confort beat, , 
 And echoing hills the loud alarm repeat: 
 Gallia's proud Uandards, to Bavaria's join'd, 
 Unfurl their gilded Lillies in the wind ; 
 The daring Prince his blafted hopes renews, 
 And while the thick embattled hoft he views 
 Stretcht out in deep array, and dreadful length, 
 His heart dilates, and glories in his flrength. 
 
 The 
 
Poem's onfeveral Occasions. 63 
 
 The fatal day its mighty courfe began, 
 That the griev'd world had long defir'd in vain : 
 States that their new captivity bemoan'd, 
 Armies of martyrs that in exile groan'd, 
 Sighs from the depth of gloomy dungeons heard, 
 And prayers in bitternefs of foul prefbrr'd, 
 Europe's loud cries, that providence aflail'd, 
 And ANNA'S ardent vows, at length prevail'd ; 
 The day was come when heaven defign'd to (how 
 His care and conduct of the world below. 
 
 Behold in awful march and dread array 
 The long-extended fquadrons fhape their way ! 
 Death, in approaching terrible, imparts 
 An anxious horror to the braveil hearts ; 
 Yet do their beating breafts demand the ftrife, 
 And thirit of glory quells the love of life. 
 No vulgar fears can Britijb minds controul : 
 Heat of revenge, and noble pride of foul 
 O'er-look the foe, advantag'd by his pcit, 
 LeiTen his numbers, and contract his holt : 
 Tho' fens and floods pofleit. the middle fpace, 
 That unprovok'd they would have fear'd to pafs ; 
 Nor fens nor floods can flop Britannia's bands, 
 When her proud foe rang'd on their borders Hands. 
 
 But O, my mufe, what numbers wilt thou find 
 To fing the furious troops in battel join'd ! 
 Methinks I hear the drums tumultuous found, 
 The victor's fhouts and dying groans confound, 
 The dreadful burft*of cannon rend the ikies, 
 And all the thunder of the battel rife. 
 'Twas then great M arbroj mighty foul was prov'd, 
 That, in the fhock of charging holts unmov'd, 
 
 Amidft 
 
64 Poems on fever al Occasions. 
 
 AmidJ} confufion, horror, and defpair, 
 Examined all the dreadful fcenes of war ; 
 In peaceful thought the field of death furvey'd, 
 To fainting fquadrons fent the timely aid, 
 Infpir'd repuls'd battalions to engage, 
 And taught the doubtful battel where to rage. 
 So when an angel by divine command 
 With riling tempclts makes a guilty land, 
 Such as of late o'er pale Britannia part, 
 Calm and ferene he drives the furious bind ; 
 And pleas'd th' almighty's orders to perform, 
 •Rides in the whirl-wind, and directs the florm. 
 
 But fee the haughty houfhold troops advance I 
 The dread of Europe, and the pride of France, 
 The war's whole art each private foldier knows, 
 And with a gen'ral's love of conqueft glows ; 
 Proudly he marches on, and void of fear 
 Laughs at the making of the Briti/b fpear : 
 Vain infolence ! with native freedom brave 
 The meaner! Briton fcorns the higher!: flave ; 
 Contempt and fury fire their fouls by turns, 
 Each nation's glory in each warriour burns, 
 Each fights, as in his arm th' important day 
 And all the fate of his great monarch lay : 
 A thoufand glorious actions that might claim • 
 Triumphant laurels, and immortal fame, 
 Confus'd in crouds of glorious actions lye, 
 And troops of heroes undiftinguifh'd dye, 
 O Dormer, how can I behold thy fate, 
 And not the wonders of thy youth relate f 
 How can I fee the gay, the brave, the young, 
 Fall in the cloud of war, and lye unfung ! 
 In joys of conqueit he refigns his breath, 
 And, fill'd with England's glory, fmiles in death. 
 
 The 
 
Poems on fevcral Occasions. 65 
 
 The rout begins, the Gallic fquadrons run, 
 Compell'd in crouds to meet the fate they fhun ; 
 Thoufand of fiery fteeds with wounds trans fix'd 
 Floating in gore, with their dead mailers mixt, 
 Midft heaps of fpears and llandards driv'n around, 
 Lie in the Danube's bloody whirl-pools drown'd. 
 Troops of bold youths, born on the din" ant Soaue, 
 Or founding borders of the rapid Rhone, 
 Or where the Siene her flow'ry fields divides, 
 Or where the Loire thro' winding vineyards glides ; 
 In heaps the rolling billows fweep away, 
 And into Scythian feas their bloated corps convey. 
 From Blenheim's tow'rs, the Gaul, with wild affright, 
 Beholds the various havock of the right ; 
 His waving banners, that fo oft had flood 
 Planted in fields of death, and ftreams of blood, 
 So wont the guarded enemy to reach, 
 And rife triumphant in the fatal breach, 
 Or pierce the broken foe's remoter! lines, 
 The hardy veteran with tears refigns. 
 
 Unfortunate Tallard! oh who can name 
 The pangs of rage, of forrow, and of fhame, 
 That with mixt tumult in thy bofom fwell'd, 
 When firft thou faw'lt thy braveft troops repell'd, 
 Thine only fon piere'd with a deadly wound, 
 Choak'd in his blood, and gafping on the ground, 
 Thy felf in bondage by the victor kept ? 
 The chief, the father, and the captive wept. 
 An Englijh mufe is touch'd with gen'rous woe, 
 And in th' unhappy man forgets the foe. 
 Greatly diftrefl ! thy loud complaints forbear, 
 Blame not the turns of fate, and chance of war ; 
 Give thy brave foes their due, nor blufh to own 
 The fatal field by fuch great leaders won, 
 The field whence fam'd Eugenio bore away 
 Only the fecond honours of the day. 
 
 With 
 
66 Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 With floods of gore that from the vanquilht fell 
 The marfhes ftagnate, and the rivers fwell. 
 Mountains of flain lye heap'd upon the ground, 
 Or, midft the roarings of the Danube drown'd ; 
 Whole captive holts the conqueror detains 
 In painful bondage, and inglorious chains y- 
 Ev'n thofe who 'fcape the fetters and die fword, 
 Nor feek the fortunes of a happier lord, 
 Their raging king dishonours, to compleat 
 Marlbro'j great work, and finifh the defeat. 
 
 From Memminghens high domes, and Auiburg* walls, 
 The diftant battel drives tlT infulting Gauls, 
 Free'd by the terror of the victor's name 
 The refcu'd ftates his great protection claim ; 
 Whilft Ulme th' approach of her deliverer waits, 
 And longs to open her obfequious gates. 
 
 The hero's breaft ftill fwelis with great defigns, 
 In ev'ry thought the tow'ring genius ftunes : 
 H to the foe his dreadful coarfe he bends, 
 O'er the wide continent his march extends ; 
 If fieges in his lab'ring thoughts are form'd, 
 Camps are aflaulted, and an army ftorm'd ; 
 If to the fight his active foul is bent, 
 The fate of Europe turns on its event. 
 What diftant land, what region can afford 
 An action worthy his victorious fword : 
 Where will he next the flying Gaul defeat, 
 To make the feries of his toils compleat ? 
 
 Where the fwoln Rhine ruining with all its force 
 Divides the hoftile nations in its courfe, 
 While each contracts its bounds, or wider grows 
 Enlarg'd or ftraiten'd as the river flows, 
 
 On , 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 6y 
 
 On Gallia's fide a mighty bulwark ftands, 
 That all the wide extended plain commands ; 
 Twice, fince the war was kindled has he try'd 
 The victor's rage, and twice has chang'd its fide ; 
 As oft whole armies, with the prize o'erjoy'd, 
 Have the long fummer on its walls employ'd. 
 Hither our mighty chief his arms directs, 
 Hence future triumphs from the war expects ; 
 And, tho' the dog-ftar had its courfe begun, 
 Carries his arms ftill nearer to the fun : 
 Fixt on the glorious action he forgets 
 The change of feafons, and increafe of heats : 
 No toils are painful that can danger fhow, 
 No climes unlovely, that contain a foe. 
 
 The roving Gaul, to his own bounds reftrain'd, 
 Learns to encamp within his native land, 
 But foon as the victorious hoft he fpies, 
 From hill to hill, from ftream to ilream he flies : 
 Such dire impreffions in his heart remain 
 Of Marlbro'j fword, and HocJlet\ fatal plain : 
 In vain Biiiannirfs mighty chief befets 
 Their fhady coverts, and obfcure retreats ; 
 They fly the conqueror's approaching fame, 
 That bears the force of armies in his name. 
 
 Aujlria's young monarch, whofe imperial fway 
 Sceptres and thrones are deftin'd to obey, 
 Whofe boafted anceftry fo high extends 
 That in the pagan gods his lineage ends, 
 Comes from a-far, in gratitude to own 
 The great fupporter of his father's throne : 
 What tides of glory to his bofom ran, 
 Clafp'd in th' embraces of the god- like man ! 
 How were his eyes with pleafing wonder fixt, 
 To fee fuch fire with fo much fweetnefs mixt, 
 
 Such 
 
6S Poems on fever al Occasions, 
 
 Such eafie greatnefs, fuch a graceful port, 
 So turn'd and finifh'd for the camp or court ? 
 
 Achilles thus was form'd with ev'ry grace, 
 And Nereus fhone but in the fecond place ; 
 Thus the great father of almighty Rome 
 (Divinely flumt with an immortal bloom 
 That Cytberea's fragrant breath beftow'd) 
 In all the charms of his bright mother glow'd. 
 
 The royal youth by Marlb 6V prefence charm'd, 
 Taught by his counfels, by his actions warm'd, 
 On Landau with redoubled fury falls, 
 Difcharges all his thunder en its walls, 
 O'er mines and caves of death provokes the fight, 
 And learns to conquer in the Hero's fight. 
 
 The Britijh chief, for mighty toils renown'd, 
 Increas'd in titles, and with conquefts crown'd, 
 
 To Belgian coafls his tedious march renews, 
 And the long windings of the Rhine purfues, 
 Clearing its borders from umrping foes, 
 And bleft by refcu'd nations as he goes. 
 Treves fears no more, freed from its dire alarms ; 
 And Tarbach feels the terror of his arms, 
 Seated on rocks her proud foundations make, 
 While M a rlbo preJTes to the bold attack, 
 Plants all his batt'ries, bids his cannon roar, 
 And mows how Landau might have falPn before. 
 Scar'd at his near approach, great Louis fears 
 Vengeance referv d for his declining years, 
 Forgets his thirir. of univerfal fway, 
 And fcarce can teach his fubjedls to obey ; 
 His arms he finds on vain attempts employed, 
 Th 1 ambitious projects for his race deltroy'd, 
 
 The 
 
Poems on fever al Occasions. 69 
 
 The work of ages funk in one campaign, 
 And lives of millions facrinVd in vain. 
 
 Such are th' effects of ANN As royal cares : 
 By her, Britannia, great in foreign wars, 
 Ranges thro' nations, wherefo'er disjoin'd, 
 Without the wonted aid of fea and wind. 
 By her th' unfetter'd Ijlers ftates are free, 
 And tafle the fweets of Englijh liberty ; 
 But who can tell the joys of thofe that lye 
 Beneath the conllant influence of her eye ! 
 Whilft in diffufive ihow'rs her bounties fall 
 Like heav'n's indulgence, and defcend on all, 
 Secure the happy, fuccour the diilrelt, 
 Make ev'ry fubject glad, and a whole people bleft. 
 
 Thus wou'd I fain Britannia's wars rehearfe, 
 In the fmooth records of a faithful verfe ; 
 That if fuch numbers can o'er time prevail, 
 May tell poflerity the wond'rous tale. 
 When actions, unadorn'd, are faint and weak, 
 Cities and countries mull be taught to fpeak ; 
 Gods may defcend in factions from the fkies, 
 And rivers from the oozy beds arife ; 
 Fiction may deck the truth with fpurious rays, 
 And round the Hero call a borrow'd blaze. 
 M a r l b r 6's exploits appear divinely bright, 
 And proudly lhine in their own native light ; 
 Rai&'d of themfelves, their genuine charms they boaft, 
 And thofe who paint 'em trueft praife 'em moll. 
 
 ROSA- 
 
ROSAMOND. 
 
 A N 
 
 OPERA 
 
 Infcrib'd to her Grace, The 
 
 Dutchefs of MARLBOROUGH. 
 
 Hie quos durus Amor crudeli tabe peredit 
 Secreti celant Calks, et Myrtea circum 
 Sylva tegit. 
 
 \%%^%%%m%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 
 
Poems on fever al Occasions. 73 
 
 A Copy of V e r s e s in the fixth Mifcellany, 
 T O T H E 
 
 AUTHOR 
 
 O F 
 
 R S A M N D. 
 
 ■■ Ne forte pudori 
 
 Sit tibi Mufa Lyra filers, et Cantor Apollo. 
 
 By Mr. T 1 c K e l l, 
 
 HH 1 HE opera fir ft Italian mafters taught ', 
 
 Enrictid with fongs, but innocent of tbottg If. 
 
 Britannia'* learned theatre difdains 
 Melodious trifles •, and enervate ft rains i 
 And bhtjbes on her injur d ft age to fee 
 Konfinfe well tund, and ftweet ftupidity. 
 
 A'0 charms are wanting to thy artful fang. 
 Soft as Corelli, but as Virgil ftrong. 
 From words Jo fweet new grace the notes receive. 
 And mufick borrows helps, Jhe us 'd to give. 
 -foyftyle hath matched v:hat ancient Romans knew, 
 Thy flowing numbers far excel the new i 
 
 E 2 Tl:eir 
 
74 Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 Their cadence in fuch eafy found convey 'd, 
 That height of thought may feem fuperfuous aid; 
 Yet in fuch charms the noble thoughts abound, 
 That needlcjs fern the facets of eafie found. 
 
 Landfchapes hovj gay the bow ty grotto yields, 
 
 Which thought creates, and lav ijb fancy builds ! 
 
 What art can trace the vifionary fcenes, 
 
 The ftowry groves, and everlajiing greens, 
 
 The balling founds that mimick echo plays, 
 
 The fairy /hade, and its eternal maze, 
 
 Nature and art in all their charms combind, 
 
 And all Elyfmm to o?ie view confined! 
 
 No further could imagination roam, 
 
 9 Till Vanbrook framed, and Malbro' raised the dome. 
 
 Ten thoufand pangs my anxious bofom tear, 
 When drown d in tears 1 fee tti imploring fair : 
 When bard> lefs foft the moving vjords fupply, 
 A fecming jujlice dooms the nymph to die J 
 But here Jhe begs, nor canfbe beg in vain, 
 {In dirges thus expiring fwains complain) 
 Each verfe Jo fvcells, exprefjlve of her woes, 
 And evjy tear in lines fo mournful flovos ; 
 We, fpight of fame, her fate reversed believe, 
 Overlook her crimes, and think Jhe ought to live. 
 
 Let joy tranfport fair RofamondV fhade, 
 And wreaths of myrtle crown the lovely maid. 
 While now perhaps with DidoV ghojl fbe roves, 
 And hears and tells the fory of their loves, 
 Alike thy mourn, alike they blcfs their fate, 
 Since love, which made 1 em wretched, makes 1 em great, 
 Nor longer that relentlefs doom bemoan, 
 Which gained a Virgil and an Addison. 
 
 Accept. 
 
Poems on fever al Occasons. 75 
 
 Accept ', great monarch of the Britifli lays, 
 The tribute Jong an humble fubj eel pays. 
 So tries the artlefs Lark her early flight. 
 And /oars, to hail the god of <verfe, and light. 
 UnrivaPd as thy merit be thy fame, 
 And thy o<wn laurels Jhade thy en<vyd name . 
 Thy name, the boaji of all the tuneful choir, 
 Shall tremble on the firings of cvry lyre ; 
 While the charmed reader nxsith thy thought complies, 
 Feels cor re/ponding joys or Jorrozvs rife, 
 And views thy Rofamoncl ^ith Henry* s eyes. 
 
 E 3 Dra- 
 
Dramatis Perform. 
 MEN. 
 
 King Henry. 
 
 Sir Trujty, Keeper of the Bower. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Meffenger. 
 
 WOMEN. 
 
 Queen Elinor. 
 
 Rofa?nond. 
 
 Grideline, Wife to Sir Trufty. 
 
 Guardian Angels^ &c. 
 
 SCENE Wood/lock Park. 
 
ROSAMOND. 
 
 »& 
 
 ACT I. SCENE I. 
 
 ^P;v?.^7e/ r Wood{lock-Park, terminating in the Bower. 
 
 Enter QUEEN and PAGE. 
 J^ V E E N. 
 
 WH A T place is here \ 
 What fcenes appear ! 
 Where-e'er I turn my eyes. 
 All around 
 Enchanted ground 
 
 And foft Elyfiums rife : 
 Flow'ry mountains, 
 Moffie fountains, 
 Shady woods, 
 Chryftal floods, 
 With wild variety furprife. 
 
 * As o'er the hollow vault* tVi walk. 
 An hundred echo's round us talk ; 
 From hill to hill the voice is toJl 9 
 Rocks rebounding. 
 Caves refounding, 
 Not a Jingle word is loft. Pn?f. 
 
 Alluding to the famous Echo in Wocdftock Park. 
 
73 ROSAMOND. 
 
 Page. There gentle Rofamond immured 
 Lives from the world and you fecured. 
 
 Queen. Curfe on the name ! I faint, I die, 
 
 With fecret pangs of jealoufie. [Jjide. 
 
 Page. There does the penfive beauty mourn, 
 And lanquifh for her lord's return. 
 
 Queen. Death and confufion ! I'm too flow \AfM. 
 
 Show .me the happy, manfion mow 
 Page. Great Henry there 
 Queen. Trifler, no more ! ■ 
 
 Page. ■ Great Henry there 
 
 Will foon forget the toils of war. 
 
 Queen. No more the happy manfion mow 
 That holds this lovely guilty foe. 
 My wrath, like that of heav'n, mail rife, 
 And blafl her in her Paradife. 
 
 Page. Behold on yonder riling ground. 
 The bower, that wanders 
 In meanders, 
 Ever bending 
 Never ending, 
 Glades on glades, 
 Shades in Jhades, 
 Pwining an eternal round. 
 Queen. In fuch an endlefs maze I rove, 
 Loft in labyrinths of love. 
 My breaft with hoarded vengeance burns, 
 While fear and rage 
 With hope engage, 
 And rule my wav'ring foul by turns. 
 Page . The path yon verdant field divides, 
 
 Which to the fbft confinement guides. 
 Queen. Eleonora, think betimes, 
 
 What are thy hated rival's crimes f 
 Whither, ah whither doft thou go ! 
 What has fhe done to move thee fo ! 
 
 Does fhe not warm with guilty fires 
 
 The faithlefs lord of my defires ? Have 
 
ROSAMOND. yc) 
 
 Have not her fatal arts remov'd 
 
 My Henry from my arms ? 
 'Tis her crime to be lov'd, 
 
 'Tis her crime to have charms. 
 Let us fly, let us fly, 
 She (hall die, me mail die. 
 / yW, I feel my heart relent : 
 How could the fair he innocent ! 
 
 To a monarch like mine, 
 Who would not refign / 
 One fo great and fo brave 
 All hearts mufl enfiave. 
 Page. Hark ! what found invades my ear ? 
 The conqueror's approach I hear. 
 
 He comes, <viclorious Henry comes ! 
 Hautboys , trumpets, fifes and drums > 
 In dreadful concert join 'd, 
 Send from afar 
 A found of war, 
 And fills with horror ev'ry wind. 
 Queen. Henry returns from danger free I 
 
 Henry returns ! but not to me. 
 
 He comes his Rofamond 'to greet, 
 And lays his laurels at her feet, 
 His vows impatient to renew ; 
 His VOWS to Eleanor a due. 
 Here mall the happy nymph detain, 
 (While of his abfence I complain) 
 Hid in her mazy, wanton bower, 
 My lord, my life, my conqueror. 
 No, no, "'tis decreed 
 The trait refs Jhall bleed ; 
 No fear /hall alarm, 
 No pity dif arm ; 
 In my rage Jhall be feen 
 The revenge of a $>ueen* 
 
 E 5 SCENE 
 
So ROSAMOND. 
 
 SCENE II. 
 
 The Entty of the Bower. 
 Sir TRV S TT, Knight of the Bower, folus. 
 
 How unhappy is "he, 
 That is ty d to a (he, 
 And fanidfor his wit and his beauty! 
 For of us pretty fellows 
 Our wives are fo jealous, 
 
 7 hey ne'er have enough of our duty. 
 But hah ! my limbs begin to quiver, 
 I glow, I burn, I freeze, I Ihiver ; 
 
 Whence rifes this convulfive ftrife ? 
 I fmell a fhrew ! 
 My fears are true, 
 I fee my wife. 
 
 SCENE III. 
 GRID EL IKE and Sir TR USTY. 
 
 Grid. Faithlefs varlet, art thou there ? 
 
 Sir Truf My love, my dove, my char:ji;:>g fair ! 
 
 Grid. Monfter, thy wheedling tricks I know. 
 
 Sir Truf. Why wilt thou call thy turtle fo ? 
 
 Grid. Cheat not me with falfe carefies. 
 
 Sir Truf Let me Hop thy mouth witn kiiTcs. 
 
 Grid. Thofe to fair Rojamond are due. 
 
 Sir Truf. She is not half fo fair as you. 
 
 Grid. She views thee wixh a lover's eye. 
 
 Sir Truf I'll ftill be thine, and let her die. 
 
 Grid. No, no, 'tis plain . Thy frauds I ief , 
 Traitor to thy king and me ! 
 
 Sir Truf. O Gridiline ' confutt thy glaf> 
 Behold thai fwtet bewitching face 3 
 
 TU> 
 
ROSAMOND. Si 
 
 Tho/e blooming cheeks, that lovely hue ! 
 Ev'ry feature 
 (Charming creature) 
 JVM convince you lam true. 
 
 Grid. Oh hovu blejl were Grideline, 
 Could I call Sir Trufly mine ! 
 Did he not cover amorous voiles 
 With /oft, but ah ! deceiving /miles : 
 Ho zv Jhould I revel in delight, 
 The /pou/e offuch a peerle/s knight ! 
 
 Sir Truf. At length the florm begins to ceafe, 
 iVe footh'd and flatter'd her to peace. 
 'Tis now my turn to tyrannize : [ Afid** 
 
 I feel, I feel my fury rife ! 
 Tigrefs, be gone. 
 
 Grid. ' I love thee Co 
 
 "T cannot go. 
 
 Sir Truf Fly from my paffion, Beldame, fly f 
 
 Grid. Why fo unkind, Sir Trufty why ? 
 
 Sir Truf. Thou'rt the plague of my life. 
 
 Grid. I'm a foolifh, fond Wife. 
 
 Sir Truf. Let us part, 
 Let us part. 
 
 Grid. Will you break my poor heart ? 
 Will you break my poor heart ? 
 
 Sir Tru/ I will if I can. 
 
 Grid. O barbarous man ! 
 From whence doth all this paflion flow ? 
 
 Sir Truf. Thou art ugly and old, 
 And a villanous fold. 
 
 Grid. Thou art a rufick to call me fo. 
 Tm not ugly nor old, 
 Nor a villanous fold, 
 But thou art a rufick to call me fo. 
 Thou t Traitor t adieu / 
 
 Sir Truf. 
 
3* R S A M O D. 
 
 Sir Truf. Fare-zve/, tbou Jbre<w f 
 Grid. Tbou Traitor, 
 Sir Truf. Tbou Jhreiv. 
 
 Both. Adieu! adieu! [Exit Grid.. 
 
 Sir Irujiy, folus. 
 
 How hard is our fate, 
 
 Who ferve in the ft ate, 
 
 And lhould lay out our cares 
 
 On publick Affairs ; 
 
 When conjugal toils, 
 
 And family-broils 
 Make all our great labours mifcarry I 
 
 Yet this is the lot 
 
 Of him that has got 
 
 Fair Ro/amond^s bower, 
 
 With the clew in his power, 
 
 And is courted by all 
 
 Both the great and the fmall, 
 As principal pimp to the mighty king Hany, 
 
 But fee, the penfive fair draws near : 
 
 HI at a diftance fland and hear. 
 
 SCENE IV. 
 
 ROSAMOND and Sir TRUST Y. 
 
 Rof. From walk to walk, from made to fiiade^, 
 From dream to purling ftream convey 'd, 
 Through all the mazes of the grove, 
 Through all the mingling tracts I rove, 
 
 Turning, 
 
 Burning, 
 
 Changing, 
 
 Ranging, 
 Full of grief and full of love. 
 Impatient for my lord's return 
 l£igh, I pine, 1 we, 1 mourn, 
 
 #'* 
 
ROSAMOND. 83 
 
 Was everpajfion croft 1 d like mine ? 
 To rend my breaff, 
 And break my reft, 
 A thoufand thoufand ills combine. 
 Ab fence ivounds me, 
 Fear furrounds me, 
 Guilt confound me, 
 Was e-ver paffion oofs' d like mine? 
 
 Sir Truf What heart of Hone 
 Can hear her moan, 
 And not in dumps fo doleful join I [Apart.. 
 
 Rof How does my conftant grief deface 
 The pleafures of this happy place ! 
 In vain the fpring my fenfes greets 
 In all her colours, all her fweets ; 
 To me the rofe 
 No longer glows, 
 Ev'ry plant 
 Has loft its fcent : 
 The vernal blooms of various hue, 
 The bloffoms frefh with morning dew, 
 The breeze, that fweeps thefe fragrant bowers, 
 FilPd with the breath of op'ning flowVs, 
 Purple fcenes, 
 Winding greens, 
 Glooms inviting, 
 Birds delighting, 
 (Nature's fofteft, fweeteft ftore) 
 Charm my tortur'd foul no more. 
 Ye powers, 1 ra*oe, 1 faint, J die : 
 Why fo flow ! great Henry, rvhy ! 
 From death and alarms 
 Fly, fly to my arms, 
 Fly to my Arms, my monarch fly ! 
 
 Sir Truf 
 
\ 
 
 84 ROSAMOND. 
 
 Sir TruA How much more blefs'd would lovers be, 
 Did all the whining fools agree 
 To live like Gride line and me ! [Apart. 
 
 Rof O Rofamond, behold too late, 
 And tremble at thy future fate ! 
 Curfe this unhappy, guilty face, 
 Every charm, and every grace, 
 That to thy ruin made their way, 
 And led thy innocence aftray : 
 
 At home thou feeft thy queen enrag'd, . % 
 
 Abroad thy abfent lord engaged 
 In wars that may our loves disjoin, 
 And end at once his life and mine. 
 
 Sir Truf. Such cold complaints befit a nun : 
 If fhe turns honeft, I'm undone ! [Apart. 
 
 Rof. Beneath fome hoary mountain 
 Til lay me down and weep t 
 Or near fome warbling fountain 
 
 Bewail my felf afleep ; 
 Where feather d choirs combining 
 
 With gentle murmuring Jireams, 
 And winds in confort joining, 
 
 Raije fadlj-p leafjng dreams. 
 
 Sir Trufy folus. 
 What favage tyger would not pity 
 A damfel fo diftrefs'd and pretty ? 
 But hah ! a found my bower invades, 
 
 And echo's through the winding fhade5 
 'Tis Henrys march ! the tune I knew 
 A mdfcngcr ! it muft be fo. 
 
 [Exit Rofamond. 
 
 Trumpets flour ifb. 
 
 SCENE 
 
ROSAMOND. 85 
 
 SCENE V. 
 
 A MESSENGER W&VTRUSTY. 
 
 Mef Great Henry comes ! with love oppreft ; 
 Prepare to logde the royal gueft. 
 From purple fields with flaughter fpread, 
 From rivers choak'd with heaps of dead, 
 From glorious and immortal toils, 
 Loaden with honour, rich with fpoils, 
 Great Henry comes ! prepare thy bower 
 To lodge the mighty conqueror. 
 
 Sir T. The bower and lady both are dreft, 
 And ready to receive their gueft. 
 
 Mef. Hither the victor flies, (his queen 
 And royal progeny unfeen ; 
 Soon as the Britifh mores he reached, 
 Hither his foaming courfer ftretched : 
 And fee ! his eager fteps prevent 
 The mehage that himfelf hath fent ! 
 
 Sir T. Here will I Hand 
 With hat in hand, 
 
 Obfequioufly to meet him, 
 And mult endeavour 
 At behaviour, 
 
 That's fuitable to greet him. 
 
 SCENE VI. 
 
 Enter King He lry after aflourijh of Trumpets. 
 
 King. Where is my love ! my Rofamond ! 
 
 Sir T. Firft, as in ftricleft duty bound, 
 I kifsyour royal hand, 
 
 King. Where is my life ! my Rofamond. 
 
 Sir T. Next with fubmiffion moil profound. 
 I welcome you to land. 
 
 King. Where is the tender charming fair.' 
 
 Sir 71 
 
86 ROSAMOND. 
 
 Sir f. Let me appear, great Sir, I pay, 
 Methodical in what I fay. 
 
 King. Where is my love, O tell me where ! 
 Sirf. For when we have a prince's ear, 
 We mould have wit, 
 To know what's fit 
 For us to fpeak, and him to hear. 
 
 King. Thefe dull delays I cannot bear. 
 Where is my love, O tell me where ! 
 
 Sir T. I fpeak, great Sir, with weeping eyes, 
 She raves, alas ! fhe faints, fhe dies. 4 
 
 King. What doft thou fay ? I fhake with fear. 
 Sir T. Nay good my liege, with patience hear. 
 She raves, and faints, and dies, 'tis true ; 
 But raves, and faints, and dies for you. 
 
 King- Was ever Nymph like Rofamond, 
 Se fair, fo faithful, and fo fond, 
 Adorn d with evry charm and grace! 
 Tm all defire ! 
 My heart's on fire, 
 And leaps and fprings to her embrace. 
 
 Sir T. At the fight of her lover 
 She'll quickly recover. 
 
 What place will you chufe 
 For firft interviews? 
 King. Full in the center of the grove, 
 In yon pavilion made for love, 
 Where woodbines, rofes, jeffamines, 
 Amaranths, and eglantines, 
 With intermingling fweets have wove 
 The particolour'd gay alcove. 
 
 Sir. T. Your highnefs, Sir, as I prefume, 
 Has chofe the moil convenient gloom ; 
 There's not a fpot in all the park 
 Has trees fo thick, and fhadcb fo dark. 
 
 King. 
 
 
ROSAMOND. $7 
 
 King. Mean-while with due attention wait 
 To guard the bower, and watch the gate ; 
 Let neither envy, grief, nor fear, 
 Nor love-fick jealoufie appear ; 
 Nor fenfelefs pomp, nor noife intrude 
 On this delicious folitude ; 
 But pleafure reign through all the grove, 
 And all be peace, and all be love. 
 O the pfeafng, pleaf.ng anguifi, 
 When we love, and when ive languijh f 
 
 Wijhes rifing ! 
 
 Thought furprizing 
 
 Pleafure courting ! 
 
 Charms tranfporting ! 
 
 Fancy <vieiving 
 
 Joys enfuing ! 
 O thep/eafng, pleafing a?igui/h ! [Exeunt, 
 
 ACT II. SCENE I. 
 
 A Pavilion in the middle of the Bower, 
 KING ^ROSAMOND. 
 
 KING. 
 
 H U S let my weary foul forget 
 Refllefs glory, martial ftrife, 
 Anxious pleafures of the great, 
 
 And gilded cares of life. 
 
 Rof. Thus let me lofe, in rifing joys* 
 
 Fierce impatience, fond defires, 
 Abfencethatflatt'ring hope deftroys, 
 
 And life-confuming fires, 
 
 King. Not the loud Britijh fhout that warms 
 The warrior's heart, nor clafhing arms, 
 
 T 
 
 Nor 
 
SS ROSAMOND. 
 
 Nor fields with hoftile banners ftrow'd, 
 Nor life on proftrate Gauls beftow'd, 
 Give half the joys that fill my bread, 
 While with my RofamondYm bleft. 
 
 Rof My Henry is my foul's delight, 
 My wifh by day, my dream by night. 
 'Tis not in language to impart 
 The fecret meltings of my heart, 
 While I my conqueror furvey, 
 And look my very foul away. 
 
 King. O may the prefent blifs endure, 
 From fortune, time, and death fecure ! 
 Both. O may the prefent blifs endure! 
 King. My eye cou'd ever gaze, my ear 
 Thofe gentle founds cou'd ever hear : 
 But oh ! with noon-day heats oppreft, 
 My aking temples call for reft ! 
 In yon cool grotto's artful night 
 Refreshing fl umbers I'll invite, 
 Then feek again my abfent fair, 
 With all the love a heart can bear. [Exit King. 
 
 Rofa. fola. From whence this fad prefaging fear, 
 This fudden figh, this falling tear ? 
 Oft in my filent dreams by night 
 Withfuch a look I've feen him fly, 
 Wafted by angels to the fky, 
 And loft in endlefs tracks of light; 
 While I, abandon'd and forlorn, 
 To dark and difmal defarts born, 
 Through lonely wilds have feem'd to ftray, 
 A long, uncomfortable way. 
 
 They're fantoms all ; Pll think no more : 
 My life has endlefs joys in fore. 
 Fareivel forrozv, fareivelfear, 
 They re fantoms all J my Henry's here. 
 
 SCENE 
 
ROSAMOND. 89 
 
 SCENE II. 
 
 A Pojlern Gate of the Boiver. 
 GRJDELINEWPAGE. 
 
 Grid. My ftomach fwells with fecret fpight, 
 To fee my fickle faithlefs knight, 
 With upright gefture, goodly mien, 
 Face of olive, coat of green, 
 That charm'd the ladies long ago, 
 So little his own worth to know, 
 On a meer girl his thoughts to place, 
 With dimpled cheeks, and baby face ;) 
 A child ! a chit! that was not born, 
 When I did town and court adorn. 
 
 Page. Can any man prefer fifteen 
 To venerable Gride line ? 
 
 Grid. He does my child ; or tell me why, 
 With weeping eyes fo oft I fpy 
 His whiikers curFd, and flioe-ftrings tytf, 
 Anew tcledo by his fide, 
 In fhoulder-belt fo trimly plac'd, 
 With band fo nicely fmooth'd and lac'd. 
 
 Page. If Rofamond his garb has view'd* 
 The knight is falfe, the nymph fubdu'd. 
 
 Grid. My anxious boding heart divine* 
 His falfhood by a thoufand figns : 
 Oft o'-er the lonely rocks he walks, 
 And to the foolifh echo talks j 
 Oft in the glafs he rolls his eye r 
 But turns and frowns if I am by ; 
 Then my fond eafie heart beguiles, 
 And thinks of Rofamond and fmiles. 
 
 Page. Well may you feel thefe foft alarms, 
 
 She has a heart — 
 
 Grid. And he has charms. 
 
 Page. Your fears are toojuft ■■ ■ ■ 
 
 Grid- 
 
90 ROSAMOND. 
 
 Grid. Too plainly I've prov'd 
 
 Both. He loves and is lovd. 
 Grid. O mercilefs fate I 
 Page. Deplorable ft ate ! 
 
 Grid. To die 
 
 Page. To be /lain. 
 Grid. By a barbarous f.vain, 
 Both. That laughs at your pain. 
 Grid. Howfhou'd lad ? canftthouadvife? 
 Page. Open the gate, if you are wife; 
 I, in an unfufpected hour, 
 May catch 'em dallying in the bower, 
 Perhaps their loofe amours prevent, 
 And keep Sir Trufly innocent. 
 Grid. Thou art in truth 
 A forward youth. 
 Of wit and parts r.bove thy age ; 
 Thou know'ir. our fex. Thou apt a Page. 
 Page, ril do what I can 
 To furprize the falfe man. 
 Grid Of fuch a faithful fpy IVe need : * 
 Go in, and if thy plot fucoeed, 
 Fair youth, thou niay'ft depend on this, 
 I'll pay thy fervice with a ktfs. [Exit Page. 
 
 Grid. fola. Prythee Cupid no mors 
 Hurl thy darts at three/core, 
 To thy girls and thy boys 
 Gi<ve thy pains and thy joys ', 
 Let Sir Trufly and jne , 
 
 From thy frolicks be free, [Ex. Grid- 
 
 SCENE 
 
 An opening Scene difcovers another view of the Bo-jjer. 
 
ROSAMOND. 91 
 
 SCENE III. 
 PAG Efilus. 
 O the foft delicious view, 
 Ever charming, ever new? 
 Greens cf various mades arife, 
 Deck'd with flow'rs of various dies : 
 Paths by meeting paths are croft, 
 Alleys in winding alleys loft ; 
 Fountains playing through the trees, 
 Give coolnefs to the pafling breeze. 
 A thoufand fairy fcenes appear. 
 Here a gro<ve, a grotto here. 
 Here a rock, and here a jiream. 
 Sweet delufion, 
 Gay confufion, 
 All a infon, all a dream f 
 
 SCENE IV. 
 
 Q^U E E N and PAGE. 
 
 Queen. At length the bow'ry vaults appear ! 
 My bofom heaves, and pants with fear ; 
 A thoufand checks my heart controul, 
 A thoufand terrours make my foul . 
 
 Page. Behold the brazen gate unbar'd : 
 
 She's fixt in thought, lam not heard [Apart, 
 
 Queen. I fee, I fee my hands embru'd 
 In purple ftreamsof reeking blood : 
 I fee the victim gafp for breath, 
 And ftart in agonies of death : 
 I fee my raging dying Lord, 
 And O, I fee my felf abhorr'd ! 
 
 Page. My eyes o'erflow, my heart is rent 
 To hear Brita?inia!$ Queen lament. \_AfM, 
 
 Queen. What fha!l my trembling foul purfue ? 
 
 Page, Behold, great queen, the place in view! 
 
 Queen* 
 
9 z ROSAMOND. 
 
 Queen. Ye pow'rs initruft me what to do I 
 Page. That Bow'r will mow 
 
 The guilty foe. 
 Queen. —It is decreed — it mall be fo ; \_After a Pdu/e. 
 1 cannot fee my Lord repine 
 (O that I coud call him mine ! ) 
 Why ha<ve not they mojl charms to move, 
 Whofe hofoms burn with purefl love i 
 
 Page. Her heart with rage and fondnefs glows, 
 Ojealoufie ! thou hell of woes I [J/tde* 
 
 That confcious fcene of love contains 
 The fatal caufe of all your pains : 
 In yonder flow'ry vale me lies, 
 Where thofe fair blofibm'd arbours rife. 
 Queen. Let us halle to deltroy 
 Her guilt and her joy. 
 Wild and fran tick is my grief! 
 Fury driving, 
 Mercy ft 'riving, 
 Heaven in pity fend relief 1 . 
 The pangs of love 
 Te pomfrs remove, 
 Or dart your thunder at my head : 
 Love and defpair 
 What heart can bear ? 
 Eafe my foul, or Jlrike me dead! [Exeunt. 
 
 SCENE V. 
 
 The Scene changes to the Pavilion as before. 
 ROSAMOND/^. 
 Tranf porting pleafure ! who can tell it ! 
 When our longing eyes difcover 
 The kind, the dear, approaching lover, 
 Who can utter, or conceal it ! 
 A fudden motion makes the grove : 
 I hear the Heps of him I love ; 
 
 Prepare, 
 
ROSAMOND. 93 
 
 Prepare, my foul, to meet thy biffs f 
 
 — Death to my eyes; what fight is this f 
 
 The Queen, th' offended Queen I fee I 
 
 Open, O earth ! and fwallovv me ! 
 
 SCENE VI. 
 
 Enter to her the g)JU E E N with a Bowl in one 
 Hand, and a Dagger in the other. 
 
 Queen. Thus arm'd with double death I come : 
 Behold, vain wretch, behold thy doom ! 
 Thy crimes to their full period tend, 
 Andfoon by This, or This fhallend. 
 
 Rof. What {hall I fay, or how reply 
 To threats of injur'd Majeity ? 
 
 Queen.'T'is guilt that does thy tongue controul, 
 Or quickly drain the fatal Bowl, 
 Or this right hand performs its part, 
 And plants a Dagger in thy heart. 
 
 Rof Can Britain's queen give fuch commands, 
 Or dip in blood thofe facred hands ? 
 In her (hall fuch revenge be feen ? 
 Far be that from Britain's queen ! 
 
 Queen. How black does my defign appear ? 
 Was ever mercy fo fevere ! [Jjide. 
 
 Rof. When tides of youthful blood run high, 
 And fcenes of promised joys are nigh, 
 Health prefuming, 
 Beauty blooming, 
 Oh hotv dreadful 'tis to die / 
 
 Queen. To thofe whom foul diflionours ftain, 
 Life it lelf mould be a pain. 
 
 Rof. Who could refill: great Henrys charms, 
 And drive the hero from her arms ? 
 
 Think on the/oft, the tender fires, 
 Melting thoughts, and gay deftres, 
 That in your o-zvn warm bofoin rife, 
 When languishing ivitb lo^oefick eyes, That 
 
94 ROSAMOND. 
 
 That great, that charming man you fee : 
 Think on.your felf, and pity me ! 
 
 Queen. And doft thou thus thy guilt deplore ! 
 
 [Offering the Dagger to her Br tap. 
 Prefumptuous woman ! plead no more ! 
 
 Rof. O queen, your lifted arm reftrain ! 
 Behold thefe tears ! 
 
 Queen. They flow in vain. 
 
 Rof Look with companion on my fate ! 
 O hear my fighs .' 
 
 Queen. They rife too late. 
 
 Hope not a day's, an hour's reprieve. 
 
 Rof. Tho' I live wretched, let me live. 
 In fome deep dungeon let me lye, 
 Cover'd from ev'ry human eye, 
 Eanilh'd the day, debarr'd the light j 
 Where fhades of everlafting night 
 May this unhappy face difarm, 
 \nd call a veil o'er ev'ry charm : 
 Offended heaven I'll there adore, 
 Nor fee the Sun, nor Henry more. 
 
 Queen. Moving language, fhining tears, 
 Glowing guilt, and graceful fears, 
 Kindling pity, kindling rage, 
 At once provoke me, and affhvage. [Afiae. 
 
 Rcf. What fhall I do to paciiie 
 Your kindled vengeance ? 
 
 Queen. Thou {halt die. [Offering the Dagger. 
 
 Rof. Give me but one fhort moment's Hay. 
 m O Henry, why fo far away ? [Jfide. 
 
 Queen. Prepare to welter in a flood 
 Of ftreaming gore. [Offering the Dagger. 
 
 j> j] O fpare my blood, 
 
 And let me grafp the deadly bowl, 
 
 [Takes the Bowl in her Hand. 
 
 Queen. Ye pow'rs how pity rends my foul ! [Jfide. 
 
 Rof. 
 
ROSAMOND. S5 
 
 Rof. Thus proftrate at your feet I fall. 
 O let me flill for mercy call ! [Falling on her biees. 
 
 Accept, great Queen, like injured heaven, 
 The foul that begs to he forgiven : 
 If in the latefl gafp of breath. 
 If in the dreadful pains of death, 
 When the cold damp bedevjs your brotv, 
 You hope for mercy, fhovj it novo. 
 
 Queen. Mercy to lighter crimes is due, 
 Horrors and death fhall thine purfue. [Offering the dagger. 
 Rof. Thus I prevent the fatal blow [Drinks. 
 
 . Whether, ah ! whether fhall I go f 
 
 Queen. Where thy part life thou fhalt lament, 
 And wifh thou had'ft been innocent. 
 
 Rof. Tyrant ! to aggravate the frroke, 
 And wound a heart, already broke ! 
 My dying foul with fury burns, 
 And flighted grief to madnefs turns. 
 
 Think not, thou author of my vuoc, 
 TJwt Rofamond vjill leave theefo : 
 At dead of night, 
 A glaring fpright, 
 With hideous fcreams 
 Til haunt thy dreams ; 
 And when the painful night voithdravjs, 
 My Henry fliall revenge my caufe. 
 O whither does my frenzy drive ! 
 Forgive my rage, your wrongs forgive. 
 My veins are froze: ; my blood grows chill ; 
 The weary fprings of life ftand flill ; 
 The fleep of death benumbs all o'er 
 
 My fainting limbs, and I'm no more. [Falls on the couch. 
 Queen. Here and obferve your queen's commands. 
 
 [To her Attendants. 
 Beneath thofe hills a convent Hands, 
 Where the fam'd ftreams of Ifit ftray ; 
 Thither the breathlcfs coarfe convey, 
 
 Vol. I. F And 
 
g6 Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 And bid the cloifter'd maids with care 
 
 The due folemnites prepare. [Exeunt with the Body. 
 
 When 'vnnqurjh' d foes beneath us lye 
 
 How great it is to hid them Die f 
 
 But how much greater to forgive, 
 
 And bid a vanquijti d foe to li<ve ! 
 
 SCENE VII. 
 
 Sir TRUSTY in a ¥nght. 
 
 A breatlilefs corps ! what have I feen ! 
 
 And followed by the jealous queen! 
 
 It mult be me ! my fears are true : 
 
 The bowl of pois'nous juice I view. 
 
 How can the fam'd Sir Trufty live 
 
 To hear his mafier chide and grieve ? 
 
 No! tho 1 1 hate fuch bitter beer 
 
 Fair Rofamond, I'll pledge thee here. [Drinks. 
 
 The king this doleful news mall read 
 In lines of my inditing : 
 " Great Sir, [Writes. 
 
 " Your Rofamond is dead 
 
 " As I am at this prefent writing. 
 The bower turns round, my brain's abus'd, 
 7he labyrinth grows more confused, 
 
 The thickets dance If retch, I yawn. 
 
 Death has tripfdup my heels Tm gone. 
 
 [Staggers and falls. 
 
 SCENE VIII. 
 
 QJJ E E N fola. 
 
 ' The conflict of my mind is o'er, 
 .And Rofa?nond mail charm no more. 
 
 Hence ye fecret damps of care, 
 
 Fierce difdain, and cold defpair, 
 
 Hence 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 97 
 
 Hence ye fears and doubts remove ; 
 
 Hence grief and hate ! 
 
 Ye pains that wait 
 On jealoufie, the rage of love. 
 
 My Henry foall be mine alone 9 
 
 'The heroejball be all my own ; 
 
 Nobler joys pojfefs my heart 
 
 Than crowns and Jcepters can impart, 
 
 ACT III. SCENE I. 
 
 SCENEj Grotto, Henry afleep, a cloud de- 
 [ccnds, in it two Angels fuppos'd to he the Guardian 
 Spirits of the Britiih Kings in War and Peace* 
 
 1 ANGEL. 
 
 BE H O L D th' unhappy Monarch there, 
 That claims our tutelary care ! 
 2 Angel. In fields of death around his head 
 A fliield of Adamant I fpread. 
 
 1 Angel. In hours of peace, unfeen, unknown, 
 I hover o'er the Britifh throne. 
 
 2 Angel. When hoits of foes with foes engage, 
 And round th' anointed heroe rage, 
 
 The cleaving fauchion I mifguide, 
 And turn the feather' d fhaft afide. 
 
 1 Angel. When dark fermenting factions fwell, 
 And prompt th' ambitious to rebel, 
 
 A thouland terrors I impart, 
 
 And damp the furious traitor's heart. 
 
 Both. But oh what influence can remove 
 The pangs of grief, and rage of love ! 
 
 2 Angel. I'll fire his fcul with mighty, themes, 
 'Till love before Ambition fly. 
 
 F 2 I Angel 
 
9 3 ROSAMOND. 
 
 i Angel I'll footh his cares in pleafing dreams, 
 'Till grief in joyful raptures die. 
 
 2 Angel . Whatever glorious and renown' d 
 In Britifh annals can be found', j j 
 
 Whatever ail ions Jball adorn 
 Britannia'* heroes, yet unborn, 
 In dreadful vijions Jhall ' fucceed ; 
 On fancy d fields the Gaul Jball bleed, 
 CrefTy Jhall ft and before his eyes, 
 And Agincourt and Blenheim rife. 
 i Angel. See, fee, he fmiles amidft Ms trance. 
 And (hakes a vifionary lance, 
 His brain is filTd with loud alarms ; 
 Shouting armies, chilling arms, 
 The fofter prints of love deface; 
 
 And trumpets found m ev'ry trace. J 
 
 Both. Glory Ji rives I 
 
 The feld is ivon ! 
 fame revives, 
 
 And love is gone. 
 i Angel. To calm thy grief, and lull thy cares, 
 Look up and fee 
 What, after long revolving years, 
 
 Thy Bower (hall be ! 
 When time its beauties (hall deface, ^ 
 
 And only with its ruins grace > 
 
 The future profpecl of the place. 3 
 
 Behold the glorious pile attending ! * 
 Columns fwelling, arches bending, 
 Domes in awful pomp arfing, 
 Art in curious flrokes furprizing, 
 Foes in figur'd fights contending, 
 Behold the glorious pile afcending ! 
 2 Angel He fees, he fees the great reward 
 For Anna's mighty chief prepared : 
 
 His 
 
 * Scene changes to the Flan of Blenheim Cajlle. 
 
ROSAMOND. 99 
 
 His growing joys no meafure keep. 
 Too vehement and fierce for fleep. 
 
 I Angel. Let grief and love at once engage, 
 
 His heart is proof to all their pain; 
 Lc-ve may plead 
 
 2 Angel. -And grief may rage • ■•■ ■■■ 
 
 Both. But both Jball plead and rage in fain. 
 
 [The Angels afcend, and the vifion difappears. 
 
 HENRY, farting from the Couch. 
 Where have my ravim'd fenfes been ? 
 What joys, what wonders have I feen ? 
 The Scene yet Hands before my eye, 
 A thoufand glorious deeds that lye 
 In deep futurity obfeure, 
 Fights and triumphs immature, 
 Heroes immers'd in time's dark womb, 
 Ripening for mighty years to come, 
 Break forth, and, to the day difplay'd 
 My foft inglorious hours upbraid. 
 Tranfported with fo bright a fcheme, 
 My waking life appears a dream. 
 Adieu, ye wanton Jhades and bowers, 
 Wreaths of myrtle, beds of flowers^ 
 
 Rofie brakes, 
 
 Silver lakes, 
 
 To lo-ve and you, 
 
 A long adieu ! 
 O Rofamondf O rifmg woe ! 
 Why do my weeping eyes o'errlow ? 
 O Rofamondf O fair ditfrefs'd ! 
 How (hall my heart, with grief opprefs'd. 
 Its unrelenting purpofe tell ; 
 And take the long, the laft farewel I 
 Rife, Glory, rife in all thy charms, 
 Thy waving creft, and bumifh'd arms, 
 
 F 3 Spread 
 
joo Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 Spread thy gilded banners round, 
 
 Make thy thundering courfer bound, 
 
 Bid the drum and trumpet join, 
 
 Warm my foul with rage divine ; 
 
 411 thy pomps around thee call: 
 
 To conquer love will ajk them all. [Exit. 
 
 SCENE II. 
 
 The Scene changes to that part of the Bower where 
 Sir Trufty lies upon the ground^ with the Bowl 
 and Dagger on the Table. 
 
 Enter Q^UEEN. 
 
 Every {for, and every pow'er, 
 Look down on this important hour : 
 Lend your protection and defence 
 Every guard of innocence I 
 Help me my Henry to'affwage, 
 To gain his love, or bear his rage. 
 Myfterious love, uncertain treafure, 
 Ha'fl thou more of pain or pleafure / 
 Chill' d voith tears y 
 Killed with fears, 
 Endlefs torments dwell about thee : 
 Tet who would live, and live without thee : 
 But oh the fight my foul alarms : 
 
 My Lord appears, I'm all on fire I 
 Why am I baniih'd from his arms? 
 My heart's too full, I muft retire. 
 
 [Retires to the end of the Stage. 
 
 SCENE III. 
 KING and QJJ E E N. 
 
 King, Some dreadful birth of fate is near : 
 Or why, my foul, unus'd to fear, 
 
 With 
 
ROSAMOND. 101 
 
 With fecret horror dofc thou make ? 
 Can Dreams fuch dire impreffions make ! 
 What means this folemn, filent fliow ? 
 This pomp of death, this fcene of woe ! 
 Support me, heaven ! what's this I read ? 
 Oh horror! Rofamond is dead. 
 What mail I fay, or whither turn ? 
 With grief, and rage, and love, I burn : 
 From thought to thought my foul is toft, 
 And in the whirle of paflion loft. 
 Why did I not in battel fall, 
 CruuYd by the thunder of the Ganl? 
 Why did the fpear my bofom mifs ? 
 Ye pow'rs, was I referv'd for thh ! 
 Di ft ratted with woe 
 I'll ruh on the foe 
 
 To fee k my relief: 
 The fvord or the dart 
 Shall pierce my fad hearty 
 Andf.nifh my grief ! 
 Queen. Fain wou*d my tongue his grief appeafe, 
 And give his tortur'd bofom eafe. [Afide. 
 
 King. But fee the caufe of all my fears, 
 The fource of all my grief appears ! 
 No unexpected guell is here. 
 The fatal bowl 
 Inform'd my foul 
 Eleonora was too near. 
 
 Queen. Why do I here my Lord receive r 
 King. Is this the welcome that you give ? 
 Queen. Thus mou'd divided lovers meet ? 
 Both. And is it thus, ah ! thus we greet ! 
 Queen. What in thefe guilty fhadescou'd you, 
 Inglorious conqueror, purfue ? 
 
 King. Cruel woman, what cou'd you ? 
 
 Queen. Degenerate thoughts have fir'd your breaft. 
 
 King. The thirft of blood has yours poiTefs'd, 
 
 Queen. 
 
102 ROSAMOND, 
 
 Queen. A heart fo unrepenting, 
 King. A rage fo unrelenting. 
 Both. Will forever 
 Love diffever. 
 Will for ever break our reft. 
 
 King. Floods of forrow will I fhed 
 To mourn the lovely (hade ! 
 My Rojamond, alas, is dead, 
 
 And where, O where convey 'd ! 
 So bright a bloom, fo foft an air. 
 
 Did ever nymph difclofe ! 
 The lilly tvas not half fo fair, 
 Nor half fo fiveet the rofe. 
 Queen. How is his heart with anguifh torn I [ Aside. 
 My Lord, I cannot fee you mourn ; 
 The living you lament : while I, 
 To be lamented fo, cou'd Die. 
 
 King. The living f fpeak, oh fpeak again ! 
 Why will you dally with my pain ? 
 
 Queen. Were your lov'd Rofatnond alive, 
 Woa'd not my former wrongs revive ? 
 
 King. Oh no j by vifions from above 
 Prepar'd for grief, and free'd from love, 
 I came to take my laft adieu. 
 
 Queen. How am I blefs'd if this be true ! [Jjjdf. 
 
 King. And leave th' unhappy nymph for you. 
 
 But O ! 
 
 Queen. Forbear, my Lord, to grieve, 
 And know your Rofamond does live. 
 If "'tis joy to wound a lover, 
 
 How much more to give him eafe * 
 When his pafjion voe dij cover, 
 
 Oh hozv pleafing 'tis to pleafe t 
 The blifs returns, and voe receive 
 Transports greater than vje give. 
 King. O quickly relate 
 This riddle of fate ! 
 
 My 
 
R SJMO FTB: 105 
 
 My impatience forgive, 
 Do Rofamond live ? 
 
 Queen. The bowl, with drowfie juices filPd, 
 From cold Egyptian drugs diilil'd, 
 In borrow'd death has clos'd her eyes : 
 But Toon the waking nymph mail rife. 
 And in a convent plac'd, admire 
 The cloiiler'd walls and virgin choire : 
 With them in fongs and hymns divine 
 The beauteous penitent fhall join, 
 And bid the guilty world adieu. 
 
 King. How am I blefl if this be true X [J/Idt. 
 
 Queen. Atoning for her felf and you. 
 
 King. I afk no more ! fecure the fair 
 Jn life and blifs : I afk not where : 
 For ever from my fancy fled 
 May the whole world believe her dead, 
 That no foul minifter of vice 
 Again my linking foul intice 
 Its broken paffion to renew, 
 But let me live and die with you. 
 
 Queen. How does my heart for fuch a prize 
 The vain cenfbrious world defpife, 
 Tho* diftant ages, yet unborn, 
 Fair Rofamond mail falfly mourn ; . 
 And with the prefent times agree, 
 To brand my name with cruelty ; 
 How does my heart for fuch a prize 
 The vain cenforious world defpife ! 
 
 But fee your flave, while yet I fpeak, 
 From his dull trance unfetter'd break 1 
 As he the Potion Hull furvive 
 Believe your Rofamond alive. 
 
 King . O happy day ! O pleating view \ 
 "My Queen forgives * 
 
 Queen. • My Lord, is U ue, 
 
 F 5 King 
 
io 4 R S A M N D. 
 
 King. No more Til change, 
 
 Queen. No wore r 11 grieve : 
 
 Both. But ever thus united live. 
 Sir Trudy awaking. 
 
 In which world am 1 I all I fee, 
 Ev'ry thicket, bum and tree, 
 So like the place from whence I came, 
 That one would fwear it were the fame. 
 My former legs too, by their pace ! 
 And by the Whifkers, 'tis my face ? 
 The felf-fame habit, garb and mien ! 
 They ne'er wou'd bury me in green. 
 
 SCENE IV. 
 
 GRIDELINEaW SirT R U S T Y. 
 
 Grid. Have Ithenliv'd to fee this hour, 
 And took thee in the very bow'r ? 
 
 Sir. T. Widow Trufty, why fo fine ? 
 Why doll thou thus in colours fnine ? 
 Thou mou'dft thy hufband s death bewail 
 In Sable vefture, peak and veil 
 
 Grid. Forbear thefe foolim freaks, and fee 
 How our good king and queen agree. 
 'Why fhou'd not we their fteps purfue, 
 And do as our fuperiors do ? 
 
 Sir T. Am I bewitch'd, or do I dream ? 
 I know not who, or where I am, 
 
 Or what I hear or what I fee, 
 
 But this I'm fure, howe'er it be, 
 
 It fuits a perfon in my ftation 
 
 T' obferve the mode, and be in fafhion. 
 
 Then let not Guideline the chafte 
 
 Offended be for what is part, 
 
 And hence ane\v*my vows I plight 
 
 To be a faithful courteous knight> 
 
 Grid. 
 
ROSAMOND. ids 
 
 Grid. I'll to my plighted vows renew, 
 Since 'tis fo courtly to be true. 
 Since conjugal pajffion 
 Is come intofafhion, 
 And marriage fo bleji on the throne is, 
 Like a Venus Tlljhine> 
 Be fond and be fine, 
 And Sir Tru&y/hallbe my Adonis. 
 Sir T. And SirTxx&y fhallbethy Adonis, 
 
 ^KING and QU E E N advancing. 
 King. Who to forbidden joys vvou'd rove, 
 That knows the Tweets of virtuous love ? 
 Hymen, thou fource of chafte delights, 
 Chearful days, and blifsful nights, 
 Thou doft untainted joys difpencc, 
 And pleafure join with innocence : 
 Thy raptures laft, and are finccre 
 From future grief and prefent fear. 
 
 Both. Who to forbidden joys <iuoud ro-ve, 
 That knows thefuoeets of virtuous km r 
 
 PROLOGUE 
 
io6 Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 P R O L OGUE 
 
 To the Tender Husband. * 
 Spoken by Mr. W I L K S. 
 
 IN the firft rife and infancy of farce, 
 When fools were many, and when plays were fcarce, 
 The raw unpra&is'd authors could with eafe, 
 A young and unexperienced audience pleafe : 
 No fingle Character had e'er been fhown, 
 But the whole herd of fops was all their own ; 
 Rich in originals, they fet to view, 
 In every piece, a coxcomb that was new. 
 
 But now our Britijb Theatre can boait 
 Drolesof all kinds, a vaft unthinking holt ! 
 Fruitful of folly and of vice, it mows 
 Cuckolds, and citts, and bawds, and pimps, and beaux ; 
 Rough-country knights are found of every mire; 
 Of every fafhion gentle fops appear ; 
 And punks of difFerent characters we meet, 
 As frequent on the fcage as in the Pit. 
 Our modern wits are forc'd to pick and cull. 
 And here and there by chance glean up a fool : 
 Long e'er they find the necefliry fpark, 
 They fearch the Town, and beat about the Park 
 To all his mod frequented haunts refort, 
 Oft dog him to the ring, and oft to court ; 
 As love ofpleafure, or of place invites: 
 And fometimes catch him taking fnuffat Wi.ites. 
 
 Howe'er, 
 
 * A Comedy written by Sir Richard Steele. 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 107 
 
 Howe'er, to do you right, the prefent age 
 Breeds very hopeful monfters for the ftage ; 
 That fcorn the paths their dull forefathers trod, 
 And vvoVt be blockheads in the common road. 
 Do but furvey this crowded houfe to-night : 
 
 Here's Hill encouragement for thofe that write, 
 
 Our author, to divert his friends to-day, 
 Stocks with variety of fools his play ; 
 And that there may be fomething gay, and new, 
 Two ladies-errant has expos'd to view : 
 The firft a damfel, travell'd in Romance; 
 The t'other more rcfin'd j fhe comes from France: 
 Refcue, like courteous knights, the nymph from danger > 
 And kindly treat, like well-bred men, the flranger. 
 
 EPILOGUE 
 
 To the Brit ish Enchanters.* 
 
 WHEN Orpheus tun'd his lyre with pleafmg woe, 
 Rivers forget to run, and winds to blow, 
 While liffning forefts cover'd, as he play'd, 
 The loft mufician in a moving (hade. 
 That this night's drains the fame fuccefs may find, 
 The force of magick is to mufick join'd : 
 Where founding ftrings and artful voices fail, 
 The charming rod and mutter 1 d fpells prevail. 
 Let fage Urganda wave the circling wand 
 On barren mountains, or a walte of fand, 
 
 The 
 
 * A Dramatick Poem written by the Lord Lanfdown. 
 
io8 Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 The defart fmiles; the woods begin to grow, 
 The birds to warble, and the fp rings to flow. 
 
 The fame dull fights in the fame landfcape mixt, 
 Scenes of flill life, and points for ever iix'd, 
 A tedious pleafure on the mind bellow, 
 And pall the fenfe with one continu'd fhow : 
 But as our two magicians try their fkill, 
 The vifion varies, tho' the place (lands ftill, 
 While the fame fpot its gaudy form renews, 
 Shifting the profpect to a thoufand views. 
 Thus (without unity of place tranfgrefl) 
 Th' Enchanter turns the critick to a jell.' 
 
 But howfoe'er to pleafe your wand'ring eyes, 
 Bright objects difappear and brighter rife : 
 There's none can make amends for loft delight, 
 While from that circle we divert your fight. 
 
 HORACE. 
 
 ODE III. BOOK III. 
 
 Auguftus had a Defign to rebuild Troy, and 
 make it the Metropolis of the Roman Empire ', 
 having clofetted feveral Senators on the Pro- 
 jecl : Horace is fuppos'd to have written the 
 following Ode on this occafwn. 
 
 TH E man refolv'd and fteady to his truit, 
 Inflexible to ill, and obftinately juil, 
 May the rude rabble's infolence defpife, 
 Their fenfelefs clamours and tumultuous cries ; 
 
 The 
 
Poems on fever al Occasions. ioq 
 
 The tyrant's fiercenefs he beguiles, 
 
 And the ftern brow, and the harfh voice defies, 
 
 And with fuperior greatnefs fmiles. 
 
 Not the rough whirlwind, that deforms 
 Adrian black gulf, and vexes it with ftorms, 
 The ftubborn virtue of his foul can move ; 
 Not the red arm of angry Jove, 
 That flings the thunder from the fey, 
 And gives it rage to roar, and ftrength to fly. 
 
 Should the whole frame of nature round him break, 
 In ruineand confufion hurl'd, 
 He unconcern'd, would hear the mighty crack, 
 And (land fecure amidft a falling world. 
 
 Such were the godlike arts that led 
 Bright Pollux to the bleit abodes ; 
 Such did for great Alcides plead, 
 And gain'd a place among the gods ; 
 Where now Augujlus, mix'd with heroes, lies, 
 And to his lips the neftar bowl applies : 
 His rudy lips the purple tincture fhow, 
 And with immortal ftains divinely glow. 
 
 By arts like thefe did young tyeeus rife : 
 His Tigers drew' him to the Ikies, 
 Wild from the defart and unbroke : 
 In vain they foam'd, in vain they ftar'd, 
 In vain their eyes with fury glar'd ; 
 He tam'd 'em to the lafh, and bent 'em to the yoke. 
 
 Such were the paths that Rome's great founder trod, 
 When in a whirlwind fnatch'd on high, 
 He fhook offdull mortality, 
 And loft the monarch in the god. 
 
 Bright 
 
i io PoENfcs on fever at Occasions. 
 
 Bright Juno then her awful filence broke, 
 And thus th' aflembled deities befpoke. 
 
 Troy, fays the goddefs, perjur'd Troy has felt 
 The dire effects of her proud tyrant's guilt ; 
 The towering pile and foft abodes, 
 Waird by the hand of fervile gods, 
 Now fpreads its ruines all around, 
 And lies inglorious on the ground. 
 An umpire, partial and unjuft, 
 And a lewd woman's impious luff, 
 Lay heavy on her head, and funk her to the duft. 
 
 Since falfe Laomedons tyrannick fway, 
 That durfl defraud th' immortals of their pay, 
 Her guardian gods renoune'd their patronage, 
 Nor wou'd the fierce invading foe repel ; 
 To my refentments, and Minerva s rage, 
 The guilty king and the whole people fell. 
 
 \ 
 
 And now the long. protracted wars are o'er, 
 The foft aduk'rer mines no more ; 
 No more do's Hefior's force the Trojans fhield, 
 That drove whole armies backhand fingly clear'd die field. 
 
 My vengeance fated, I at length refign 
 To Mars his off-fpring of the Trojan line : 
 Advanc'd to god- head let him rife, 
 And take his ftation in die fkies ; 
 There entertain his ravifh'd fight 
 With fcenes of glory, fields of light ; 
 Quaff with the gods immortal wine, 
 And fee adoring nations crowd his mrine : 
 
 The thin remains of Troy a afflicted holt, 
 In diftant realms may feats unenvy'd find, 
 And flourifh on a foreign coafV; 
 But far be Rome from Troy disjoint, Jlemov'J 
 
Poems on fiver al Occasions, in 
 
 RemovM by Teas, from the difaftrous more, (roar- 
 
 May endlefs billows rife between, and florins unnumber'd 
 
 Still let the curfr. detefled place, 
 Where Priam lies, and Priam" 1 * faithlefs race, 
 Ee cover'd o'er with weeds, and hid in grafs. 
 There let the wanton flocks unguarded ftray ; 
 Or, while the lonely fhepherd fmgs, 
 Amidft the mighty ruins play, 
 And frifk upon the tombs of Kings. 
 
 May Tigers there, and all the favage kind, 
 Sad folitary haunts, and filent defarts find ; 
 In gloomy vaults, and nooks of palaces, 
 May th' unmoleited lionefs 
 Her brinded whelps fecurely lay, 
 Or, coucht, in dreadful flumbers wafte the day. 
 
 *s 
 
 While Troy in heaps of ruines lyes, 
 Rome and the Roman capitol fhall rife, 
 Th' illuftrious exiles unconfin'd 
 Shall triumph far and near, and rule mankind. 
 
 In vain the fea's intruding tide 
 Europe from Afric mail divide, 
 And part the fever'd world in two : 
 Through Afric's fands their triumphs they fhall fpread, 
 And the long train of victories purfue 
 
 To Ni/Ss yet undifcover'd head. 
 
 ■ 
 
 Riches the hardy foldier mall defpife, 
 And look on gold with un-defiring eyes f 
 Nor the difbowell'd earth explore 
 In fearch of the forbidden ore ; 
 Thofe glitt'ring ills conceaPd within the Mine, 
 Shall lye untouched, and innocently fhine. 
 
 To 
 
1 1 2 Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 To the lafl bounds that nature fets, 
 
 The piercing colds andfultry heats, 
 
 The godlike race fhall fpread their arms, 
 
 Now fill the polar circle with alarms, 
 
 'Till ftorms and tempefts their purfuits confine j 
 
 Now fweatfor conqueft underneath the line. 
 
 This only law the trjftor mall reftrain, 
 On thefe conditions fhall he reign ; 
 If none his guilty hand employ 
 To build again a fecond Troy, 
 If none the ram defign purfue, 
 Nor tempt the vengeance of the gods anew. 
 
 A curfe there cleaves to the devoted place, 
 That fhall the new foundations rafe : 
 Greece mall in mutual leagues confpire 
 To ftorm the rifing town with fire, 
 And at their armies head my felf will mow 
 What Juno, urged to all her rage, can do. 
 
 Thrice mould Apollo 's felf the city raife 
 And line it round with walls of brafs, 
 Thrice mould my fav'rite Greeks his works confound, 
 And hew the mining fabrick to the ground; 
 Thrice mould her captive dames to Greece return, 
 And their dead fonsand flaughter'd hulbands mourn. 
 
 But hold, my mufe, forbear thy towering flight, 
 Nor bring the fecrets of the gods to light: 
 In vain would thy prefumptuous verfe 
 Th' immortal rhetoric rehearfe ; 
 The mighty flrains, in Lyric numbers bound, 
 Forget their majelty, and lofe their found. 
 
 OF ID's 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 113 
 
 O V I D s 
 
 M£ TAMORPHOSES. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 The Story of Phaeton. 
 
 TH E fun's bright palace, on high columns rais'd, 
 With burnifh'd gold and flaming jewels blaz'd ; 
 The folding gates difrus'd a filver light, 
 And with a milder gleam refrefli'd the fight ; 
 Of polifh'd ivory was the cov'ring wrought : 
 The matter vied not with the fculptor's thought, 
 For in the portal was difplay'd on high 
 (The work of Vulcan) a fictitious fky ; 
 A waving fea th' inferiour earth embrac'd, 
 And gods and goddeffes the waters grac'd. 
 jEgeon here a mighty whale beftrode ; 
 Triton, and Proteus (the deceiving god) 
 With Doris here were carv'd, and all her train, 
 Some loofely fwimming in the figur'd main, 
 While fome on rocks their drooping hair divide. 
 And fome on fifties through the waters glide : 
 Tho' various features did the fillers grace, 
 A Sifter's likenefs was in every face. 
 On earth a different landfkip courts the eyes, 
 Men, towns, and beafts, in diflant profpecls rife, 
 And nymphs, and ftreams, and woods, and rural deities. 
 O'er all, the ;heav'n's refulgent image fhinesj 
 On either gate were fix engraven figns. 
 
 Here 
 
1 14 Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 Hare Phaeton, ftill gaining on th' afcent, 
 To his fufpetted father's palace went, 
 'Till prefTing forward through the bright abode, 
 He faw at diilance the illuftrious God : 
 He faw at diftance, or the dazling light 
 Had flaih'd too ftrongly on his aking fight. 
 
 The God fits high, exalted on a throne, 
 Of blazing gems, with purple garments on ; 
 The Hours, in order rang'd on either hand. 
 And days, and months, and years, and ages, ftand, 
 Here fpring appears with flow'ry chaplets bound ; 
 Here fummer in her wheaten garland crown'd ; 
 Here autumn the rich trodden grapes befmear ; 
 And hoary winter (hi vers in the reer. 
 
 Phoebus beheld the youth from off his throne ; 
 That eye, which looks on all, was fix'd on one. 
 He faw the boy's confufion in his face, 
 Surpriz'd at all the wonders of the place ; 
 And cries aloud, " What wants my Son ? for know 
 " My fon thou art, and I mult call thee fo. 
 
 " Light of the world, the trembling youth replies, 
 " Illuftrious Parent .' fmce you don't dcfpife 
 ** The parent's name, fome certain token give, 
 1 * That I may Clymenii proud boaft believe, 
 " Nor longer under falfe reproaches grieve. 
 
 \ 
 
 The tender fire was touch'd with what he faid, 
 And flung the blaze of glories from his head, 
 And bid the youth advance : " My fon, faid he, 
 •' Come to thy father's arms / for Clymene 
 f Has told thee true ; a parent's name 1 own, 
 " And deem thee worthy to be call'd my fon. 
 " As a fure proof, make fome requeil, and I, 
 " Whate'er it be, with that requeft comply ; 
 *' By Styx I fwear, whofe waves are hid in night, 
 " And roul impervious to my piercing fight, The 
 
Poems on fevtral Occasions. 115 
 
 The youth tranfported, afks without delay, 
 To guide the fun's bright chariot for a day. 
 
 The God repented of the oath he took, 
 For anguifh thrice his radiant head he ihook : 
 " My fon, fays he, fome other proof require ; 
 " Rafh was my promife, rafh is thy defire, 
 " I'd fain deny this wifh which thou haft made, 
 " Or, what I can't deny, would fain diflwade. 
 " Too vaft and hazardous the tafk appears, 
 " Nor fuited to thy itrength, nor to thy years. 
 " Thy lot is mortal, but thy wilhes fly 
 sc Beyond the province of mortality : 
 " There is not one of all the gods that dares 
 •' (However skili'd in other great affairs) 
 " To mount the burning axle-tree, but I ; 
 " Not Jove himfelf, the ruler of the fky, 
 u That hurls the three-fork'd thunder from above, 
 " Dares try his ftrength ; yet who fo flrong as 'Jo-veP 
 " The fteeds climb up the firft afcent with pain : 
 11 And when the middle firmament they gain, 
 " If downward from the heavens my head I bow, 
 '* And fee the earth and ocean hang below, 
 " Ev'n I am feiz'd with horror and affright, 
 " And my own heart mifgives me at the fight. 
 " A mighty downfal fteeps the ev'ning ftage, 
 " And fleddy reins mult curb the horfes' rage. 
 *' Tetbys her felf has fear'd to fee me driv'n 
 " Down headlong from the precipice of heav'n. 
 ** Befides, confider what impetuous force 
 " Turns ftars and planets in a different courfe : 
 " I fleer againft their motions ; nor am I 
 ■' Born back by all the current of the fky. 
 " But how could you refill the orbs that roul 
 " In adverfe whirls, and ftem the rapid pole ? 
 " But you perhaps may hope for pleafmg woods, 
 " And ftately domes, and cities fill'd with gods; 
 
 While 
 
1 1 6 Poems on fever al Occasions. 
 
 << While through a thoufand fnares your progrefs lies, 
 
 « Where forms of Harry monflers Hock the fkies : 
 
 " For, mould you hit the doubtful way aright, 
 
 " The Bull with. Hooping horns Hands oppofite ; 
 
 " Next him the bright Hamonian Bo<w is lining ; 
 
 «< And next, the Lion's grinning vifage hung : 
 
 " The Scorpion's claws here clafp a wide extent, 
 
 *' And here the Crabs in lefTer clafps are bent. 
 
 ei Nor would you find it eafie to compofe 
 
 " The mettled Heeds, when from their noflrils flows 
 
 " The fcorching fire, that in their entrails glows. 
 
 " Ev'n I their head-flrong fury fcarce reftrain, 
 
 " When they grew warm and reflifFto therein. 
 
 " Let not my ion a fatal gift require, 
 
 " But, oh ! in time, recal your rafh defire ; 
 
 " You afk a gift that may your parent tell, 
 
 " Let thefe my fears your parentage reveal ; 
 
 " And learn a father from a father's care : 
 
 " Look on my face ; or if my heart lay bare, 
 
 " Cou'd you but look, you'd read the father there. 
 
 " Chufe out a gift from feas, or earth, or fides. 
 
 " For open to your wifn all nature lies, 
 
 " Only decline this one unequal talk, 
 
 " For 'tis a mifchief, not a gift, youafc; 
 
 " You ask a real mifchief Phaeton: 
 
 " Nay hang not thus about my neck, my fon : 
 
 " I grant your wifh, and Styx has heard my voice, 
 
 " Chufe what you will, but make a wifer choice. 
 
 Thus did the God th' unwary youth advife ; 
 But he Hill longs to travel through the fkies. 
 When the fond father (for in vain he pleads) 
 At length to the Vulcanian chariot leads. 
 A golden axle did the work uphold, 
 Gold was the beam, the wheels were orb'd with gold. 
 
 I 
 
 The 
 
I 
 
 Poems on fever al Occasions. ny 
 
 The fpokes in rows of filver pleas'd the Tight, 
 The feat with parti-colour'd gems was bright 
 Apollo fiWd amid the glare of light. 
 The youth with fecret joy the work furveys : 
 When now the morn difclos'd her purple rays ; 
 The ftars were fled ; for Lucifer had chas'd 
 The ftars away, and fled himfelf at laft. 
 Soon as the father faw the rofy morn, 
 And the moon fhining with a blunter horn, 
 He bid the nimble Hours without delay 
 Bring forth the Heeds, the nimble Hours obey : 
 From their full racks the gen'rous fteeds retire, 
 Dropping ambrofial foams, and fnorting fire. 
 Still anxious for his fon, the god of day, 
 To make him proof againft the burning ray, 
 His temples with celcftial ointment wet, 
 Of fov'raign virtue to repel the heat ; 
 Then fix'dthe beamy circle on his head, 
 And fetch'd a deep foreboding figh, and faid, 
 
 " Take this at leaft, this laft advice, my fon : 
 " Keep a ftiffrein, and move but gently on : 
 " The courfers of themfelves will run too faft, 
 " Your art muft be to moderate their hafte. 
 ff Drive 'em not on diredlly through the fkies, 
 " But where the Zodiac's winding circle lies, 
 " Along the midmoft Zone ; but fally forth 
 " Nor to the diftant fouth, norftormy north. 
 " The horfes' hoofs a beaten track will fhow, 
 (< Bat neither mount too high, nor fink too low, 
 « c That no new fires or heaven or earth infeft ; 
 " Keep the mid way, the middle way is beft. 
 " Nor, where in radiant folds the Serpent twines, 
 " Direct your courfe, nor where the Altar (nines. 
 *\ Shun both extremes ; the reft let fortune guide, 
 " And better for thee than thy felf provide I 
 
 See, 
 
1 18 Poems on fever al Occasions. 
 
 (< See, while I fpeak, the fhades difperfe away, 
 ". Aurora gives the promife of a day ; 
 " I'm call'd, nor can I make a longer ftay. 
 " Snatch up the reins ; or ft ill th' attempt forfake, 
 " And not my chariot, but my counfel take, 
 *' While yet fecurely on the earth you ftand j 
 u Nor touch the horfes with too rafh a hand. 
 *' Let me alone to light the world, while you 
 " Enjoy thofe beams which you may fafely view. 
 He fpoke in vain ; the youth with active heat 
 And fprightly vigour vaults into the feat ; 
 And joys to hold the reins, and fondly gives 
 Thofe thanks his father with remorfe receives. 
 
 Mean while the reftlefs horfes neigh'd aloud, 
 Breathing out fire, and pawing where they flood. 
 Tethys, not knowing what had paft, gave way, 
 And all the wafte of heaven before 'em lay. 
 They fpring together out, and fwiftly bear 
 The flying youth through clouds and yielding air ; 
 With wingy fpeed outltrip the eaftern wind, 
 And leave the breezes of the morn behind. 
 The youth was light, nor could he fill the feat, 
 Or poife the chariot with its wonted weight : 
 But as at fea th" unballafs'd veflel rides, 
 Call to and fro, the fport of winds and tides; 
 So in the bounding chariot tofs'd on high, 
 The youth is hurry'd headlong through the fky. 
 Soon as the fleeds perceive it, they forfake 
 Their flated courfe, and leave the beaten track. 
 The youth was in a maze, nor did he know 
 Which way to turn the reins, or where to go ; 
 Nor wou'd the horfes, had he known, obey, 
 Then the fe-ven Stars full: felt JpoIIo's ray, 
 And wifiVd to dip in the forbidden fea. 
 The folded Serpent next the frozen pole, 
 Stiff and benum'd before, began to roll, 
 
 \ 
 
 And 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. i 19 
 
 And rage'd with inward heat, and threatened war, 
 
 And fhot a redder light from every ftar ; 
 
 Nay, and 'tis faid, Bootes too, that fain 
 
 Thou would'ft have fled, tho' cumber'd with thy Wain. 
 
 Th' unhappy Youth then, bending down his head, 
 Saw earth and ocean far beneath him fpread : 
 His colour chang'd, he ftartled at the fight, 
 And his eyes darken'd by too great a light. 
 Now could he wifli the fiery fteeds untry'd, 
 His birth obfcure, and his requefl deny'd : 
 Now would lie Ma-ops for his Father own, 
 And quit his boafted kindred to the Sun. 
 
 So fares the Pilot, when his fiiip is toft 
 In troubled leas, and all its fteerage loft, 
 He gives her to the winds, and in defpair 
 Seeks his laft refuge in the Gods and Prayer. 
 
 What cou'd he do ? his eyes, if backward call, 
 Find a long path lie had already pail; 
 If forward, Hill a longer path they find: 
 Both he compares, and meafures in his mind ; 
 And fometimes calls an eye upon the Eaft, 
 And fometimes looks on the forbidden Weft. 
 The horfes' Names he knew not in the fright : 
 Nor wou'd he lofe the reins, nor cou'd he hold 'em tight. 
 
 I 
 
 Now all the horrors of the heavens he fpies, 
 And monftrous ihadows of prodigious fize, 
 That, deck'd with ftars, lie fcatter'd o'er the ikies 
 There is a place above, where Scorpio bent 
 In tail and .irms furrounds a vaft extent; 
 In a wide circuit of the heavens he ihines, 
 And fills the fpace of two celeilial figns. 
 Soon as the Youth beheld him, vex'd with heat, 
 Brandiili his fting, and in his poifon fweat, 
 
 O Half 
 
120 Poems on fevtral Occasions. 
 
 Half dead with fudden fear hedroptthe reins; 
 The horfes felt 'em loofe upon their mains, 
 And, flying out through all the plains above, 
 Ran uncontrourd where-e'er their fury drove ; 
 Rufh'd on the ftars, and through a pathlefs way 
 Of unknown regions hurry 'd on the day. 
 And now above, and now below they flew, 
 And near the Earth the burning chariot drew. 
 
 The clouds difperfe in fumes, the wond'ring Moon 
 Beholds her brother's fteeds beneath her own ; 
 The highlands fmoak, cleft by the piercing rays, 
 Or, clad with woods, in their own fewel blaze. 
 Next o'er the plains, where ripen'd harveft grow, 
 The running conflagaration fpreads below. 
 But thefe are trivial ills: whole cities burn, 
 And peopled kingdoms into afhes turn. 
 
 The mountains kindle as the Car draws near, 
 'Athos and Tmolus red with fires appear ; 
 Oeagrian Btemus (then a Angle name) 
 And virgin Helicon increafe the flame ; 
 Taurus and Oete glare amid the fky, 
 And Ida, fpight of all her fountains, dry. 
 Eryx, and Othrys, and Cithteron, glow ; 
 And Rhodope, no longer cloath'd in fnow ;" 
 High Pindus, Mimas, and Parnajfus, fweat, 
 And JEtna rages with redoubled heat. 
 Even Scythia, through her hoary regions warm'd, 
 In vain with all her native froft was arm'd. 
 Cover'd with flimes, the tow 'ring Appennine* 
 And Caucafus, and proud Olympus, fhine ; 
 And, where the long-extended Alpes afpire, 
 Now ftands a huge continu'd rage of fire. 
 
 Th' aftonifht Youth, where-e'er his eyes coif d turn, 
 Beheld the Univerfe arcund him burn : 
 
 The 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 121 
 
 The World was in a blaze ; nor could he bear 
 The fultry vapours and the fcorching air, 
 Which from below, as from a furnace, flow'd; 
 And now the axle-tree beneath him glowM ; 
 Loft in the whirling clouds, that round him broke, 
 And white with afhes, hov.Ving in the fmoke, 
 He flew where-e'er the Horfes drove, nor knew 
 Whither the Horfes drove, or where he flew. 
 
 'Twas then, they fay, the fwarthy Moor begun 
 To change his hue, and blacken in the fun. 
 Then Libya firft, of all her moifture draiivd, 
 Became a barren wafle, a wild of Sand. 
 The Water-nymphs lament their empty urns, 
 Baotia, robb'd of filver Dirce, mourns, 
 Corinth Pyrenees waited fpring bewails, 
 And Argos grieves whilft Amy mane fails. 
 
 The floods are drainM from every dlftant coafc 
 Even TanaiSy tho' fix'd in ice was loft. 
 Enrag'd Qa'icus and Lycormas roar, 
 And Xanthus fated to be burnt once more. 
 The fram'd Mceander, that unweary'd ftrays 
 Through mazy windings, fmokes in every maze. 
 From his lov'd Babylon Euphrates flies; 
 The big-fwoln Ganges and the Danube rife 
 In thick'ning fumes, and darken half the Ikies. 
 In flames Ifmenos. arid the Phajis rould, 
 and Tagas floating in his melted gold. 
 The Swans, that on Cdyjler often try'd 
 Their tuneful fongs, now fung their laft, and dy'd. 
 The frighted Nile ran off, and under ground 
 Conceal'd his head, nor can it yet be found : 
 His feven divided currents all are dry, 
 And where they roul'd, feven gaping trenches lye. 
 
 G 2 No 
 
 I 
 
122 Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 No more the Rhine or Rhone their courfe maintain, 
 Nor liber, of his promis'd empire vain. 
 
 The ground, deep-cleft, admits the dazling ray, 
 And ftartles Pluto with the flafh of day. 
 The feas fhrink in, and to the fight difclofe 
 Wide naked plains, where once their billows rofe ; 
 Their recks are all difcover'd, and increafe 
 The number of the fcatter'd Cyclades. 
 The fifh in fholes about the bottom creep, 
 Nor longer dares the crooked Dolphin leap : 
 Gafping for breath, th 1 unfhapen Phocee die, 
 And on the boiling wave extended lye. 
 Kerens, and Doris with her virgin train, 
 Seek out the laft receiTes of the main ; 
 Beneath unfathomable depths they faint, 
 And fecret in their gloomy caverns pant. 
 Stein Neptune thrice above the waves upheld 
 His face, and thrice was by the flames repell'd. 
 
 The Earth at length, on every fide embrae'd 
 With (balding feas, that floated round her waiil, 
 When now (he felt the fp rings and rivers come, 
 And crowd within the hollow of her womb, 
 Up-lifted to the heavens herblafled head, 
 And clapt her hand apon her brows, and laid ; 
 (Bac fcrft, impatient of the fultry heat, 
 Sunk deeper down, and fought a cooler feat) 
 U If you, g of Gods, my death approve, 
 
 " And I deferve it, let me die by Jove ; 
 " If I muftperiih by the force of fire, 
 •'Let met] i ' i thunderbolts expire. 
 
 " See, whilft I fpeak, my breath the vapours choke, 
 (For now her face fay wrapt in clouds of fmoke) 
 " See my fmge'dhair, behold my faded eye, 
 «« And wither'd face, where heaps of Cinders lye ? 
 
 And 
 
, I 
 
 Poems on feveral Occasions. 123 
 
 < f And does the plow for this my body tear ? 
 
 " This the reward for all the fruits I bear, 
 
 " Tortur'd with rakes, and harais'd all the year! 
 
 *' That herbs for cattle daily I renew, 
 
 " And food for man, and frankincenfe for you ? 
 
 * e But grant me guilty; what has Aty/aw done ? 
 
 " Why are his waters boiling in the fun ? 
 
 •• The wavy empire, which by lot was given, 
 
 " Why does it waite, and further fhrink from heaven ? 
 
 u If I nor He your pity can provoke, 
 
 " See your own Heavens, the heavens begin to fmoke! 
 
 " Shou'd once the fparktes catch thofe bright abodes, 
 
 " Deftru&ion feizes on the heavens and gods; 
 
 •' Atlas becomes unequal to his freight, 
 
 " And almoil faints beneath the glowing weight. 
 
 " If heaven, and earth, and fea, together burn, 
 
 " All muft again into their chaos turn. 
 
 " Apply fome fpeedy cure, prevent our fate, 
 
 u And fuccour nature, eVe it be too late. 
 
 She ceas'd ; for choak'd with vapours round her ipread, 
 
 Down to the deepeft fliades fhe funk her head. 
 
 Jove call'd to witnefs every Power above, 
 And even the God, whofe Son the Chariot drove, 
 That what he ads he is compell'd to do, 
 Or univerfal mine muft enfue. 
 Strait he afcends the high Ethereal throne, 
 From whence he usM to dart his thunder down, 
 From whence his mowers and itorms he us'd to pour, 
 But now could meet with neither florm nor mower. 
 Then, aiming at the youth, with lifted hand, 
 Full at his head he hurl'd the forky brand, 
 In dreadful thund'rings. Thus th' Almighty Sire 
 Suppre&'d the raging of the fires with fire, 
 
 G 3 At 
 
124 Poems on feveral Occasions* 
 
 At once from life, and from the chariot driven, 
 Th' ambitious boy fell thunder-ftruck from heaven. 
 The horfes ftarted with a fudden bound, 
 And flung the reins and chariot to the ground : 
 The fludded harnels from their necks they broke ; 
 Here fell a wheel, and here a filver fpoke, 
 Here were the beam and axle torn away ; 
 And, fcatter'd o'er the earth, the mining fragments lay, 
 The breathlefs Phaeton, with flaming hair, 
 Shot from the chariot, like a falling ftar, 
 That in a fummer's evening from the top 
 Of heaven drops down, orfeemsat leaf! to drop ;. 
 'Till on the Po his blafled corps was hurPd, 
 Far from his country, in the weflern world. 
 
 Phaeton'j Sifters transformed into Trees* 
 
 The Latian nymphs came round him, and amaz'd 
 On the dead ycuth, transfix'd with thunder, gaz'd; 
 And, whilft yet fmoaking from the bolt he lay, 
 His fhatter'd body to a tomb convey, 
 And o'er the tomb an epitaph devife : 
 u Here he who drove the Sun's bright chariot lies; 
 " His Father's fiery fleeds he could not guide, 
 '* But in the glorious enterprize he dy'd^ 
 
 jipollo hid his face, and pin'd for grief, 
 And, if the flory may defer ve belief, 
 The fpace of One whole day is faid to run, 
 From morn to wonted even, without a Sun : 
 The burning ruines, with a fainter ray, 
 Supply the Sun, and counterfeit a day, 
 A day, that ftill did nature's face diiclofe * 
 This comfort from the mighty mifchief role. 
 
 Bufc 
 
Poems on fcveral Occasions. 125 
 
 But Clymene, enrag'd with grief laments, 
 And as her grief infpires, her paffion vents ; 
 Wild for herSon, and frantick in her woes, 
 With hair difiieverd round the world fhe goes, 
 To feek where-e'er his body might be call ; 
 'Till, on the borders of the Po, at laft 
 The name infcrib'd on the new tomb appears, 
 The dear dear name fhe bathes in flowing tears ; 
 Hangs o'er the tomb, unable to depart, 
 And hugs the marble to her throbbing heart. 
 
 Her daughters too lament, and figh, and mourn, 
 (A fruitlefs tribute to their brother's urn) 
 And beat their naked bofoms, and complain, 
 And call aloud for Phaeton in vain : 
 All the long night their mournful watch they keep, 
 And all the day Hand round the tomb, and weep. 
 
 Four times, revolving, the full Moon return'd ; 
 So long the mother, and the daughters mourn'd : 
 When now the eldeil, Pbaetbufa, ftrove 
 To reft her weary limbs, but could not move ; 
 Lampetia would have help'd her, but (lie found 
 Her klf with-held, and rooted to the ground : 
 A third in wild affliction, as fhe grieves, 
 Would rend her hair, but fills her hand with Leaves ; 
 One fees her thighs transform 'd, anotner views 
 Her arms mot out, and branching into boughs. 
 And now their legs, and breafts, and bodies ftood 
 Crufted with bark, and hard'ning into wood ; 
 But ftill above were female Heads difplay'd, 
 And mouths, that call'd the Mother to their aid, 
 What could, alas ! the weeping mother do? "V 
 
 From this to that with eager haite fhe flew, L 
 
 And kifs'd her fprouting Daughters as they grew, 3 
 
 G 4. She 
 
126 Poems on fevered Occasions. 
 
 She tears the bark that to each body cleaves, 
 And from their verdant fingers ftrips the leaves : 
 The blood came trickling, where fhe tore away 
 The leaves and bark : The maids were heard to fay, 
 " Forbear, mittaken Parent, Oh! forbear; 
 " A wounded daughter in each tree you tear; 
 " Farewel for ever." Here the bark encreasM, 
 Clos'd on their faces, and their words fupprefs'd. 
 
 To new-made trees in tears of Amber run, 
 Which, harden'd into value by the Sun, 
 Diftil for ever on the llreams below : 
 The limpid lheams their radiant treafure fhew, 
 Mixt in the fond ; whence the rich drops convey M 
 Shine in the dreis of the bright Latian maid. 
 
 Ttie Transformation of Cv cnus into a Swan. 
 
 Cyncus beheld the Nymphs transform'd, ally'd 
 To their dead brother, on the mortal fide, 
 In friendfhip and affection nearer bound ; 
 He left the cities and the realms he own'd, 
 Thro' pathlefs fields and lonely fhores to range, 
 And woods, made thicker by the filters' change. 
 Whilft here, within the difmal gloom, alone, 
 The melancholy Monarch made his moan, 
 His voice was leffen'd, as he try'd to fpeak, 
 And iilu'd through a long extended neck; 
 His hair transforms to down, his fingers meet 
 In fkinny films, and fhape his oary feet ; 
 From both his fides the wings and feathers break ; 
 And from his mouth proceeds a blunted beak : 
 All Cycnus now into a Swan was turn'd, 
 Who, ftill remembring how his kinfman burn'd, 
 To folitary pools and lakes retires, 
 And loves the waters as opposed to fires. 
 
 Mean- 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 127 
 
 Mean while Apollo in a gloomy fhade 
 (The native luftre of his brows decay'd) 
 Indulging forrow, fickensatthe fight 
 Of his own Sun-mine, and abhors the light : 
 The hidden griefs, that in his bofom rife, 
 Sadden his looks, and over-cart his eyes, 
 As when fomedufky orb obilructs his ray, 
 Andfullies, in a dim eclipfe, the day. 
 
 i 
 
 Novvfecretly with inward griefs he pin'd, 
 Now warm refentments to his grief he join'd, 
 And now renounc'd his office to mankind. 
 " E'er fince the birth of Time, faid he, I've born 
 " A long ungrateful toil without return ; 
 fl Let now fome other manage, if he dire, 
 " The fiery fteeds, and mount the burning Carr; 
 " Or, if none elfe, let Jove his fortune try, 
 " And learn to lay his murd'ring thunder by; 
 " Then will he^own, perhaps, but own too late, 
 " My Son deferv'd not fo fevere a fate. 
 
 The Gods Hand round him, as he mourns, and pray 
 He would refume the conduct of the day, 
 Nor let the world be loft in endiefs night: 
 Jove too himfelf, defcending from his height, 
 Excufes what had happen'd, and intreats, 
 Majeflically mixing prayers and threats. 
 Prevail'd upon at length, again he took 
 The harnefs'd Heeds, that Hill with horror fhook, 
 And plies 'em with the lam, and whips 'em on, 
 And, as he whips, upbraids 'em with his Son. 
 
 'The Story of C a l i s t o. 
 
 The day was fettled in its courfe ; and Jove 
 Walk'd the wide circuit of the heavens above, 
 G 5 
 
r 2 S Po e ivrs on fever al Oc c a s-i on*- 
 
 To fearch if any cracks or flaws were made ; 
 
 But all was fafe : The Earth he then furvey'd, 
 
 And cart an eye on every different coaft, 
 
 And every land ; but on Arcadia moft. 
 
 Her fields he-cloatfrdand chear'd her blafted face 
 
 With running fountains, and with fpringing grafs. 
 
 No tracks of heaven's deftru&ive fire remain, 
 
 The fields and woods revive, and Nature fmiles again, 
 
 But as the God walk'd to and fro the earth, 
 And rais'd the plants, and gave the fpring its birth,. 
 By chance a fair Arcadian Nymph he view'd, 
 And felt the lovely charmer in his blood. 
 The Nymph nor fpun, nor drefs'd with artful pride a 
 Her veft was gather'd up, her hair was try'd ; 
 Now in her hand a flender fpear fhe bore, 
 Now a light quiver on her moulders wore ; 
 To chafte Diana from her youth inclin'd 
 The fprightly warriors of the wood fhe join'd. 
 Diana toe the gentle huntrefs Iov'd, 
 Nor was there one of all the nymphs that rov'd 
 Cer M&nalus, amid the maiden throng, 
 More favoured once ; but favour lafts not long. 
 
 The Sun now fhone in ail its ftrength and drove 
 The heated, virgin panting to a grove ; 
 The grove around a grateful fhadow caft : 
 She dropt her arrows, and her bow unbrae'd ». 
 She Hung her felf on the cool graffy bed ; 
 And on die painted quiver rais'd her head. 
 Jove faw the charming huntrefs unprepar'd, 
 Stretch/d on the verdant turf, without a guard. 
 ** Here I am fafe, he cries, from Juno's eye ;. 
 " Or mould my jealous Queen the theft defcry,, 
 «* Yet would 1 venture on a theft like this, 
 t* Andiland.her rage for fuch, for fuch ablifsJ: 
 
 Dianafe 
 
Fo E'M s on fever al Occasions, i-y 
 
 Dianas fhape and habit ftrait he took, 
 
 Soften'd his brows, and fmooth d his awful look, 
 
 And mildly in a female accent fpoke. 
 
 " How fares my girl ? How went the morning chafe ? 
 
 To whom the virgin, Halting from the grafs, 
 
 ** All-hail, bright deity, whom I prefer 
 
 " To Jove himfelf, tho' Jove him felf were here. 
 
 The God was nearer than (he thought, and heard 
 
 Well- pleas'd himfelf before himfelf preferr'd. 
 
 He then falutes her with a warm embrace ; 
 And, e're (he half had told the morning chafe, 
 With love enfiam'd, and eager on hii blifs, 
 SmotherM her words, and ilop'd her with a kifs ; 
 Hiskiffes wi:h unwonted ardour glow'd, 
 Nor could Diana\ fhape conceal the God. 
 The virgin did whate'era virgin cou'd ; 
 (Sure Jano mull have pardon'd, had (he viewM) 
 With all her might againil his force (he drove ; 
 But iio.v can mortal maids contend with Jove/ 
 
 PdTeft at length of what his heart defrYd, 
 Back to his. heavens til- exulting God retir'd. 
 The lovely himtrefs, rifmg from the grafs,. 
 With down-call eyes, and with a bluihing faeef 
 By (hame confounded, and by tear difmay'd, 
 Flew from the covert of the guilty (hade, 
 And almoft, in the tumult of her mind, 
 Lefc her forgotten bow and (hafts behind. 
 
 But now Diana, with a fprighdy train. 
 Of quiverM virgins, bounding o'er the plain, 
 CalPdto the Nymph.; the Nymph began to fear 
 A fecond fraud, a Jove difguib'd in Her ; 
 But, when (he faw the filler Nymphs, fupprefs'd 
 IIi;r rifmg fears, and mingled with the reil. 
 
 How- 
 
130 Poems on fever at Occasions. 
 
 How in the look does confcious guilt appear ! 
 Slowly fhe mov'd, and loiter' d in the rear ; 
 Nor lightly tripp'd, nor by the goddefs ran, 
 As once fhe us"d, the foremoft of the train. 
 Her looks were flufrfd, and fullen was her mien, 
 That Aire the virgin goddefs (had fhe been 
 Aught but a virgin) muft the guilt have feen. 
 'Tis laid the Nymphs faw all, and guefVd aright: 
 And now the Moon had nine times loft her light, 
 When Dian, fainting in the mid-day beams, 
 Found a cool covert, and refreshing ftreams, 
 That in foft murmurs through the foreft flow'd, 
 And a fmooth bed of mining gravel fhow'd. 
 
 A Covert fo obfeure, and ftreams fo clear, 
 The goddefs prais'd : " And now no fpies are near, 
 ■' Let's ftrip, my gentle maids, and wafh, fhe cries. 
 Pleas" d with the motion, every maid complies ; 
 Only the blufhing huntrefs flood confus'd, 
 And form'd delays, and her delays excus'd ; 
 In vain excus'd : her fellows round her prefs'd, 
 And the reluctant Nymph by force undrefs'd. 
 The naked huntrefs all her mame reveaFd, 
 In vain her hands the pregnant womb conceal'd ;' 
 *' Begone ! the goddefs cries with flern difdain, 
 " Begone! nor dare the hallow'd ftream e to flain : 
 She fled, for ever banifh'd from the train. 
 
 This Juno heard, who long had watch'd her time 
 To punifh the detefled rival's crime; 
 The time was come : for, to enrage her more, 
 A lovely boy the teeming rival bore. 
 
 The goddefs caft a furious look, and cry'd, 
 «' It is enough ! I'm fully fatisfy'd ! 
 
 \ 
 
 I 
 
 This 
 
Poems on fever al Occasions. 131 
 
 .*' This boy fhall fland a living mark, to prove 
 " My hufband's bafenefs, and the flrumpet's love : 
 ** But vengeance fhall awake : thofe guilty charms, 
 " That drew the Thunderer from Juno's arms, 
 " No longer fhall their wonted force retain, 
 " Nor pleafe the God, nor make the Mortal vain. 
 
 This faid, her hand within her hair fhe wound, 
 Swung her to earth, and drag'd her on the ground: 
 The proftrate wretch lifts up her arms in prayer ; 
 Her arms grow fhaggy, and deform'd with hair, 
 Her nails are iharpen'd into pointed claws, 
 Her hands bear half her weight, and turn to paws J 
 Her lips, that once could tempt a God, begin 
 To grow diltorted in an ugly grin. 
 And, left the fupplicating brute might reach 
 The ears of Jo<ve> fhe was depriv'd of fpeech : 
 Her furly voice thro' a hoarfe pafTage came. 
 In favage founds : her mind was frill the fame. 
 The fury monfter fix'd her eyes above, 
 And hcav'd her new unwieldy paws to Jove, 
 And beg'd his aid with inward groans ; and tho* 
 She could not call him falfe, fhe thought him fo. 
 
 How did fhe fear to lodge in woods alone, 
 And haunt the fields and meadows once her own \ 
 How often would the deep-mouth'd dogs purfue, 
 V/hilft from her hounds the frighted huntrefs flew ? 
 How did fhe fear her fellow-brutes, and fhun 
 The fhaggy Bear, tho' now her felf was one ! 
 How from the fight of rugged Wolves retire, 
 Although the grim Lycaon was her Sire ! 
 
 But now her fon had fifteen fummers told, 
 Fierce at the chafe, and in the foreft bold ; 
 
 When 
 
i3'2 Poems on fever al Occasions* 
 
 When, as he beat the woods in queft of prey, 
 He chanc'd to rouze his mother where fhe lay, 
 She knew her Son and kept him in her fight. 
 And fondly gaz'd: The boy was in a fright, 
 And aim'd a pointed arrow at her breaft, . 
 And would have (lain his mother in the beaft ; 
 But Jove forbad, and fnatch'd em through the air 
 In whirlwinds up to heaven, and fix'd there 
 Where the new Conftellations nightly rife,. 
 And add a luftre to the northern fkies. 
 
 When Jutuphw the rival in her height, 
 Spangled with ftars, and circled round with light, 
 She fought old Ocean in his deep abodes, 
 And Tetfys ; both rever'd among the Gods. 
 They afk what brings her there : " Ne'er afe, fays me> 
 << What brings me here, Heaven is no place for me. 
 «* You'll fee, when night has cover'd all things o'er, 
 " Jove's ftarry baftard and triumphant whore 
 «' Ufurp the heavens j you'll fee 'em proudly roul 
 '* In their new orbs> and brighten all the pole. 
 i( And who (hall now on Juno's altars wait} 
 u When thofe fhe hates grow greater by her hate ? 
 •* I on the Nymph a brutal form imprefs'd, 
 " Jove to a goddefs has transformed the heart ; 
 u This, this was all my weak revenge could, do : 
 " But let the God his chaftc amours purfue, 
 «' And, as he acred after 7o's rape, 
 " Reitore th' adult'refs to her former fhape ; 
 iS Then may he call his Juno off, and lead 
 «' The great Lycaon's off-fpring to his bed. 
 «* But you, ye venerable powers be kind, 
 " And, if my wrongs a due refentment find, 
 " Receive not in your waves their fetting beams, 
 '* Nor let the glaring ftrumpet taint your fhsana 
 
 Tie 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 133 
 
 The Goddefs ended, and her wilh was given; 
 Back fhe returned in triumph up to heaven ; 
 Her gawdy Peacocks drew her through the skies, 
 Their tails were fpotted with a thoufand Eyes ; 
 The Eyes of Argus on their tails were rang'd, 
 At the fame time the Raven's colour chang'd, 
 
 The Story of Coronis, and Birth of 
 i£ s c u L a p 1 u s. 
 
 The Raven once in fnowy plumes was dreft, 
 White as the whiteft Dove's unfully'd breafc, 
 Fair as the guardian of the Capitol, 
 Soft as the Swan ; a large and lovely fowl ; 
 His tongue, his prating tongue had chang'd him quite 
 To footy blacknefs from the purefl white. 
 
 The ftory of his change (hall here be told,.. 
 In Tbejfaly there liv'd a Nymph of old, 
 Coronis nam'd ; a peerlefs maid' (he fhin'd, 
 Confeft the faireil of the fairer kind. 
 Apollo lov'd her, till her guilt he knew, 
 While true (he was, or while he thought her true, 
 Eut his own bird the Raven chanc r d to find 
 The falfe one with a fecret rival join'd. 
 Coronis bcgg'd him to fupprefs the tale, 
 But could not with repeated prayers prevail. 
 His miik while pinions to the God he ply'd i 
 The bufy Daw flew with him, fide by fide, 
 And by a thoufand teizing queftions drew 
 Th' important fecret from him as they flew, 
 The Daw gave honeft counfel, tho' defpis'd^ 
 And» tedious in her tattle, thus advis'd. 
 
 Stay 
 
134 Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 " Stay, filly bird, th' ill-nator'd task refufe, 
 " Nor be the bearer of unwelcome news. 
 " Be warn'd by my example : you difcern 
 " What now I am, and what I was mall learn. 
 " My foolifh honefty was all my crime ; 
 " Then hear my ftory. Once upon a time, 
 ** The two-fhap'd Erifthonius had his birth 
 " (Without a mother) from the teeming earth ; 
 '* Minerva nurs'd him, and the infant laid 
 u Within a chert, of twining ofiers made. 
 ** The daughters of King Cecrops undertook 
 " To guard the cheft, commanded not to look 
 " On what was hid within. I ftood to fee 
 «' The charge obey'd, perch'd on a neighboring tree. 
 " The fillers Pandrofos and Herse keep 
 " The ftricl command ; Aglauros needs would peep, 
 " And faw the monftrous infant in a fright, 
 " And call'd her fifters to the hideous iight; 
 " A boy's foft fliape did to the waift prevail, 
 ** But the boy ended in a Dragon's tail. 
 " I told the ikemllfzner<v<? all that pafs'd, 
 '* But for my pains difcarded and difgrac'd, 
 " The frownning goddefs drove me from her fight, 
 u And for her favourite chofe the bird of night. 
 •' Be then no tell-tale; fori think my wrong 
 " Enough to teach a bird to hold her tongue. 
 
 " But you, perhaps, may think I was remov'd, 
 " As never by the heavenly maid belov'd : 
 " But I was lov'd ,• ask Pallas if I lye; 
 " Tho' Pallas hate me now, me won't deny : 
 " Fori whom in a feather'd fhape you view, 
 " Was once a Maid (oy heaven the ftory's true) 
 ** A blooming maid, and a King's daughter too. 
 i( A crowd of lovers own'd my beauty's charms ; 
 " My beauty was the caufe of all my harms ; 
 
 I 
 
 JV> 
 
Poems on feveral Occasons. 135 
 
 " Neptune, as on his mores I went to rove, 
 '' Obferv'd me in my walks, and fell in love. 
 " He made his courtfhip, he confefs'd his pain, 
 u And ofli-i-'d force when all his arts were vain ; 
 " Swift he purfu'd: I ran along the ftrand, 
 *' 'Till, fpentand weary'd on the finking fand, 
 *' I fhriek'd aloud, with cries I fill'd the air 
 *' To gods and men ; nor God, nor Alan was there : 
 " A virgin goddefs heard a virgin's prayer. 
 " For, as my Arms I lifted to the skies, 
 " I few black feathers from my fingers rife ; 
 ," I flrove to iling my garment on the ground ; 
 '•' My garment turn'd to Plumes, and girt me round : 
 " My hands to beat my naked bofom try; 
 " Nor naked bofom now nor hands, had I. 
 " Lightly I tript, nor weary as before 
 " Sunk in the land, but skira'd along the more , 
 " Till, rihng on my Wings, I was prefer'd 
 " To be thechaite Minerva's virgin bird : 
 " Prefer'd in vain ! I now am in difgrace: 
 " NySlimene the Owl enjoys my place. 
 
 " On her incefluous life I need not dwell, 
 
 u (In Lesbos ftill the horrid tale they tell) 
 
 " And of her dire amours you muft nave heard, 
 
 M For which (he now decs penance in a Bird, 
 
 " That, confeious of her (hame, avoids trh light, 
 
 M And loves the gloomy cov'nng of the night ; 
 
 " The Birds, where-e'er me flutter*, fcare away 9 
 
 " The hooting wretch, and drive her from the day. 
 
 The Raven, urg'd by fuch impertinence, 
 Grew paffionate, it feems, and took offence, 
 And curl! the harmlefs Daw ; the Daw withdrew : 
 The Raven to her injufd patron flew. 
 And found him out, and told the fetal truth 
 
 Of falfe Caroms and the favour'd youth. 
 
 The 
 
136 Poems on fever al Occasions. 
 
 The Gcd was wroth ; the colour left his look, 
 The wreath his head, the harp his hand forfook : 
 His filver bow and feather fhafts he took, . 
 And lodg'd an arrow in the tender breaft, 
 That had fo often to his own been preft, 
 Down fell the wounded Nymph, and fadly groan'd, 
 And pull'd his arrow reeking from the wound ; 
 And wehYing in her blood, thus faintly cry'd, * 
 " Ah cruel God ! tho' I have juftly dy'd, 
 " What has, alas! my unborn Infant done, 
 " That He mould fall, and two expire in one ? 
 This faid, in agonies ihe fetch'd her breath. 
 
 The God diflblves in pity at her death ,* 
 He hates the bird that made her falfhood known, 
 And hates himfelf for what himfelf had done ; 
 The feather d ihaft, that fent her to the fates, 
 And his own hand, that fent the ihaft, he hates. 
 Fain would he heal the wound, and eafe her pain, 
 And tries the compafs of his art in vain. 
 Scon as he faw the lovely Nymph expire, 
 The pile made ready, and the kindling fire, 
 With fighs and groans her obfequies he kept, 
 And, if a God could Weep, the God had Wept. 
 Her corps he kifs'd, and heavenly incenfe brought, 
 And folemniz'd the death himfelf had wrought. 
 
 Eut, left his off ring mould her fate partake, 
 Spight of th' immortal mixture in his make, 
 He ript her womb, and fet the child at large, 
 And gave him to the Centaur Chiron's charge : 
 Then in his fury Black'd the Raven o'er, 
 And bid him prate in his White plumes no more. 
 
 I 
 
 OCYRS." 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 137 
 Ocyrrhoe transformed to a Mare. 
 
 Old Chiron took the babe with fecret joy, 
 Proud of the charge of the celeftial boy. 
 His daughter too, whom on the fandy more 
 The Nymph Charido to the Centaur bore, 
 With hair dimevel'd on her moulders came 
 To fee the child, Ocyrrhoe was her name ; 
 She knew her father's arts, and could rehearfe 
 The depths of prophecy in founding verfe. 
 Once, as the facred infant (he furvey'd, 
 The God was kindled in the raving Maid, 
 And thus (he utter'd her prophetick tale ; 
 " Hail, great Phyfician of the world, all hail; 
 *' Hail, mighty infant, who in years to come 
 u Shalt heal the nations, and defraud the tomb; 
 " Swift be thy growth ? thy triumphs unconfin'd f 
 M Make kingdoms thicker, and increafe mankind. 
 • ' Thy daring art mail animate the Dead, 
 *' And draw the Thunder on thy guilty head: 
 " Then (halt thou die ; but from the dark abode 
 " Rile up victorious, and be Twice a God. 
 ** And thou, my Sire, not deitin'd by thy birth 
 <s - To turn to dud, and mix with common earth,. 
 " How wilt thou tofs, and rave, and long to die, 
 " And quit thy claim to immortality ; 
 " When thou (halt feel, enrag'd with inward pains, 
 ■' The Hydra's venom rankling in thy veins? 
 ** The Gods, in pity, (hall contract thy date, 
 " And give thee over to the power of Fate, 
 
 Thus, entering into deftiny, the maid 
 The fecrets of offended Jove betray \J : 
 More had (he ftill to fay ; but now appears 
 OppreiVd with fobs and iighs, and drown'd in tears. 
 
 " My 
 
138 Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 " My voice, fays (he, is gone, my language fails ; 
 
 " Through every limb my kindred fhape prevails : 
 
 " Why did t ie God this fetal gift impart, 
 
 " And with p.upacuck raptures fwell my heart! 
 
 " What nevv defire* are thefe ? I long to Pace 
 
 " O'er flowery meadows, and to feed on Grafs ; 
 
 ** 1 haften to a Brute, a Maid no more; 
 
 u But why, alas f am I tnn.form'd all o'er ? 
 
 '' My Sire does Half a human fhape retain, 
 And in his upper parts preferves the Alan. 
 
 Her tongue no more diftincl complaints affords, 
 But in flirill accents, and mif-fhapen words 
 Pours forth fuch hideous waitings, as declare 
 The Human form confounded in the Mare 
 'Till by degrees accomplifh'd in the Beaft, 
 She neigh'd outright, and all the Steed expreft. 
 Her Hooping body on her hands is> born, 
 Her hands are turn'd to hoofs, and ihod in horn ; 
 Her yellow trefTes ruifle in a mane, 
 And in a flowing tail fhe frifks her train. 
 The Mare was nnifh'd in her voice and look, 
 And a new name from the new figure took. 
 
 The 'Transformation o/Battus to a Touch- 
 stone, 
 
 Sore wept the Centaur, and to Phabus pray'd ; 
 But how could Phtebus give the Centaur aid? 
 Degraded of his power by angry Jo<ve. 
 In Elis ' then a herd of Beeves he drove ; 
 And weilded in his hand a HafF of Oak, 
 And o'er his flioulders threw the Shepherd's cloak, 
 On feven compacted reeds he us'd to play, 
 And on his rural pipe to wafte the day. 
 
 As 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 139 
 
 As once, attentive to his pipe he play'd, -* 
 
 The crafty Hermes from the God convey 'd f 
 
 A Drove, that fep'rate from their fellows ftray'd. } 
 
 The theft an old infidious Peafant vievv'd, 
 They calPd him Battus in the neighbourhood) 
 Hir'd by a wealthy Pylian Prince to feed 
 His favourite Mares, and watch the generous breed. 
 The thievifli God fufpe&ed him and took 
 The Hind afide, and thus in whifpers fpoke ; 
 " Difcover not the theft, whoe'er thou be, 
 M And take that milk-white heifer for thy fee. 
 " Go, flranger, cries the clown, fecurely on, 
 " That ftone mail fooncr tell ; and fhow'd a flone. 
 
 The God withdrew, but ftrait return'd again, 
 In fpeech and habit like a country Swain ; 
 And cries out, " Neighbour, haft thou feen a firay 
 " Of Bullocks and of Heifers pafs this way ? 
 •* In the recovery of my cattle join, 
 " A Bullock and a Heifer (hall be thine. 
 The Peafant quick replies, " You'll find them there 
 " In yon dark vale : and in the vale they were. 
 The double bribe had his falfe heart beguil'd : 
 The God fuccefsful in the tryal, fmil'd ; 
 " And doll thou thus betray myfelf to me ? 
 " Me to myfelf doft thou betray ? fays he : 
 Then to a Touch ji one turns thefaithlefs Spy, 
 And in his name records his infamy. 
 
 The Story p/Aglauros, transformed 
 
 in- 
 
 to a Statue. 
 
 This done, the God flew up on high, and pafs'd 
 O'er lofty Athens, by Minerva grace'd, 
 And wide Munichia, whilfr. his eyes furvey 
 All the vafl region that beneath him lay. 
 
 'Twas 
 
140 Poems on fever al Occasion's. 
 
 'Twas now the feaft when each Athenian Maid 
 Her yearly homage to Minerva paid ; 
 In canifters, with garlands cover'd o'er, 
 High on their heads their myftick gifts they bore: 
 And now, returning in a folemn train, 
 The troop of mining Virgins fill'd the plain. 
 
 The God well-pleas'd beheld the pompous ihow, 
 And faw the bright proceffion pafs below ; 
 Then veer'd about, and took a wheeling flight, 
 And hover' d o'er them : As the fpreading Kite, 
 That fmells the flaughter'd victim from on high, 
 Flies at a diftance, if the Priefts are nigh, 
 And fails around, and keeps it in her eye ; 
 So kept the God the Virgin choir in view, 
 And in flow winding circles round them flew. 
 
 \ 
 
 As Lucifer excels the meaneft ftar, 
 Or, as the full-orb'd Pbabe Lucifer ; 
 So much did Herse all the reft outvy, 
 And gave a grace to the folemnity. 
 Hermes was fir'd, as in the clouds he hung : 
 So the cold Bullet, that with fury flung 
 From Balearick engines mounts on high, 
 Glows in the whirl, and burns along the iky. 
 At length he pitch'd upon the ground, and fliow'd 
 The form divine, the features of a God. 
 He knew their virtue o'er a female heart, 
 And yet he ftrives to better them by art. 
 He hangs his mantle loofe, and fets to (how 
 The golden edging on the feam below ; 
 Adjuits his flowing curls, and in his hand 
 Waves, with an air, the fleep- procuring wand; 
 The glittering fandals to his feet applies, 
 And to each heel the well-trim'd pinion ties. 
 
 His 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 141 
 
 His ornaments with niceft art difplay'd, 
 He feeks th* apartment of the royal maid. 
 The roof was ail with polifh'd Ivory line'd, 
 That, richly mix'd, in clouds of Tortoife fhine'd, 
 Three rooms, contiguous, in a range were place'd, 
 The midmoft by the beauteous Herse grace'd; 
 Her virgin fillers lodg'd on either fide. 
 Aglauros firil th' approaching God defcry'd, 
 And, as he crofs'd her chamber, afk 1 d his name, 
 And what his bufinefs was, and whence he came. 
 *' I come, reply 'd the God, from Heaven, to woo 
 " Your filler, and to make an aunt of you; 
 *' I am the fon and meflenger of 'Jove. 
 " My name is Mercury, my bufinefs Love ; 
 " Do you, kind damfel, take a lover's part, 
 " And gain admittance to your filler's heart. 
 
 She flar'd him in the face with looks amazM, 
 As when (lie on Minerva's fecret gaz'd, 
 And afks a mighty treafure for her hire, 
 And, till he brings it, makes the God retire. 
 Minerva griev'd to fee the Nymph fucceed ; 
 And now remembring the late impious deed, 
 When, difobedient to her Uriel: command, 
 She touch'd the chefl with an unhallow'd hand ; 
 In big-fwoln fighs her inward rage exprefs'd, 
 That heav'd the rifing jEgis on her breaft; 
 Then fought out Envy in her dark abode, 
 DehTd with ropy gore and clots of blood : 
 Shut from the winds, and from the wholfom fkies, 
 In a deep vale the gloomy dungeon lies, 
 Difmal and cold, where not a beam of light 
 Invades the winter, or difturbs the night. 
 
 Diredly 
 
142 Poems on fever al Occasions. 
 
 Direftly to the cave her courfe me fteer'd 
 Againit the gates her martial lance fhe rear'd; 
 The gates flew open, and the Fiend appear'd. 
 A pois nous morfel in her teeth fhe chew'd, 
 And gorg'd the flefti of Vipers for her food. 
 Minerva loathing, turn'd away her eye ; 
 The hideous monfter, rifing heavily, 
 Came ftalking forward with a fallen pace, 
 And left her mangled offals on the place. 
 Soon as me faw the Gcddefs gay and bright, 
 She fetch'd a groan at fuch a chearful light. 
 Livid and meagre were her looks, her eye 
 In foul diftorted glances turn'd awry ; 
 A hoard of gall her inward parts poffefs'd, 
 And fpread a greennefs o'er her canker'd breafl; 
 Her teeth were brown with rufl; and from her tongue 
 In dangling drops, the ftringy poifon hung. 
 She never imiles but when the wretched weep, 
 Nor lulls her malice with a moment's fleep, 
 Eeftlefs in fpite : while watchful to deHroy, 
 She pines and fickens at another's joy ; 
 Foe to her felf, diftrefling and diilreft, 
 She bears her own tormenter in her breaft. 
 The Goddefs gave (for fhe abhorr'd her fight) 
 A fhort command : " To Athe?is fpeed thy flight; 
 " On curil Aglauros try thy utmofl art, 
 " And fix thy rankeft venoms in her heart. 
 This faid, her fpear fhe pufh'd againft the ground, 
 And mounting from it with an aclive bound, 
 Flew off to Heaven : The hag with eyes afkew * 
 Look'd up, and mutter'd curfes as fhe flew ; 
 For fore me fretted, and began to grieve 
 At the fuccefs which fhe her ielf mull give. 
 Then takes her ftaff, hung round with wreaths of thorn, 
 And fails along, in a black whirlwind born, 
 
 O'er 
 

 Poems on fevered Occasions. 143 
 
 O'er fields and flowery meadows : where me fleers 
 Her baneful courfe, a miglity blaft appears, 
 Mildews and blights ; the meadows are deface'd, 
 The fields, the flowers, and the whole year laid wafte: 
 On mortals next, and peopled towns fhe falls, 
 And breathes a burning plague among their walli. 
 
 When Athens fhe beheld, for arts renown'd, 
 With peace made happy, and with plenty crownM, 
 Scarce could the hideous Fiend from tears forbear, 
 To find out nothing that defer v'd a tear. 
 1'h' apartment now fhe cntcr'd, where at reft, 
 Aglauros lay, with gentle fleep oppreft. 
 To execute Minerva's dire command, 
 She ftroak'd the virgin with her canker'd hnnd, 
 Then prickly thorns into her breart convey'd, 
 Tliat flung to madnefs the devoted maid : 
 Her fubtle venom ftill improves the fmart, 
 Frets in the blco J, and feilers in the heart. 
 
 To make the work more fure, a fcene fhe drew, 
 And place'd before the dreaming virgin's view 
 Her Sifter's Marriage, and her glorious fate: 
 Th* imaginary Bride appears in Hate ; 
 The Bride-groom with unwonted beauty glows ; 
 For Envy magnifies whate'er fhe fhows. 
 
 Full of the dream, Aglauros pine'd away 
 In tears all nicrht, in darknefs all the day ; 
 Confum'd like ice, that jufl begins to run, 
 When feebly fmitten by the diilant Sun ; 
 Or like unwholfome weeds, that fet on fire 
 Are flowly wafted, and in fmoke expire. 
 Given up to envy ( for in every thought 
 The thorns, the venom, and the vifion wrought) 
 
 Vol. I. H Oft 
 
144 Poems oh feveral Occasions. 
 
 Oft, did fhe call on death, as oft, decreed, 
 
 Rather than fee her filler's with fucceed, 
 To tell her awful father what had pait : 
 At length before the door her felf ihe caft; 
 
 And, fitting on the ground with fallen pride, 
 A pafTage to the love fick God deny'd. 
 The God carefs\3, and for admiffion pray'd, 
 And footh'd in foftefl words th' envenom'd Maid. 
 In vain he footh'd ; M Begone! the Maid replies, 
 *' Or here I keep my feat, and never rife. 
 * e Then keep thy feat for ever, cries the God, 
 And touch'd the door, wide opening to his rod. 
 Pain would fhe rife, and flop him, but fhe found 
 Her trunk too heavy to forfake the ground ; 
 •Her joynts are all benumb'd, her hands are pale, 
 And Marble now appears in every nail. 
 As when a Cancer in the body feeds, 
 And gradual death from limb to limb proceeds ; 
 
 o dees the chilnefs to each vital part 
 Spread by degrees, and creeps into her heart ; 
 'f is hard'ning every where, and fpeechlefs grown, 
 She fits unmov'd, and freezes to a Stone ; 
 But ftill her envious hue and fullen mien 
 Are in the fedentary figure (een. 
 
 E u r o p a's Rape. 
 
 When now the God his fury hadallay'd, 
 And taken vengeance of the ftubborn Maid, 
 From where the bright Athenian turrets rife 
 -He mounts aloft, and re-aicends the ikies. 
 Jove faw him enter the fubliine abodes, 
 And, a c . he mix'd among the crowd of Gods, 
 Beckon'd him out, and drew him from the reft, 
 And m foft whilpers thus his will exgfeft. 
 
 • My 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 145 
 
 " My trufty Hermes, by whofe ready aid 
 " Thy Sire's commands are thro' the world conveyed, 
 *' Refume thy wings, exert their utmoil force, 
 *' And to the walls of Sidon fpeed thy courfe; 
 " There find a herd of Heifers wand'ring o'er 
 *' The neighbouring hill, and drive 'em to the mores 
 
 Thus fpoke the God, concealing his intent. 
 The trufty Hermes on his mefiage went, 
 And found the herd of H 
 
 A neighbouring; hill, and drove 'em to the more; 
 Where the King's Daughter with a love!}' 
 Of Fellow-Nymphs, was iporting on the plain. 
 
 The dignity of empire laid afide, 
 ( 1 or love but ill agrees with kingly pride. ) 
 The Ruler of the ikies, the thundering God, 
 Who makes the world's foundations with a nod, 
 Among a herd of lowing Heifers ran, 
 Friik'd ina Bull, and beilowM o'er the plain. 
 Large rolls of fat about his moulders clung, 
 And from his neck the double dewlap hung. 
 His fkin was whiter than the mow that lies 
 Unfully'd by the breath of fouthern Ikies ; 
 Small Alining horns on his curl'd forehead ftand, 
 As turn'd and polim'd by the work-man's hand; 
 His eye-Balls roii'd, not formidably bright, 
 But gaz'd and languim'd with a gentle light. 
 His every look was peaceful, and expreft 
 The foftnefs of the Lover in the Beaft. 
 
 Jgenors royal daughter, as me play'd 
 Among the fields, the milk white Bull furvey'd, 
 And view'd the fpotlefs body with delight, 
 And at a diflance kept him in her fight. 
 
 H 2 At 
 
146 Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 At length me pluck'd the rifing flowers, and fed 
 The gentle beaft, and fondly ftroak'd his head. 
 He flood well-pleas'd to touch the charming fair, 
 But hardly could confine his pleafure there. 
 And now he wantons o'er the neighbouring ftrand, 
 Now rowls his body on the yellow fand; 
 And now, perceiving all her fears decay'd, 
 Comes toffing forward to the royal Maid ; 
 Gives her his breaft to ftroke, and downward turns 
 His grifly brow, and gently ftoops his horns. 
 In flowery wreaths the royal Virgin dreft 
 His bending horns, and kindly clapt his breaft. 
 'Till now grown wanton, and devoid of fear, 
 Not knowing that (he preft the Thunderer, 
 She plac'd her felf upon his back, and rede 
 O'er fields and meadows, feated on the God. 
 
 He gently march'd along, and by degrees 
 Left the dry meadow, and approached the ieas; 
 Where now he dips his hoofs, and wets his thigh?, 
 Now plunges in, and carries off the prize. 
 The frighted Nymph looks backward on the flioar, 
 And hears the tumbling billows round her roar; 
 But frill fhe holds him fall : one hand is born 
 Upon his back ; the other grafps a horn : 
 Her train of ruffling garments flies behind, 
 Swells in the air, and hovers in the wind. 
 
 Through florms and ternpefls he the Virgin bore, 
 And lands her fafe on the Dittean fliore ; 
 Where now, in his dinned form array'd, 
 In his True fhape he captivates the Maid \ 
 Who gazes on him, and with wondering eyes 
 Beholds the new majeftick figure rife, 
 His glowing features, and celeitial light, 
 And all the God difcover'd to her fight. 
 
 OVID's 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 147 
 
 **. ** ** #* ** ** ** ** ** * 
 
 K&\ C^» l^-> l^> «^"» «^» «-^> <^ «^^ *^"> «^> <-^> «"^> «^» V *^ *« 9 "' 
 
 9 
 
 & ** ** ** *» ** ** «* »» •• 
 
 i£>i<^n i^-i 
 
 O V I D's 
 
 METAMOR P HOSES. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 The Story of C a d m u s. 
 
 WHEN now Jgeuor had his daughter loft. 
 He fent his fon to i'earch on every coaft; 
 And fternly bid him to his arms reflore 
 The darling maid, or fee his face no more, 
 But live an exile in a foreign clime* 
 Thus was the father pious to a crime. 
 
 The reftl cfs youtli fearch'd all the world around; 
 But how can Jove in his amours be found ? 
 When tir'd at length with unfuccefsful toil, 
 To fnun his angry Sire and native foil, 
 He goes a fupphant to the Delpbick dome ; 
 There a Acs the God what new appointed home 
 Should end his wand'rings, and his toils relieve, 
 The Dtlphuk oracles this anfwer give. 
 
 H 3 " Behold 
 
I 
 
 148 Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 " Behold among the fields a lonely Cow, 
 <c Unworn with yokes, unbroken to the plow ; 
 tc Mark well the place where nrfl me lays her down, 
 t£ There meafure out thy walls, and build thy town, 
 u And from thy guide B<eotia call the land, 
 " In which the deilin'd walls and town mail iiand. 
 
 No fooner had he left the dark abode, 
 Big with the promife of the Dclpbkk God, 
 When in the fields the fatal Cow he view'd, 
 Nor gall'd with yokes, nor worn with fervitude : 
 Ker gently at a diitance he purfu'd ; 
 And, as he walk'd aloof, in filence pray'd 
 To the great Power whofe counfels he obey'd. 
 Her way through flowery Tanope fhe took, 
 And now, Ccpbijus, crolVd thy filver brook ; 
 When to the Heavens her fpacious front me rais'd, 
 And bellow'd thrice, then backward turning gaz'd 
 On thofe behind, 'till en the deltin'd place 
 She ftoop'd, and couchYi arilid the riling grafs. 
 
 Cadmus falutes the foil, and gladly hails 
 The new-found mountains, and the namelefs vales, 
 And thanks the Gods, and turns about his eye 
 To fee his new dominions round him lye ; 
 
 Then fends his fervants to a neighbouring grove 
 For living ftreams, a facrifice to Jove. 
 O'er the wide plain there rofe a ftmdy wood 
 Of aged trees ; in its dark bofom Hood 
 A bufhy thicket, pathlefs and unworn, 
 Oer-run with brambles, and perplex'd with thorn : 
 Amidil the brake a hollow Den was found, 
 With rocks and fhelving arches vaulted round. 
 
 Deep in the dreary Den, conceal'd from day, 
 Sacred to Mars, a mighty Dragon lay, 
 
 Bloated 
 
Poems nn feveral Occasions. 149 
 
 Bloated with poifon to a monftrous fize ; 
 
 Fire broke in flafhes when he glance'd his eyes : 
 
 His towering creft was glorious to behold, 
 
 His fhoulders and his fides were fcal'd with gold ; 
 
 Three tongues he brandifh'd when he charg'd his foes; 
 
 His teeth flood jaggy in three dreadful rows. 
 
 The Tyrians in the Den for water fought, 
 
 And with their urns explor'd the hollow vault : 
 
 From fide to fide their empty urns rebound, 
 
 And roufe the fleepy Serpent with the found. 
 
 Strait he beftirs him, and is feen to rife; 
 
 And now with dreadful hillings fills the fkies, 
 
 And darts his forky tongues, and rouls his glareing eyes. 
 
 The Tyrians drop their veffels in the fright, 
 
 All pale and trembling at the hideous fight. 
 
 Spire above fpire uprear'd in air he flood, 
 
 And gazing round him, over-look'd the wcGd : 
 
 Then floating on the ground, in circles rowl'd ; 
 
 Then lenp'd upon them in a mighty fo:d. 
 
 Of fuch a bulk, and fuch a monilrous f.ze, 
 
 The Serpent in the polar circle lyes, 
 
 That ftretches over half the Northern Ikies. 
 
 Jn vain the Tyrians on their arms rclv, 
 
 In vain attempt to fight, in vain to fly • 
 
 All their endeavours and their hopes are vain; 
 
 Some die entangled in the winding train ; 
 
 Some are devour'd; or feel a loathfom death, 
 
 Swoln up with blafts of peflilcntial breath. 
 
 And now the fcorching Sun was mounted high. 
 In all its luftre, to the noon-day Iky ; 
 When, anxious for his friends, and hTi'd with cares, 
 To fearch the woods th' impatient Chief prepares, 
 A Lion's hide around- his loins he wore, 
 The well-poib'd Jav'lin to the field he bore 
 Inur'd to blood; the far-deftroying Dart, 
 And, the beft weapon, an undaunted Heart. 
 
 H 4 Soon 
 
 I 
 
150 Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 Soon as the youth npproach'd the fatal place, 
 He faw his fervants breath] efs on the grafs ; 
 The fcaly foe amid their corps he view'd, 
 Bafking at eafe, and feafting in their blood. 
 " Such friend?, he cries, defervM a longer date; 
 « c But Cadmus will revenge, or fhare their fate. 
 Then hcav'd a Stone, and rifmg to the throw, 
 He fent it in a whirlwind at the foe : 
 A tower, afTaulted by fo rude a ftroke, 
 With all its lofty battlements had fhook ; 
 But nothing here th' unwieldy rock avails, 
 Rebounding harmleis from the plaited fcales, 
 That, firmly join'd, preferv'd him from a wound, 
 With native armour crufted all around. 
 The pointed Jav'lin more fuccefsful flew, 
 Which at his back the raging warriour threw; 
 Amid the plaited fcales it took its courfe, 
 And in the fpinal marrow fpent its force. 
 The monfter hifs'd aloud, and rage'd in vain, 
 And writh'd his body to and fro with pain ; 
 And bit the fpear, and wrench'd the wood away : 
 The point ftill buried in the narrow lay. 
 And now his rage, increaiing with his pain, 
 Reddens his eyes, and beats in every vein ; 
 ChurnM in his teeth the foamy venom rofe, 
 Whilft from his mouth a blaft of vapours flows, 
 Such as th' infernal Stygian waters caft ; 
 The plants around him wither in the blaft. 
 Now in a maze of rings he lies enrowl'd, 
 Now all unravel'd, and without a fold ; 
 Now, like a torrent, with a mighty force 
 Bears down the foreft in his boifterous courfe. 
 Cadmus gave back, and on the Lion's fpoii 
 Suflain'd the fhock, then force'd him to recoil ; 
 The pointed Jav'lin warded off his rage : 
 Jylad with his pains, and furious to engage, The 
 
Poems on fevered Occasions. 151 
 
 The Serpent champs the fteel, and bites the fpear, 
 'Till blood and venom all the point beimear. 
 But ftill the hurt he yet receive'd was flight ; * 
 For, whilfl the Champion with redoubled migh| : 
 Strikes home the Jav'lin, his retiring foe 
 Shrinks from the wound, and difappoints the blow. 
 
 The dauntlefs Heroe ftill purfues hi3 ftroke, 
 And prefles forward, 'till a knotty Oak 
 Retards his foe, and flops him in the rear ; 
 Full in his throat he plunge'd the fatal fpear, 
 That in the extended neck a paffrge found, 
 And pierce'd the folid timber througli the wound. 
 Fix'd to the reeling trunk, with many a itroke 
 Of his huge tail, he lafh'd the flurdy Oak ; 
 'Till fpent with toil, and labouring hard for breath, 
 He now lay twilling in the pangs of death. 
 
 Catfmus beheld him wallow in a flood 
 Of fwimming poifon, intermix'd with blood ; 
 When fuddenly a fpcech was heard from high, 
 (The fpecch v/as heard, nor was tiie ipeaker nigh ) 
 * J Why dolt thou thus with fecret pleaiure fee, 
 " Infulting Man ! what thou thy ielf flialt be ? 
 AiioninYd at the voice, he itood amaz'd, 
 And all around with inward horror gaz'd : 
 When Pallas fwift defcending from the Skies-, 
 Pallaj, the guardian of the bold and wife, 
 Bids him plow up the field, and fcatter round 
 Tho Dragon's Teeth o'er all the furrow 'd ground; 
 Then tells the youth how to his wondering eyes 
 Embattled armies from the field fhould rife. 
 
 He fows the Teeth at P alias % command, 
 And flings the Future People from his hand. 
 The clods grow warm, and crumble where he fowsj 
 And now the pointed fpears advance in rows j 
 
 H 5 Now 
 
152 Poems on fevered Occasions. 
 
 Now nodding plumes appear, and mining crefb, 
 Now the broad moulders and the riling breafts; 
 O'er all the field the breathing harveft fvvarms, 
 A growing hoft, a crop of men and arms. 
 
 So through the parting flage a figure rears 
 Its body up, and limb by limb appears 
 By juft degrees ; 'till all the Man arife, 
 And in his full proportion ftrikes the eyes. 
 
 Cadmus furpriz'd, and ftartled at the fight 
 Of his new foes, prepared himfelf for fight : 
 When one cry'd out, " Forbear, fondman, forbear 
 " To mingle in a blind promifcuous war. 
 This faid, he ftruck his Brother to the ground, 
 Himfelf expiring by Another's wound ; 
 Nor did the Third his conquefl long furvive, 
 Dying e're fcarce he had begun to live. 
 
 The dire example ran through all the field, 
 'Till heaps of brothers were by brothers kill'd ; 
 The furrows fwam in blood : and only five 
 Of all the vaft increafe were left alive. 
 Echion one, at P alias's command, 
 Let fall the guiltlefs weapon from his hand ; 
 And with the reft a peaceful treaty makes, 
 Whom Cadmus as his friends and partners takes : 
 So founds a city on the promis'd earth, 
 And gives his new Baotian empire birth. 
 
 Here Cadmus reign'd ; and now one would have guefs'd 
 The royal founder in his exile bleft : 
 Lon^ did he live within his new abodes, 
 Ally'd by marriage to the deathlefs Gods ; 
 And, in a fruitful wife's embraces old, 
 A long increafe of children's children told : 
 
 But 
 
Poems on fevered Occasions. 253 
 
 But no frail man, however great or high, 
 Can be concluded bleft before he die. 
 
 Ailteon was the firlt of all his race, 
 Who griev'd his Grandfire in his borrow'd face ; 
 Condemned by ftern Diana to bemoan 
 The branching horns, and vifage not his own ; 
 To ihun his once-lov'd dogs, to bound away, 
 And from their Huntfman to become their Prey. 
 And yet confider why the change was wrought, 
 Ynu'll find it his misfortune, not his fault ; 
 Or if a fault, it was the fault of chance : 
 For how can guilt proceed from ignorance ? 
 
 'The Transformation of A c t /e o n into 
 a Stag. 
 
 In a fair Chace a (hady mountain flood, 
 Well ilore'd with game, and mark'd with trails of blood. 
 Here did the huntfmen 'till the heat of day 
 Purfue the Stag, and load themfelves with prey 
 When thus Action calling to the reit : 
 " My friends, fays he, ourfportis at the beft. 
 " The Sun is high advance'd, and downward fheds 
 " Hi> burning beams direclly on our heads; 
 " Then by confent abftain from further fpoils, 
 " Call off the dogs, and gather up the toils 3 
 a And e're to-morrow's Sun begins his race, 
 " Take the cool morning to renew the chacc. 
 They all confent, and in a chearful train 
 The jolly huntfmen, loaden with the flain, S» 
 
 Return in triumph from the fultry plain. \ 
 
 Down in a vale with Pine and Cyprefs clad, 
 RefreuYd with gentle winds, and brown with made, 
 
 the 
 
 ! 
 
154 Poems on fever al Occasions. 
 
 The chafte Diana's private haunt, there flood 
 
 Full in the centre of the darkfome wood "J 
 
 A fpacious Grotto, all around oer-grown 
 
 With hcary mofs, and archTd with Pumice-ftone, 
 
 From out its rocky clefts the waters flow, 
 
 And trickling fwell into a lake below. 
 
 Nature had every where fo playM her part. 
 
 That every where fhe feem'd to vie with Art. 
 
 Here the bright Goddefs, toil'd and chafe'd with heat, 
 
 Was wont to bathe her in the cool retreat. 
 
 Here did fhe now with all her train refort, 
 Panting with heat, and breathlefs from the fnort ; 
 Her armour-bearer laid her bow afide, 
 Some loos'd her fandals, fome her veil unty*d ; 
 Each bufy Nymph her proper part undreit -, 
 While Crocale, more handy than the reft. 
 Gather'd her flowing hair, and in a noofe 
 Bound it together, whilfl her own hung loofe. 
 Five of the more ignoble fort by turns 
 Fetch up the water, and unlade their urns. 
 
 Now all undrefl the mining Goddefs flood, 
 When young Afiaon, wilder'd in the wood, 
 To the cool grott by his hard fate betray'd, 
 The fountains fiil'd with naked Nymphs furvey'd. 
 The frighted virgins fhrick'd at the furprize, 
 ( The foreil echo'd with their piercing cries. ) 
 Then in a huddle round their Goddefs prell : 
 She, proudly eminent above the reft, 
 With bluflies glow"d; fuch blufhes as adorn 
 The ruddy welkin, or the purple morn; 
 And tho' the crowding Nymphs her body hide, 
 Half backward fhrunk, and view'd him from afide 
 Surpriz'd, at firft fhe would have fnatchd her BuW, 
 But fees the circling waters round her flow j 
 
 Thefc 
 
Poems on fever al Occasions. 155 
 
 Thefe in the hollow of her hand lhe took, 
 
 And dafh'd 'em in his face, while thus me fpoke : 
 
 " Tell, if thou can'ft, the wonderous fight difclos'd ; 
 
 " A Godefs Naked to thy view expos'd. 
 
 This faid, the Man begun to difappear 
 By flow degrees, and ended in a Deer. 
 A rifing horn on either brow he wears, 
 And itretches out his neck, and pricks his ears; 
 Rough is his fkin, with fudden hairs o'er- grown, 
 His bofom pants with fears before unknown. 
 Transform'd at length, he flies away in hafte, 
 And wonders why he flies away fo fail. 
 But as by chance, within a neighbouring brook, 
 He few his branching horns and alter'd look, 
 Wretched Atlaon! in a doleful tone 
 He try'd to fpeak, but only gave a groan ; 
 And as he wept, within the wat'ry glafs 
 He faw the big round drops, with filent pace, 
 Run trickling down a favage hairy face. 
 What mould he do ? Or feek his old abodes, 
 Or herd among the Deer, and fkulk in Woods ? 
 Here fhame difluades him, there his fear prevails, 
 And each by turns hi3 aking heart aflails. 
 
 As he thus ponders, he behind him fpies 
 His opening Hounds, and now he hears their cries ; 
 A generous pack, or to maintain the chace, 
 Or fnufF the vapour from the fcented grafs. 
 
 He bounded off w ith fear, and fwiftly ran 
 O'er craggy mount ains, and the flowery plain ; 
 Through brakes and thickets fore'd his way, and flew 
 Through many a ring, where once he did purfue. 
 In vain he eft endeavour'd to proclaim 
 His new misfortune, and to tell his name ; 
 
 Nor 
 
 I 
 
156 Poems on fever al Occasions. 
 
 Nor voice nor words the brutal tongue fupplies ; 
 
 From fhouting men, and horns, and dogs he flies, 
 
 Deafen'd and itunn'd with their promifcuous cries. 
 
 When now the rleeteft of the pack, that preft 
 
 Clofe at his heels, and fprung before the reft, 
 
 Had faften'd on him, ftraight another pair 
 
 Hung on his wounded haunch, and held him there, 
 
 'Till all the pack came up, and every hound 
 
 Tore the fed Huntfman grov'ling on the ground, 
 
 Who now appear'd but one continu'd wound. 
 
 With dropping tears his bitter fate he moans, 
 
 And fills the mountain with his dying groans. 
 
 His fervants with a piteous look he fpies, 
 
 And turns about his fupplica ting eyes. 
 
 His fervants, ignorant of what had chance'd, 
 
 With eager hafle and joyful fhouts advance'd, 
 
 And cali'd their Lord Aft<eon to the game 3 
 
 He fhook his head in aufwer to the name, 
 
 He heard, but wifh'd he had indeed been gone, 
 
 Or only to have flood a looker on. 
 
 But, to his grief he finds himfelf too near, 
 
 And feels his rav'nous dogs with fury tear 
 
 Their wretched mafter panting in a Deer. 
 
 The Birth of Bacchus. 
 
 Aa<ecri% fufferings, and Diana's rage, 
 Did all the thoughts of Men and Gods engage, 
 Some cali'd the evils, which Diana wrought, 
 Too great, and difproportion'd to the fault ; 
 Others again efteem'd Aficeoris woes 
 Fit for a Virgin Goddefs to impofe. 
 The hearers into different parts divide, 
 And rcafons are produc'd on either fide. 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 JuM 
 
Poems on fever al Occasions. 157 
 
 yuno alone, of all that heard the news, 
 Nor would condemn the Goddefs, norexcufe : 
 She heeded not the juftice of the deed, 
 But joy'd to fee the race of Cadmus bleed ; 
 For flill {he kept Europa in her mind, 
 And, for her fake, detefted all her kind. 
 Befides, to aggravate her hate, fhe heard 
 How Semele, to "Joves embrace preferred, 
 Was now grown big with an immortal load. 
 And carry 'd in her womb a future God. 
 Thus terribly incens'd, the Goddefs broke 
 To fudden fury, and abruptly fpoke. 
 
 " Are my reproaches of fo fmall a force ? 
 u 'Tis time I then purfue another courfe : 
 " It is decreed the guilty wretch mall die, 
 " If I'm indeed the Miftrefs of the Sky ; 
 «' If rightly ftyPd among the Powers above 
 " The Wife and Sifter of the thundering Jo<ve 9 
 " (And none can fure a Sifter's right deny) 
 f It is decreed the guilty wretch (hall die. 
 " She boafts an honour lean hardly claim ; 
 " Pregnant fhe rifes to a Mother's name ; 
 " While proud and vain fhe triumphs in her Jo<ve, 
 " And mows the glorious tokens of his love: 
 " But if I'm flill the miftrefs of the Ikies, 
 " By her own lover die fond beauty dies. 
 This faid, defcendingin a yellow cloud, 
 Before the gates of Semele me flood. 
 
 Old Bero'es decrepit fhape fhe wears, 
 Her wrinkled vifage, and her hoary hairs; 
 Whiltl in her trembling gait fhe totters on, 
 And learns to tattle in the Nurfe's tone. 
 The Goddefs, thus difguis'd in age, beguil'd 
 With pleafing ftories her falfe Fottcr child, 
 
 Much 
 
158 Poems on fever d Occasions. 
 
 Much did me talk of love, and when fhe came 
 
 To mention to the Nymph her lover's name, 
 
 Fetching a figh, and holding down her head, 
 
 *« 'Tiswell, fays ihe, if all be true that's laid. 
 
 " But trull me, child, I'm much inclin'd to fear 
 
 u Some counterfeit in this your Jupiter. 
 
 " Many an honeft well-defigning maid, 
 
 " Has been by thefe pretended Gods betray'd. 
 
 " But if he be indeed the thundering Jove, 
 
 " Bid him, when next he courts the rites of love, 
 
 " Defcend triumphant from th' etherial Iky, 
 
 " In all the pomp of his divinity; 
 
 " EncompalVd round by thofe celeftiai charms, 
 
 " With which he fills the immortal Juno's arms. 
 
 TV unwary Nymph, enfnar'd with what me laid, 
 Deiir'd of Jove, when next he fought her bed, 
 To grant a certain gift which me would chufe ; 
 " Fear not, reply'd the God, that I'll refufe 
 " Whate'er you afk : May Styx confirm my voice, 
 « Chufe what you will, and you fhall have your choice. 
 u Then, fays the Nymph, when next you feek my Arms, ' 
 " May you defcend in thofs celeftiai charms, 
 " With which your jfunosbohm you enflame, 
 " And fill with tranfport Heaven's immortal dame. 
 The God furprizd would fain have ftopp'd her voice : 
 But he had fworn, and fhe had made her choice : 
 
 To keep his promife he afcends, and fhrowds 
 His awful brow in whirlwinds and in clouai ; 
 Whilft all around, in terrible array, 
 His thunders rattle, and his light'nings play. 
 And yet, the dazling luilre to abate, 
 He fet not out in all his pomp and iiate, 
 Clad in the mildeit light'ning of the Ikies, 
 And arm'd with thunder of the finajbit fize : 
 
 Not 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. i$y 
 
 Not thofe huge bolts, by which the Giants flain 
 
 Lay overthrown on the Phlegrean plain. 
 
 "f was of a letter mould, and lighter weight ; 
 
 They call it Thunder of a Second rate. 
 
 For the rough Cyclops, who by Jove's command 
 
 Temper'd the bolt, and turned it to his hand, 
 
 Work'd up lefs fit me and fury in it*s make, 
 
 And quench'd it fooner in the Handing lake. 
 
 Thus dreadfully adorn'd, with horror bright, -j 
 
 Th' illuftrious God, descending from his height, C 
 
 Came rufliing on her in a itorm of light. 3 
 
 The mortal dame, too feeble to engage 
 The lightning's flames, and the thunder's rage, 
 Conium'd amidft the glories fhe defir'd. 
 And in the terrible embrace expirM. 
 
 But, to prefervehis off-fpring fiom the tomb, 
 Jove took him fmoaking from the blafted womb; 
 And, if on ancient tales we may rely, 
 Inclos'd th' abortive infant in his thigh. 
 Here, when the babe had all it's time fulfill'd, 
 Ino firft took him for her Poller- child; 
 Then the Nifeans, in their dark abode, 
 Nurs'd fecretly with milk the thriving God. 
 
 The transformation of T i R e s i as. 
 
 'Twas now, while thefe tranfa&ions pall on earth, 
 And Bacchus thus procur'd a fecond birth, 
 When Jove, difpos'd to lay afide the weight 
 Of publick empire, and the cares of ftate ; 
 As to his Queen in nectar bowls he quaft'd, 
 " In troth, fays he, and as he fpoke he laugh'd, 
 •' The fenfe of pleafure in the male is far 
 " More dull and dead, than what you females mare. 
 
 Jum 
 
160 Poems on fever al Occasions. 
 
 \ 
 
 Juno the truth of what was faid deny'd ; 
 Tirefias therefore muft the caufe decide ; 
 For he the pleafure of each fex had try'd 
 
 \ 
 
 It happen" J once, within a fhady wood. 
 Two twilled Snakes he in conjunction view'd ; 
 Vv r hen with his flaff their flimy folds he broke 
 And loft his manhood at the fatal ilroke. 
 But after feven revolving years, he view'd 
 The felf-fame Serpents in the felf-fame wood ; 
 " And if, fays he, fuch virtue in you lye, 
 •' That he who dares your flimy folds untie 
 " Muft change his kind, a fecond ftroke I'll try. 
 Again he ftruck the Snakes, and flood again 
 New-fex'd, and ftrait recover'd into Man. 
 Him therefore both the Deities create 
 The foveraign umpire in their grand debate ; 
 And lie declared for Jove: When Juno fir'd, 
 
 More than fo trivial an affair requir'd, 
 
 Dcpriv'd him, in her fury, of his light, 
 
 And left him groping round in hidden night. 
 
 But Jove (for fo it is in Heaven decreet*, 
 
 That no one God repeal another's deed ;) 
 
 Irradiates all his foul with inward light, 
 
 And with the prophet's art relieves the want of fight. 
 
 The Transformation of Echo. 
 
 Fam'd far and near for knowing things to come, 
 From him th' enquiring nations fought their doom ; 
 The fair Liriope his anfwer's try'd, 
 And firilth' unerring prophet juftify'd; 
 This Nymph the God Cephifus had abus'd, 
 With all his winding waters circumfus'd, 
 And on the Nereid got a lovely boy, 
 Whom the foft maids even then beheld with joy. 
 
 The 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 161 
 
 The tender dame, follicltous to know 
 Whether her child mould reach old age or no, 
 Confults the fage c Lircfias i who replies, 
 " If e'er he knows himfelf, he furely dies. 
 Long liv'd the dubious mother in fufpence. 
 'Till time unriddled all the prophet's fenfc. 
 
 Narcifus now his fifteenth year began, 
 Juft turn'd of boy, and on the verge of man ; 
 Many a friend the blooming youth carrefs'd, 
 Many a love-fick maid her flame confefs'd, 
 Such was his pride, in vain the friend carcfs'd, 
 The love-fick maid in vain her flame confefs'd. 
 
 Once, in the woods, as he purfu'd the chace, 
 The babbling Echo had defcry'd his face ; 
 She, who in others words her filence bpe^cs, 
 Nor fpeaks her felf but when anothe^fpeaks. 
 Etbo was then a mi id, of fpeech bereft, 
 Of wonted fpeech ; for tho' her voice was left, 
 Juno a curfe did on her tongue impofe, 
 To fport with every fentence in the cloie. 
 Full often, when the Goddefs might hive caught 
 Jove and her rivals in the very faulj/ 
 This Nymph with lubtle flories would delay 
 Her coming, 'till the lovers flipp'd away. 
 The Goddefs found out the deceit in time, 
 And then fhe cry'd, " That tongue, for this thy crime, 
 " Which could fo many fubtle tales produce, 
 " Shall be hereafter but of little ufe. 
 Hence 'tis fhe prattles, in a fainter tone, 
 With mimick founds and accents not her own. 
 
 This love-fick Virgin, over-pv'd to find 
 The Boy alone, ftill follow'd him behind ; 
 
 When 
 
161 Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 When glowing warmly at her near approach, 
 A fulphur blazes at the taper's touch, 
 She long'd her hidden paffion to reveal, 
 And tell her p lins, but had not Words to tell : 
 She can't begin, but waits for the rebound, 
 To catch his voice and to reiound the found. 
 
 The Nymph, when nothing could NarciJJus move, 
 Still dafh'd with blumes for her flighted love, 
 Liv'd in the fhady covert of the woods, 
 In folitary caves arid dark abodes ; 
 Where pining wander'd the rejected fair, 
 'Till harrafs'd out, and worn away with care, 
 The founding fkeleton, of blood bereft, 
 Befides her bones and voice had nothing left. 
 Here bones are petrify'd, her voice is found 
 In vaults, where flill it Doubles every found. 
 
 The Story ^Narcissus. 
 
 Thus did the Nymph in vain carefs the Boy, 
 He ftill was lovely, but he ftill was coy ; 
 When one fair Virgin of the flighted train "\ 
 
 Thus pray'd the Gods, provok'd by his difdain. S 
 
 *' Oh may he love like me, and love like me in vain ! j 
 Rhamnuf.a pity'd the neglected fair, 
 And with juil vengeance anfwer'd to her prayer. 
 
 There Hands a fountain in a darkfom wood, 
 Nor flain'd with falling leaves nor rifing mud ; 
 Untroubled by the breath of winds it refls, 
 Unfully'd by the touch of men or beafts ; 
 High bowers of fhady trees above it grow, 
 And rifing grafs and chearful greens below. 
 Pleas'd with the form and coolnefs of the place, 
 And over-heated by the morning chace 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions 163 
 
 Narcijfus on the grafiie verdure lyes : *} 
 
 But whilft within the chryital fount he tries L 
 
 To quench his heat, he feels new heats arife. 3 
 
 For as his own bright image he furvey'd, 
 He fell in love with the fantaflick ihade; 
 And o'er the fair refemblance hung unmov'd, 
 Nor knew fond youth ! it was himfelf he lov'd. 
 The well-turn'd neck and moulders he defcries, 
 The fpacious forehead, and the fparkling eyes; 
 The hands that Bacchus might not fcorn to mow, 
 And ha : r that round Apollo's head might flow, 
 With all the purple youthfulnefs of face, 
 , That gently blufhes in the wat'ry glafs. 
 By his own flames confum'd the lover lyes, 
 And gives himfelf the wound by which he dies. 
 To the cold water oft he joins his lips, 
 Oft catching at the beauteous fhade he dips 
 His arms, as often from himfelf he flips. 
 Nor knows he who it is his arms purfue 
 With eager clafps, bui' loves he knows not who. 
 What could, fond youth, this hclplefs paffion move ? 
 What kindle in thee this unpity'd love ? 
 Thy own warm blufh within the water glows, 
 With thee the coloured (hadow comes and goes, 
 Its empty being on thy felf relies ; 
 Step thou afide, and the frail charmer die3. 
 
 Still o'er the fountain's wat'ry gleam he flood, 
 Mindlefs of fleep, and negligent of food ; 
 Still vievv'd his face, and languiuYd as he view'd. 
 •At length herais'dhis head, and thus began 
 To vent his griefs, and tell the woods his pain : 
 " You trees, fays he, and thou furrounuing grove, 
 *' Who oft have been the kindly fcenes of love, 
 •' Tell me, if e'er within your mades did ly& 
 " A youth fo tortur'd, fo perplex'd as I ? 
 
 I 
 
164 Poems on fevered Occasions. 
 
 " I who before me fee the charming fair, 
 
 " Whilft there he {lands, and yet he ftands not there: 
 
 " In fuch a maze of love my thoughts are loft; 
 
 " And yet no bulwarkM town, nor diftant coaft, 
 
 u Preferves the beauteous youth from being feen, 
 
 '• No mountains rife, nor oceans flow between. 
 
 " A mallow water hinders my embrace; 
 
 " And yet the lovely mimick wears a face 
 
 " That kindly fmiles, and when I bend to join 
 
 " My lips to his, he fondly bends to mine. 
 
 " Hear, gentle youth, and pity my complaint, 
 
 •' Come from they well, thou fair inhabitant. 
 
 *' My charms an eafy conqueft have obtain'd 
 
 " O'er other hearts, by thee alone difdain'd. 
 
 ** But why mould I defpair? I'm fure he burns 
 
 (« With equal flames, and lar.guifhes by turns. 
 
 " Whcn-e'er I ircop he offers at a kite, 
 
 << And when my arms I itretch. he itretches his. 
 
 " His eye with pleaiure en my face he keeps, 
 
 " He fmiles my fmiles, and when I weep he weeps. 
 
 " When-e'er I fpeak, his moving lips appear 
 
 * { To utter fomething, which I cannot hear. 
 
 " Ah wretched me ! I now begin too late 
 " To find out all the iong-perplex'd deceit ; 
 «< It is my felf I love, my lelf I fee; 
 *' The gay delufion is a part of me. 
 " I kindle up the fires by which I burn, 
 " And my own beauties from the well return. 
 6 Whom fhould I court ? how utter my complaint ? 1 
 " Enjoyment but produces my reftraint, > 
 
 * ( And too much plenty makes me die for want. j 
 
 " How gladly would I from my felf remove ! 
 " And at a diltance fet the thing I love. 
 " My breaft is warm'd with fuch unufual fire, 
 " I wifh him abfent whom 1 moil defire. 
 
 And 
 
Poems on fever al Occasions. 165 
 
 " And now I faint with grief; my fate draws nigh ; 
 " In all the pride of blooming youth I die. 
 ** Death will the forrows of my heart relieve. 
 " O might the vifionary youth furvive, 
 " I mould with joy my lateft breath refign! 
 ** But oh ! I fee his fate involv'd in mine. 
 
 This faid, the weeping youth again retnrn'd 
 To the clear fountain, where again he burn'd. 
 His tears deface'd the furface of the well, 
 With circle after circle, as they fell : 
 And now the lovely face but half appears, 
 O'er-run with wrinkles, and deform'd with tears. 
 " Ah whither, cries Narcijjus, doft thou fly ? 
 " Let me Hill feed the flame by which I die; 
 " Let me itill fee, tho' I'm no further bleit. 
 Then rends his garment off, and beats his breaft : 
 His naked bofom redden'd with the blew, 
 In fuch a blum as purple clutters (how; 
 Ere yet the Sun's autumnal heats refine 
 Their fprightly juice, and mellow it to wine. 
 The glowing beauties of his hreail he fpies, 
 And with a new redoubled pafiion dies. 
 As Wax diflblves, as Ice begins to run, 
 And trickle into drops before the Sun, 
 So melts the youth, and languishes away : 
 His beauty withers, and his limbs decay, 
 And none of thofe attractive charms remain, 
 To which the flighted Echo fu'd in vain. 
 
 She faw him in his prefent mifery, 
 Whom, fpight of all her wrongs, me griev'd to fee. 
 She anfwer'd fadly to the lover's moan, 
 Sigh'd back his fighs, and groan'd to every groan: 
 " Ah youth' belov'd in vain, Nartiffks cries; 
 " Ah youth! belov'd in vain, the iNymph replies. 
 
 " Farewel, 
 
1 66 Poems on fever al Occasions. 
 
 u Farewel, fays he : the parting found fcarce fell 
 From his faint lips, but me reply'd, " Farewel. 
 Then on th' unwholefome earth he gafping lyes. 
 'Till death fhuts up thofe felf admiring eyes. 
 To the cold fhades his flitting ghofl retires, 
 And in the Stygian waves it felf admires. 
 
 From him the Naiads and the Dryads mourn, 
 Whom the fad Echo anfwers in her turn : 
 And now the Sifter-Nymphs prepare his urn ; 
 When, looking for his corps, they only found 
 A rifmg Stalk, with Yellow BlofToms crown'd. 
 
 Hoe Story ©/"Pentheus. 
 
 This fad event gave blind Tiref.as fame, 
 Through Greece eitablifh'd in a Prophet's name. 
 
 Th' un-hallowd P milieus only durfl deride 
 The cheated people, and their eyelefs guide, 
 lb whom the Prophet in his fury faid 
 Shaking the hoary honours of his head ; 
 *' Twere well, prefumptucus man, 'twere well for thee" 
 " If thou wert eyelefs too, and blind, like me : 
 " For the time comes, nay, 'tis already here, 
 «* When the young God's folemnites appear; 
 e * Which if thou doft not with jufl rites adorn, 
 " Thy impious carcafs, into pieces torn, 
 *' Shall ftrew the woods and hang on every thorn. 
 " Then, then, remember what I now foretel, 
 «' And own the blind Tirejjas faw too well. 
 Still Pentbeus fcornshim, and derides hisfkill; 
 But Time did all the Prophet's threats fulfil. 
 For now thro' proftrate Greece young Bacchus rode, 
 Whilft howling matrons celebrate the God. 
 
 All 
 
 i i 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions, 167 
 
 All ranks and fexes to his Orgies ran, , 
 
 To mingle in the pomps, and fill the train. 
 
 When Pentheus thus his wicked rage exprefs'd ; 
 
 " What madnefs, Thebans has your fouls pofTefs'd ? 
 
 " Can hollow timbrels, can a drunken fhout, 
 
 " And the le w'd clamours of a beaftly rout, 
 
 *• Thus quell your Courage ? can the weak alarm 
 
 " Of woman's yells thofc ftubborn fouls difarm, 
 
 u Whom nor the fword nor trumpet e'er could fright, 
 
 " Nor the loud din and horror of a fright ? 
 
 " And you, our Sires, who left your old abodes, 
 
 u And fix'd in foreign earth your country Gods ; 
 
 <f Will you without a ftroak your city yield, 
 
 *' And poorly quit an undifputed field ? 
 
 M But you, whole youth and vigour fhould infpire 
 
 ' c Heroick warmth, and kindle martial fire, 
 
 ** Whom burniuYd arms and cretted helmets grace, 
 
 " Not flowery garlands and a painted face; 
 
 *' Remember him to whom youftand allay \1 : 
 
 * w The Serpent for his well of waters dy'd. 
 
 " He fought the flrong ; do you his courage mow, 
 
 " And gain a conqueft o'er a feeble foe. 
 
 " If Thebes muft fall, oh might the fates afford 
 
 " A nobler doom from famine, fire, or fword I 
 
 " Then might the Thebans perilh wit renown : 
 
 *' But now a beardlefs victor facks the town; 
 
 '* Whom not the prancing ileed, nor pond'rous fliield, 
 
 u Nor the hack'd helmet, nor the duity field, 
 
 " But the foft joys of luxury and eafe, 
 
 •• The purple veils, and flowery garlands pleafe. 
 
 " Stand then afide, I'll make the counterfeit 
 
 " Renounce his God-head, and confefsthe cheat. 
 
 " Acrijtus from the Grecian walls repell'd 
 
 " This boafted power; why then mould Pentheus yield? 
 
 ** Go quickly, drag th' audacious boy to me ; 
 
 •' I'll try the force of his divinity. 
 
 Vol. I. I Thu« 
 
i6% Poems on fever al Occasions. 
 
 Thus did th 1 audacious wretch thofe rites profane ; 
 His friends difluade th' audacious wretch in vain ; 
 In vain his Grandfire urg'd him to give o'er 
 His impious threats ; the wretch but raves the more. 
 
 So have I feen a river gently glide, 
 In a fmooth courfe, and inoffenfive tide ; 
 But if with dams its current we reftrain, 
 It bears down all, and foams along the plain. 
 
 But now his fervants came befmear'd with blood. 
 Sent by their haughty Prince tofeize the God; 
 The God they found not in the frantick throng, 
 But dragg'd a zealous votary along. 
 
 The Mariners transformed to Dolphins. 
 
 Him Penthus view'd with fury in his look, 
 And fcarce with-held his hands, while thus he fpoke, 
 " Vile flave ! whom fpeedy vengeance mall purfue, 
 ° And terrify thy bafe feditious crew : 
 «* Thy country, and thy parentage reveal, 
 " And, why thou join'fl in thefe mad Orgies, tell, 
 
 The captive views him with undaunted eyes, 
 And arm'd with inward innocence, replies. 
 
 " From high Meonias rocky mores I came, 
 " Of poor defcent, Ac&tesis my name : 
 " My Sire was meanly born ; no oxen plow'd 
 " His fruitful fields, nor in his paftures low'd. 
 " His whole eftate within the Waters lay; 
 " Wfth lines and hooks he caught the finny prey. 
 '* His art was all his livelihood; which he 
 •* Thus with his dying lips bequeathed to me ; 
 
 In 
 
Poems onfeveral Occasions. 169 
 
 " In ftreams, my boy, and rivers take thy chance ; 
 " There fwims, faid he, thy whole inheritance. 
 
 " Long did I live on this poor legacy ; 
 »• 'Till tir'd with rocks, and my own native sky, 
 " To arts of navigation I inclin'd ; 
 " Obferv'd the turns and changes of the wind : 
 " Learn'd the fit havens, and began to note 
 " The ftormy Hyades, the rainy Goaty 
 " The bright Taygete, and the mining Bears, 
 " With all the failor's catalogue of ftars. 
 
 " Once, as by chance for Delos I defign'd, 
 u My veffel, driv'n by a ftrong gull of wind, 
 '• Moor'd in a Chian creek; aihore I went, 
 " And all the following night in Chios fpent. 
 " When morning rofe, I fent my mates to bring 
 '• Supplies of water from a neighb'ring fpring, 
 * l Whilft I the motion of the winds explored; 
 " Then fummon'd in my crew, and went aboard. 
 *' Opbeltes heard my fummons, and with joy 
 " Brought to the (hoar a foft and lovely Boy, 
 4i With more than female fweetnefs in his look, 
 " Whom ftraggling in the neighb'ring fields he took. 
 " With fumes of wine the little captive glows, 
 ** And nods with fleep, and ftaggers as he goes. 
 
 " I View'd him nicely, and began to trace 
 " Each Heavenly feature, each Immortal grace, 
 •' And faw Divinity in all his face. 
 ' I know not who, faid I, this God mould be ; 
 ■ But that he is a God I plainly fee : 
 * And thou, who-e'er thou art, excufe the force 
 1 Thefe men have us'd ; and oh befriend our courfe I 
 ' Pray not for us, the nimble Diiiys cry'dj "\ 
 
 " Difys, that could the Main-top-maft beitride, > 
 
 '* And down the ropes with adive vigour Hide. 3 
 
 I 2 « To 
 
I 
 
 i jo Po e m s on fever a! Occasions. 
 
 " To the fame purpofe old Epopcus fpoke, 
 
 u Who over look'd the oars, and time'd the flroke, 
 
 M The fame the Pilot, and the fame the reft; 
 
 " Such impious avarice their fouls poffeft. 
 
 ' Nay, heaven forbid that I mould bear away 
 
 ' Within my veffel fo divine a prey, 
 
 " Said I ; and flood to hinder their intent : 
 
 " When Ly cabas, a wretch for murder fent 
 
 u From Tufcany, to fufter banifhment, 
 
 " With his clench'd fill had flruck me over-board, 
 
 " Had not my hands in falling grafp'd a cord. 
 
 " His bafe confederates the fact approve ; 
 M When Bacchus (for 'twas he) begun to move, 
 " Wak*d by the noife and clamours which they rais'd ; 
 M And (hook his drowfie limbs, and round him gaz'd : 
 
 * What means this noife? he cries; am I betrayed; 
 
 * Ah ? whither, whither mufl I be convey'd ? 
 
 * Fear not, faid Proreus, child, but tsU. us where 
 
 * You wifh to land, and trufl our friendly care. 
 ' To Naxos then dire<ft your courfe, faid he ; 
 
 * Naxos a hofpitable port ihail be 
 
 ■ To each of you, a joyful home to me. 
 
 " By every God, that rules the fea or fky, 
 
 tf The perjur'd villains promife to comply, 
 
 *• And bid me haften to unmoor the fhip. 
 
 " With eager joy I launch into the deep ; 
 
 " And, heedlefs of the fraud, for Naxos iland : 
 
 " They whifperoft, and beckon with the hand, 
 
 (l And give me ligns, all anxious for their prey, 
 
 " To tack about, and fieer another way. 
 
 * Then let fome other to my poll fucceed, 
 
 ' Said I, I'm guiltlefs of io foul a deed. 
 
 '« What, fays EthaHon, mull the flrip's whole crev/ 
 
 " Follow your humour, and depend on you ? 
 
 " And flrait himfelf he feated at the prore, 
 
 i*« And tack'd about, and fought another fhore. 
 
 " The 
 
Poems on fever al Occasions. 171 
 
 " The beauteous youth now found himfelfbetray'd, 
 *' And from the deck the rifing waves furvey'd, 
 " And feem'd to weep, and as he wept he faid; 
 " And do you thus my eafy faith beguile? 
 " Thus do you bear me to my native ifle ? 
 " Will fuch a multitude of men employ 
 " Their ftrength agamft a weak defencelefs boy ? 
 
 " In vain did I the God- like youth deplore, 
 " The more I begg'd, they thwarted me the more. 
 " And now by all the Gods in Heaven that hear 
 " This folemn oath, by Bacchus felf, I fwear, 
 " The mighty miracle that did enfue, 
 " Although it feems beyond belief, is true. 
 " The veflel, hVd and rooted in the flood, 
 " Unmov'd by all the beating billows flood. 
 " In vain the Mariners would plow the main 
 ** With fails unfuiTd, and ftrike their oars in vain; 
 u Around their oars a twining hy cleaves, 
 " And climbs the raaftj an ^ n ^ es the cords in leaves : 
 " The fails are covei'd with a cheaiful green, 
 " And Berries in the fruitful canvafe feen. 
 " Amidfl the waves a fudden fore ft rears 
 " Its verdant head, and a new fpring appears. j 
 
 " The God we now behold with open v d eyes; 
 " A herd of fpotted Panthers round him lyes 
 " In glaring forms ; the grapy cluflers fpread 
 " On his fair brows, and dangle on his head. 
 ** And whilft he frowns, and brandifhes his fpear, 
 " My mates, furpriz'd with madnefs or with fear, 
 •" Leap'd over-board; firfl perjur'd Madon found 
 M Rough Scales and Fins his ftiff'ning fides furrcund ; 
 M Ah what, cries one, has thus transfbrm'd thy look 2 
 " Strait his own mouth grew wider as he fpoke ; 
 "' And now himfelf he views with like furprize, 
 " Still at his oar th' induftrious Libyt plies 5 
 
 I 3 u But,. 
 
I 
 
 172 Poems on fever al Occasions. 
 
 u But, as he plies, each bufy army ftirinks in, 
 
 <( And by degrees is fafhion'd to a Fin. 
 
 " Another, as he catches at a cord, 
 
 " Mifles his arms, and, tumbling over-board, 
 
 u With his broad Fins and Forky Tail he laves 
 
 " The riling furge, and flounces in the waves. 
 
 " Thus all my crew transform'd around the fhip, 
 
 " Or dive below, or on the furface leap, 
 
 " And fpout the waves, and wanton in the deep. 
 
 " Full nineteen Sailors did the fhip convey, 
 
 u A mole of nineteen Dolphins round her play. 
 
 " I only in my proper fhape appear, 
 
 " Speechlefs with wonder, and half dead with fear, 
 
 " "Till Bacchus kindly bid me fear no more. 
 
 " With him I landed on the Chian fhore, 
 
 •' And him mail ever gratefully adore. 
 
 " This forging flave, fays Pentheus, would prevail, 
 «* O'er ourjuft fury by a far-fetch'd tale: 
 " Go, let him feel the whips, the fwords, the fire, 
 u And in the tortures of the rack expire. 
 The officious fervants hurry him away, 
 And the poor captive in a dungeon lay. 
 But, whilft the whips and tortures are prepared, 
 The gates fly open, of themfelves unbarr'd ; 
 At liberty th' unfetter'd Captive itands, 
 And flings the loofen d fhackles from his hand6. 
 
 I'be Death of Pentheus. 
 
 But Pentheus, grown more furious than before, 
 Refolv'd to fend his meflengers no more, 
 But went himfelf to the diitra&ed throng, 
 Where high Citharon echo'd with their long. 
 And as the fiery War-horfe paws the ground, 
 And fnorts and trembles at the trumpet's found j 
 Tranfported thus he heard the frantick rout, 
 And rav'd and madden'd at the diftant mout. 
 
Poems on fever at Occasions. 173 
 
 A fpacious circuit on the hill there flood, 
 Level and wide, and fkirted round with wood; 
 Here the rafh Pentheus, with unhallow'd eyes, 
 The howling dames and myftick Orgies fpies. 
 His mother llernly view'd him where he flood, 
 And kindled into madnefs as Ihe view'd : 
 Her leafy Jav'lin at her fon fhe cafl, 
 And cries, " The Boar that lays our country wafte I 
 " The Boar, my Sifters ! aim the fatal dart, 
 " And ilrike the brindled monfler to the heart. 
 
 Pentheus aflonifh'd heard the difmal found, 
 And fees the yelling matrons gathering round ; 
 He fees, and weeps at his approaching fate, 
 And begs for mercy, and repents too late. 
 " Help, heJp \ my aunt Autonoe, he cry'd ; 
 u Remember how your own ASictan dy'd. 
 Deaf to his cries, the frantick matron crops 
 
 One flretch'd-out arm, the other Ino lops. 
 
 In vain does Pentheus to his mother fue, 
 
 And the raw bleeding flumps prefents to view : 
 
 His mother howPd; and, heedlefs of his prayer, 
 
 Her trembling hand fhe twifled in his hair, 
 
 " And this, fhe cry'd, fhall be Agave's fbare. 
 
 When from the neck his flruggling head fhe tore., 
 
 And in her hands the ghaflly vifage bore, 
 
 With pleafure all the hideous trunk furvey ; 
 
 Then pull'd and tore the mangled limbs away, 
 
 As flarting in the pangs of death it lay. 
 
 Soon as the wood its leafy honours calls, 
 
 Blown off and fcatter'd by autumnal blafts, 
 
 With fuch a fudden death lay Pantheus flain, 
 And in a thoufand pieces ftrow'd the plain. 
 
 By fo diflinguifhing a judgment aw'd, 
 The 7b elans tremble, and confefs the God. 
 
 I 4 tti 
 
 i 
 
174 Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 The Story o/Salmacis tf/?<^ 
 Hermaphrod itus. 
 
 FraB ^ JFiwr/A JB<?a4 of O V I DV 
 
 Metamo?*phofes. 
 
 HO W Salmacis, who with weak unfeebling ftreams 
 Softens the body and unnerves the limbs, 
 And what the fecret caufe, mail here be mown ; 
 Th# caufe is fecret, but th' effect is known, 
 
 The Naiads nurft an infant heretofore, 
 That Cy there a once to Hermes bore : 
 Prom both th' illuftrious authors of his race 
 The child was nam'd ; nor was it hard to trace 
 Both the bright Parents through the Infant's face. 
 When fifteen years, in Ida's cool retreat, 
 The Boy had told, he left his native feat, 
 And fought frefh fountains in a foreign foil : 
 The pleafure leffen'dthe attending toil. 
 With eager fteps the Lycian fields he croft, 
 And fields that border on the Lycian coaft ; 
 A river here he view'd fo lovely bright, 
 It ftiewM the bottom in a fairer light, 
 Nor kept a fand conceal d from human fight, 
 
 The 
 
I 
 
 Poems on feveral Occasions. ij$ 
 
 The ftream produc'd nor flimy ooze, nor weeds, 
 
 Nor miry rulhes, nor the fpiky reeds ; 
 
 But dealt enriching moifture all around, 
 
 The fruitful banks with chearful verdure crowned 
 
 And kept the fpring eternal on the ground. 
 
 A Nymph prefides, nor practis'd in the chacs, 
 
 Nor fkilful at the bow, nor at the race ; 
 
 Of all the blue ey'd daughters of the main r 
 
 The only ftranger to Diana's train : 
 
 Her Sifters often, as 'tis faid, wou'd cry, 
 
 " Fie, Salmacis, what always idle ! fie, 
 
 ** Or take thy Quiver, or thy Arrows feize, 
 
 " And mix the toils of hunting with thy eafe. 
 
 Nor Quiver the nor Arrows e'er wou'd feize, 
 
 Nor mix the toils of hunting with her eafe. 
 
 But oft would bathe her in the chryflal tide, 
 
 Oft with a comb her dewy locks divide ; 
 
 Now in the limpid ftreams fhe view'd her face^ 
 
 And dreft her image in the floating glafs : 
 
 On beds of leaves me now repos'd her limbs, 
 
 Now gathered flowers that grew about her ftreams i 
 
 And then by chance was gathering, as fhe ftood 
 
 To view the Boy, and long'd for what ftie viewVL 
 
 Fain wou'd (lie meet the youth with hafly feet, 
 She fain wou'd meet him, but refus'd to meet 
 Before her looks were fet with niceftcare,. 
 And well defer v'd to be reputed fair. 
 M Bright youth, fhe crps, whom all thy features prove 
 '* A God, and, if a God, the God of love ; 
 « But if a Mortal, blefl thy Nurfe's breaft, 
 "■ Bleftare thy Parents, and thy Sifters bleft. : 
 " But oh how bleft! how more than blefl thy Bride.. 
 P Ally'd in blifs, if any yet allay'd. 
 '* If fo, let mine the Stoln enjoyments be i 
 if If not, behold a willing Bride in me, 
 
 1 & Tz& 
 
ty6 Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 The Boy knew nought of love, and toucht with (hame, 
 He ftrove, and blufht, but flill the blufh became ; 
 In rifing blufhes ftill frefh beauties rofe ; 
 The funny fide of Fruit fuch blufhes fhows, 
 And fuch the Moon, when all her filver white 
 Turns in eclipfes to a ruddy light. 
 The Nymph ftill begs, if not a nobler blifs, 
 A cold falute at leaft, a Sifter's kifs : 
 And now prepares to take the lovely Boy 
 Between her arms. He, innocently coy, 
 Replies, " Or leave me to my felf alone, 
 w You rude uncivil Nymph, or I'll be gone. 
 •* Fair ftranger then, fays fhe, it fhall be fo ; 
 And, for fhe fear'd his threats, file feign'd to go ; 
 But hid within a covert's neighbouring green, 
 She kept him ftill in fight, her felf unfeen, 
 The Boy now fancies all the danger o'er, 
 And innocently fports about the more, 
 Playful and wanton to the ftream he trips, 
 And dips his foot, and fhivers, as he dips. 
 The coolnefs pleas'd him, and with eager hafte 
 His airy garments on the bank he call ; 
 His godlike features, and his heavenly hue, 
 And all his beauties were expos'd to view. 
 His naked limbs the Nymph with rapture fpies, -\ 
 
 While hotter paffions in her bofom rife, S. 
 
 Flulh in her cheeks, and fparkle in her eyes. J 
 
 She longs, fhe burns to clafp him in her arms, 
 And looks, and fighs, and kindles at his charms. 
 
 Now all undreft upon the banks he flood, 
 And clapt his fides, and leapt into the flood : 
 His lovely limbs the filver waves divide, 
 His limbs appear more lovely through the tide ; 
 As Lilies ihut within a chryftal cafe, 
 Receive a sdoffy luftre from the glafs. 
 
 " He's 
 
I 
 
 Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 " He's mine, he's all my own, the Naiad cries, 
 
 And flings offall, and after him (he flies. 
 
 And now fhe fallens on him as he fwims, 
 
 And holds him dole, and wrapt about his limbs, 
 
 The more the Boy refilled, and was coy, 
 
 The more fhe dipt, and kill the ftrugling Boy. 
 
 So when the wrigling Snake is fnatcht on high 
 
 Jn Eagle's claws, and hifles in the Sky, 
 
 Around the foe his twirling tail he flings, 
 
 And twills her legs, and writhes about her wings. 
 
 The refllefs Boy ilill obllinately drove 
 To free himfelf, and Hill refus'd her love. 
 Amidfl his limbs fhe kept her limbs intwin'd, 
 " And why, coy youth, ihe cries, why thus unkind f ^ 
 " Oh may the Gods thus keep us ever Join'd f 
 " Oh may we never, never part again! 
 So pray'd the Nymph, nor did (he pray in vain : 
 For now fhe finds him, as his limbs (he preil, 
 Grow nearer ilil!, and nearer to her breall ; 
 'Till, piercing each the other's flelh, they run 
 Together, and incorporate in One : 
 Lafl in one face are both their faces join'd, 
 As when the itock and grafted twig combin'd 
 Shoot up the fame, and wear a common rind : 
 Both bodies in a fmgle body mix, 
 A fmgle body with a double fex. 
 
 The Boy, thus loft in Woman, now furvey'd 
 The river's guilty ilream, and thus hepray'd. 
 (He pray'd, but wonder 'd at his fof ter tone, 
 Surpriz'd to hear a voice but half his own) 
 You Parent-Gods, whofe heavenly names I bear, 
 Hear your Hermaphrodite, and grant my prayer , 
 
 Oh 
 
 I 
 
178 Poems on feveral Occasions. 
 
 Oh Grant, that whomfoe'er thefe ftreams contain, 
 If Man he enter'd he may rife again 
 Supple unfinew'd, and but half a Man ! 
 
 The heavenly Parents anfwer'd from on high, 
 Their two-fhap'd fon, the double votary ; t 
 
 Then gave a fecret virtue to the flood, 
 And ting'd its fource to make his wifhes good. 
 
 NOTES 
 
Poems on feveral Occasions. 170 
 
 •VfTW'Tr^r^ 
 
 NOTES 
 
 O N 
 
 Some of the foregoing Stories in 
 OVID'i Met amor phofes. 
 
 On the Story of Phaeton, page 113 
 
 TH E Stor # y of Pbaetoii is told with a greater air of 
 majefty and grandeur than any other in all Ovid. 
 It is indeed the moft important fubject he treats of, except 
 the Deluge ; and I cannot but believe that this is the 
 Conflagration he hints at in the firft Book ; 
 
 EJfe quoque in fatis reminifcitur affore tempus 
 Quo mare, que tellus, Correptaqne Regia cceli 
 Ardeat et mundi moles opero/a laboret, 
 
 (tho' the learned apply thofe verfes to the future burning 
 of the world) for it fully anfwers that description, if the 
 
 Cceli miferere tui, cir cum fyke utr unique, 
 
 Fumat uterque polus. 
 
 Furnas 
 
i8o NOTES. 
 
 Fumat uterque polus- comes up to Correptaque Regia 
 
 cce li Befides it is Ovid's cuflom to prepare the reader 
 
 for a following ftory, by giving fome intimations of it in 
 a foregoing one, which was more particularly neceffiry to 
 be done before he led us into fo ftrange a ftory as this he 
 is now upon. 
 
 Pi 1 1 j. 1. 7; For in the Portal, &c] We have here, 
 the pi&ureof the univerfe drawn in little. 
 
 •Baltenarumque prementem 
 ufcgeona fnis immania terga lacertis. 
 
 JEgeon makes a diverting figure in it. 
 
 ■Facts non omnibus Una 
 
 Nee Diver/a tamen: qua/em decet effefirorum. 
 
 The thought is very pretty, of giving Doris and her 
 daughters fuch a difference in their looks as is natural to 
 different perfons, and yet fuch a likenefs as fhow'd their 
 afhnity. 
 
 terra <viros, urbefque gerit, fylvafque, ferafque, 
 Fluminaque, et Nymph as, et cat era ?tumina Ruris. 
 
 The lefs important figures are well huddled together in the 
 promifcuous defcription at the end, which very well repre- 
 sents what the Painters call a Grouppe. 
 
 Circum caput omne mic antes 
 Depofui radios ; propiufque accedere jujjit. 
 
 P. 114./. 27. And flung the blaze, &c] It gives us 
 a great image of Phoebus, that the youth was fore'd to look 
 on him at a diftance, and not able to approach him 'till he 
 had laid afide the circle of rays that call fuch a glory about 
 his head. And indeed we may every where obferve in 
 Ovid, that he never fails of a due Loftinefs in his Ideas, 
 
NOTES, 181 
 
 tho' he wants it in his Words. And this I think infinitely 
 better than to have fublime expreffions and mean thoughts, 
 which is generally the true character of Claudian and 
 Statius, But this is not confider'd by them who run down 
 Ovid in the grofs, for a low middle way of writing. 
 What can be more fimple and unadorn'd, than his de- 
 fcription of Encdadus in the fixth book ? 
 
 Nititur ille quidem, pugnatquc refurgerefrpe, 
 D extra fed Aufonio man us eft fubj.ec! a Peloro, 
 Larva Pachfne tibi, Lihbao crura premunfur, 
 Degravat JEtna caput, fub qua refupinus arenas 
 Ejeclat, fiammamque fcro vomit ore Typhosus. 
 
 But the image we have here is truly great and fublime, of 
 a Giant vomiting out a temper! of fire, and heaving up all 
 Sicily, with the body of an Ifland upon his Breaft, and a 
 vail Prornontary on either Arm. 
 
 There are few books that have had worfe Commenta- 
 tors on them than Ovid's Metamorphofes. Thofe of the 
 graver fort have been wholly taken up in the Mythologies, 
 and think they have appeared very judicious, if they have 
 fhewn us out of an old author that Ovid is miftaken in a 
 Pedigree, or has turned fuch a Perfon into a Wolf that 
 ought to have been made a Tiger. Others have employ- 
 ed themfelves on what never entered into the Poet's 
 thoughts, in adapting a dull moral to every itory, and 
 making the perfons of his poems to be only nick-names 
 for fuch virtues or vices j particularly the pious Commen- 
 tator, Alexander Rofs, has dived deeper into our Author's 
 defign than any of the reft ; for he difcovers in him the 
 greateft myfteries of the Chriftian religion, and finds al- 
 moft in every page fome typical reprefentations of the 
 World, the Flefh, and the Devil. But if thefe writers 
 have gone too deep, others have been wholly employed 
 in the furface, moft of them ferving only to help out a 
 School-boy in the conftruing part ; or if they go out of 
 their way, it is only to mark out the Gnomes of the Au- 
 thor, 
 
182 NOTES. 
 
 thor, as they Call them, which are generally the heavier! 
 pieces of a Poet, diftinguifhed from the reft by Italian 
 characters. 3The beii of Ow'/s Expofitors is he that 
 wrote for tne Dauphin's ufe, who has very well fhewn the 
 meaning of the author, but feldom reflects on his beauties 
 or imperfections ; for in moft places he rather acts the 
 Geographer than the Critick, and inftead of pointing out' 
 the finenefs of a defcription, only tells you in what part 
 of the world the place is fituated. I mall therefore only 
 confider Ovid under the character of a Poet, and endeavour 
 to mew him impartially, without the ufual prejudice of a 
 Tranflator ; which I am the more willing to do, becaufe 
 I believe mch a comment would give the reader a truer 
 taile of poetry than a comment on any other Poet would 
 do ; for in reflecting on the ancient Poets, men think, 
 they may venture to praife all they meet with in fome, 
 and fcarce any thing in others ,• but Ovid is confeft to 
 have a mixture of both kinds, to have fomething of the 
 bell and worft poets, and by conference to be the faireit 
 fubject for criticifm. 
 
 P. 1 15. /. 5. My /on, fays be, &c] Pbeehus'i fpeech is 
 very nobly ufher'd in, with the Terque quaterque Concuti- 
 
 ens Illujlre caput and well reprefents the danger and' 
 
 difficulty of the undertaking ; but that which is its pecu- 
 liar beauty, and makes it truly Ovid's, is the reprefenting 
 them jufl as a father wou'd to his young fon ;. 
 
 Per tamen adverfi gradieris cornua Tauri, 
 Htemoniofque arcus, violentique ora Leonis, 
 S&vaque circuitu curvantem brachia longo 
 Scorpion, at que aliter curvantem brachia Cancrum, 
 
 for one while he fcares him with bugbears in the way. 
 
 ■ Vafti quoque reclor Olympi, 
 Qui fera terribili jaculetur fulmina Dextra 
 AV; agat bos currusr, et quid Jove majus habetur ? 
 
 Deprec&r 
 
NOTES. 183 
 
 Deprecor hoc unum quod vcro nomine Poena, 
 
 Non honor eft. Pcenam, Pliaeton, pro munere pofcis. 
 
 and in other places perfectly tatties like a Father, which 
 by the way makes the length of the ipeech very natural, 
 and concludes with all the fondnefs and concern of a ten* 
 der Parent. 
 
 P atria Pater ejfe metu fro! or, a/pice <vultus 
 
 El re meos : utinamque oculos in petiore pojfes 
 lnferere, Cif Patrias intus dcprendsre cur as ! Sec. 
 
 P. 116./. 33. A golden axle, &c] Oi'/Vhas more turns 
 and repetitions in his words than any of the Latin Poets, 
 which are always wonderfully eafie and natural in him. 
 The repetition of Aureus, and the tranfition to Argenteus, 
 in the defcription of the Chariot, give thefe verfesagreat 
 fweetnefsand majefty. 
 
 Aureus Axis erat, temo Aureus, Aureafumma 
 Curvatura Rotes', radiorum Argenicus or do. 
 
 P. X I 7. /. 24. Drive them not on direeJly, Sec. Several 
 have endeavoured to vindicate OwV/againitthe old objection, 
 that he mifiakes the annual for the diurnal motion of the 
 Sun. The Dauphin's notes tell us that 0<v id knew very 
 well the Sun did not pafs through all the Signs he names 
 in one day, but that he makes Phoebus mention them on- 
 ly to frighten Phaeton from the undertaking. But though 
 this may anfvver for what Phoebus fiys in his firft fpeech, 
 it cannot for what is faid in this, where he is actually giv- 
 ing directions for his journey, and plainly 
 
 Seclus in ohliquum eft lato Curvamine limes, 
 
 Zonarumque trium content us fine polumque 
 
 Effugit auftralem, junclamque Aquilonibus Arc! on. 
 
 defcribes the motion through all the Zodiack. P. 
 
1 84 NOT E S. 
 
 P. 1 1 8. /. 5. And not my Chariot, &c] OWs verfe 
 is Conjiliis non Curribus utere nojiris. This way of join- 
 ing two fuch different Ideas as Chariot and Couniel to the 
 fame verb is mightily uied by Ovid; but is a very low 
 kind of wit, and has always in it a mixture of Pun, be- 
 came the verb mull be taken in a different, fenfe when it 
 is joined with one of the things, from what it has in con- 
 junction with the other. Thus in the end of this ftory. 
 he tells you that Jupiter flung a thunderbolt at Phae- 
 ton Par iter que y animdque, rotifque expulit Aurigam, 
 
 where he makes a forced piece of Latin ( Animd expulit 
 aurigam) that he may couple the Soul and the Wheels to 
 the fame verb. 
 
 Ibid. I. 30. The youth <was in a maze, &:c] It is 
 impomble for a man to be drawn in a greater confufion 
 than Phaeton is ; but the Antithefis of light and darknefs 
 a little flattens the defcription. Suntque Oculis tenebree 
 per tan turn lumen aborts. 
 
 Ibid. I. 33. Then the /even ftars, Sec. J I wonder- 
 none of Ovid's Commentators have taken notice of the 
 overfight he has committed in this verfe, where he makes 
 the Triones grow warm before there was ever fuch a fign. 
 in the heavens ; for he tells us in this very book, that 
 Jupiter turned Calijio into this conftellation, after he had. 
 repaired the ruins that Phaeton had made in the world. 
 
 P. 120. /. 18. Athos and Tmolus, &c] Ovid "has 
 here, after the way of the old Poets, given us a catalogue of 
 the mountains and rivers which were burnt. But, that 
 I might not tire the Englijh reader, I have left out fome 
 of them that make no figure in the defcription, and in- 
 verted the order of the reft according as the fmoothnefs of 
 my verfe requir'd. 
 
 P. 121. /. 9. 'Tivas then, they fay , the fwarthy 
 Moor, &c] This is tlie only Metamorphofu in all this long 
 
 ftory> 
 
NOTES. 185 
 
 ftory, which contrary to cuftom is inferted in the middle 
 of it. The Criticks may determine whether what follows 
 it be not too great an excurfion in him, who propofes it, 
 as his whole defign to let us know the changes of things. 
 I dare fay that if Ovid had not religioufly obferved the 
 reports of the ancient Mythologies, we mould have (een 
 Phaeton turned into fome creature or other that hates the 
 light of the Sun ;. or perhaps into an Eagle that flill takes 
 pleafure to gaze on it. 
 
 P. 121. /. 30. The frighted Nile, Sec. Ovid has 
 made a great many pleafant images towards the latter end 
 of this ftory. His verfes on the Nile. 
 
 Nilus in extremum fugit perterritus orbem 
 Occuluitque caput quod adhuc latet : oftia feptem 
 Pulveruknta 'vacant, feptem fine Flumine Valles. 
 
 are as noble as Virgil could have written ; but then he ought 
 not to have mentioned the channel of the fea afterwards, 
 
 Mare contrahitur, Jicc&que eft campus Arena. 
 
 becaufe the thought is too near the other. The image of 
 the Cyclades is a very pretty one ; 
 
 ■Quos altum texerat tequor 
 
 Exiftunt montes, et fparfas Cycladas augent. 
 
 but to tell us that the Swans grew warm in Cdyftor, 
 
 Medio volucres caluere Cayftro, 
 
 and that the Dolphins durft not leap, 
 
 - 1 — - Nee fe fuper oequora cur<vi 
 
 Ttllere confuetas audent Delphines in auras? 
 
 is 
 
iS6 NOTES. 
 
 is intolerably trivial on fo great a fubject as the burning of 
 the world. 
 
 P. 122. /. 19. The Earth at length, &c] We have 
 here a fpeech of the Earth, which will doubtlefs feem 
 very unnatural to an Englijh reader. It is I believe the 
 boldeft Profopopreia of any in the old Poets ; or if it were 
 never fo natural, [ cannot but think me fpeaks too much 
 in any reafon for one in her condition. 
 
 On Europa's Rape, page 144. 
 
 P. 145. /« 13. The dignity of empire, &c] This flory is 
 prettily told, and very well brought in by thofe two ferious 
 
 lines, 
 
 Non bene cotweniunt, nee in una fede morantur, 
 Majeftas et Amor. Sceptri gravitate reliSid, &C. 
 
 without which the whole fable would have appear'd very 
 prophane. 
 
 P. 146. /. 21. The frighted Nymph looks, &c] This 
 confirmation and behaviour of Europa 
 
 Elufam defgnat imagine tauri 
 
 Europen : verum taurum, freta <vera putaras. 
 Ipfa <videbatur terras fpe flare relicias, 
 Etcomites clamare jiias-, taftumque <vereri 
 AJfilientis aqua, timidafque reducer e plant as. 
 
 is better defcribed in Arachne's picture in the fixth book, 
 than it is here, and in the beginning of Tatius his Clito- 
 phon and Leucippe, than in either place. It is indeed ufual 
 among the Latin Poets (who had more art and reflection 
 than the Grecian) to take hold of all opportunities to de- 
 fcribe the picture of any place or action, which they gene- 
 rally do better than they could the place or action it felf ; 
 
 becaufe 
 
N f E S. 1S7 
 
 becaufe in the defcription of a picture you have a double 
 fubjeft before you, either to defcribe the picture it felf, or 
 what is represented in it. 
 
 On the Storks in the 'Third Book, page 147. 
 
 F A B. I. 
 
 There is fo great a variety in the arguments of the Me- 
 tamorpholes, that he would treat of 'em rightly, ought 
 to be a mailer of all flyles, and every different way of 
 writing. Ovid indeed ihews him felf moil in a familiar 
 ftory, where the chief grace is to be eafie and natural ; but 
 wants neither ftrength of thought nor exprefTion, when he 
 endeavours after it, in the more fubiime and manly fubjedts 
 of his poem In the prefent fable tiie Serpent is terribly 
 defcribed, and his behaviour very well imagined, the ac- 
 tions of both parties in the encounter are natural, and the 
 language that reprefents them more ftrong and mafcu.'ine 
 than what we ufually meet with in this Poet: if there be 
 any faults in the narration, they are thele, perhaps, which 
 follow. 
 
 P. 149. /. 16. Spire above Spire, &c. Ovid, to make 
 his Serpent more terrible, and to raiie the character of his 
 Champion, has given too great a ioofe to his imagination, 
 and exceeded all the bounds of probability. He tells us, 
 that when he raifed up but half his body he over-looked a 
 tall foreft of Oaks, and that his whole body was as large 
 as that of the Serpent in the fkies. None but a madman 
 would have attacked iuch a monfter as this is defcribed to 
 be; nor can we have any notion of a mortars (landing 
 againfl him. Virgil \% not afhnmed of making JBiteat fly 
 and tremble at the fight of a far lefs formidable foe, where 
 he gives us the deicription of Polyphemus, in the third 
 book ; he knew very well that a monfter was not a pro- 
 per enemy for Jus hero to encounter: But we mould cer- 
 tainly have Ceen Cadmus hewing down the Cyclops, had he 
 fallen in Ovid's way ; cr it Stat tush little Tjdeus had been 
 
 thrown 
 
188 NOTES. 
 
 thrown on Sicily, it is probable he would not have fpared 
 one of the whole brotherhood. 
 
 Phcenicas, five illi tela parabant, 
 
 Sivefiugam, five ipfe timor prohibebat utrumque, 
 Occupat ; — — 
 
 P. 149. /. 23. In vain the Tyrians, £ff<\] The Poet 
 could not keep up his narration all along, in the grandeur 
 and magnificence of an heroick ftyle : He has here funk 
 into the flatnefs of profe, where he tells us the behaviour 
 of the Tyrians at the fight of the Serpent : 
 
 r egimen direpta Leoni 
 
 Pellis erat ; telum fplendenti Lancea ferro, 
 Et Jaculum ; teloqiie animus prtefiantiar omni. 
 
 And in a few lines after lets drop the majefty of his verfe, 
 for the fake of one of his little turns. How does he languifh 
 in that which feems a labour'd line ? Trifiia fianguined lam- 
 bentem vulnera lingua. And what pains does he take to 
 exprefs the Serpent's breaking the force of the itroke, by 
 fhrinking back from it ? 
 
 Sed leve vulnus erat, quia Je retrahebat ab ifiu, 
 Lajaque colla dabat retro, plagamque federe 
 Cedendo fecit, nee longius ire finebat. 
 
 P. 151./. 32. And filings the future, &c ] The defcrip- 
 tion of the men rifing out of the ground is as beautiful a 
 pafTage as any in Ovid: It ftrikes the imagination very 
 itrongiy ; we fee their motion in the firft part of it, and 
 their multitude in the MeJJis virorum at lail. 
 
 P. 152./. 3. The breathing harvefi, &c] Mefijis clypeata 
 virorum. The beauty in thefe words would have been 
 greater, had only MeJJis virorum been expreffed without 
 (hpcata i for the reader's mind would have been delighted 
 
 with 
 
NOTES. 189 
 
 with two fuch different Ideas compounded together, but 
 cm fcarce attend to fuch a complete image as is made out 
 of all Three. 
 
 This way of mixing two different Ideas together in 
 one image, as it is a great furprize to the reader, is a great 
 beauty in poetry, if there be fufficient ground for it in the 
 nature of the thing that is defcribed. The Latin Poets 
 are very full of it, efpecially the worit of them, for the 
 more correct ufe it but fparingly, as indeed the nature of 
 things will feldom afford a juit occafion for it. When any 
 thing we deforibe has accidentally in it fome quality that 
 ieems repugnant to its nature, oris very extraordinary and 
 uncommon in things of that fpecies, iuch a compounded 
 image as we are now fpeaking of is made, by turning 
 this quality into an epithete of what we defcribe. Thus 
 C/audian, having got a hollow ball of Chryftal with water 
 in the midft of it for his fubject, takes the advantage of 
 confidering the Chryftal as hard, ftony, precious Water, 
 and the Water as foft, fluid, imperfect Chryftal; and thus 
 {ports off above a dozen Epigrams, in fetting his Words 
 and Ideas at variance among one another. He has a great 
 many beauties of this nature in him, but he gives himfelf 
 up fo much to this way of writing, that a man may eafily 
 know where to meet with them when he fees his Subject, 
 and often ftrains fo hard for them that he many times 
 makes his defcriptions bombaftic and unnatural. What 
 work would he have made with Virgil's Golden Bough, 
 had he been to defcribe it ? We mould certainly have feen 
 the yellow Bark, golden Sprouts, radiant Leaves, bloom- 
 ing Metal, branching Gold, and all the Quarrels that could 
 have been raifed between words of fuch different natures : 
 When we fee Virgil contented with his Auri frondentis ; 
 
 and what is the fame, though much finer exprefTed, 
 
 Frondefcit <virga Metallu. This compoiition of different 
 Ideas is often met with in a whole fentence, where cir- 
 cumftances are happily reconciled that feem wholly foreign 
 to each other; and is often found among the Latin Poets, 
 ( for the Greeks wanted Art for it ) in their defcriptions of 
 Pictures, Images, Dreams, Apparitions, Metamorphofes, 
 
 and 
 
i 9 o NOTES. 
 
 and the like ,• where they bring together two fuch thwart- 
 ing Ideas, by making one part of their defcriptions re- 
 late to the reprefentation, and the other to the thing that 
 is reprefentcd. Of this nature is that verfe, which, 
 perhaps, is the Wittieft in Virgil; Attollens humeri s Fa< 
 mamque et Fata nepotum, JEn. 8. where he defcribes jE- 
 ncas carrying on his Shoulders the Reputation and Fortunes 
 of his Poiterity ; which, though very odd and furprizing, 
 is plainly made out, when we confider how thefe difagree- 
 ing Ideas are reconciled, and his Pofterity's fame and 
 fate made portable by being engraven on the mield. Thus 
 when O'-vid tells us that Pallas tore in pieces Arachne's 
 work, where me had embroidered all the rapes that the 
 Gods had committed, he fays. Rupit caelefia Crimina. I 
 ihall conclude this tedious reflection with an excellent ftroke 
 of this nature, out of Mr. Montagus Poem to the King; 
 u here he tells us how the King of France would have 
 been celebrated by his fubjecls, if he had ever gained fuch 
 an honourable wcund as King Wtl/iainb at the fight of the 
 Bcjn: 
 
 His bleeding arm had furnijti d all their rooms. 
 And run for ever purple in the Looms. 
 
 FAB. II. 
 
 P. 152. /. 27. Here Cadmus reign'd.] This is a pretty 
 folemn tranfition to the ftory of Acl<eon y which is all natu- 
 rally told. The Goddefs, and her Maids undrefling her, 
 are defcribed with diverting circumftances. Addon's flight, 
 confufion and griefs are paflionately reprefented ; but it is 
 pity the whole Narration mould be fo carelefly clofed up, 
 
 Ut abefje queruntur, 
 
 Nee caper e oblata fegnem fpeclacula pr&dce. 
 Vellet abe(fe quidem, fed adeji, velletque wider*, 
 Non etiam fentire, Ca?ium ferafacla fuorum* 
 
NOTES. i 9l 
 
 P. 155. /. 26. A generous pack, &c] I have not 
 here troubled my felf to call over Acltzons pack of doos 
 in rhime ; Spot and JVhitefoot make bat a mean figure in 
 heroick veHe, and the Greek names Ovid ufes would found 
 a great deal worfe. He clofes up his own catalogue with 
 a kind of a jefl on it, Quofque referre mora eft - 
 which, by the way, is too light and full of humour for the 
 other ferious parts of this ftory. 
 
 This way of inferting Catalogues of proper names in 
 their Poems, the Latins took from the Greeks, but have 
 Jnade them morepleafing than thofe they imitate, by adap- 
 ting fo many delightful characters to their perfons names; 
 in which part Ovid's copioufnefs of invention, and great 
 infight into nature, has given him the precedence to all the 
 Poets that ever came before or after him. The fmoothnefs 
 <of our Englijh verk is too much loft by the repetition of pro- 
 per names, which is othervvife very natural and abfolutely 
 necenary in fome cafes ; as before a battle, to raife in our 
 minds an anfwerable expectation of the event, and a live- 
 ly Idea of the numbers that are engaged . For had Homer 
 cr Virgil only told us in two or three lines before their 
 fights, that there were forty thoufand of each fide, our 
 imagination could not poffibly have been fo affected, as 
 when we fee every Leader fmgled out, and every Regi- 
 jaient in a manner drawn up before our eyes. 
 
 FAB. III. 
 
 P. i$f. /. 3. How Semele, '&>.]. This is one of O- 
 <vi<Ts finihYd (lories. The tranfition to it is proper and 
 unforced : Juno, in her two fpeeches, acts incomparably 
 well the parts of a refenting Goddefs and a tattling Nurfe: 
 Jupiter makes a very majeftick figure with his Thunder 
 and Lightning, but it is ftill fuch a one as fhows who drew 
 it ; for who does not plainly difcover Ovid's hand in the 
 
 ?hta tamen ufque poteft, vires fibi demere ten tat. 
 
 Nee, quo centimatmm dejecerat tgn£ Typb^a, 
 
 Vol. I. a Nl{nc 
 
192 NOTES. 
 
 Nunc a f ma fur eo: nimiumferitatis in ilk. 
 Eft aliud levius fulmen, cui dextra Cyclopum 
 §a<vitu£ flammceque minus, minus addidit lrce i 
 *Iela Sec undo, <vocant fuperi. ■ ■ ■ ■ 
 
 P. 158. /. 4. 'Tis we//, fays /he, &c] Virgil has 
 made a Bero'e of one of his GoddefTes in the fifth JEneid-, 
 but if we compare the fpcech fhe there makes with that 
 of her name-fake in this ftory, we may find the genius of 
 each Poet difcovering it felf in the language of the Nurfe : 
 Virgil's Iris could not have fpoken more majeftically in 
 her own fhape ; but Juno is fo much altered from her 
 felf in Ovid, that the Goddefs is quite loft in the old wo- 
 man. 
 
 FAB. V. 
 
 P. 162. /. 5. She can '/ begin, &c] If playing on 
 words be excuiable in any Poem it is in this, where Echo 
 is a fpeaker ; but it is fo mean a kind of wit, that if it 
 deferves excufe it can claim no more. 
 
 Mr. Locke, in his EJfay of human Under/landing, has 
 given us the belt account of Wit in fhort, that can any 
 where be met with. Wit, fays he, lyes in the afTemblage 
 of Ideas, and putting thofe together with quicknefs and 
 variety, wherein can be found any refemblance or congrui- 
 ty, thereby to make up pleafant pictures and agreeable vi- 
 llous in the fancy. Thus does True Wit, as this incom- 
 parable Author obferves, generally confift in the Likenefs 
 of Ideas, and is more or lefs Wit, as this likenefs in Ideas 
 is more furprizing and unexpected. But as True wit is 
 nothing elfe but a funilitude in Ideas, fo is Falfe wit the 
 finiiiitude in Words, whether it lyes in the likenefs of Let- 
 ters only, as in Anagram and Acroftic ; or of Syllables, as 
 in Doggerel rhimes ; or whole Words, as Puns, Echo's, 
 and the like. Befides thefe two kinds of Falfe and True 
 wit, there is another of a middle nature, that has fome- 
 tking of both in it. When in two Ideas that have fome 
 
 re fern- 
 
NO t E S. igs 
 
 refemblance with each other, and are both exprefTed by 
 the fame word, we make ufe of the ambiguity of the 
 word to fpeak that of one Idea included under it, which 
 is proper to the other. Thus, for example, moll languages 
 have hit on the word, which properly fignifies Fire, to 
 exprefs Love by, (and therefore we may be fure there is 
 fome refemblance in the Ideas mankind have of them) 
 from hence the witty Poets of all languages, when they 
 have once called Love a fire, confider it no longer as the 
 paffion, but fpeak of it under the notion of a real lire, and 
 as the turn of wit requires, make the fame word in the 
 fame fentence Hand for either of the Ideas that is annexed 
 to it. When Ovid's Apollo falls in love he burns with 2 
 new flame; when the Sea-Nymphs languilh with this paf- 
 fion, they kindle in the water; the Greek Epigrammatic 
 fell in love with one that flung a fnow-ball at him, and 
 therefore takes occafion to admire how fire could be thus 
 concealed infnow. In fliort, whenever the Poet feels any 
 thing in this love that refembles fomething in fire, he car- 
 ries on this agreement into a kind of allegory; but if, as 
 in the preceding inilances, he finds any circumftance in 
 his love contrary to the nature of Fire, he calls his love a 
 fire, and by joining this circumftance to it lurprifes his 
 reader with a kerning contradiction. I mould not have 
 dwelt fo long on this inilance, had it not been fo frequent 
 in Ovid, who is the greater!; admirer of this mixed wit of 
 all the Ancients, as our Cowley is among the Moderns. 
 Homer, Virgil, Horace, and the greatril Poets fcorned it, 
 as indeed it is only fit for Epigram and little copies of ver- 
 fes 5 one would wonder therefore how fo fublime a genius 
 as Milton could fomctimes fall into it, in fuch a work as 
 an Epic Poem. But we mufl attribute it to his humouring 
 the vicious talte of the age he lived in, and the falfe judg- 
 ment of our unlearned Englijh readers, in general, who 
 have few of them a relifh of the more mafculine and no- 
 ble beauties of Poetry. 
 
 F A B. VI. 
 
 Ovid feems particularly pleafed with the fubjeel of 
 
 this ftory, but has notorioufly fallen into a fault he is of- 
 
 K 2 ten 
 
154 NOTE S. 
 
 ten taxed with, of not knowing when he has faid enough, 
 by his endeavouring to excel. How has he turned and 
 twilled that one thought of Narciffus\ being the perfon 
 beloved, and the lover too? 
 
 Cunclaque miraiur quibus eft mirabilis ipfe. 
 
 Qui probat, ipfe probat ur. 
 Dumque petit petit ur, pari ter que incendit et ardet, 
 Atque oculos idem qui decipit incitat error, 
 
 Terqite oculos peril ipfe fuos 
 
 Uror amore mei Jlammas moveoque feroque, Sec. 
 
 But we cannot meet with a better inftance of the extrava- 
 gance and wantonnefs of Ovid's fancy, than in that parti- 
 cular circumftance at the end of the ftory, of Narciffus" s 
 gazing on his face after death in the Stygian waters. The 
 defign was very bold, of making a Boy fill in love with 
 Tiimfelf here on earth, but to torture him with the fame 
 paffion after death, and not to let his ghoft reft in quiet, 
 was intolerably cruel and uncharitable. 
 
 P. 163. /• 2. But vjhilft within, &c] Dnmque 
 fit imfe dare cupit fitis altera credit. We have here a touch 
 of that Mixed wit 1 have before fpoken of, but I think 
 the meafure of Pun in it out-weighs the True wit; for if 
 we exprefs the thought in other words the turn is almoft 
 loft. This paifage of Narciffus probably gave Milton the 
 liint of applying it to E>ue, though I think her furprize at 
 the fi^ht of her own face in the water, far more juft and 
 natural, than this of Narciffus. She was a raw unexperi • 
 cncM Being, juft created, and therefore might eafily befub- 
 jett to the delufion ; but Narciffus had been in the world 
 fixteen years, was brother and fon to the water-nymphs, 
 and therefore iuppofed to be converfant with fountains 
 long before this fatal miflake. 
 
 P. 163. /• 32. You trees, fays he, &c] OwVisvery 
 juftly celebrated for the pafnonate fpeeches of his Poem. 
 They have generally abundance of Nature in them, but I 
 
 leave 
 
NOTES. 195 
 
 leave it to better judgments to confider whether they are 
 not often too witty and too tedious. The Poet never cares 
 for lmothering a good thought that comes in his way, and 
 never thinks he can draw tears enough from hisreader, by 
 which means our grief is either diverted or fpent before 
 we ccme to his conclufion ; for we cannot at the fame 
 time Le delighted with the wit of the Poet, and concerned 
 for the perfon that fpeaks it ; and a great Critick has ad- 
 mirably well obferved, Lamentationes debentejfe breves et 
 concise, nam Lachrymce fubito excrefcit, et difficile ejl Au ■ 
 dltorem vel Ledorem in fummo animi affeclu diu tenere. 
 Would any one in Narcijjus's condition have cry'd out— 
 Inopem me Copia fecit f Or can any thing be more unna- 
 tural than to turn off from his forrows for the fake of a 
 pretty reflection ? 
 
 O utinam nojiro fecedere corpore poffem \ 
 
 Votum in Amante novum; vellem, quod amamus, abejfet. 
 
 None, I fuppofe, can be much grieved for one that is Co 
 witty on his own afflictions. But I think we may every 
 where obferve in Ovid, that he employs his Invention 
 more than his Judgment, and fpeaks all the ingenious 
 things that can be faid on the fubjecl, rather than thofe 
 which are particularly proper to the perfon and circunv 
 fiances of the fpeaker. 
 
 FAB. VII. 
 
 P. 167. /. 3. When Pentheus thus."] There is a 
 great deal of fpirit and fire in this fpeech of Pentheus, but 
 I believe none befides Ovid would have thought of the 
 transformation of the Serpent's teeth for an incitement to 
 the Thebans courage, when he defires them not to degene- 
 rate from their great Fore-father the Dragon, and draws a 
 parallel between the behaviour of them both. 
 
 Efte, precor me mores, qua Jit is ftirpe creati, 
 Illiufque animos, qui multos perdidit urns, 
 
 K 3 Sumiti 
 
ip6 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 S unite ferpentis : pro font ibus Me, lac u que 
 Interiit, at <vos pro famd <vincite e vf>flra. 
 llle dedit Let bo fortes, vos pellil e molles, 
 £t patrium relocate Be ens.- ■ 
 
 FAB. VIII. 
 
 The ftory of Acetus has abundance of nature in all the 
 parts of it, as well in the defcription of his own parentage 
 and employment, as in that of the failors characters and 
 manners. But the fhort fpeeches fcattered up and down 
 in it, which make the Latin very natural, cannot appear 
 lb well in our language, which is much more ftubborn and 
 unpliant, and therefore are but as fo many rubs in the 
 ftpry, that are ftill turning the narration out of its proper 
 courfe. The transformation at the latter end is wonder- 
 fully beautiful. 
 
 FAB. IX. 
 
 Ovid has two very goodSimilies on Pentkeus, where he 
 compares him to a River in a former ftory, and to a War- 
 horfe in the prefent. 
 
 PRO- 
 
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 PROLOGUE 
 
 TO 
 
 Ph^dra aW Hippolitus. 
 
 Spoken by Mr. WILKS. 
 
 IO N G has a Race of Heroes fill'd the Stage, 
 J That rant by Note, and through the Gamut rage; 
 In Songs and Airs exprefs their martial Fire, 
 Combat in Trills, and in a Fuge expire ; 
 While luird by Sound, and undifturb'd by Wit, 
 Calm and Serene you indolently fit : 
 And from the dull Fatigue of Thinking free, 
 Here the facetious Fiddles Repartee : 
 Our Home-fpun Authors mud forfake the Field, 
 And S bake/pear to the foft Scar let ti yield. 
 
 To your new Tafte the Poet of this Day, 
 Was by a Friend advis'd to form his Play ; 
 Had Valentini, mufically coy, 
 Shun'd Ph&dras Arms, and icorn'd the proffer'd joy,, 
 It had not mov'd your Wonder to have feen 
 An Eunuch fly from an enamour'd Queen : 
 How would it pleafe mould fhe in Etiglijb fpeak, 
 And could Hippolitus reply in Greek ? 
 But he, a Stranger to your Modifli Way, 
 By your old Rules mufl Hand or fall to-day. 
 And hopes you will your Foreign Tafte command, 
 To bear, for once, with what you underftand. 
 
 K 4 AN 
 
[ *99 I 
 
 
 A N 
 
 ESSAY 
 
 O N 
 
 FIRGIUs GEORGICS. 
 
 VIRGIL may be reckoned the firft who introduced 
 three new kinds of Poetry among the Romans, 
 which he copied after three the greateft mailers of Greece. 
 Theocritus and Homer have ftill difputed for the advantage 
 over him in Pajloral and Heroics, but I think all are una- 
 nimous in giving him the precedence to Hefiod in his 
 Gcorgics. The truth of it is, the fweetnefs and rufticity 
 of a Pajloral cannot be fo well exprefTed in any other 
 tongue as in the Greek, when rightly mixed and qualified 
 with the Doric dialed ; nor can the majefty of an Heroic 
 Poem any where appear fo well as in this language, which 
 has a natural greatnefs in it, and can be often rendred more 
 deep and fonorous by the pronunciation of the Ionian*. 
 But in the Middle ftyle, where the writers in both tongues 
 are on a level, we fee how far Virgil has excelled all who 
 have written in the fame way with him. 
 
 There has been abundance of Criticifm fpent on VirgiPs 
 
 Pajiorals and jEneids, but the Georgics are a fubject which 
 
 K 5 none 
 
20O An E S S A Y Gil 
 
 none of the Critics have fufftciently taken into their con- 
 fideration ; moil of them pafling it over in filence, or 
 carting it under the fame head with Paftoral; a divifion 
 by no means proper, unlefs we fuppofe the flyle of a 
 Hufbandman ought to be imitated in a Georgic, as that 
 of a Shepherd is in Paforal. But though the fcene of 
 both thefe Poems lies in the fame place ; the fpeakers in 
 them are of a quite different character, fince the precepts 
 of huibandry are not to be delivered with the fimplicity 
 of a Plowman, but with the addrefs of a Poet, No rules 
 therefore that relate to Paforal, can any way afreet the 
 Giecrgics, fince they fall under that clafs of Poetry, which 
 ccnfilts in giving plain and direct initructions to the rea- 
 der ; whether they be Moral duties, as thofe of Theognis 
 and Pythagoras ; or Philofophical fpeculations, as thofe of 
 Aratus and Lucretius or Rules of practice, as thofe of 
 J&efiod and Virgil. Among thefe different kinds of fub- 
 |ects, that which the Georgics go upon, is I think the mean- 
 eft and lead improving, but the moll pleafing and delight- 
 ful.- Precepts of morality, befides the natural corruption 
 ef our tempers, which makes us averfe to them, are fo ab- 
 stracted from Ideas of fenfe, that they feldom give an op- 
 portunity for thofe beautiful defcriptions and images which, 
 are the fpirit and life of Poetry. Natural Philofophy has- 
 indeed fenfible objects to work upon, but then it often puz- 
 zles the Reader with the intricacy of its notions, and per- 
 plexes him with the multitude of its diiputes. But this 
 kind of Poetry I am now fpeaking of, addreilcs it felf 
 wholly to the imagination : It is altogether converfont a- 
 mong the fields and woods, and has the moil delightful 
 part of Nature for its province. It raifes in our minds a 
 pleafing variety of fcenes and landscapes, whilil it teaches 
 us; and makes the dryeil of its precepts look like a de- 
 scription. ^Georgic therefore is /owe part of the fcience 
 of hujbandiy put into a pleafng drefs, and fet off *witb all 
 the Beauties and Embelhjhments of Poetry. Now fince. 
 this fcience of Huibandry is of a very large extent, the 
 Poet iliews his /kill in fingling out fuch precepts to proceed 
 on, as are ufeful, and at the fame time moil capable o£ 
 ornament.. Virgil was fo well acquainted, with tliis feeret, 
 
 that- 
 
Virgil'^ Georgics. 201 
 
 that to fet offhis nril Georgic, he has run into a fet of pre- 
 cepts, which are almoft foreign to his fubjeft, in that beau- 
 tiful account he gives us of the Signs in Nature, which 
 precede the changes of the weather. 
 
 And if there be fo much art in the choice of fit precepts, 
 there is much more required in the treating of them ; that 
 they may fall in after each other by a natural unforced 
 method, and fhew themfelves in the bell and moll advan- 
 tageous light. They mould all be fo finely wrought to- 
 gether in the fame piece, that no coarfe feam may difco- 
 ver where they join ; as In a curious brede of needle- 
 work, one colour falls away by fuch juffc degrees, and a- 
 nother rifes fo infenfibly, that we fee the variety, without 
 being able to diftinguifh the total vanifhing of the one 
 from the firfl appearance of the other. Nor is it fufficient 
 to range and difpofe this body of precepts into a clear and 
 eafie method, unlefs they are delivered to us in the moll 
 pleafing and agreeable manner : For there are feveral ways 
 of conveying the fame truth to the mind of man ; and to 
 chufe the pleafanteft of thefe ways, is that which chiefly 
 diftinguifhes Poetry from Profe, and makes VirgiTs rules 
 of Husbandry pleafanter to read than f*arrv*s. Where the 
 Profe-writer tells us plainly what ought to be done, the 
 Poet often conceals the precept in a defcription, and repre- 
 fents his Country-man performing the Aclion in which 
 he would inftruft his reader. Where the one fets out, as 
 fully and diftinc"tly as he can, all the parts of the truth, 
 which he would communicate to us : the other fmgles out 
 the mod pleafing circumftance of this truth, and lb con- 
 veys the whole in a more diverting manner to the under- 
 fhnding. I (hall give one inftance out of a multitude of 
 this nature that might be found in the Georgics, where the 
 leader may fee the different ways Virgil has taken to ex- 
 prefs the fame thing, and how much pleafanter every man- 
 ner of exprellion is, than the plain and direct, mention of it 
 would have been. It is in the fecond Georgic, where he 
 tells us what Trees will bear grafting on each other. 
 
 Et fiepe alter ius ramos i?npunc e videmus 
 Vet-tun in alterius, ?nutatamque infita mala 
 
 Ferre 
 
202 An E s s a y on 
 
 Ferre pyrum, et prunis lapidufa rube/cere coma. 
 
 • Sterihs Platani malos gejfere valentes, 
 
 Caftanea: fagos, otnufque incanuit albo 
 
 Fkre pyri : Glandcmque fues fregere fub ulmis. 
 
 I — Nee longum tetnpus : et ingens 
 
 Ex iit ad Cei'lum ramis felicibus arbos ; 
 Miraturque novas frondes et non Jua poma. 
 
 Here we fee the Poet confidered all the effects of this 
 union between Trees of different kinds, and took notice 
 of that effect which had the mod furprize,. and by con- 
 fequence the moll delight in it, to exprefs the capacity 
 that was in them of being thus united. This way of 
 writing is every where much in ufe among the Poets, and 
 is particularly praclifed by Virgil, who loves to fuggeft a 
 truth indirectly, and without giving us a full and open, 
 view of it, to let us fee juft fo much as will naturally lead 
 the imagination into all the parts that lie concealed. This 
 is wonderfully diverting to the underftanding, thus to re- 
 ceive a precept, that enters as it were through a by-way, 
 and to apprehend an Idea that draws a whole train after it. 
 For here the Mind, which is always delighted with its 
 own difcoveries, only takes the hint from the Poet, and 
 feems to work out the reft by the ftrength of her own 
 faculties. 
 
 But fince the inculcating precept upon precept, will at 
 length prove tirefom to the reader, if he meets with no 
 entertainment, the Poet muft take care not to encumber 
 his Poem with too much bufinefs ; but fometimes to re- 
 lieve the Subject with a moral reflection, or let it reft a- 
 while for the fake of a pleafant and pertinent digrefhon. 
 Nor is it fufficient to run out into beautiful and diverting 
 digreffions ( as it is generally thought ) unlefs they are 
 brought in aptly, and are fomething of a piece with the 
 main deiign of the Georgic : For they ought to have a re- 
 mote alliance at leaft to the fubjeel, that fb the whole Poem 
 may be more uniform and ngieeable in all its parts. We 
 ihould never quite lofe fight of the Counlry, though we 
 are fometimes entertained with a dillant profpect of it. 
 Of this nature are Virgil's defections of the original of 
 
 Agriculture, 
 
Virgil'j Georgics, 203 
 
 Agriculture, of the fruitfulnefs of Italy, of a country life, 
 and the like, which are not brought in by force, but na- 
 turally rife out of the principal argument and defign of 
 the Poem. I know no one digreffion in the Georgics that 
 may feem to contradict this obiervation, befides that in the 
 latter end of the Firft book, where the Poet launches out 
 into a difcourfe of the battel of Pbarfafta, and the actions 
 of Augujlus : But it is worth while to confider how ad- 
 mirably he has turned the courfe of his narration into its 
 proper channel, and made his Husbandman concerned e- 
 ven in what relates to the battel, in thofe inimitable lines, 
 
 Scilicet et t em pus venief, cum fnibus Mis 
 Agricola incuwo tcrram molitus aratro f 
 Exefa in-vcmef Jcabra rubigine pi la : 
 Aut gra-vtbus ra/iris gakas pulfabit inanes> 
 Grandiaquc effffis mirabitur ojja fepukbris. 
 
 And afterwards fpeaking of Augujlus % actions, he ftill re- 
 members that Agriculture ought to be fome way hinted 
 at throughout the whole Poem. 
 
 ' Ron alius aratro 
 
 Dignus hones : fquale?it abduclis ar^ua colonis : 
 Et cur-va: rigidum fakes conjlantur in enfem. 
 
 We now come to the Style which is proper to a Georgic; 
 and indeed this is the part on which the Poet muft lay out 
 all his flrength, that his words may be warm and glowing, 
 and that every tiling he defcribes may immediately prefent 
 it felf, and raife up to the reader's view. He ought in 
 particular to be careful of not letting his fubject debafe 
 Lis ftyle, and betray him into a meannefs of expreffion, 
 but every where to keep up his verfe in all the pomp of 
 numbers, and dignity of words. 
 
 1 think nothing which is a Phrafe or faying in com- 
 mon talk, ihould be admitted into a ferious Poem ; be- 
 eaufeit takes off from the folemnky of the expreffion, and 
 gives it too great a turn of familiarity : Much lefs ought 
 the low phrafes and terms of ait, that are adapted to Huf- 
 
 bandry, 
 
204 ^ n Essay on 
 
 bandry, have any place in fuch a work as the Georgic,. 
 which is not to appear in the natural fimplicity and naked- 
 nefs of its fubject, but in the pleafantelt drefs that Poetry 
 can bellow on it. Thus Virgil, to deviate from the com- 
 mon form of words, would not make ufe of Tempore but 
 Sydere in his firft verfe; and every where elfe abounds with 
 Metaphors, Grecifms, and Circumlocutions, to give his 
 verfe the greater pomp, and preferve it from finking into 
 a Plebeian ftyle. And herein confiib Virgil's mafter- 
 piece, who has not only excelled all other Poets, but e- 
 ven himfelf in the language of his Georgics ; where we 
 receive more flrong and lively Ideas of things from his 
 words, than we could have done from the objects them* 
 felves : And find our imaginations more affected by his 
 defcriptions, than they would have been by the very fight 
 of what he defcribes. 
 
 I mall now, after this fhort fcheme of rules, confider 
 the different fuccefs that Hejiod and Virgil have met with 
 in this kind of Poetry, which may give us fome further 
 notion of the excellence of the Georgics. To begin with 
 Hejiod; if we may guefs at his character from his wri- 
 tings, he had much more of the Husbandman than the 
 'Poet in his temper : He was wonderfully grave, difcreet, 
 and frugal, he lived altogether in the country, and was 
 probably for his great prudence the oracle of the whole 
 neighbourhood. Thefe principles of good Husbandry ran 
 through his works, and directed him to the choice of til- 
 lage and merchandize, for the fubject of that which is 
 the mo[t celebrated of them. He is every where bent 
 on inftruction, avoids all manner of digreiTions, and docs 
 not flir out of the field once in the whole Georgic. His 
 method in deferibing month after month with its proper 
 feafons and employments, is too grave and fimple ; it 
 takes oft" from the furprize and variety of the Poem, and 
 makes the whole look but like a modern Almanack in 
 verfe. The reader is carried through a courfe of wea- 
 ther, and may before-hand guefs whether he is to meet 
 with fnow or rain, clouds or funfhine in the next defcrip- 
 tion. His defcriptions indeed have abundance of nature in 
 them, but then it is nature in her fimplicity and undrefs. 
 
 Thus 
 
V i r g i l *j Georgics. 205 
 
 Thus when he fpeaks of January, * The wild beafts, fays 
 
 * he, run fhivering through the woods with their heads 
 » (looping to the ground, and their tails clapt between their 
 
 * legs j the Goats and Oxen are almoft flea'd with cold j 
 
 * but it is not fo bad with the Sheep, becaufe they have 
 
 * a thick coat of wool about them. The old men too 
 1 are bitterly pincht with the weather, but the young girls 
 ' feel nothing of it, who fit at home with their mothers 
 ' by a warm fire-fide.* Thus does the old gentleman give 
 himfelf up to a loofe kind of tattle, rather than endeavour 
 after a juil Poetical defcription. Nor has he fhewn more of 
 art or judgment in the precepts he has given us, which 
 are fown fo very thick, that they clog the Poem too 
 much, and are often (o minute and full of circumftances, 
 that they weaken and unnerve his verfe. But after all, 
 we are beholden to him for the firft rough sketch of a 
 Georgic : Where we may ftill difcover fomething venera- 
 ble in the antiquenefs of the work ; but if we would fee 
 the defign enlarged, the figures reformed, the colouring 
 laid on, and the whole piece finimed, we mull expect it 
 from a greater mailer's hand. 
 
 Virgil has drawn out the rules of Tillage and Planting 
 into two books, which Hcjtod has difpatched in half a one; 
 but has fo raifed the natural rudenefs and fimplicity of his 
 fubject with fuch a iignincancy of exprefiion, fuch a pomp 
 of verfe, fuch variety of tranlitions, and fuch a folemn air 
 in his reflections, that if we look on both Poets together, 
 we fee in one the plainnefs of a downright Countryman, 
 and in the other, fomething of a ruflick majeily, like 
 that of a Roman Dictator at the plow-tail. He delivers 
 the meanefl of his precepts with a kind of grandeur, he 
 breaks the clods and tofles the dung about with an ah' of 
 gracefulnefs. His prognoilications of the weather are 
 taken out of Aratus, where we may fee how judicioufly 
 he has pickt out thofe that are moil proper for his Huf- 
 bandman's obfervation ; how he has enforced the expref- 
 iion, and heightened the images which he found in the 
 original. 
 
 The fecond book has more wit in it, and a greater bold- 
 nefs in its metaphors than any of die reft. The Poet 
 
 with 
 
206 An E s s a y on 
 
 with a great beauty, applies oblivion, ignorance, wonder, 
 defire, and the like, to his Trees. The laft Georgic has 
 indeed as many metaphors, but not fo daring as this ; for 
 human thoughts and paffions may be more naturally af- 
 cribed to a Bee, than to an inanimate Plant. He who 
 reads over the pleafures of a Country life, as they are de- 
 fcribed by Virgil in the latter end of this book, can fcarce 
 be of VirgiPs mind in preferring even the life of a Philo- 
 fopher to it. 
 
 We may I think, read the Poet's clime in his defcrip- 
 tion, for he feems to have been in a fweat at the writing 
 of it. 
 
 ■ O quis me gelidis fub montihus H&mi 
 
 Sijiat, et ingenti ramorum protegat umbra f 
 
 And is every where mentioning among his chief pleafures,. 
 the coolnefs of his ihades and rivers, vales and grottos, 
 which a more Northern Poet would have omitted for the 
 defcription of a funny hill, and fire-fide. 
 
 The Third Georgic feems to be the moll laboured of 
 them all; there is a wonderful vigour and ipirit in the de- 
 fcription of the Horfe and Chariot-race. The force of 
 Love is reprefented in noble inihnces, and very fublime 
 expreflions. The Scythian winter-piece appears fo very 
 cold and bleak to the eye, that a man can icarce look on 
 it without fhivering. The Murrain at the end has all the 
 expreffivenefs that words can give. It was here that the 
 Poet {trained hard to out do Lucretius in the defcription of 
 his plague, and if the reader would fee what fuccefs he had, 
 he may find it at large in Sca/iger. 
 
 But Virgil feems no where fo well pleafed, as when he 
 is got among his Bees in the Fourth Georgic : and ennobles 
 the actions of fo trivial a creature, with metaphors drawn 
 f om the molt important concerns of mankind. His verfes 
 are not in a greater noife and hurry in the battels of JEneas 
 and Turtras, than in the engagement of two fwarms. And 
 
 as 
 
Virgil'j Georgic s. lay 
 
 as in his jEneis he compares the labours of his Trojans to 
 thofe of Bees and Pifmires, here he compares the labours 
 of the Bees to thofe of the Cyclops. In fhort, the laft Geor- 
 gic was a good prelude to the JEneis\ and very well mew- 
 ed' what the Poet could do in the defcription of what was 
 really great, by his defcribing the mock-grandeur of an 
 In feci with (o good a grace. There is more pleafantnefs 
 in the little platform of a garden, which he gives us about 
 the middle of this book, than in all the fpacious walks and 
 water-works of P.apin. The fpeech of Proteus at the end 
 can never be enough admired, and was indeed very fit to 
 conclude fo divine a work. 
 
 After this particular account of the Beauties in the Geor- 
 gksy I mould in the next place endeavour to point out its 
 Imperfections, if it has any. But though I think there 
 are fome few parts in it that are not fo beautiful as the reft, 
 I (hall not prefume to name them, as rather fufpecting my 
 own judgment, than I can believe a fault to be in that 
 Poem, which lay fo long under VirgiPs correction, and 
 had his laft hand put to it. The firft Georgic was probab- 
 ly burlefqued in the Author's life time ; for we ftill find in 
 the Scholiafts a verfe that ridicules part of a line tranflated 
 
 from Hejtod. Nudus ara, fere nudus And we may 
 
 eafily guefs at the judgment of this extraordinary Critick, 
 whoever he was, from his cenfuring this particular precept. 
 We may be fure Virgil would not have tranflated it from 
 Hejtod, had he not difcovered fbmc beauty in it ; and indeed 
 the beauty of it is what I have before obferved to be fre- 
 quently met with in Virgil, the delivering the precept fo 
 indirectly, and fingling out the particular circumftance of 
 lowing and plowing Naked, tofuggeft to us that thefe em- 
 ployments are proper only in the Hot feafon of the year. 
 
 I fliall not here compare the ftyle of the Georgia with that 
 of Lucntius, which the reader may fee already done in the 
 preface to the jfecond volume of Mi/ccllany Poems ; but 
 mail conclude tin's Poem to be the moft complete, elabo- 
 rate, and fmilh'd piece of all Antiquity. The JEneis 
 indeed is of a Nobler kind, but the Georgic is more Perfect 
 
 in 
 
203 
 
 .////Essay 
 
 on 
 
 in its kind. The JEneis has a greater variety of beauties 
 in it, but thofe of the Georgu are more exquiiite. Infhort, the 
 Georgk has all the perfection that can be expe&ed in a Poem 
 written by the greateft Poet in the flower of his age, when 
 his invention was ready, his imagination warm, his judg- 
 ment fettled, and all his faculties in their full vigour and 
 maturity, 
 
C A T O. 
 
 TRAGEDY. 
 
 As it is Afted at the 
 
 Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane, 
 
 B V 
 
 HisMAjESTY's Servants, 
 
 Ecce Speclaculum dignum, ad quod refpiciat, intentus operi 
 fuo, Deus ! Ecce par Deo dignum, <vir fortis cum mala 
 fortund compojitus ! Non 'video, inquam, quid habeat in 
 terris Jupiter pulchrius, fi convert ere animum we lit, 
 quam ut fpedet Catonem, jam partibus non femelfrac- 
 /is, nihilominus inter ruinas publicas ereclum. 
 
 Sen. de Divin. Prov. 
 
VERSES 
 
 TO THE 
 
 AUTHOR 
 
 OF THE 
 
 TRAGEDY of CATO. 
 
 WHILE you the farce divided Britons awe, 
 And Cato with an equal virtue, draw, 
 While Envy is it felf in Wonder loft, 
 And Factions ftrive who ftiall applaud you mofl; 
 Forgive the fond ambition of a friend, 
 Who hopes himfclf not you, to recommend, 
 And join th 1 applaufe which all the Learn 'd be/low 
 On one, to whom a perfect work they owe. 
 
 Tc 
 
[ 212 ] 
 
 To my * light Scenes I once infcrib* dyour name. 
 And impotent ly ft rove to borrow fame : 
 Soon will that die, which adds thy name to mine ', 
 Let me, then, live, joirid to a work thine. 
 
 * Tender Husband, Be- p T ^ TT . n ^ Q-rrrTT 
 
 Seated to Mr. Adiifon. KlCHARD bTEELE, 
 
 THO 1 Cato jklnes in Virgil^ epickfong, 
 Prefcribing laws among th" 1 Elyfian throng j 
 Tho Lucarw verfe, exalted by his name, 
 O'er Gods them/elves has raised the Hero's fame ; 
 The Roman flags did ne'er his image fee, 
 Drawn at full length ; a taflk refers d for the. 
 £y thee we view the ftnijh' 'd figure rife, 
 And awful march before our raviftfd eyes ; 
 We hear his voice, efferting virtue's caufe; 
 His fate renew dour deep attention draws, 
 Excites by turns our various hopes and fears, 
 And all the patriot in thy fcene appears. 
 
 On Tyber'j banks thy thought vjas firfl infpirdl 
 9 Twas there, to fome indulgent grove retird, 
 Rome'j ancient fortunes rolling in thy mind, 
 Thy happy Mufe this manly work defignd: 
 Cr in a dream thou fawft RomeV Genius fla?id> 
 And, leading Cato in his facred hand, 
 Point out th> immortal fubjeSI of thy lays, 
 And afk this labour to record his praife. 
 
 "*Tis done — the Heroe lives, and charms our age I 
 While nobler morals grace the Bntimflage. 
 Great ShakefpearV ghefil, the folemn flrain to hear, 
 [Me thinks I fee the laureVd Shade appear!) 
 Will hover o er the Scene, and wondering view 
 His fav rite Brutus rivaled thus by you. Such 
 
[ 213 ] 
 Such Roman greatnefs in each atlionfhines, 
 Such Roman eloquence adorns your lines, 
 That Jure the Sibylls booh this year foretold, 
 And in fame myftick leaf was feen inrolPd, 
 
 * Rome, turn thy mournful eyes from Africk 1 sf&ore, 
 
 * Nor in her fands thy CatoV tomb explore! 
 
 * When thrice fix hundred times the circling Sun 
 ' His annual race fo all thro 1 the Zodiack run, 
 
 * An lfle remote his monument Jhall rear, 
 ' And every generous Briton fay a tear. 
 
 J. Hughes. 
 
 WHAT do we fee! is Cato then become 
 A greater name in Britain than in Rome ? 
 Does mankind now admire his virtues more, 
 Tho' Lucan, Horace, Virgil wrote before? 
 How will Pojlerity this truth explain ? 
 " Cato begins to live in AnnaV reign: 
 The World's great chiefs, in council or in arms, 
 Rife in your lines with more exalted charms ; 
 Illufrious deeds in dijlant nations wrought, 
 And virtues by departed Heroes taught, 
 Raife in your foul a pure immortal flame, 
 Adorn your life, and confecr ate your fame ; 
 To your renown all ages you fubdue, 
 And Caefar fought, and Cato bled for you. 
 
 All-Souls College, ■£ xr 
 
 oxen. Edward Young, 
 
 3^ I ^IS nobly done thus to enrich the ft 'age, 
 
 JL And raife the thoughts of a degenerate age, 
 To jbow, how endlefs joys from freedom fpring ; 
 How life in bondage is a worthle/s thing. <J~Jj e 
 
[ 2 U ] 
 
 The inborn grtatnefs of your foul we vievj, 
 
 You tread the paths frequented by the few. 
 
 With fo ?nuch Jlrength you vjrite, and fo much eafe, 
 
 Virtue ; andfenfe! how durji you hope to pleafef 
 
 Yet crowds the fentiments of every line 
 
 Impartial clafd, and own'd the work divine. 
 
 E<ven the four Criticks, who malicious came, 
 
 Eager to ccnfure, and rejblvd to blame, 
 
 Finding the Heroe regularly rife, 
 
 Great, while he lives, but greater when he dies, 
 
 Sullen approvd, too objiinate to melt, 
 
 Andfickend with the pleafures, which they felt. 
 
 Not fo the Fair their pajfons fecret kept, 
 
 Silent they heard, but as they heard, they wept^ 
 
 Tf r hen gloricufly the blooming Marcus dyd, 
 
 And Cato told the Gods, I'm fatisf/d. 
 
 See ! how your lays the Bntifh youth inflame ! 
 They long to /hoot, and ripen into fame', 
 Applauding theatres difurb their reft, 
 And unborn Cato's heave in every breaft ; 
 Their nightly dreams their daily thoughts repeat, 
 Andpulfes high with fancy d glories beat. 
 So, griev'd to view the Maratlionian fpoils, 
 The young Themiflocles vovjd equal toils; 
 Did then his fchemes of future honours draw 
 From the long triumphs v:hich with tears "be faw. 
 
 How f jail I your unrivaTd worth proclaim, 
 Loji in the fprcading circle of your fame! 
 We faw you the great William* J praife rehearfe, 
 .And paint Britannia'.? joys in Roman verfe. 
 We heard at dijiance Joft, enchanting ft rains, 
 From blooming mountains, and Italian Plains. 
 Virgil began in Englifh drefs to ftnne, 
 His voice, his looks, his grandeur ftill divine. 
 From him too foon unfriendly you withdrew, 
 But brought the tuneful Ovid to our view. Then, 
 
[ 215 ] 
 Then, the delightful theme of every tongue t 
 TV immortal Marlb'rough was your daring fang', 
 From clime to clime the mighty victor flew, 
 From clime to clime as fwiftfy you pur (ue; 
 Still with the Herois glowd the Poet's fame, 
 Still with his conquefts you enlarged your fame. 
 With boundlefs raptures here the Mufe could f veil, 
 And on your Rofamondyor ever dwell: 
 There opening fweets, and every fragrant flower 
 Luxuriant J mile, a never-jading bower. 
 Next, human follies fondly to expofe, 
 You change from numbers, but not Jink in profe: 
 Whether in vifionary fcenes you play, 
 Refine our ta/Ies, or laugh our crimes away. 
 Now, by the htfkhid Mufe you Jhine conftift. 
 The Patriot kindles in the Poet's breajl. 
 Such energy cf Jenfe might pleafure raife, 
 Thcl unembelliffo'd with the charms of phrafe : 
 Such charms of phrafe would with fuccefs be crown d, 
 Thy nonfenfe flow d in the melodious fund. 
 The ch aft eft Virgin needs no bluflies fear, 
 The Learrid themfelves, not uninftrucled, hear. 
 The Libertine, in pleafures us>d to roul, 
 And idlyfport with an immortal foul, 
 Here comes, and by the 'virtuous Heathen taught ', 
 Turns pale, and trembles at the dreadful thought, 
 
 When eWyou travcrfe vaft NumidiaV plains, 
 What fiuggifh Briton in his Jfile remains? 
 When Juba feeks the Tiger with delight, 
 We beat the thicket, and provoke the fight. 
 By the defcription warmd, we. fondly fweat, 
 And in the chilling E aft -wind pant with heat. 
 What eyes behold not, how the ftream refines, 
 Till by degrees the floating mirrour fhines? 
 While hurricanes in circling eddies play, 
 Tear up the fands, and iweep whole plains away, 
 
 Vol. I. L We 
 
[ "«] 
 
 Wcjhrink with horror, and confefs our fear, 
 And all the fudden founding ruine hear. 
 When purple robes, diftaind with blood, deceive, 
 And ?nake poor Marcia beautifully grieve, 
 When fhe her Jecret thoughts no more conceals, 
 Forgets the woman, and her flame reveals, 
 Well may the Prince exult with noble pride, 
 Not j or his Libyan crown, but Roman bride. 
 
 But I in vain on Jingle features dive 11, 
 While all the parts of the fair piece ex all. 
 So rich the fore, fo dubious is the fe aft, 
 We know not, which to pafs, or which to taftc. 
 *Ihe fnining incidents fo juftly fall, 
 We may the vjhole nsiv fcenes of tranfport call. 
 "Thus jewellers confound our wa?idering eyes, 
 .And with variety of gemms furprife. 
 Here Sapliire c , here the Sardian Stone is fen, 
 Ihe 'Topaz yellow, and the jafper green. 
 The coftly Brilliant there, confus'diy bright, 
 From numerous fui faces darts trembling light. 
 The different colours mingling in a blaze, 
 Silent we ft and, unable where to praife, 
 In plcc'fure fwidly loft ten thoufand ways. 
 
 Trinity College, 
 Cambridge. 
 
 L. ElJSDEN. 
 
 &)> m) m &*-x &$ m <c¥x 
 
 t).<s (•>;& e>-iG) <y;<s &;<s e>;*s &i<to 
 
 TO O long hath Love engrojsd BritP.nmtC s ftage. 
 And funk tofoftnefs all our tragic rage ; 
 By that alone did empires fall or rife, 
 And fate depended on a fair one^s eyes: 
 ■The fweet i?feclion, mixt with dangerous art, 
 Debased our manhood, vjhile it footed the heart. 
 You fcorn to raife a grief thy felf muft bla?ne, 
 Nor from our weaknefs fteal a vulgar fame : 
 
[ 217 ] 
 
 A Patriot's fall may jujily melt the mind, 
 And tears flow nobly, Jhedfor all mankind. 
 
 How do our fouls with geurous pleafure glow / 
 Our hearts exulting, while our eyes overflow, 
 When thy firm Hero Jlands beneath the weight 
 Of all his fuffcrings 'venerably great ; 
 Rome'j poor remains fill felt" 'ring by his fde, 
 With confeious virtue, and becoming pride. 
 
 The aged Oak thus rears his head in air, 
 His fap exhaufted, and his branches bare ; 
 'Alidf forms and earthquakes be maintains his f ale, 
 Fixt deep in earth, and fafen d by his weight. 
 His naked boughs fill lend the fhrpherds aid, 
 And his old trunk projeJis an awful Jh ad e. 
 
 Amidjl the joys triumphant peace be flows. 
 Our Patriots fadden at his glorious woes, 
 Awhile they let the world's great buftutfs wail, 
 Anxious for Rome, and fgb fir Cato's fate. 
 Here taught how ancient Heroes ro ft: to fame. 
 Our Britons crowd, and catch the Roman flame. 
 Where ftates and f nates well might lend an ear 9 
 And Kings and Priefs without a blufb appear. 
 
 Fnince loafs no' more, but, fearful to engage, 
 New flrf pays homage to her rival's fage, 
 Hafes to ham thee, and learning /hall fubmit 
 Alike lo Britifti arms, and Britiih wit: 
 No more fe 'II wonder, (fond to do us right J 
 Who think like Romans, could like Romans flght. 
 
 Thy Oxford /miles this glorious work to fee, 
 And fondly triumphs in a fon like thee. 
 The f nates,, conjuls, and the gods of Rome, 
 Like old acquaintance at their native home 
 
 L 2 
 
[ 2I« ] 
 
 In thee we find : each deed, each word exprefi, 
 And every thought that fwclFd a Roman breaft 
 We trace each hint that could thy foul infpire 
 With Virgil's judgment, and with LucanV f.re ; 
 We know thy worth, and, give us leave to boa/?, 
 We 7noJl admire, bccau/e we know thee moft. 
 
 QueenVColIege, ThQj Ttckfll 
 
 Oxon. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 WHEN your generous labour firfl 1 viewed, 
 And Cato"j hands in his own blood imbrud; 
 That fcene of death fo terrible appears, 
 My foul could only thank you with her tears. 
 Yet with fuch wond'rous art your skilful hand 
 Does all the pajjions of the foul command, 
 That even fr.y grief to praife and wonder turnd. 
 And envy "d the great death which fir jl I mourn' d. 
 
 What pen but yours could dravj the doubtful fir if e t 
 Of honour firugling with the love of life ? 
 Defcribe the Patriot, objiinately good, 
 As hovering o'er eternity he food : 
 The wide, ttf unbounded ocean lay before 
 His piercing fight, and Heaven the dijlant Jhore. 
 Secure of endlefs blifs, with fearlefs eyes, 
 He grafps the dagger, and its point defies, 
 A?id rujbes out of Life, to /natch the glorious prize. 
 
 How would old Rome rejoice, to hear you tell 
 How jufi her Patriot livd, how great he fell ! 
 Recount his wond'rous probity and truth, 
 And form new Juba's in the Britifh youth. 
 Their generous fouls, vjhen he refi ns his breath, 
 A< e pleas' 'd with ruine, and in love with death. 
 
 And 
 
 I 
 
[ "9 ] 
 
 And when her conquering fword Britannia draws, 
 Refolve to perijh, or defend her caufe. 
 Now firft on Albion V theatre we fee, 
 A perfecl image of what man Jhould be ; 
 The glorious charaeler is now expreji, 
 Of <virtue dwelling in a human breajl. 
 Drawn at full length by your immortal lines, 
 In Cato 1 / foul, as in her Heaven Jhe Jbines. 
 
 \li Soul? College, 
 Oxen. 
 
 Di 
 
 G B Y 
 
 c< 
 
 j^®rag?sCT£?ra&g&sgs 
 
 TES, 
 
 Left with the Printer by an unknown hand. 
 
 NO W we may fpeak, fines Cato /pea ks no more', 
 *Tis jraife at length, 'twas rapt 'ire all before } 
 When crowded theatres with Id? rung 
 Sent to the skies, from whence thy gtnius fpruig: 
 Even civil rage awhile in thine vjas lof ; 
 Andfaclions Jlrove but to applaud thee moji ; 
 Nor could enjoyment pall our longing tafte ; 
 But every night was dearer than the loft* 
 
 As when old Rome in a malignant bow 
 Deprivd of fome returning conqueror, 
 Her debt of triumph to the dead difcbarg"d t 
 For fame, for treafure, and her bounds enlarged: 
 And, while his god-like jigure movd along, 
 Alternate pajjions fird t/S adoring throng ; 
 Tears flow* d from every eye, and Jhouts from every tongue. 
 So in they pompous lines has CatoyftrV, 
 Gracd with an ample, tho > a late reward; 
 A greater viclor we in him revere ; 
 A nobler triumph crowns his image hen. 
 
 L j With 
 
 \ 
 
[ 220 ] 
 
 With wonder, as with pleafure, we furvry 
 A theme fo J canty wrought into a play ; 
 So vaft a pile on fuch foundations placd; 
 Like Ammon'; temple rear d on Libya' j vjafte : 
 Behold its glowing paint ! its eajie weight f 
 Its nice proportions ! and ftupendous height ! 
 How chajle the conducl, how divine the rage / 
 A Roman Worthy on a Grecian ft age ! 
 
 But where foall CatoV praife begin or end ; 
 Indind to milt, and yet untaught to bendy 
 The firmeft Pat 'riot ', and the gentle jl Friend? 
 How great his genius, when the traytor crowd 
 Ready to ftrike the blow their futy vowd ; 
 Qielld by his look, and lijlning to his lore, 
 Learn, like his pajfions, to rebel no more ! 
 When, laviftj cf his boiling blood, to prove 
 The cure of flavijh life, and flighted love, 
 Brave Marcus new in early death appears, 
 While Cato counts his wounds, and not his years £ 
 Who, checking private grief, the publick mourns, 
 Commands the pity he fo greatly fcorns. 
 But when he ftrikes, ( to crown his generous part ) 
 That honeji, Jiaunch, imprailicable heart ; 
 flo tears, no fobs purfue his parting breath j 
 The dying Roman Jbames the pomp of death. 
 
 O facred Freedom, which the powers beftow 
 To feafon blejfvngs, and to foften woe ; 
 JPlant of our growth, and aim of all our cares, 
 The toil of ages, and the crown of wars : 
 Jf taught by thee, the Poet's vjit has flow i 
 In ft rains as precious as his Hero's blood : 
 Preferve thofe ft rains, an everlajiing charm 
 To keep that blood x and thy remembrance warm : 
 
 I 
 
 B* 
 
[ 221 ] 
 Be this thy guardian image ft ill fecure ; 
 In vain Jb all force invade, or fraud allure ; 
 Our great Palladium (hall perform its part, 
 Fix'd and enp rind in eve re Britifh. heart. 
 
 THE mind to virtue is hy verfe Jubdud; 
 And the true Poet is apuhlick good. 
 This Britain fhe/s, -.vhile, by your lines injpird, 
 Her free-born fins to glorious thoughts arefrd. 
 In Rome had you efpous d the v an quiff d can ft, 
 Enflanid her fenate, and upheld her lavjs , 
 Tour manly ft encs had liberty reft or 'd, 
 And given the juft fuccefts to Cato'j ftword : 
 O'er Ccefar'j arms your genius had prevaiPd; 
 And the Muft triumph d, nvhere the Patriot faiPd. 
 
 Amer, Philips. 
 
 PROLOGUE, 
 
 By Mr. POPE. 
 Spoken by Mr. W I L K S. 
 
 TO wake the foul by tender ft rokes of art, 
 To raife the genius, and to mend the heart , 
 To make mankind in confeious virtue bold, 
 Live oer each fcene, and be vjhat they behold ; 
 For this the Tragic Mufte ftrft trod the Stage, 
 Commanding tears to ft ream thro every age ^ 
 Tyrants no ?nore their favage nature kept, 
 And foes to virtue vjonderd how they wept, 
 
 L 4 Qui' 
 
[ "2 ] 
 
 Our author /bum by vulgar firings to move 
 The Heroe's gloty, or the Virgins love; 
 In pity big Love we but our weaknejs (bow, 
 And wild Ambition well defcrves its woe. 
 Here tears Jhall flow from a fnore generous caufe, 
 Such tears as Patriots Jhed for dying laws : 
 Be bids your breajls with ancient ardor rife, 
 And calls forth Roman drops from Britifh eyes. 
 Virtue confejl in human (hape he draws, 
 What Plato thought, and God- like Cato was : 
 No common object to your fight difplays, 
 But what with pie a Jure Heaven it felf furveys } 
 A brave man f niggling in the forms of fate, 
 And greatly falling with a falling fate I 
 While Q2X0 gives his little Senate laws, 
 What bofom beats not in his country's caufe ? 
 Who fees him acl, but envies every deed? 
 Who hears him groan, and does not wijh to bleed? 
 Even vjhen proud Cxfar 'midjl triumphal cars, 
 The fpoils of nations, and the pomp of wars, 
 Ignobly vain, and impotently great, 
 Showd Rome her Cato'* figure drawn inflate-, 
 As her dead father s reverend image pafl, 
 The pomp was darker? d, and the day oercafl, 
 
 The triumph ceasd tears guff d from every tyt, 
 
 The world's great viclor pafsd unheeded by ', 
 Her laji good ?nan dejecled Rome adord, 
 And honour d CasfarV lefs than CatoV fwor4. 
 
 Briton' j attend: be worth like this approved, 
 And (how you have the virtue to be mov'd. 
 With honefl fcorn the f.rjl fatnd Cato viewed 
 Rome learning arts from Greece, vohomjbe fubditd. 
 Our fcene precarioufy fubffis too long 
 On French tranflations, and Italian fong ; 
 
 Dart 
 
[ 22 3 1 
 
 "Bare to have fenfe your /elves ; ajprt the fi'ctgt> 
 Be jujily ixjarrnd c with your oivn native rage. 
 Such plays alone fhould plea/e a Britifh ear> 
 As CatoV felf had not dijdairid to hear. 
 
 L5 
 
 Dramatis 
 
Dramatis Perfonze. 
 
 M E N. 
 
 C A T O; Mr. Bootbr 
 
 Lucius, a Senator. Mr. Keen. 
 
 Sempronius, a Senator. Mr. Mills. 
 
 Juba, Prince of Numidia. Mr. Wilks. 
 
 Syphax, General of the Numidians Mr. Cibber. 
 
 Portius, 7 r , My. Ponjuel. 
 
 Marcus, J y Mr. £>*>/. 
 
 Xtecius, Ambajfador from Caefar. Mr. Bowman*. 
 
 Mutineers, Guards, &C, 
 
 W O M E N. 
 
 Marcia, Daughter to Cnto. Mrs. OUfield'. 
 
 '.Lucia, Daughter to Lucius, Mrs. Porter. 
 
 3 C E N E, a large 'Hall in the Governor's 
 Palace of Utiau 
 
 c a r o. 
 

 C A T O 
 
 ACT I. SCENE I. 
 P O R T I U S, M A R C U S. 
 
 p o r r 1 u s. 
 
 TH E dawn is over-call:, the morning lours, 
 And heavily in clouds bring on the day, 
 The great, th' important day, big with the fate 
 
 Of Cato and of Rome Our Father's Death 
 
 Would fill up all the guilt of Civil war, 
 And clofe thefcene of blood. Already Ctcfar 
 Has ravaged more than half the globe, and fees 
 Mankind grown thin by his deftruclive fword : 
 Should he go further, numbers would be wanting 
 To form new battels, and fupport his crimes. 
 Ye Gods, what havock does Ambition make 
 Among your works ! 
 
 Mar. Thy Iteddy temper, Portius, 
 Can look on guilt, rebellion, fraud, and Cafar, 
 In the calm lights of mild Philofophy ; 
 I'm tortur'd, even to madnefs, when I think 
 On the proud vielor : every time he's named 
 PharfaVa rifes to my view ! ■ I fee 
 
 Th' infulting tyrant, prancing o'er the iield 
 
 L 5 Strowrd 
 
226 c A T O. 
 
 Strow'd with Rome T s citizens, and drench'din flaughter, 
 His Horfe's hoofs wet with Patrician blood I 
 Oh Portius, is there not fome chofen curfe, 
 Some hidden thunder in the ftores of Heaven, 
 Red with uncommon wrath, to blaft the man, 
 Who owes his greatnefs to his country's ruin ? 
 
 Por. Believe me, Marcus, 'tis an impious greatnefs, 
 And mixt with too much horrour to be envy'd : 
 How does the luftre of our father's actions, 
 Through the dark cloud of Ills that cover him, 
 Break out, and burn with more triumphant brightnefs ! 
 His fufferings fhine and fpread a glory round him; 
 Greatly unfortunate, he fights the caufe 
 Of honour, virtue, liberty, and Rome. 
 His fword ne'er fell but on the guilty head ; 
 Oppreffion, tyranny, and power ufurp'd, 
 Draw all the vengeance of his arm upon 'em. 
 
 Mar. Who knows not this? but what can Cafe do 
 Againft a world, a bafe degenerate world, 
 
 That courts the yoke, and bows the neck to Cafar t 
 
 Pent up in Utica he vainly forms 
 
 A poor epitome of Roman greatnefs, 
 
 And, cover'd with Numidian guards, directs 
 
 A feej>le army, and an empty fenate ; 
 
 Remnants of mighty battels fought in vain. 
 
 By Heavens, fuch virtues, join'd with fuch fuccefs,. 
 
 Diftraft my very foul : Our father's fortune ■> 
 
 Would almofl tempt us to renounce his precepts. 
 Por. Remember what our father oft has told us : 
 
 The ways of Heaven are dark and intricate, 
 
 Puzzled in mazes, and perplex'd with errors : 
 
 Our underltanding traces 'em in vain, 
 
 Loft and bewilder'd in the fruitlefs fearch ; 
 
 Nor fees with how much art the windings run, 
 
 Nor where the regular confufion ends. 
 
 Mar. Thefe are fuggeftions of a mind ateafe* 
 
 Oh Portias, didtf thou taile but half the griefs 
 
 That 
 
C A T O. 227 
 
 That wring my foul, thou couldft not talk thus coldly. 
 Paflion unpity'd, and fucceflefs love, 
 Plant daggers in my heart, and aggravate 
 My other griefs. Were but my Lucia kind ! 
 
 Par. Thou fee'ft not that thy Brother is thy Rival : 
 But I muft hide it, for I know thy temper. [AJide. 
 
 Now, Marcus, now, thy virtue's on the proof: 
 Put forth thy utmoft ftrength, work every nerve, 
 And call up all thy father in thy foul : 
 To quell the tyrant Love, and guard thy heart 
 On this weak fide, where moil our nature fails, 
 Wou!d be a conqueft worthy Cat<?s fon. 
 
 Mar. Fortius, the counfel which I cannot take, 
 Infteadof healing, but upbraids my weaknefs. 
 Bid me for honour plunge into a war 
 Of thickeit foes, and rui"h on certain death, 
 Then (halt thou fee that Marcus is not flow 
 To follow glory, and confefs his father. 
 Love is not to be reafon'd down, or loft 
 In high ambition, and a thirft of greatnefs ; 
 'Tis fecond life, it grows into the foul, 
 Warms every vein, and beats in every pulfe, 
 I feel it here : my refolution melts 
 
 Por. Behold young Juba, the Numidian Prince \ 
 With how much care he forms himfelf to glory, 
 And breaks the fiercenefs of his native temper, 
 To copy out our Father's bright example. 
 He love's our filler Marcia, greatly loves her, 
 His eyes, his looks, his actions all betray it: 
 But ftill the fmother'd fondnefs burns within him, 
 When mofl it fwells, and labours for a vent. 
 The fenfe of honour, and defire of fame 
 Drive the big paflion back into his heart. 
 What! Ihall an African, fiiall Juba\ heir 
 Reproach great Calos fon, and fhew the world 
 A virtue wanting in a Raman foul ? 
 
 Mar* 
 
228 CAT O. 
 
 Mar. Pertius, no more ! your words leave flings be- 
 hind 'em. 
 When-e'er did Juba, or did Portius, mow 
 A virtue that has cart me at a diftance, 
 And thrown me out in the purfuits of honour ? 
 
 Por. Marcus, I know thy gen'rous temper well; 
 Fling but th' appearance of difhonour on it, 
 It flrait takes fire, and mounts into a blaze. 
 
 Mar. A Brother's fufferings claim a Brother's pity. 
 
 Por. Heaven knows I pity thee : behold my eyes 
 
 Even whilfl I fpeak Do they not fwim in tears ? 
 
 Were but my heart as naked to thy view, 
 Marcus would fee it bleed in his behalf. 
 
 Mar. Why then doll treat me with rebukes, inllead 
 Of kind condoling cares, and friendly forrow ? 
 
 Por. O Marcus, did I know the way to eafe 
 Thy troubled heart, and mitigate thy pains, 
 Marcus, believe me, I could die to do it. 
 
 Mar. Thou beft of brothers, and thou beft of Friends I 
 Pardon a weak diftemper'd foui, that fvvells 
 With fudden gulls, and finks as foon in calms, 
 
 The fport of paflions : but Sempronius comes : 
 
 He mull not find thisfoftnefs hanging on me. [Exit, 
 
 SCENE II. 
 SEMPRONIUS, PORTIUS. 
 
 Sem. Confpiracies no fooner fhould be form'd 
 Than executed. What means Portius here ? 
 I like not that cold youth. I muft difTemble, 
 And fpeak a language foreign to my heart . [Ajide* 
 
 Good-morrow Portius! let us once embrace, 
 Once more embrace ; whilft yet we both are free. 
 To morrow fhould we thus exprefs our friendfhip, 
 Each might receive a flave into his arms ; 
 
 This 
 
C A T 0. 229 
 
 This Son perhaps, this morning Sun's the laft, 
 That e'er fhall rife on Roman Liberty. 
 
 Por. My father has this morning call'd together 
 To this poor hall his little Roman Senate, 
 (The leavings of Pharfalia) to confult 
 If yet he can oppofe the mighty torrent 
 That bears down Rome, and all her gods, before it, 
 Or muft at length give up the world to Cafar. 
 
 Sem. Not all the pomp and majefly of Rome 
 Can raife her Senate more than CVz/o's prefence. 
 His virtues render our affembly awful, 
 They ftrike with fomething like religious fear, 
 And make even Ceefar tremble at the head 
 
 Of armies flufh'd with conqueft : O my Portius, 
 
 Could I but call that wondrous Man my Father, 
 
 Would but thy filler Marcia be propitious, 
 
 To thy friend's vows ; I might be blefs'd indeed f 
 Pot. Alas ! Sempronius, would'ft thou talk of love 
 
 To Marcia, whilft her father's life's in danger ? 
 
 Thou might' ft as well court the pale trembling VeftaJ, 
 
 When fhe beholds the holy flame expiring. 
 
 Sem. The more I fee the wonders of thy race, 
 
 The more I'm charm r d. Thou muft take heed, my Portius! 
 
 The world has all its eyes on Catos fon. 
 
 Thy father's merit fets thee up to view, 
 
 And fhows thee in the faireft point of light, 
 
 To make thy virtues, or thy faults, conipicuous. 
 Por. Well doft thou feem to check my lingring here 
 
 On this important hour I'll ftrait away, 
 
 And while the Fathers of the Senate meet, 
 
 In clofe debate to weigh th' events of war, 
 
 Til animate the foldier's drooping courage, 
 
 With love of freedom, and contempt of life : 
 
 I'll thunder to their ears their country's caufe, 
 
 And try to roufe up all that's Roman in 'em, 
 
 'Tis not in mortals to Command fuccefs, 
 
 £ut we'll do more, Sempronius - } we'll Deferve it. [Exit. 
 
 Sem, 
 
230 c a r 0. 
 
 Sem. (folus.) Curfe on the Stripling ! how he apes his 
 Sire ! 
 Ambitioufly fententious ? ■ but I wonder 
 Old Sypbax comes not ; his Numidian genius 
 Is well difpos'd to mifchief, were he prompt 
 And eager on it ; but he mult be fpurr'd, 
 And every moment quickned to the courfe, 
 
 i Cato has us'd me ill : he has refufed 
 
 His daughter Marcia to my ardent vows. 
 
 Befides, his baffled arms, and ruined caufe , 
 
 Are bars to my ambition. Cajar's favour, 
 
 That fhow'rs down greatnefs on his friends, will raife m5 
 
 To Rome's frft honours. If I give up Cato, 
 
 I claim in my reward his captive daughter. 
 
 But Sypbax comes ! 
 
 SCENE III. 
 SYPHAX, SEMPRONIUS. 
 
 Sypb. Sempronius, all is ready, 
 
 I've founded my Numidians, man by man, 
 And find 'em ripe for a revolt : they all 
 Complain aloud of Cato's difcipline, 
 And wait but the command to change their mafler. 
 
 Sem. Believe me, Sypbax, there's no time to waife j 
 Even whilft we fpeak, our Conqueror comes on, 
 And gathers ground upon us every moment. 
 Alas ! thou know 'ft not C^/ars active foul, 
 With what a dreadful courfe he rumes on 
 From war to war : in vain has nature formed 
 Mountains and oceans to oppofe hispaffage; 
 He bounds o'er all, victorious in his march ; 
 The Alpes and Pyreneans link before him, 
 Through winds and waves and florms lie works his way. 
 Impatient for the battel : one day more 
 
 Witt 
 
c a r o. 231 
 
 Will fet the Victor thundering at our gates, 
 But tell me, hail thou yet drawn o'er young Jala ? 
 That dill would recommend thee more to Ca?far, 
 And challenge better terms. 
 
 Sypb. Alas } he's loft, 
 He's loft, Sempronius i all his thoughts are full 
 
 Of Cato's virtues: but I'll try once more 
 
 (For every inftant I expect him here) 
 If yet I can fubdue thofe ftubborn principles- 
 Of faith, of honour, and I know not what, 
 That have corrupted his Numi 'di 'an temper , 
 And ftruck the infection into all his foul. 
 
 Sent. Be fure to prefs upon him every motive. 
 Juba's furrender, fince his father's death, 
 Would give up Africk into Cafars hands, 
 And make him Lord of half the burning Zone. 
 
 Sypb. But is it true, Sempronius, that your Senate 
 Is call'd together ? Gods ! thou muft be cautious I 
 Cato has piercing eye?, and will discern 
 Our frauds, unlefs they're cover'd thick with art. 
 
 Sem. Let me alone, good Sypbax. I'll conceal 
 My thoughts in paflion ('tis the fureft way ;) 
 I'll bellow out for Rome and for my country, 
 And mouth at Cafar 'till I make the Senate. 
 Your cold hypocrify's a ftale device, 
 A worn-out trick : would'ft thou be thought in earneft } 
 Cloath thy feign'd zeal in rage, in fire, in fury ! 
 
 Sypb. In troth, thou'rt able to inftruct grey -hairs, 
 And teach the wily African deceit ! 
 
 Sem. Once more, be fure to try thy ikill on Juba> 
 Mean while I'll haften to my Roman foldiers, 
 Inflame the mutiny, and underhand 
 Blow up their difcontents, 'till they break out 
 Unlook'd-for, and difcharge themfelves on Cato. 
 Remember, Sypbax, we muft work in hafte : 
 O think what anxious moments pafs between 
 The birth of plots, and their laft fatal periods,. 
 
 Oh; 
 
*3 2 CAT O. 
 
 Oh ! 'tis a dreadful interval of time, 
 
 Fill'd up with horror all, and big with death ! 
 
 Definition hangs on every word we fpeak, 
 
 On every thought, 'till the concluding flroke 
 
 Determines all, and clofes our defign. {Exit. 
 
 Sypb. (joins) I'll try if yet I can reduce to reafon 
 This head ftrong youth, and make him fpurn at Cato. 
 
 The time is fhort, C<efar comes ru filing on us . 
 
 But hold ! young Juba fees me, and approaches. 
 
 SCENE IV. 
 JUBA, SYPHAX. 
 
 jfub. Syphax, I joy to meet thee thus alone. 
 I have obferv'dof late thy looks are fallen, 
 O'ercail with gloomy cares, and difcontent ; 
 Then tell me, Sypbax, I conjure thee, tell me, 
 What are the thoughts that knit thy brows in frowns, 
 And turn thine eye thus coldly on thy prince ? 
 
 Syph. 'Tis not my talent to conceal my thoughts, 
 Or carry fmiles and fun-fhine in my face, 
 "When difcontent fits heavy at my heart, 
 I have not yet fo much the Roman in me. 
 
 Jub. Why do' ft thou caft out fuch ungenerous terms 
 Againil the Lords and Sov'reigns of the world ? 
 Doll thou not fee mankind fall down before them, 
 And own the force of their fuperior virtue ? 
 Is there a nation in the wilds of Africk, 
 Amidft our barren rocks, and burning fands, 
 That does not tremble at the Roman name ? 
 
 Sypb. Gods? where's the worth that fets this people up 
 Above your own Numidia's tawny fons ! 
 Do they with tougher finews bend the bow ? 
 Or flies the javelin fwifter to its mark, 
 Launch 'd from the vigour of a Roman arm r 
 
 Who 
 
c a r o. 133 
 
 Who like our aclive Jfrtcan inftructs 
 
 The fiery fleed, and trains him to his hand ? 
 
 Or guides in troops th' embattled Elephant, 
 
 Loaden with war ? thefe, thefe are arts, my Prince, 
 
 In which your Zama does not itoop to Rome. 
 
 J t/b. Thefe all are virtues of a meaner rank, 
 Perfections that are plac'd in bones and nerves. 
 A Roman foul is bent on higher vicv. 
 To civilize the rude unpoIihYd world, 
 And lay it under the rellraint of laws ; 
 To make Man mild, and fociable to Alan ; 
 To cultivate the wild licentious Savage 
 With wifdom, difcipline, and liberal arts ; 
 Th' embellishments of life : Virtues like thefe, 
 Make human nature mine, reform the foul, 
 And break our fierce barbarians into men. 
 
 Sypb. Patience kind heavens ! excufe an old man's 
 
 warmth. 
 What are thefe wond'rous civilizing arts ; 
 This lioman polifh, and this fmooth behaviour, 
 That render man thus tractable and tame ? 
 Are they not only todifguife our paftions, 
 To fet our looks at variance with our thoughts, 
 To check the ftarts and fallies of the foul, 
 And break off all its commerce with the tongue ; 
 In fhort, to change us into other creatures, 
 Than what our nature and the Gods defign'd us ? 
 
 Jub, To ftrike thee dumb : turn up thy eyes to Cato f 
 There may'it. thou fee to what a godlike height 
 The Roman virtues lift up mortal man, 
 While good, and juft, and anxious for his friends, 
 He's itill feverejy bent againft himfelf ; 
 Renouncing fleep, and reft, and food, and eafe, 
 He ltrives with thirft and hunger, toil and heat; 
 And when his fortune lets before him all 
 The pomps and pleafures that his foul can wifh, 
 His rigid virtue will accept of none. 
 
 Sjph. 
 
234 C A r o. 
 
 Syph. Believe me, Prince, there's not an African 
 That traverfes our vaft Numidian defarts 
 In quell of prey, and lives upon his bow, 
 But better pra&iies thefe boafted virtues. 
 Coarfe are his meals the fortune of the chafe, 
 A mid ft the running ftream he flakes his thirfr, 
 Toils all the day, and at th' approach of night 
 On the flril friendly bank he throws him down, 
 Or refts his head upon a rock *till morn : 
 Then rifes frefli, purfues his wonted game, 
 And if the following day he chance to find 
 A new repaft, or an untafted fpring, 
 BlefTes his ftars, and thinks it luxury. 
 
 J ub. Thy prejudices, Syphax, won't difcern 
 What virtues grow from ignorance and choice, 
 Nor how the Hero differs from the Brute. 
 But grant that others could with equal glory 
 Look down on pleafures, and the baits of fenfe f 
 Where fhall we find the man that bears aiEiclion* 
 Great and majeftick in his griefs, like Cato ? 
 Heavens ! with what ftrength, what fteadinefs of mind, 
 He triumphs in the midflof all his fufferingsj 
 How does he rife againft a load of woes, 
 And thank the Gods that throw the weight upon him ? 
 
 Sypb. 'Tis pride, rank pride, and haughtinefs of foul 
 I think the Romans call it Stoicijm, 
 Had not your royal father thought fo highly 
 Of Roman virtue, and of Cato\ caufe, 
 He had not fallen by a flave's hand, inglorious : 
 Nor would his flaughter'd army now have lain 
 On dfric/is fands, disfigured with their wounds, 
 To gorge the Wolves and Vultures of Numidia, 
 
 Jub. Why doft thou call my forrows up afrefh ? 
 My Father's name brings tears into my eyes. 
 
 Sypb. Oh ! that you'd profit by your Father's ills, 
 
 Jub, What would'fl thou have me do I 
 
 Sjpb* 
 
c a r o. 235 
 
 Syph. Abandon Cato. 
 
 Juba. Syphax, I mould be more than twice an Orphan 
 By fuch a lofs- 
 
 Syph. Ay, there's the tie that binds you ? 
 You long to call him Father. Mania's charms 
 Work in your heart unfeen, and plead for Cato. 
 No wonder you are deaf to all I fay. 
 
 Jub. Syphax, your zeal becomes importunate ; 
 Tve hitherto permitted it to rave, 
 And talk at large ; but learn to keep it in, 
 Left it ihould take more freedom than 111 give it. 
 
 Syph. Sir, your great father never ufed me thus. 
 Alas, he's dead ! but can you e'er forget 
 The tender forrows, and the pangs of nature, 
 The fond embracer, and repeated bleflings, 
 Which you drew from him in your laft farewel ? 
 Still mull I cherifh the dear, fad, remembrance, 
 At once to torture, and to pleafe my foul. 
 The good old King, at parting wrung my hand, 
 (His eyes brim-full of tears; then fighing cry'd, 
 
 Pr'ythee be careful of my fon ! his grief 
 
 SwelTd up fo high, he could not utter more. 
 
 Jub. Alas, thy ftory melts away my foul. 
 That belt of fathers! how mall Idifcharge 
 The gratitude and duty which I owe him \ 
 
 Syph. By laying up hiscounfels in your heart. 
 
 Jub. His counfels bade me yield to thy directions: 
 Then, Sypbax, chide me in fevereft terms, 
 Vent all thy pamon, and I'll ftand its fhock, 
 Calm and unrurHed as a fummer-fea, 
 When not a breath of wind fl ; es o'er its furface. 
 
 Sypb. Alas, my Prince, I'd guide you to your fafety. 
 
 Jub. I do believe thou would'!*: but tell mchow ? 
 
 Syph. Fly from the fate that follows Ceejar\ foes. 
 
 Jub. My father fcorn'd to do it, 
 
 Spyb. And tiiereiore dy'd. 
 
 Jub. 
 
236 CAT 0. 
 
 Jub. Better to die ten thoufand thoufand deaths, 
 Than wound my honour. 
 
 Sypb. Rather fay your love. 
 
 Jub. Sypb ax, I've promis'd to preferve my temper. 
 Why wilt thou urge me to confefs a flame, 
 I long have ftifled, and would fain conceal ? 
 
 Sypb. Believe me, Prince, tho 1 hard to coaquer love, 
 'Tis eafie to divert and break its force: 
 Abfence might cure it, or a fecond miftrefs 
 Light up another flame, and put out this. 
 The glowing dames of Zama's royal court 
 Have faces flumt with more exalted charms ; 
 The Sun, that rolls his chariot o'er their heads, 
 Works up more fire and colour in their cheeks : 
 Were you with thefe, my Prince, you'd foon forget 
 The pale unripen'd beauties of the North. 
 
 Jub. 'Tis not a fett of features, or complexion, 
 The tinclure of a fkin, that I admire. 
 Beauty foon grows familiar to the lover, 
 Fades in his eye, and palls upon the fenfe. 
 The virtuous Mania tow'rs above her fex ; 
 True, fhe is fair, (Oh how divinely fair !) 
 But ftill the lovely maid improves her charms 
 With inward greatnefs, unafFe&ed wifdom, 
 And fan&ity of manners. Catch's foul 
 Shines out in every thing fhe acts or fpeaks, 
 While winning mildnefs and attractive fmiles 
 Dwell in her looks, and with becoming grace 
 Soften the rigour of her father's virtues. 
 
 Sypb. How does your tongue grow wanton in her praife? 
 But' on my knees I beg you would confider 
 
 Jub. Hah! Sypbaxy is'tnotfhe! — me moves this way: 
 And with her Lucia, Lucius 's fair daughter. 
 My heart beats thick 1 pr'ythee Sypbax leave me. 
 
 Sypb'. Ten thoufand curfes fallen on 'em both] 
 
 Now 
 
C A T 0. 237 
 
 Now will this woman with a fingle glance 
 
 Undo, what I've been labouring all this while. Exit. 
 
 SCENE V. 
 JUBA, MARCIA, LUCIA. 
 
 Jub. Hail charming Maid! how does thy beauty fmooth 
 Thy face of war, and make even Horror fmile ! 
 At fight of thee my heart makes off its forrows j 
 I feel a dawn of joy break in upon me, 
 And for a while forget th' approach of Cafar. 
 
 Mar. I fhould be gfiev'd, young Prince, to think my 
 prefence 
 Unbent your thoughts, and flacken'd 'em to arms, 
 While, warm with daughter, our victorious foe 
 Threatens aloud, and calls you to the field. 
 
 Jub. O Marcia, let mc hope thy kind concerns 
 And gentle willies follow me to battel ! 
 The thought will give new vigour to my arm, 
 Add ftrength and weight to my defcending fword, 
 And drive it in a tempefl on the foe. 
 
 Mar. My prayers and wifhes always fhall attend 
 The friends of Rome, the glorious caufe of virtue, 
 And men approved of by the Gods and Cato. 
 
 Jub. That Juba may deferve thy pious cares, 
 I'll gaze for ever on thy godlike father, 
 Tranfplanting, one by one, into my life 
 His bright perfections, 'till I fhine like him. 
 
 Marc. My Father never at a time like this 
 Would lay out his great foul in words, and waile 
 Such precious moments. 
 
 Jub. Thyreprooi's arejuft, 
 Thou virtuous maid ; I'll harlen to my troops, 
 And fire their languid foub with Cato\ virtue. 
 If e'er I lead them to the field, when all 
 
 The 
 
238 CAT O. 
 
 The war mall ftand ranged in its juft array, 
 And dreadful pomp : then will I think on thee ! 
 O lovely Maid, then will I think on thee I 
 And, in the Ihock of charging hofts, remember 
 What glorious deeds mould grace the man, who hopes 
 For Manias love. 
 
 SCENE VI. 
 LUCIA, MARCIA. 
 
 Luc. Marcia, you're too fevere: 
 How could you chide the young good-natured Prince, 
 And drive him from you with fo liern an air, 
 A Prince that loves and doats on you to dea th ? 
 
 Mar. Tis therefore, Lucia, that I chide him from me. 
 His air, his voice, his looks, and honeft foul 
 Speak all fo movingly in his behalf, 
 I dar» nottruft my felf to hear him talk. 
 
 Luc . Why will you fight againft fo fweet a pafllon, 
 And fteel your heart to fuch a world of charms ? 
 
 Mar. How, Lucia! would'il thou have me fink away 
 In pleafing dreams, and lofe my felf in love ? 
 Cafar comes arm'd with terror and revenge, 
 And aims his thunder at my father's head : 
 Should not the fad occafion fwallow up 
 My other cares and draw them all into it ? 
 
 Luc. Why have not I this conftancy of mind, 
 Who have fo many griefs to try its force ? 
 Sure, Nature form'd me of her fofteft mould, 
 Enfeebled all my foul with tender paffions, 
 And funk me even below my own weak fex : 
 Pity and love, by turns, opprefs my heart. 
 
 Mar. Lucia, dibburthen all thy cares on me, 
 And let me mare thy molt retired difirefs; 
 Tell me who raifes up this conflict in thee? Luc* 
 
C A T O. 239 
 
 Luc . I need not blufh to name them, when I tell thee 
 They're Marcias brothers, and the fons of Cato. 
 
 Mar. They both behold thee with their filler's eyes : 
 And often have reveal'd their paffion to me. 
 But tell me, whofe addrefs thou favour'!* moil : 
 I long to know, and yet I dread to hear it. 
 
 Luc . Which is it Marcia wilhes for ? 
 
 Mar. For neither • 
 
 And yet for both-— the youths have equal fhare 
 In Manias wilhes, and divide their filler : 
 But tell me, which of them is Lucid 's choice ? 
 
 Luc. Marcia, they both are high in my eileem, 
 
 But in my love why wilt thou make me name him ? 
 
 Thou know'ft it is a blind and foolifh paffion, 
 Pieas'd and difgufled with it knows not what 
 
 Mar. O Lucia, I'm perplex'd, O tell me which 
 I mull hereafter call my happy brother ? 
 
 Luc. Suppofe 'twere Portius, could you blame my choice ? 
 ■ O Portius, thou hall flol'n away my foul ! 
 With what a graceful tendernefs he loves ! 
 And breathes the fofteft, the fincerelt vows! 
 Complacency, and truth, and manly fweetnefs 
 Dwell ever on his tongue, aad fmooth his thoughts. 
 Marcus is over-warm, his fond complaints 
 Have fo much earneflnefs and paffion in them, 
 I hear him with a fecret kind of horrour, 
 And tremble at his vehemence of temper. 
 
 Mar. Alas poor youth! how can'il thou throw him 
 from thee ? 
 Lucia, thou know'il not half the love he bears thee; 
 Whene'er he fpeaks of thee, his heart's in flames, 
 He fends out all his foul in every word, 
 And thinks, and talks, and looks like one tranfported. 
 Unhappy youth ! how will thy coldnefs raife 
 Tempefls and florms in his afflicted bofom ! 
 I dread the confequence. 
 
 Vol. I. M Luc. 
 
240 C A T 0. 
 
 Luc. You Teem to plead 
 Againfl your brother Fortius. 
 
 Mar. Heaven forbid f 
 Had Fortius been the unfuccefsful lover, 
 The fame companion would have fall'n on him. 
 
 Luc. Was ever- virgin love diflrefs'd like mine! 
 iV//7/j himfelf oft falls in tears before me, 
 As if he mourn' d his rival's ill fuccefs ; 
 Then bids me hide the motions of my heart, 
 Nor {how which way it turns. So much he fears 
 The fad effects that it would have on Marcus. 
 
 Marc. He knows too well how eafily he's fired, 
 And would not plunge his brother in defpair, 
 But waits for happier times, and kinder moments. 
 
 Luc. Alas! too late I find my felf involved 
 In endlefs griefs, and labyrinths of woe, 
 Born to afflict my Mania's family, 
 And fow dhTentioninthe hearts of brothers. 
 Tormenting thought ! it cuts into my foul. 
 
 Mar. Let us not, Lucia, aggravate our forrows, 
 Eut to the Gods permit th' event of things. 
 Our lives, difcolour'd with our prefent woes, 
 ]\lay ftiil grow white, and fmile with happier hours. 
 
 So the pure limpid ftream, when foul with ftains 
 Of ruming torrents, and defending rains, 
 Works it felf clear, and as it runs, refines ; 
 'Till, by degrees, the floating mirrour mines, 
 Reflects each flow'r that on the border grows. 
 And anew Heaven in its fair bofom mows. [Exeunt, 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 ACT 
 
C A <T 0. «4i 
 
 ACT II. SCENE I. 
 The SENATE. 
 
 Sempron ius. 
 
 ROME flill furvives in this afFembled Senate ! 
 Let us remember we are Cato's friends, 
 And ad like men who claim that glorious title. 
 Luc. Cato will Toon be here, and open to us 
 TV occafion of our meeting. Hark! he comes f 
 
 [ A. found of Trumpet si 
 May all the guardian gods of Rome direct him .' 
 
 Enter CATO. 
 
 Cato. Fathers, we once again are met in council- 
 C&fa/s approach has fummon'd us together, 
 And Rome attends her fate from our refolves : 
 How fhall we treat thi3 bold afpiring man ? 
 Succeis flill follows him, and backs his crimes : 
 Pharfalia gave him Rome ; Egypt has fince 
 Received his yoke, and the whole Ni/e is C#far\* 
 
 Why fhould I mention Jubds overthrow, 
 And Scipio's death ? Numidias burning fands 
 Still fmoke with blood. 'Tis time we mould decree 
 "What courfe to take. Our foe advances on us, 
 And envies us ev'n Libya's fultry defarts. 
 Fathers, pronounce your thoughts, are they flill fixt 
 To hold it out, and fight it to the iafl ? 
 Or are your hearts fubdu'd at length, and wrought 
 By time and ill fuccefs to a fubmiffion ? 
 SemproniuSi fpeak. 
 
 Sem. My voice is flill for war. 
 Gods ! can a Roman Senate long debate 
 
 M 2 Which 
 
2^2 c a r o. 
 
 Which of the two to chufe, flavery or death ! 
 
 No, let us rife at once, gird on our fwords, 
 
 And at the head of our remaining troops, 
 
 Attack the foe, break through the thick array 
 
 Of histhrong'd legions, and charge home upon him. 
 
 Perhaps fome arm, more lucky than the reft, 
 
 May reach his heart, and free the world from bondage. 
 
 Rife, Fathers, rife! 'tis Rome demands your help; 
 
 Rife, and revenge her flaughter'd citizens, 
 
 Or fhare their fate ! the corps of half her Senate 
 
 Manure the fields of Tbejafy, while we 
 
 Sit here, deliberating in cold debates, 
 
 If we mould facrifice our lives to honour, 
 
 Or wear them out in fervitude and chains. 
 
 Roufe up for fhame ! our brothers of P bar/alia 
 
 Point at their wounds, and cry aloud To battel .' 
 
 Great Pompejfs made complains that we are flow, 
 And Scipio's ghoft walks unreveng'd amongft us ! 
 
 Cato. Let not a torrent of impetuous zeal 
 Tranfport thee thus beyond the bounds of reafon : 
 True fortitude is feen in great exploits 
 That juftice warrants, and that wifdom guides, 
 All elfe is to w'ring frenzy and diftra&ion. 
 Are not the lives of thofe, who draw the fvvord 
 In Rome's defence, entrufted to our care ? 
 Should we thus lead them to a field of flaughter, 
 Might not th' impartial world with reafon fay 
 We lavihYd at our deaths the blood of thoufands, 
 To grace our fall, and make our ruin glorious ? 
 Lucius, we next would know what's your opinion. 
 
 Luc My thoughts, I muft confefs, are turn'd on peace. 
 Already have our quarrels fill'd the world 
 With widows and with orphans : Scythia mourns 
 Our guilty wars, and earth's remoteft regions 
 Lie half unpeopled by the feuds of Rome : 
 'Tis time to (heath the fword, and fpare mankind. 
 It is not Ccejar, but the Gods, my fathers, 
 
 The 
 
C A T O. ^^ 
 
 The Gods declare againft us, and repel 
 
 Our vain attempts. To urge the foe to battel, 
 
 ( Prompted by blind revenge and wild delpair) 
 
 Were to refufe th' awards of Providence, 
 
 And not to reft in Heaven's determination. 
 
 Already have we mown our love to Rome, 
 
 Now let us fhow fubmiffion to the Gods. 
 
 We took up arms, not to revenge ourfelves, 
 
 But free the common-wealth ; when this end fails, 
 
 Arms have no further ufe: our country's caufe, 
 
 That drew our fwords, now wrefts 'em from our hands^ 
 
 And bids us not delight in Roman blood, 
 
 Unprofitably fhed ; what men could do 
 
 Is done already : Heaven and earth will witnefs, 
 
 If Rome muft fall, that we are innocent. 
 
 Sem. This fmooth difcourfe and mild behaviour oft 
 
 Conceal a traitor fomething whifpers me 
 
 All is not right — Cato, beware of Lucius. [Aftde to CatO. 
 
 Cato. Let us appear nor rafli nor diffident : 
 Immoderate valour fwells into a fault, 
 And fear, admitted into publick counsels, 
 Betrays like treafon. Let us fhun 'em both. 
 Fathers, I cannot fee that our affairs 
 Are grown thus defperate. We have bulwarks round us$ 
 Within our walls are troops enur'd to toil 
 In d/rick's heats, and feafon'd to the fun ; 
 Numidias fpacious kingdom lies behind us, 
 Ready to rife at its young Prince's call. 
 While there is hope, do not diilruft the Gods ; 
 But wait at leaft 'till Cafars near approach 
 Force us to yield. 'Twill never be too late 
 To fue for chains, and own a conqueror. 
 Why mould Rome fall a moment e're her time ? 
 No, let us draw her term of freedom out 
 In it's full length, and fpin it to the laft 
 So mall we gain ftill one day's liberty; 
 And let me perifh, but, in CWs judgment^ 
 
 M 3 A 
 
S44 CATO. 
 
 A day, an hour of virtuous liberty, 
 Is worth a whole eternity in bondage. 
 
 Enter MARCUS. 
 
 Mar. Fathers, this moment, as I watch'd the gates 
 Lodged on my poll, a herald is arriv'd 
 From CW/krscamp, and with him comes old Decius, 
 The Roman knight; he carries in his looks 
 Impatience and demands to fpeak with Cato. 
 
 Cato. By your permiflion, fathers, bid him enter. 
 
 [Exit Marcus. 
 Decius was once my friend, but other profpecls 
 Have loos'd thofe ties, and bound him fall to Ccejar. 
 His melTage may determine our refolves. 
 
 SCENE II. 
 DECIUS, CATO, &c. 
 
 Dec. Cafar fends health to Cat o»" 
 
 Cato. Could he fend it 
 To Cafe's flaughter'd friends, it would be welcome. 
 Are not your orders to addrefs the Senate ? 
 
 Dec . My bufinefs is with Cato : Cte/ar fees 
 The Hreights, to which you're driven ; and as he knows 
 Cato\ high worth, is anxious for your life. 
 
 Cato. My life is grafted on the fate of Rome : 
 Would he fave Cato ? bid him fpare his country. 
 Tell your Dictator this ; and tell him, Cato 
 Difdains a life, which he has power to offer. 
 
 Dec. Rome and her Senators fubmit to Cafar ; 
 Her Generals and her Confuls are no more, 
 Who check'd his conquells, and deny'd his triumphs. 
 Why will not Cato be this Cafar's friend ? 
 
 Cato. Thofe very realbns, thou haft urg'd, forbid it. 
 
 Dec. Cato, I've orders to expoflulate, 
 And reaion with you, as from friend to friend : 
 
 Think 
 
 
cato. 243 
 
 Think on the ftorm that gathers o'er your head, 
 And threatens every hour to burft upon it ; 
 Still may you ftand high in your country's honours, 
 Do but comply, and make your peace with Cafar. 
 Rome will rejoice, and call its eyes on Cato, , 
 As on the fecond of mankind. 
 
 Cato. No more ! 
 I mult not think of life on fuch conditions. 
 
 Dec. Cafar is well acquainted with your virtue?, 
 And therefore fets this value on your life : 
 Let him but know the price of Cato\ friendfhip, 
 And name your terms. 
 
 Cato. Bid him disband his legions, 
 Reftore the common-wealth to liberty, 
 Submit his actions to ihe publick cenfure, 
 And ftafld the judgment of a Roman Senate. 
 Bid him do this, and Cato is his friend. 
 
 Dec. Cato, the world talks loudly of your wifdom— 
 
 Cato. Nay more, tho 1 Cato* voice was ne'er employed 
 Toclear the guilty, and to varnifh crimes, 
 Myfelf will mount the Roflrum in his favour, 
 And flrive to gain his pardon from the people. 
 
 Dec. A ftyle, like this, becomes a Conqueror. 
 
 Cato. Decius, a fryle, like this, becomes a Ro?nan. 
 
 Dec. What is a Roman, that is Cazfars foe ? 
 
 Cato. Greater than Cafar : he's a friend to virtue. 
 
 Dec. Confider, Cato, you're in Utica, 
 And at the head of your own little Senate ; 
 You don't now thunder in the capitol, 
 With all the mouths of Rome to fecond you. 
 
 Cato. Let him confider that, who drives us hither : 
 'Tis Cafar\ fword has. made Rome's Senate little, 
 And thinn'dits ranks. Alas, thy dazled eye 
 Beholds this man in a falfe glaring light, 
 Which conquelt and fuccefs have thrown upon him ; 
 Didft thou but view him right, thou'dit fee him black 
 
 M 4. With 
 
U6 CAT O. 
 
 With murther, treafon, facrilege, and crimes 
 That ftrike my foul wilh horror but to name 'em. 
 I know thou look'ft on me, as on a wretch 
 Befet with ills, and cover d with misfortunes ; 
 But, by the Gods I fwear, millions of worlds 
 Should never buy me to be like that Ceefar. 
 
 Dec. Does Cato fend this anfwer back to Cafar, 
 For all his generous cares, and proffer'd friendfhip ? 
 
 Cato. His cares for me are infolent and vain : 
 Prefumptuous man ! the Gods take care of Cato. 
 Would Ca-far mow the greatnefs of his foul ? 
 Bid him employ his care for thefe my friends, 
 And make good ufe of his ill-gotten power, 
 By fhelt'ring men much better than him felf. 
 
 Dec. Your high unconquer'd heart makes you forget 
 You are a man. You ruih on your deftruttion. 
 But I have done. When I relate hereafter 
 The tale of this unhappy embafly, 
 All Rome will be in tears. [Exit Decks. 
 
 SCENE III. 
 
 SEMPRONIUS^LUCIUSjCATC&c. 
 
 Sem. Cato, we thank thee. 
 The mighty genius of immortal Rome 
 Speaks in thy voice, thy foul breathes liberty : 
 Catfar will ihrink to hear the words thou utter'ft, 
 And fhudder in the midft of all his conquefts. 
 
 Luc. The Senate owns its gratitude to Cato, 
 Who with fo great a foul coniuits its fafety, 
 And guards our lives, while he neglefts his own. 
 
 Sem. Sempronius gives no thanks on this account. 
 Lucius feems fond of life ; but what is Life? 
 'lis not to italk about, and draw frefh air, 
 
 From 
 
c a <r o. 247 
 
 From time to time, or gaze upon the fun ;. 
 'Tis to be Free. When liberty is gone, 
 Life grows infipid, and has loft its relifh. 
 O could my dying hand but lodge a fword 
 In Ca>far\ bofom, and revenge my country* 
 By Heavens I could enjoy the pangs of death, 
 And fmile in agony. 
 
 Luc. Others perhaps 
 May ferve their country with as warm a zeal, 
 Though 'tis not kindled into fo much rage. 
 
 Sem. This fober conduct is a mighty virtue 
 In luke-warm Patriots. 
 
 Cato. Come ! no more, Sempronius, 
 All here are friends to Rome, and to each other. 
 Let us not weaken null the weaker fide, 
 By our divisions. 
 
 Sem. Cato, my refentments 
 Are facrific'd to Rome I ftand reproved. 
 
 Cato. Fathers, 'tis time you come to a refolve. 
 
 Luc. Cato, we all go into your opinion. 
 Ccefars behaviour has convinced the Senate 
 We ought to hold it out 'till terms arrive. 
 
 Semp. We ought to hold it out 'till death ; but, Cats* 
 My private voice is drown'd amid the Senate's. 
 
 Cato. Then let us rife, my friends, and flrive to fill 
 This little interval, this paufe of life, 
 (While yet our liberty and fates are doubtful) 
 With refolution, friendfhip, Roman bravery, 
 And all the virtues we can crowd into it ; 
 That Heaven may fay, it ought to be prolong'd. 
 
 Fathers, farewel The young Numidian Prince 
 
 Comes forward, and expects to know our counfels. 
 
 M 5 S C E N E 
 
*4* C A T 0. 
 
 SCENE IV. 
 C A T O, J U B A. 
 
 Cato. Juba, the Roman Senate has refolv'd, 
 Till time give better profpefts, Hill to keep 
 The fword unfheath'd, and turn its edge on Cafar. 
 
 Juba. The refolution fits a Roman Senate. 
 But, Cato, lend me for a while thy patience, 
 And condefcend to hear a young man fpeak. 
 
 My father, when fome days before his death 
 He order'd me to march for Utica 
 (Alas, I thought not then his death fo near !) 
 Wept o'er me, preft me in his aged arms, 
 And, as his griefs gave way, my fon, faid he, 
 Whatever fortune fhall befal thy father, 
 Be Catos friend, he'll train thee up to great 
 And virtuous deeds : do but obferve him well, 
 Thou'lt fhun misfortunes, or thou'lt learn to bear 'em. 
 
 Cato. Juba, thy father was a worthy prince, 
 And merited, alas ! a better fate ; 
 But Heaven thought otherwife. 
 
 Juba. My father's fate, 
 In fpite of all the fortitude, that mines 
 Before my face, in Cato's great example, 
 Subdues my foul and fills my eyes with tears. 
 
 Catc. It is an honeft forrow, and becomes thee. 
 
 Juba. My father drew refpecl from foreign climes : 
 The Kings of Africk fought him for their friend ; 
 Kings far remote, that rule, as fame reports, 
 Behind the hidden foux-ces of the Nik, 
 In diftant Worlds, on t'other fide the fun : 
 Oft have their black ambafTadors appeared, 
 Leaden with gifts, and filPd the courts of Zama. 
 
 Cato. I am no granger to thy father's greatnefs ? 
 
 7«i 
 
c a r o. 249 
 
 J id/a. I would not boalt the greatnefs of my father. 
 But point out new alliances to Cato. 
 Had we not better leave this Utica, 
 To arm Numidia in our caufe, and court 
 Th' affiltance of my father's powerful friends ? 
 Did they know Cato, our remoteft Kings 
 Would pour embattled multitudes about him ; 
 Their fwarthy holts would darken all our plains, 
 Doubling the native horrour of the war, 
 And making death more grim. 
 
 Cato. And canft thou think 
 Cato will fly before the fword of Co? far ? . 
 Reduced like Hannibal, to feek relief 
 From court to court, and wander up and down, 
 A vagabond in Ajrick f 
 
 Jiiba, Cato, perhaps 
 I'm too officious, but my forward cares 
 Would fain prefcrve a life of fo much value. 
 My heart is wounded, when I fee fuch virtue 
 Afflicted by the weight of fuch misfortunes. 
 
 Cato. Thy noblenefs of foul obliges me. 
 But know, young Prince, that valour foars above 
 What the world calls misfortune and affliction. 
 Thefe are not ills ; elfe would they never fall 
 On Heaven's firft favourites, and the belt of men : 
 The Gods, in bounty, work upilorms about us, 
 That give mankind cccaiion to exert 
 Their hidden itrength, and throw out into practice 
 Virtues, which flum the day, and lie conceal'd 
 In the fmooth feaibns and the calms of life. 
 
 Juba. I'm charm'd whene'er thou talk'fl ! I pant for 
 virtue ! 
 And all my foul endeavours at perfection. 
 
 Cato. Doit thou love watchings, abflinence, and toil, 
 Laborious virtues all ? learn them from Cato : 
 Succefs and fortune mall thou learn from Cafcr. 
 
250 C A T 0. 
 
 Juba. The beft good fortune that can fall on Juba, 
 The whole fuccefs, at which my heart afpires, 
 Depends on Cato. 
 
 Cato. What does Juba fay ? 
 Thy words confound me. 
 
 Juba. I would fain retracl them, 
 Give 'em me back again. They aim'd at nothing. 
 
 Cato. Tell me thy wifh, young Prince, make not my eaf 
 A ftranger to thy thoughts. 
 
 Juba. Oh they're extravagant ; 
 Still let me hide them. 
 
 Cato. What can Juba ask 
 That Cato will refufe ? 
 
 Juba. I fear to name it. 
 Marcia -inherits all her father's virtues. 
 
 Cato. What would'ft thou fay ? 
 
 Juba. Cato, thou haft a daughter. 
 
 Cato. Adieu, young Prince: I would not hear a word 
 Should leffen thee in my efteem : remember 
 The hand of fate is over us, and Heaven 
 Exacls feverity from all our thoughts : 
 It is not now a time to talk of aught 
 But chains, or conquell, liberty, or death. . 
 
 SCENE V. 
 SYPHAX, JUBA. 
 
 Syph. How's this, my Prince ! what, cover'd with con. 
 fufion ? 
 You look as if yon ftern Philofopher 
 Had juft now chid you. 
 
 Juba. Syphax, I'm undone ! 
 Syph. I know it well. 
 Juba. Cato thinks meanly of me. 
 Syph. And fo will all mankind. 
 
 Juba. 
 
C A f 0. i$i 
 
 Juba. I've open'd to him 
 The weaknefs of my foul, my love for Mania, 
 
 Sypb. Cat os a proper perlbn to entruft 
 A love-tale with. 
 
 Juba. Oh, I could pierce my heart, 
 My foolifh heart ! was ever wretch like Juha} 
 
 Sypb. Alas, my Prince, how are you changed of late I 
 IVe known young Juba rife before the Sun, 
 To beat the thicket where the tiger flept, 
 Or feek the lion in his dreadful haunts : 
 How did the colour mount into your cheeks, 
 "When firft you roufed him to the chace ! I've feen you, 
 Even in the Libyan dog-days, hunt him down, 
 Then charge him clofe, provoke him to the rage 
 Of fangs and claws, and looping from your horfe 
 Rivet the panting favage to the ground. 
 
 Juba. Pr'ythee no more ! 
 
 Sypb. How would the old King fmile 
 To fee you weigh the paws, when tipp'd with gold, 
 And throw the hhaggy fpoils about your moulders ! 
 
 Juba. Sypbax, this old man's talk (tho' honey flowM 
 In every word) would now lofe all its fweetnefs. 
 Cato's difpleas'd, and Marcia loft for ever ! 
 
 Sypb. Young Prince, I yet could give you good advice. 
 Marcia might ftill be yours. 
 
 Juba. What fay 'ft thou, Sypbax ? 
 By heavens, thou turn'ft me all into attention. 
 
 Sypbax. Marcia might ftill be yours. 
 
 Juba. As how, dear Sypbax ? 
 
 Sypb. Juba commands Numi ilia's hardy troops, 
 Mounted on iteeds, unus'd to the reftraint 
 Of curbs or bitts, and fleeter than the winds : 
 Give but the word, we'll fnatch this damfel up, 
 And bear her off. 
 
 Juba. Can fuch dilhoneft thoughts 
 Rife up in man ! would'ft thou feduce my youth 
 1o do an ad that would deftroy my honour? 
 
 Sypb. 
 
25* C A T O. 
 
 Sypb. Gods, I could tear my beard to hear you talk I 
 Honour's a fine imaginary notion, 
 That draws in raw and unexperienc'd men 
 . To real mifchiefs, while they hunt a fhadow. 
 
 Juba. WoukTfi: thou degrade thy Prince into a Ruffian ? 
 
 Sypb. The boafted anceftors of thefe great men, 
 Whofe virtues you admire, were all fuch Ruffians. 
 This dread of nations, this almighty Rcme, 
 That comprehends in her wide empire's bounds 
 All under heaven, was founded on a rape. 
 Your Scipio's, Cafars, Pompeys, and your Catos, 
 (Thefe Gods on earth) are all the fpurious brood 
 Of violated maids, of ravifh'd SV^z;^., . 
 
 Juba. Sypbax, I fear that hoary head of thine 
 Abounds too much in our Numidian wiles. 
 
 Sypb. Indeed, my Prince, you want to know the world ; 
 You have not read mankind ; your youth admires 
 The throws and fwellings of a Roman foul, 
 Catos bold flights, th' extravagance of virtue. 
 
 Juba. If knowledge of the world makes man perfidious, 
 May Juba ever live in ignorance ! 
 
 Sypb. Go, go, you're young. 
 
 Juba. Gods mull I tamely bear 
 This arrogance unanfwer'd ! thou'rt a traitor, 
 A falfe old traitor. 
 
 Sypb. I have gone too far. [A/sde. , 
 
 Juba. Cato mall know the bafenefs of thy foul. 
 
 Sypb. I muit appeafe this ftorm, or perifh in it. [Aftde. 
 Young Prince,behold thefe locks that are grown white 
 Beneath a helmet in your father's battels. 
 
 Juba. Thofe locks mail ne'er protect thy infolence. 
 
 Sypb. Muft one rafti words, th' infirmity of age, 
 Throw down the merit of my better years? 
 This the reward of a whole life of fervice ! 
 — Curie on the boy ! how fteadily he hears me ! [AJide. 
 
 Juba. 
 
C A TO. 253 
 
 Juba. Is it becaufe the throne of my fore-fathers 
 Still (lands unfill'd, and that Numidias crown 
 Hangs doubtful yet, whofe head it mail enclofe, 
 Thou thus prefum'ft to treat thy Prince with fcorn ? 
 
 Sypb.Why will you rive my heart with fuch expreffions ? 
 Does not oldS^^v follow you to war ? 
 What are his aims ? why does he load with darts 
 His trembling hand, and crufh beneath a cask 
 His wrinkled brows ? what is it he afpires to ; 
 Is it not this ? to lhed the flow remains, 
 His lafl poor ebb of blood, in your defence ? 
 
 Juba. Sypbax, no more! I would not hear you talk. 
 
 Sypb. Not hear me talk! what, when my faith to Juba, 
 My royal mailer's fon, is call'd in queition? 
 My Prince may ftrike me dead, and I'll be dumb , 
 But whilit I live I muft not hold my tongue, 
 And languim out old age in his difpleafure. 
 
 Juba. Thou know'it the way too well into my heart 
 I do believe thee loyal to thy Prince. 
 
 Sypb. What greater inifonce can I giver I've ofter'd 
 To do an action which my foul abhors, 
 And gain you whom you love at any price. 
 
 Juba. Was this thy motive ? I have been too hafly. 
 
 Sypb. And 'tis for this my Prince has call'd me traitor. 
 
 Juba. Sure thou miitak'fr ;. I did not call thee fo. 
 
 Sypb. You did indeed, my Prince, you call'd me traitor : 
 Nay, further, threaten'd you'd complain to Cato. 
 Of what, my Prince, wou'd you complain to Cato? 
 That Sypbax loves you, and would facrifice 
 His life, nay more, his honour in your fervice. 
 
 Juba. Sypbax, I know thou lov'it me, but indeed 
 Thy zeal for Juba carried thee too far. 
 Honour's a facred tie, the law of Kings, 
 The noble mind's diftinguiming perfection, 
 That aids and ftrengthens virtue, where it meets her, 
 And imitates her actions, where me is not : 
 
 It 
 
254 CAT O. 
 
 It ought not to be fported with. 
 
 Syph. By Heavens 
 I'm ravifh'd when you talk thus, tho' you chide me f 
 Alas, I've hitherto been ufed to think 
 A blind officious zeal to ferve my King 
 The ruling principle, that ought to burn 
 And quench all others in a fubjecYs heart. 
 Happy the people, who preferve their honour, 
 By the fame duties, that oblige their Prince ! 
 
 J ub. Syphax, thou now begin'ft to fpeak thy felf. 
 Numidias grown a fcorn among the nations 
 For breach of publick vows. Our Punick faith 
 Is infamous, and branded to a proverb. 
 Syphax, we'll join our cares, to purge away 
 Our country's crimes, and clear her reputation. 
 
 Sypb. Believe me, Prince, you make old Syphax weep 
 .To hear you talk — but 'tis with tears of joy. 
 If e'er your father's crown adorn your brows, 
 Numidia will be bleil by Caios lectures. 
 
 Jub. Syphax, thy hand ! we'll mutually forget 
 The warmth of youth, and frowardnefs of age : 
 Thy Prince eiteems thy worth, and loves thy perfon. 
 If e'er the fcepter comes into my hand, 
 Syphax fhall Hand the fecond in my kingdom. 
 
 Syph. Why will you overwhelm my age with kindnefs ? 
 My joy grows burdenfo me, I {han't fupport it. 
 
 Jub. Syphax, farewel : I'll hence, and try to find 
 Some blelt occafion that may fet me right 
 In Cafo's thoughts. I'd rather have that man 
 Approve my deeds, than worlds for my admirers. 
 SYPHAX, folus. 
 Youn<* Men foon give, and foon forget affronts ; 
 
 Old age is flow in both A falfe old traitor; 
 
 Thofe words, rafh boy, may chance jto coll thee dear. 
 My heart had Hill fome fooliih fondnefs for thee ; 
 
 But 
 
C A * O. 2 55 
 
 But hence! 'tis gone : I give it to the winds : ' 
 Cajar, I'm wholly thine 
 
 SCENE VI. 
 SYPHAX, SEMPRONIUS. 
 
 Sypb. All hail, Sempronius f 
 Well, Cato's fenate is refolv'd to wait 
 The fury of afiege, before it yields. 
 
 Semp. Sypbax, we both were on the verge of fate : 
 Lucius declared for Peace and terms were ofFa'd 
 To Cato by a meffenger from C<efar. 
 Should they fubmit, ere our defigns are ripe, 
 We bcth mult perifh in the common wreck, 
 Loft in a general undiftinguiih'd ruine. 
 
 Sypb. But how Hands Cato? 
 
 Semp. Thou haft feen mount Atlas : 
 While ftorms and tempefts thunder on its brows, 
 And oceans break their billows at it's feet, 
 It ftands unmov'd, and glories in its height. 
 Such is that haughty man ; his towering foul* 
 'Midft all the fhocks and injuries of fortune, 
 Rifes fuperior, and looks down on Ctefar- 
 
 Syph. But what's this Meffenger ? 
 
 Semp. I've pradlis'd with him, 
 And found a means to let the victor know 
 That Sypbax and Sempronius are his friends. 
 But let me now examine in my turn : 
 Is Juba fixt ? 
 
 Syph. Yes, but it is to Cato. 
 
 I've try'd the force of every reafon on him, 
 Sooth'd and carefs'd, been angiy, footh'd again. 
 Laid fafety, life, and intereft in his fight, 
 But all are vain, he fcorns them all for Cato* 
 
 Semp', 
 
256 CAT 0. 
 
 Setnp. Come, 'tis no matter, we fliall do without him. 
 He'll make a pretty figure in a triumph, 
 And ferve to trip before the victor's chariot. 
 Syphaxy I now may hope thou haft forlook 
 Thy Juba's caufe, and wifhefl Marcia mine. 
 
 Syph. May fhe be thine as fad as thou would'fl have her ! 
 
 Scmp. Sypbax, I love that woman ; though I clirfe 
 Her and my felf, yet fpight of me, I love her. 
 
 Sypb. Make Cato fure, and give up Utica, 
 Cafar will ne'er refufe thee fuch a trifle. 
 But are thy troops prepared for a revolt ? 
 Does the fedition catch from man to man, 
 And run among their ranks ? 
 
 Semp. All, all is ready. 
 The factious leaders are our friends, that fpread 
 Murmurs and difcontents among the foldiers. 
 They count their toilfome marches, long fatigues,. 
 Unufual fallings, and.wiH bear no more 
 This medly of Philofophy and War. 
 Within an hour they'll florm the Senate-houfe. 
 
 Syph. Mean while I'll draw up my Numidian troop*. 
 Within the fquare, to exercife their arms, 
 And, as I fee occafion, favour thee. 
 I laugh to think how your unfhaken Cato 
 Will look aghaft, while unforefeen deftru&ion 
 Pours in upon him thus from every fide, 
 So where our wide Numidian wafles extend, 
 Sudden, th' impetuous hurricanes defcend,. 
 Wheel through the air, in circling eddies play, 
 Tear up the fands, and fweep whole plains away. 
 The helplefs traveller, with wild furprize, 
 Sees the dry defart all around him rife, 
 And fmother'd in the dulty whirlwind dies. 
 
 ACT 
 
€ A T O. 257 
 
 ACT III. SCENE I. 
 
 MARCUS, and P ORT I U S. 
 
 Marcus. 
 
 THANKS to my flars, I have not ranged about 
 The wilds of life, ere I could find a friend ; 
 Nature iirft pointed out my Portius to me, 
 And early taught me, by her fecret force, 
 To love thy perfon, ere I knew thy merit ; 
 'Till, what was inilinct, grew up into friendfhip. 
 
 Por. Marcus, the friendfhips of the world are oft 
 Confederacies in vice, or leagues of pleafure; 
 Ours has fevereft virtue for its bails, 
 And fuch a friendfhip ends not but with life. 
 
 Mar. Portius, thou know'ft my foul in all its weaknefs* 
 Then pr'ythee fpare me on its tender fide, 
 Indulge me but in love, my other pamons 
 Shall rife and fall by virtue's niceft rules. 
 
 Por. When love's well timed, 'tis not a fault to love. 
 The ilrong, the brave, the virtuous, and the wife, 
 Sink in the ibft captivity together. 
 I would not urge thee to difmifs thy paffion, 
 (I know 'twere vain) but tofupprefs its force, 
 Till better times may make it look more graceful. 
 
 Mar. Alas, thou talk'ft like one who never felt 
 Th' impatient throbbs and longings of a foul, 
 That pants, and reaches after diilant good. 
 A lover does notlive by vulgar time : 
 Believe me, Portius, in my Lucia's abfence 
 Life hangs upon me, and becomes a burden ; 
 And yet, when I behold the charming maid, 
 I'm ten times more undone ; while hope and fear, 
 
 And 
 
258 C A T O. ' 
 
 And grief, and rage, and love, rife up at once, 
 And with variety of pain diftraclme. 
 
 Por. Whit can thy Fortius do to give thee help ? 
 Marc . Portius, thou oft enjoy'it the fair one's prefence, 
 Then undertake my caufe, and plead it to her 
 With all the ftrength and heats of eloquence 
 Fraternal love and friendihip can infpire, 
 Tell her thy brother languishes to death, 
 And fades away, and withers in his bloom; 
 That he forgets his fleep, andloaths his food, 
 That youth, and health, and war are joylefs to him : 
 Defcribe his anxious days, and reftlefs nights, 
 And all the torments that thou feeft me fuffer. 
 
 Por. Marcus, I beg thee give me not an office, 
 That fuits with mefo ill. Thou know'ft my temper. 
 Marc. Wilt thou behold me finking in my woes ? 
 And wilt thou not reach out a friendly arm, 
 To raife me from amidfl this plunge of forrows? 
 
 Por. Marcus, thou canft not afk what I'd refufe. 
 But here believe me I've a thoufond reafons 
 
 Marc. I know thou'lt fay my paffion's out of feafon, 
 That Carts great example and misfortunes 
 Should bothconfpire to drive it from my thoughts. 
 But what's all this to one who loves like me ! 
 Oh Portius, Portius, from my foul I wifh 
 Thou didft but know thy felf what 'tis to love ! 
 Then wouldft thou pity and afhft thy brother. 
 
 Por. What mould I do ! if I difclofe my paflioa 
 Our friendfhip's at an end : if I conceal it, 
 The world will call me falfe to a friend and brother. [AJidit, 
 
 Marc. But fee where Lucia, at her wonted hour, 
 Amid the cool of yon high marble arch, 
 Enjoys the noon-day breeze ! obferve her Portius ! 
 That face, that fhape, thoie eyes, that Heaven of beauty 
 Obferve her well, and blame me if thou can'il, 
 
 Ptr. 
 
c a *r o. 259 
 
 Por. She fees us, and advances • 
 
 Marc. I'll withdraw, 
 And leave you for a while. Remember, Fortius. 
 Thy brother's life depends upon thy tongue. 
 
 SCENE II. 
 LUCIA, PORTIUS. 
 
 Luc. Did not I fee your brother Marcus here ? 
 Why did he fly the place, and (hunmy prefence ? 
 
 Port. Oh, Lucia, language is too faint to mow 
 His rage of love ; it preys upon his life ; 
 He pines, he fickens, he defpairs, he dies ; 
 His paffions and his virtues lie confufed, 
 And mixt together in fo wild a tumult, 
 That the whole man is quite disfigur'd in him. 
 Heavens ! would one think 'twere pofllble for love 
 To make fuch ravage in a noble foul ! 
 Oh, Lucia, I'm diftreft ! my heart bleeds for him, 
 Even now, while thus I Hand bleft in thy prefence, 
 A fecret damp of grief comes o'er my thoughts, 
 And I'm unhappy, 'tho' thou fmilelt upon me. 
 
 Luc. How wilt thou guard thy honour, in the mock 
 Of love and friend inip ! think betimes, my Por this y 
 Think how the nuptial tie that might enfuej 
 Our mutual blifs, would raife to fuch a height 
 The brother's griefs, as might perhaps deflroy him. 
 
 Por. Alas, poor youth ! what doft thou think, my 
 Lucia ? 
 His generous, open, undef gning heart 
 Hasbeg'd his rival to ioiucit for him. 
 Then do not ftrike him dead with a denial, 
 But hold him up in life, and cheer his *oul 
 With the faint glimmering of a doubtful hope : 
 
 Per- 
 
260 CAT O. 
 
 Perhaps, when we have pafs'd thefe gloomy hours, 
 And weather'd out the florm that beats upon us 
 
 Luc . No, Portius, no ! I fee thy lifter's tears, 
 Thy father's anguifh, and thy brother's death, 
 In the purfuit of our ill-fated loves. 
 And, Portius, here I fwear, to Heaven I fwear, 
 To Heaven, and all the powers that judge mankind, 
 Never to mix my plighted hands with thine, 
 While fuch a cloud of mifchiefs hangs about us, 
 But to forget our loves, and drive thee out 
 From all my thoughts, as far as I am able. 
 
 Por. What hall thou faid ! I'm thunder-ilruck ! — recal 
 Thofe hafly words, or I am loft for ever. 
 
 Luc. Has not the Vow already pafs'd my lips ? 
 The Gods have heard it, and 'tis feai'd in Heaven. 
 May all the vengeance that was ever pour'd 
 On perjur'd heads, o'erwhelm me, if I break it ! 
 
 Por, Fixt in ailonifhment, I gaze upon thee ; 
 Like one juft Mailed by a flrokefrom Heaven, 
 Who pants for breath, and fliftens, yet a live, 
 In dreadful looks : a monument of wrath I 
 
 Luc. At length I've acted my fevereft part : 
 I feel the woman breaking in upon me, 
 And melt about my heart ! my tears will flow. 
 But oh I'll think no more ! the hand of fate 
 Has torn thee from me, and I mull forget thee. 
 
 Por. Hard-hearted, cruel maid ! 
 
 Luc. Oh flop thofe founds, 
 Thofe killing founds? why doft thou frown upon me ? 
 My blood runs cold, my heart forgets to heave, 
 And life it felf goes out at thy difpleafure. 
 The Gods forbid us to indulge our loves, 
 But oh ! I cannot bear thy hate, and live ! 
 
 Por. Talk not of love : thou never knew'it its force. 
 I've been deluded, led into a dream 
 
 Of 
 
c a r o. 261 
 
 Of fancied blifs. Oh Lucia, cruel maid ! 
 Thy dreadful Vow, loaden with death, ftill founds 
 In my ftunn'd ears. What fhall I fay or do ? 
 Quick, let us part ! perdition's in thy pretence, 
 And horror dwells about thee! — hah, ihe faints ? 
 Wretch that I am ! what has my rafhnefs done! 
 Lucia, thou injur 1 d innocence ! thou beft 
 And lovelieft of thy fex ! awake, my Lucia, 
 Or Portias rufhes on his fword to join thee. 
 
 Her imprecations reach not to the tomb, 
 
 They {hut not out fociety in death- 
 
 But hah ! fhe moves ! life wanders up and down 
 Through all her face, and lights up every charm. 
 
 Luc. O Port /us, was this well ! to frown on her 
 
 That lives upon thy fmiles ! to call in doubt 
 
 The faith of one expiring at thy feet, 
 
 That loves thee more than ever woman lov'd ! 
 
 What do I fay I my half recover'd fenfe 
 
 Forgets the Vow in which my foul is bound. 
 Deftruction ftands betwixt us ! we mufl part. 
 
 Par. Name not the word ; my frighted thoughts run 
 back, 
 And ftartle into madnefs at the found. 
 
 Luc. What would'ft thou have me do ? confider well 
 The train of ills our love would draw behmd it. 
 Think, Portias, think, thou (ceil thy dying brother 
 Stabb'd at his heart, and all befmear'd with biood, 
 Storming at heaven and thee ! thy awful Sire 
 Sternly demands the caufe, th' accurfed caufe, 
 That robs him of his fon ! poor Marcia trembles, 
 Then tears her hair, and frantick in her griefs 
 Calls out on Lucia ! what could Lucia anfweri 
 Or how fland up in fuch a fcene of forrow ! 
 Por. To my confufion, and eternal grief, 
 I muft approve the fentence that deflroys me. 
 The milt, that hung about my mind, clears up ; 
 
 And 
 
262 CAT O. 
 
 And now, athwart the terrors that thy Vow 
 Has planted round thee, thou appear'ft more fair, 
 More amiable, and riiefl in thy charms. 
 Lovelieft of women ! Heaven is in thy foul, 
 Beauty and virtue mine for ever round thee, 
 Bright'ning each other I thou art all divine ! 
 
 Luc. Fortius, no more ! thy words moot through my 
 heart, 
 Melt my refolves, and turn me all to love. 
 Why are thofe tears of fondnefs in thy eyes ? 
 Why heaves thy heart ? why fwells thy foul with forrow ? 
 
 It foftens me too much farewel, my Fortius, 
 
 Farewel, though death is in the word, For-ever ! 
 
 For. Stay, Lucia, Hay ! what doft thou fay ? For-ever? 
 
 Luc . Have I not fworn ? if, Fortius, thy fuccefs 
 Muft throw thy brother on his fate, farewel, 
 Oli, how mall I repeat the word ! For-ever! 
 
 For. Thus o'er the dying lamp th' unfteady flame 
 Hangs quivering on a point, leaps off by fits, 
 And falls again, as loth to quit its hold. 
 
 Thou muft not go, my foul ftill hovers o'er thee, 
 
 And can't get loofe. 
 
 Luc . If the firm Portias fhake 
 To hear of parting, think what Lucia fuffers ? 
 
 For. 'Tis true ; unruffled and ferene I've met 
 The common accidents of life, but here 
 Such an unlook'd-for ftorm of ills fall on me, 
 It beats down all my ftrength. Icannot bear it. 
 We muft not part. 
 
 Luc . What doft thou fay ? not part ? 
 Haft thou forgot the Vow that I have made ? 
 Are there not heavens, and gods, and thunder, o'er us! 
 
 . But fee ! thy brother Marcus bends this way ! 
 
 I ficken at the fight. Once more, farewel, 
 Farewel, and know thou wrong' ft me, if thou think'fl 
 Ever was love, or grief, like mine. 
 
 SCENE 
 
C A r O. 26$ 
 
 SCENE III. 
 MARCUS, PORTIUS. 
 
 Marc. Portius, what hopes ? how ftands fbe ? am I 
 dcom'd 
 To life or death ? 
 
 Por. What would'il thou have me % ? 
 
 Marc. What means this penlive pofture ? thou appear'ft 
 Like one amazed and terrified. 
 
 Por. I've reafon. 
 
 Mar. Thy down-call looks, and thy diforder'd thoughts 
 Tell me my fate. I ask not the fuccefs. 
 My caufe has found. 
 
 Por. I'm griev'd I undertook it. 
 
 Marc- What ? does the barbarous maid infult my hearty 
 My aking heart ! and triumph in my pains ? 
 That I could call her from my thoughts forever ? 
 
 Por. Away ! you're too fufpicious in your griefs ; 
 Lucia, though fworn never to think of love, 
 Compaffionates your pains, and pities you. 
 
 Marc. Compaffionates my pains, and pities me! 
 What is compallion when 'tis void of love ! 
 Fool that I was to chuie (o cold a friend 
 To urge my caufe! Compaffionates my pains! 
 Pr'y thee what art, what rhetorick did'll thou ufe 
 To gain this mighty boon ? She pities me ! 
 To one that afks the warm return of love, 
 Companion's cruelty, 'tis fcorn, 'tis death 
 
 Por. Marcus, no more ! have I deferv'd this treatment? 
 
 Marc . What have I faid ! O Portius, O forgive me ! 
 A foul exafperated in ills falls out 
 With every thing, its friend, its felf — but hah \ 
 What means that Ihout, big with the founds of war ? 
 What new alarm ? 
 
 Vol. I. N p, r 
 
264. C A T 0. 
 
 Par. A fecond, louder yet, 
 "Swells in the winds, and comes more full upon us. 
 
 Mar. Oh, for fome glorious caufe to fall in battel ! 
 Lucia, thou haft undone me ! thy difdain 
 Has broke my heart: 'tis death muft give me eafe. 
 
 Tor. Quick, let us hence ; who knows if Cato's life 
 Stands fure ? O Marcus, I am warm'd, my heart 
 Leaps at the trumpet's voice, and burns for glory. 
 
 SCENE IV. 
 
 SEMPRONIUS with the leaders of the 
 mutiny. 
 
 Semp. At length the winds are rais'd, the florm blows 
 high, 
 Be it your care, my friends, to keep it up 
 In its full fury, and direft it right, 
 'Till it has fpent it felf on Catos head. 
 Mean while I'll herd among his friends, and feem 
 One of the number, that what-e'er arrive, 
 My friends and fellow-foldiers may befafe. 
 
 1 Lead. We all are fafe, Sempronius is our friend. 
 Sempronius is as brave a man as Cato. 
 But heark ! he enters. Bear up boldly to him ; 
 Be fure you beat him down, and bind him faft, 
 This day will end our toils, and give us reft ! 
 fear nothing, for Sempro?iius is our friend. 
 
 SCENE V. 
 
 CATO,iEMPRONIUS, LUCIUS, 
 P O R T I U S, M A R C US, &c. 
 
 Cato. Where are thefe bold intrepid fons of .war, 
 'That greatly turn their backs upon the foe, And 
 
C A T 0. 265 
 
 And to their General fend a brave defiance ? 
 
 Semp. Curfe on their daftard fouls, they fland aftonifrYd! 
 
 Cato. Perfidious men ! and will you thus diflionour 
 Your part exploits, and fully all your wars ? 
 Do you confefs 'twas not a zeal for Rome, 
 Nor love of liberty, nor thirfl of honour, 
 Drew you thus far ; but hopes to fhare the fpoil 
 Of conquerM towns, and plunder'd provinces ? 
 Fir'd with fuch motives you do well to join 
 With Cato's foes, and follow Co-Jar's banners. 
 Why did I Ycape th' invenom'd Afpic's rage, 
 And all the fiery monfters of the defart, 
 To fee this day ? why could not Cato fall 
 Without your guilt ? behold, ungrateful men, 
 Behold my bofom naked to your fwords, 
 And let the man that's injur'd firike the blow. 
 Which of you all fufpecls that he is wrong'd. 
 Or thinks he fuffers greater ills than Cato ? 
 Am I diftinguinYd from you but by toils, 
 Superior toils, and heavier weight oi cares \ 
 Painful pre-eminence ! 
 
 Setn. By heavens they droop f 
 Confufion to the villains ! all is loll. [ Afi&t 
 
 Cato. Have you forgotten Libya's burning walle, 
 Its barren rocks, parch'd earth, and hills of fand, 
 Its tainted air, and all its broods of poifon? 
 Who was the firit. t' explore th' untrodden path, 
 When life was hazarded in every flep ? 
 Or, fainting in the long laborious march, 
 When on the banks of an unlook'd-for ftrearrt 
 You funk the river with repeated draughts, 
 Who was the laft in all your hoft that thirfted ? 
 
 Sent. If fome penurious fource by chance appear'd, 
 Scanty of waters, when you fcoop'd it dry, 
 And ofFerM the full helmet up to Cato, 
 Did he notdafh th' untafted moifture from him ? 
 
 N 2 Dii 
 
2 66 c a r o. 
 
 Did he not lead you through the mid-day Tun, 
 And clouds of duft ? did not his temples glow 
 In the fame fultry winds and fcorching heats ? 
 
 Cato. Hence, worthlefs men ! hence ! and complain to 
 Cafar 
 You could not undergo the toils of war, 
 Nor bear the hardfhips that your leader bore. 
 
 hue. See, Cato, fee, th' unhappy men ! they weep ! 
 Fear, and remorfe, and forrow for their crime, 
 Appear in every look, and plead for mercy. 
 
 Cato. Learn to be honefl men, give up your leaders, 
 And pardon mail defcend on all the reft. 
 
 Sem. Cato, commit thefe wretches to my care. 
 Firft let 'em each be broken on the rack, 
 Then, with what life remains, impal'd, and left 
 To writhe at leifure round the bloody ftake. 
 There let 'em hang, and taint the fouthern wind. 
 The partners of their crime will learn obedience, 
 When they look up and fee their fellow-traitors 
 Stuck on a fork, and blackening in the fun. 
 
 Luc. Sempronius, why, why wilt thou urge the fate 
 Of wretched men ? 
 
 Sem. How ! would'il thou clear rebellion ! 
 Lucius (good man) pities the poor offenders, 
 That would imbrue their hands in Cato's blood 
 
 Cato. Forbear, Sempronius ! fee they fufter death, 
 
 But in their deaths remember they are men, 
 Strain not the laws to make their tortures grievous. 
 Lucius, the bafe degenerate age requires 
 Severity, andjuftice in its rigour ; 
 This awes an impious, bold, offending world, 
 Commands obedience, and gives force to laws. 
 When by juft vengeance guilty mortals perifh, 
 The Gods behold their punifhment with pleafure, 
 And lay th' uplifted thunder-bolt afide. 
 
 Sem Ca'.o. I execute thy will with pleafure, 
 
 C • & '• ean-while we'll facriiice to Liberty. 
 
 Remember 
 
C A T O. 267 
 
 Remember, O my friends, the laws, the rights, 
 The generous plan of power deliver'd down, 
 From age to age, by your renown'd Fore-fathers, 
 (So dearly bought, die price of fo much blood.) 
 O let It never perim in your hands ! 
 But pioufly tranfmit it to your children. 
 Do thou, great Liberty, infpire our fouls, 
 And make our lives in thy poffeffion happy, 
 Or our deaths glorious in thy juft defence. 
 
 SCENE VI. 
 
 SEMPRONIUSW//^ leaders of the 
 mutiny. 
 
 1 Lead. Sempronius, you have acted like yourfelf, 
 One would have thought you had been half in earned. 
 
 Se w. Villain, (land off! bafe groveling worthlefs wretches, 
 Mongrils in faction, poor faint-hearted traitors ! 
 
 2 Lead. Nay, now you carry it too far, Scmpronius : 
 Throw off the mask, there are none here but friends . 
 
 Sem. Know, villains, when fuch paultry Haves prefume 
 To mix in treafon, if the plot fucceeds, 
 They're thrown neglected by : but if it fails, 
 They're fure to die like dogs, as you mail do. 
 Here, take thefe factious moniters, drag 'em fortk 
 To fudden death. 
 
 Enter Guards. 
 
 1 Lead. Nay, fmce it comes to this ■ 
 
 6V«.Difpatch 'em quick, but firft pluck out their tongues, 
 Left with their dying breath they fow feditkm. 
 
 N a SCENE 
 
26$ CAT 0. 
 
 SCENE VII. 
 
 SYPHAX, ^SEMPRONIUS. 
 
 Syph. Ourfirfl defign, my friend, has prov'd abortive -> 
 Still there remains an after-game to play : 
 My troops are mounted ; their Numidian fteeds 
 Snuff up the wind, and long tofcour the defart: 
 Let but Semprcnius head us in our flight, 
 We'll force the gate where Marcus keeps his guard, 
 And hew down all that would oppofe our paflage. 
 A day will bring us into Ctefars camp. 
 
 Sem. Coufufion } I have fail'd of half my purpofe : 
 Marcia, the charming Mania's left behind f 
 
 Syph. Kow? will Sempronius tarn a woman's flave! 
 
 Sem. Think not thy friend can ever feel the fofc 
 Unmanly warmth, and tendernefs of love. 
 Sypbax, I long to clafp that haughty maid, 
 And bend her flubborn virtue to my paflion : 
 When I have gone thus far, I'd caft her off. 
 
 Syph. Well faid ! that's fpoken like thyfelf, Semproniu;* 
 What hinders then, but that thou find her out, 
 And hurry her away by manly force r 
 
 Sem. But how to gain admiflion? foraccefs 
 Is given to none but Juba, and her brothers. 
 
 Syph. Thou fhalt have Jubds drefs, and Juba's guards : 
 The doors will open, when Numidia's Prince 
 Seems to appear before the flaves that watch them. 
 
 Sem. Heavens what a thought is there ! Marcids my 
 own ! 
 How will my bofom fvvell with anxious joy, 
 When I behold her ilruggling in my arms, 
 With glowing beauty, and diforder'd charms, 
 While fear and anger, with alternate grace, 
 Pant in her breaft, and vary in her face ! 
 
 Sa 
 
C A T O. z6$. 
 
 So Pluto, feiz'd of Proferpine, convey'd 
 To hell's tremendous gloom th'affrighted maid, 
 There grimly fmil'd, pleas'd with the beauteous priae, 
 Nor envy'd Jove his fun-fhine and his skies. 
 
 A C T IV. SCENEI, 
 
 LUCIA^JMARCIA, 
 
 LUCIA 
 
 NO W tell me, Mar da, tell me from thy foul,. 
 If thou believ'ft 'tis poflible for woman 
 To fuffer greater ills than Lucia fuffers I 
 
 Mar. O Lucia, Lucia ! might my big-fwoln heart 
 Vent all its griefs, and give a loofe to forrow : 
 Marcia could anfwer thee in fighs, keep pace 
 With all thy woes, and count out tear for tear; 
 
 Luc. I know thou'rt doom'd alike, to be beloved 
 By Juba, and thy father's friend Sempro?iius ; 
 But which of thefe has power to charm like Portius f 
 
 Mar. Still muft I beg thee not to name Sempronius? 
 Lucia, I like not that loud boifterous man j 
 Juba to all the braveiy of a Hero 
 Adds fofteft love, and more than female fweetnefs 1 
 Juba might make the proudeft of our fex, 
 Any of womankind, but Marcia, happy. 
 
 Luc . And why not Marcia ? come, you it rive in vain 
 To hide your rjioughts from one, who knows too well 
 The inward glowings of a heart in love. 
 
 Mar. While Cato lives, his daughter has no righi 
 To love or hate, but as his choice directs. 
 
 Luc. But mould this father give you to Sempromus? 
 
 Mar. I dare not think lie will : but if he mould 
 
 N 4- Why- 
 
270 CAT O. 
 
 Why wilt thou add to all the griefs I fuffer 
 Imaginary ills, and fancy'd tortures? 
 I hear the found of feet ! they march this way ! 
 Let us retire, and try if we can drown 
 Each fofter thought in fenfe of prefent danger. 
 When love once pleads ad million to our hearts 
 (In fpight of all the virtue we can boaft) 
 The woman that deliberates is loft. 
 
 SCENE II. 
 
 SEMPRONIUS, drefs'd Me J \JB A, with 
 Numidian guards. 
 
 Sent. The Deer islodg'd. IVetrack'd her to her covert 
 Be fure you mind the Word, and when I give it, 
 Rufh in at once, and feize upon your prey. 
 Let not her cries or tears have force to move you. 
 ■ How will the young Numidian rave, to fee 
 
 His miftrefs loft ? if aught could glad my foul, 
 Beyond th' enjoyment of fo bright a prize, 
 T would be to torture that young gay Barbarian. 
 
 But heark, what noife ! death to my hopes ! 'tis he, 
 'Tis Jubds felf \ there is but one way left ■ 
 He mull be murder'd, and a paffage cut 
 Through thofehis guards. — Hah, daftards, do you tremble I 
 Or aft like men, or by yon azure Heaven ■ ■ ■ 
 
 Enter J U B A. 
 
 Juba. What do I fee ? who's this that dares, ufurp 
 The guards and habit of Numidid's Prince ? 
 
 Sent. One that was born to fcourge thy arrogance, 
 Prefumptuous youth ! 
 
 Juba. What can this mean ? Sempronius ! 
 
 §gm. My fword fhall amwer thee. Have at thy heart. 
 
 7*4* 
 
 '! 
 
c a r o. 271 
 
 Juba. Nay, then beware thy own, proud, barbarous 
 man ! \§tvs\. falls. His guards furrender. 
 
 Sem. Curfe on my liars f am I then doom'd to fall 
 By a boy's hand ? disfigured in a vile 
 Numidian dr«fs, and for a worthlefs woman ? 
 Gods, I'm diffracted I this my clofe of life ( 
 O for a peal of thunder that would make 
 Earth, fea, and air, and Heaven, and Cato tremble ! [Dies. 
 
 Juba. With what a fpring his furious foul broke loofe, 
 And left the limbs (till quivering on the ground! 
 Hence let us carry oft* thofe Haves to Cato t 
 That we may there at length unravel all 
 This dark defign, this myitery of fate. 
 
 SCENE III. 
 LUCIA and MARCIA. 
 
 Luc. Sure 'twas the clafn of fwords ; my troubled heart 
 Is (o call: down, and funk amidfl its forrows, 
 Jt throbs with fear, and akes at every found. 
 
 Mania, mould thy brothers for my fake ! 
 
 1 die away with horror at the thought. 
 
 Mar. See, Lucia, fee'- here's blood' here's blood and 
 murder ! 
 Hah ' a Numidian! Heavens preferve the Prince: 
 The face lies muffled up within the garment. 
 But hah ! death to my fight ! a diadem. 
 And purple robes ' O Gods' 'tis he, 'tis he ( 
 Juba, the lovelier!: youth that ever warrn'd 
 A virgin's heart, Juba lies dead before us ! 
 
 Lu:. Now, Marcia, ' now call up to thy affiilance 
 Thy wonted ftrength, and conftancy of mind ; 
 Thou can' ft not put it to a greater trial. 
 
 Mar. Lucia, look there, and wonder at my patience. 
 Have I not caufe to rave, and beat my breafl, 
 
 N5 To 
 
272 c a r a 
 
 To rend my heart with grief, and run diftra&edf 
 Luc. What can I think or fay to give thee comfort? 
 Mar. Talk not of comfort, 'tis for lighter ills ; 
 
 Behold a fight, that ftrikes all comfort dead. 
 
 Enter JUBA KJtning* 
 I will indulge my forrows, and give way 
 To all the pangs and fury of defpair, 
 That man, that belt of men, deferv'd it from me. 
 
 Jub. What do I hear ? and was t\\z&\kSemproniu$ 
 That beft of men ? O had I fallen like him, 
 And could have thus been mourned, I had been happy ! 
 
 Luc , Here will I {land, companion in thy woes, 
 And help thee with my tears ; when I behold 
 A lofs like thine, I half forget my own. 
 
 Mar. 'Tis not in fate to eafe my tortur'd breaft. 
 This empty world, to me a joylefs defart, 
 Has nothing left to make poor Mania happy. 
 
 Jub. I'm on the rack f was he fo near her heart ? 
 
 Mar. Oh he was all made up of love and charms,. 
 Whatever maid could wifh, or man admire : 
 Delight of every eye ! when he appeared, 
 A fecret pleafure gladned all that faw him ; 
 But when he talk'd, the proudeft Roman blufh'd 
 To hear his virtues, and old age grew wife. 
 
 Jub. I (hall run mad 
 
 Mar. O Juba ! Juba ! Juba ! 
 
 Jub, What means that voice? didfhe not call onjuba? 
 
 Mar. Why do I think on what he was ? he's dead ! 
 He's dead, and never knew how much I lovM him.. 
 Lucia, who knows but his poor bleeding heart, 
 Amidit its agonies, remember'd Marcia, 
 And the laft words he utter'd call'd me cruel f 
 Alas, he knew not, haplefs youth, he knew not 
 Marcia\ whole- foul was full of love and Juba ? 
 
 Jub. Where am I ! do I live ! or am indeed 
 "What Marcia thinks ! all is EliJiuM round me L 
 
 Mar. 
 
C A ?' O. 273 
 
 Mar. Ye dear remains of the moft lov d of men ? 
 Nor modefty nor virtue here forbid 
 A laft embrace, while thus 
 
 J ub. See, Marcia, fee. [Throwing himfelj ^before ke?» 
 The happy Juba lives ! he lives to catch 
 That dear embrace, and to return it too 
 With mutual warmth and eagernefs of love. 
 
 Mar. With pleafure and amaze, I ftand tranfported V. 
 Sure 'tis a dream ! dead and alive at once I 
 If thou art Juba, who lies there ? 
 
 Jub. A wretch, 
 Diiguifed like Juba on a curs'd defign, 
 The tale is long, nor have I heard it out. 
 Thy father knows it all. I could not bear 
 To leave thee in the neighbourhood of death, 
 But flew, in all the haiteof love, to find thee : 
 I found thee weeping, and confefs this once, 
 Am rapt with joy to fee my Mania's tears. 
 
 Mar. I've been furpriz'd in an unguarded hour,- 
 But mult not now go back : the love, that lay 
 Half fmother'dinmy breaft, has broke througlval! 
 Its weak reitraints, and burns in its full luftre, 
 I cannot, if I would, conceal it from thee. 
 
 Jub. I'm loll in ecftafy ! and dolt thou love, . 
 Thou charming maid ? 
 
 Mar. And doit thou live to ask it ? 
 
 Jub. This, this is life indeed ! life worth preferving^. 
 Such life as Juba never felt 'till now ! 
 
 Mar. Believe me, Prince, before I thought thee dead,, 
 I did not know myi'Ai how much I lov'd thee. 
 
 Jub. O fortunate miftake ! - 
 
 Mar. O happy Marcia ! 
 
 Jub. My joy ! my beft-belov'd ! my only wifli ! 
 How (hall I fpeak the tranfport of my foul ! 
 
 Mar. Lucia, thy arm ! Oh let me reil upon :t? 
 The vital blood, that had fbrfook my heart, . 
 Returns again in fuch tumultuous tides^ 
 
274 CAT O. 
 
 It quite o'ercomes me. Lead to my apartment- 
 O Prince ! I blufh to think what I have faid, 
 But fate has wrefted the confeffion from me; 
 Go on, and profper in the paths of honour, 
 Thy virtue will- excufe my paffion for thee, 
 And make the gods propitious to our love. 
 
 Jub. I am fo blelt, 1 fear 'tis all a dream. 
 Fortune, thou now haft made amends for all 
 Thy paft unkindnefs. I abfolve my ftars. 
 Whattho 1 Numidia add her conquer'd towns 
 And provinces, to fwell the victor's triumph f 
 Jnba will never at his fate repine ; 
 Let Car/or have the world, if Manias mine. 
 
 SCENE IV. 
 
 A March at a Diftance. 
 
 CATO^LUCIUS. 
 
 tuc. I fland aftonifht ' what, the bold Sempronius f 
 That Hill broke foremolt through the crowd of Potrio-ts, 
 As with a. hurricane of zeal tranfported, 
 And virtuous even to madnefs — 
 
 Cato. Truft me Lucius, 
 Our civil difcords have produced fuch crimes, 
 Such monftrous crimes, I am furpriz'd at nothing. 
 
 O Lucius. I am fick of this bad world t 
 
 The day-light and the fun grow painful to me. 
 
 Enter PORTIUS. 
 But fee where Portius comes ! what means this haite } 
 Why are thy looks thus changed ? 
 
 Por. ivly heart is griev'd, 
 I bring fuch news as will afRict my father. 
 Cato. Has C&far filed more Roman blood? 
 Per, Not fo 
 
 The 
 
c a r o. 275 
 
 The traytor Sypbax, as within the fquare 
 
 He exercifed his troops, the fignal given, 
 
 Flew off at once with his Numidian horfe 
 
 To the fouth gate, where Marcus holds the watch, 
 
 I faw, and call'd to Hop him, but in vain, 
 
 He toft his arm aloft, and proudly told me, 
 
 He would not ftay and perifh like Sempronius. 
 
 Cato. Perfidious men 1 but hafte my fon, and fee 
 Thy brother Marcus acts a Roman's part. [Exit Por> 
 
 Lucius, the torrent bears too hard upon me : 
 Juftice gives way to force : the conquered world 
 Is Ctefars : Cato has no bufinefs in it- 
 
 Luc. While pride, oppreffion, and injuflice reign, 
 The world will Hill demand her Cato\ prefence. 
 Jn pity to mankind fubmit to C^far, 
 And reconcile thy mighty foul to life. 
 
 Cato. Would Lucius have me live to fwell the number 
 Of Csefars flaves, or by a bafe fubmifTion 
 Give up the caufe of Rome, and own a tyrant ? 
 
 Luc. The victor never will impofe on Cato 
 Ungen'rous terms. His enemies confefs 
 The virtues of humanity are Ctefars. 
 
 Cato. Curfe on his virtues ! they've undone his Country. 
 
 Sach popular humanity is treafon 
 
 But fee young Juba ! the good youth appears 
 Full of the guilt of his perfidious fubjects. 
 
 Luc. Alas, poor Prince \ his fete deferves companion. 
 
 Enter JUBA. 
 
 Juba. Iblufh, and am confounded to appear 
 Before thy prefence, Cato. 
 
 Cato. What's thy crime ? 
 
 Jub. I'm a Numidian. 
 
 Cato. And a brave one too. 
 Thou haft a Roman foul. 
 
 Jub. Haft thou not heard 
 Of my falfe. countrymen I 
 
 Cato. 
 
276 CAT O. 
 
 Cato. Alas, young Prince, 
 FaMhood and fraud fhoot up in every foil, 
 The product of all climes Rome has its Ccsfars. 
 
 Jub. Tis gen'rous thus to comfort the diftreft. 
 
 Cato. 'Tis jufl to give applaufe where 'tis deferv'd ; 
 Thy virtue, Prince, has flood the tefl of fortune, 
 Like pureft gold, that tortur'd in the furnace, 
 Comes out more bright, and brings forth all its weight. 
 
 Jub. What mail I anfwer thee ?' my ravifh'd heart 
 O'erflows with fecret joy : I'd rather gain 
 Thy praife, O Cato, than Numidias empire. 
 
 Re-enter PORTIUS. 
 
 Por. Misfortune on misfortune ! grief on grief ! 
 My brother Marcus 
 
 Cato. Hah ! what has he done ? 
 Has he forfook his poft ? has he given way ? 
 Did he look tamely on, and let 'em pafs? 
 
 Por. Scarce had I left my father, but I met him 
 Borne on the fhields of his furviving foldiers, 
 Breathlefs and pale, and cover'd o'er with wounds. 
 Long at the head of his few faithful friends, 
 He flood the fhock of a whole hoil of foe>. 
 'Till obflinately brave, and bent on death, 
 Oppreft with multitudes, he greatly fell. 
 
 Cato. I'mfatisfy'd. 
 
 Por. Nor did he fall before 
 His fword had pierc'd through the falfe heart of Syphax* 
 Yonder he lies. I faw the hoary traytor 
 Grin in the pangs of death, and bite the ground. 
 
 Cato. Thanks to the Gods! my boy has done his duty. 
 
 Portias, when I am dead, befure thou place 
 
 His urn near mine. 
 
 Por. Long may they keep afimder ! 
 
 Luc, O Cato, arm thy foul with all its patience ; 
 See where the corps of thy dead fon approaches ! 
 
 The 
 
C A * 0. 277 
 
 The citizens and fenators, alarm'd, 
 
 Have gather'd round it, and attend it weeping. 
 
 C A T O meeting the Corps. 
 Welcome my fon ! here lay him down, my friends* 
 Full in my fight, that I may view at leifure 
 The bloody coarfe, and count thofe glorious wounds. 
 
 How beautiful is death, when earn'd by virtue » 
 Who would not be that youth ? what pity is it 
 That we can die but once to ferve our country 1 
 
 * Why fits this fadnefs on your brows, my friends ? 
 
 I fhould have blufli'd if Catos houfe had flood 
 Secure, and flouriuYd in a civil war. 
 
 1 Pcrtiusy behold thy brother, and remember 
 
 Thy life is not thy own, when Rome demands it. 
 
 Jub. Was ever man like this I [Afide. 
 
 Cato. Alas my friends ! 
 Why mourn you thus ? let not a private lofs 
 Afflict your hearts. Tis Rome requires our tears. 
 The miitrefs of the world, the feat of empire, 
 The nurfeef heroes, the delight of gods, 
 That humbled the proud tyrants of the earth, 
 And fet the nations free, Rome is no more. 
 O liberty ! O virtue \. O my country ! 
 
 Jub. Behold that upright man ! Rome fills his eyes 
 With tears, that flow'd not o'er his own dead fon. \Afide, 
 
 Cato. Whate'er the Roman virtue has fubdu'd, 
 The fun's whole courfe, the day and year are Cafars. 
 For him the fell-devoted Deal dy'd, 
 The Fabii fell, and the great Scipio's conquer'd : 
 Even Pompey fought for Cafar. Oh my friends ! 
 How is the toil of fate, the work of ages, 
 The Roman empire fallen ! O curs'd ambition ! 
 Fallen into Cafars hands ! our great Fore fathers 
 Had left him nought to conquer but his country. 
 
 Juba. While Cato lives, Cafar will blufh to fee 
 Mankind enflav'd, and bealham'd of empire. 
 
 Cato,. Cafar aiham'd ! has not he feen Pbarfalia f 
 
 Lvc. 
 
2 7 S CAT O. 
 
 Luc. Cato, 'tis time thou fave thyfelf and US'. 
 
 Cato. Lofe not a thought on me, I'm out of danger. 
 Heaven will not leave me in the victor's hand. 
 C&far (hall never fay I conquer'd Caio. 
 But oh ! my friends, your fafety fills my heart 
 With anxious thoughts : a thoufand fecret terrors 
 Rife in my foul : how fhall I fave my friends ! 
 'Tis now, O Cafar, I begin to fear thee. 
 
 Luc. C^far\\s mercy, if we ask it of him. 
 
 Cato. Then ask it, I conjure you ! let him know 
 Whate'er was done again ft hiirr, Cato did it. 
 Add, if you pleafe, that I requeft it of him, 
 The virtue of my friends may pafs unpuniftvd, 
 
 Juba, my heart is troubled for thy fake. 
 Should I advife thee to regain Numidia, 
 Or feek the conqueror ? 
 
 J aba. If I forfake thee 
 Whilft I have life, may heaven abandon Juba ! 
 
 Cato. Thy virtues, Prince, if I forefee aright, 
 Will one day make thee great; at Rome, hereafter, 
 'Twill be no crime to have been Cato"s friend . 
 Portius, draw near ! My fon, thou oft haft feen 
 Thy Sire engaged in a corrupted ftate, 
 Wreftling with vice and faftion : now thou feeft me 
 Spent, overpower'd, defpairing of fuccefs ; 
 Let me advife thee to retreat betimes 
 To thy paternal feat, the Sabine field, 
 Where the great Cenfor toil'd with his own hands* 
 And all our frugal Anceftors were bleft 
 In humble virtues," and a rural life. 
 There live retired, pray for the peace of Rome ; 
 Content thy felf to be obfeurely good. 
 When vice prevails, and impious men bear fway, 
 The poft of honour is a private ftation. 
 
 Por. 1 hope my father does not recommend 
 A life to Portius } that he fcorns himfeif, 
 
c a r 0. -79 
 
 Calo. Ferewel, my friends ! if there be any of you 
 Who dare not trtift the viftor's clemency, 
 Know, there are (hips prepared by my command, 
 (Their fails already opening to the winds) 
 That (hall convey you to the wiiht for port. 
 Is there aught elfe, my friends, I can do for you ? 
 The conqueror draws near. Once more farewel ? 
 If e'er we meet hereafter, we {hall meet 
 In happier climes, and on a fafer more, 
 Where Ca-far never fhall approach us more. 
 
 [Pointing to his dead Sen. 
 There the brave youth, with love of virtue fired, 
 Who greatly in his country's caufe expired, 
 Shall know he conquer'd. The firm Patriot there 
 (Who made the welfare of mankind his care) 
 Tho' ftill, by fa&ion, vice and fortune, croft, 
 Shall find the gen'rous labour was not loft. 
 
 ACT V. SCENE, I. 
 
 CATO folus, fitting in a thoughtful poflure : In 
 his hand Plato' r book on the Imm$rtality cj ihc 
 Soul. Adrawnfwordon the Table by him. 
 
 IT muft be fo— Plato, thou reafon'ft well !— 
 Eife whence this pleafmg hope, this fond defire, 
 This longing after Immortality ? 
 Or whence this fecret dread, and inward horror, 
 Of falling into nought ? why fhrinks the foul 
 Back on her felf, and ftartles at deftruclion ? 
 'Tis the divinity thatftirs within us ; 
 'Tis heaven itfelf, that points out an Hereafter, 
 And intimates eternity to man. 
 Eternity ! thou pleafing, dreadful, thought I 
 Through what variety of untry'd beings, 
 Through what new fcences and changes muft we pafs ! 
 
 The 
 
2go CAT O. 
 
 The wide, th' unbounded profpect, lyes before me ; 
 
 But fhadows, clouds, and darknefs, reft upon it. 
 
 Here will I hold. If there's a pow'r above us, 
 
 (And that there is all nature cries aloud 
 
 Through all her works) he muft delight in virtue; 
 
 And that which he delights in, muft be happy. 
 
 But when ! or where ! — This world was made for Cajar. 
 
 I'm weary of conjeclures — This muft end 'em. 
 
 \Laying his hand on his fivord. 
 Thus am I doubly arm'd : my death and life, 
 
 My bane and antidote are both before me : 
 
 This in a moment brings me to an end ; 
 
 But this informs me I fhall never die. 
 
 The foul, fecured in her exiftence, fmiles 
 
 At the drawn dagger, and defies its point. 
 
 The ftars fhall fade away, the fun himfelf 
 
 Grow dim with age, and nature fink in years, 
 
 But thou malt flourifh in immortal youth, 
 
 Unhurt amidft the war of elements, 
 
 The wrecks of matter, and the crufh of worlds. 
 
 What means this heavinefs that hangs upon me ? 
 This lethargy that creeps through all my fenfes f 
 Nature opprefs'd, and harrafs'd out with care, 
 Sinks down to reft. This once I'll favour her, 
 That my awaken'd foul may take her flight, 
 Renew'd in all her ftrength, and frefh with life, 
 An offering fit for heaven. Let-guilt or fear 
 Difturb man's reft : Cato knows neither of , em > 
 Indifferent in his choice to fleep or die. 
 
 SCENE II. 
 CATO, PORTIUS. 
 
 Cato. But hah ! how's this, my fon ? why this intrufion ? 
 Were not my orders that I would be private ? 
 Why am I difobey'd ?. ?«/•/. 
 
C A T O. 2«i 
 
 Port. Alas, my father ! 
 What means this fword r this inftrument of death ? 
 Let me convey it hence ! 
 
 Cato. Rafh youth, forbear ! 
 
 Port. O let the prayers, the entreaties of your friends, 
 Their tears, their common danger, wreft it from you- 
 
 Cato. Would'fl thou betray me ? would'it thou girc 
 me up 
 A flave, a captive, into C^/ar'b hands ? 
 Retire, and learn obedience to a father,] 
 Or know, young man ! ■ ■ 
 
 Port. Look not thus fternly on me ; 
 You know I'd rather die than difobey you. 
 
 Cato. JTis well ! again Fm mailer of my felf, 
 Now, Cat far, let thy troops befet our gates, 
 And barr each avenue, thy gathering fleets 
 CTerfpread the fea, and flop up every port ; 
 Cato fhall open to himfelf a paffage, 
 And mock thy hopes 
 
 Port. O Sir, forgive your fon, 
 Whofe grief hangs heavy on him ! O my father ! 
 How am I fure it is not the lail time 
 I e'er (hall call you fo \ be not difpleafed, 
 G be not angry with me whilft I weep, 
 And in theanguifh of my heart, befeech you 
 1 o quit the dreadful purpofe of your foul I 
 
 Cato. Thou hall been ever good and dutiful 
 
 [Embracing him. 
 Weep not, my fon. All will be well again. 
 The righteous gods, whom I have fought to pleafe, 
 Will fuccour Cato y and preferve his children. 
 
 Por. Your words give comfort to my drooping heart. 
 
 Cato. Portius, thou may'il rely upon my conduct. 
 Thy father will not ac~l what milbecomes him. 
 But go, my fon, and fee if aught be wanting 
 Among thy father's friends; fee them embarked; 
 And tell me if the winds and feas befriend them, 
 
 My 
 
282 C A r o. 
 
 My foul is quite weigh'd down with care, and a&s 
 The foft refrefhment of a moment's deep. 
 
 Par. My thoughts are more at eafe, my heart revives. 
 
 SCENE III. 
 PORTIUS and MARCIA. 
 
 Per. O Mania, O my fifter, flill there's hope! 
 Our father will not call away a life 
 So needful to us all, and to his country. 
 He is retired to reft, and feemsto chenfh 
 Thoughts full of peace. He has difpatcht me hence 
 With orders, that befpeak a mind composed, 
 And ftudious for the fafety of his friends-. 
 Marcia, take care that none difturb his flumbers. 
 
 Marc. O ye immortal powers that guard the jufr, 
 Watch round his couch, and foften his repofe, 
 Banifh his forrows, and becalm his foul 
 With eafie dreams; remember all his virtues! 
 And fhow mankind that goodnefs is your care. 
 
 SCENE IV. 
 LUCIA, and MARCIA. 
 
 Luc. Where is your rather, Marcia, where is Cato ? 
 
 Mar. Lucia, fpeak low, he is retired to reft. 
 Lucia, I feel a gently-dawning hope 
 Rife in my foul. We (hall be happy ftill. 
 
 Luc. Alas, I tremble when I think on Cato* 
 In every view, in every thought I tremble ! 
 Cato is ftern, and awfur as a God, 
 He knows not how to wink at human, frailty, 
 Or pardon weakneis that he never felt. 
 
c a r o. 2H3 
 
 Mar. Though flern and awful to the foes of Re me, 
 He is all goodnefs, Lucia, always mild, 
 Companionate, and gentle to his friends. 
 Fill'd with domeftick tendernefs, the bell, 
 The kindeft father ! I have ever found him 
 Eafy, and good, and bounteous to my wifhes. 
 
 Luc. 'Tis his confent alone can make us bleit. 
 Marcia, we both are equally involv'd 
 Jn the fame intricate, perplext, diltrefs. 
 The cruel hand of fate, that has deftroy'd 
 Thy brother Marcus, whom we both lament — ■ 
 
 Mar. And ever fhall lament, unhappy youth ! 
 
 Luc . Has let my foul at large, and now I Hand 
 Loofeof my Vow. But who knows Capo's thoughts? 
 Who knows how yet he maydifpofe of Po/ts.vs, 
 Or how he has determin'd of thyfelf ? 
 
 Mar. Let him but live-' commit the refl to heaven. 
 
 Enter LUCIUS. 
 
 Luc Sweet are the flumbers of the virtuous man ! 
 
 Marcia, I have feen thy godlike father ; 
 Some power invifible fupports his foul, 
 And bears it up in all its wonted greatnefs. 
 A kind refrefhing fleep-is fallen upon him : 
 
 1 faw him ftrecht at eafe, his fancy loll 
 
 In pleafing dreams ; as I drew near his couch, 
 
 He fmiPd, and cry'd, Cafar thou canft not hurt me. 
 
 Mar.Hismind ftill labours with fome dreadful thought. 
 
 Luc. Lucia, why all this grief, thofe floods of forrow ? 
 Dry up thy tears, my child, we all are fafe 
 While Cato lives his prefence will protect us. 
 
 Enter JUBA. 
 
 jfuh. Lucius, the horfemen are return'd from viewing 
 The number, ftrength, and poflure of our foes, 
 Who now encamp within a ihort hour's march, 
 
 On 
 
284 C A T O. 
 
 On the high point of yon bright weftern tower 
 We kenn them from afar, the fetting fun 
 Plays on their mining arms and burniftYd helmets, 
 And covers all the field with gleams of fire. 
 
 Luc. Marcia, 'tis time we mould awake thy father. 
 Cafar is Hill difpos'd to give us terms, 
 And waits at diflance 'till he hears from Cato. 
 
 Enter P O R T I U S. 
 
 Portius, thy looks fpeak fomewhat of importance. 
 What tidings doft thou bring ? methinks I fee 
 Unufual gladnefs fparkling in thy eyes. 
 
 Por. As I was hafting to the port, where now 
 My father's friends, impatient for a pafTage, 
 Accufe the ling' ring winds, a fail arrived 
 From Pompeys fon, who through the realms of Spain 
 Calls out for vengeance on his father's death, 
 And roufes the whole nation up to arms. 
 Were Cato at their head, once more might Rome 
 AfTert her rights, and claim her liberty. 
 But heark ! what means that groan ! O give me way, 
 And let me fly into my father's prefence. 
 
 Luc . Cato, amidfl his {lumbers, thinks on Rome, 
 And in the wild diforder of his foul 
 
 Mourns o'er his country. hah! a fecond groan'" — 
 
 Heaven guard us all — — 
 
 Mar. Alas, 'tis not the voice 
 Of one who fleeps ! 'tis agonizing pain, 
 'Tis death is in that found — 
 
 Re-enter P O R T I U S. 
 
 Por. O fight of woe \ 
 O Marcia, what we fear'd is come to pafst 
 Cato is fallen upon his fword ■ 
 
 Luc. O Portius, 
 Hide all the horrours of thy mournful tale, 
 And let us guefs the reft. 
 
 Por. I've rais'd him up, 
 
 And 
 
C A T O. 285 
 
 And plac'd him in his chair, where pale, and faint, 
 He gafps for breath, and as his life flows from him, 
 Demands to fee his friends. His fervants weeping, 
 Obfequious to his orders, bear him hither. 
 
 [The back fcene opens, and difcovers Cato. 
 
 Mar. O heaven affift me in this dreadful hour 
 To pay the laft fad duties to my father. 
 
 Jub. Thefe are thy triumphs, thy exploits, O Cafar f 
 
 Luc. Now is Rome fallen indeed ! - 
 
 [Cato brought forward in his chair ; 
 
 Cato. Here fet me down 
 
 Fortius come near me are my friends embark'd ? 
 
 Can any thing be thought of for their fervice ? 
 Whilft I yet live, let me not live in vain. 
 
 — O Lucius, art thou here ?- thou art too good! — 
 
 Let this our friendship live between our children; 
 Make P or this happy in thy daughter Lucia. 
 
 Alas poor man, he weeps ! Marcia, my daughter — 
 
 O bend me forward ! Juba loves thee, Marcia. 
 
 A Senator of Rome, while Rome furviv'd, 
 Would not have match'd his daughter with a King, 
 But C<efars arms have thrown down all distinction ; 
 Whoever is Brave and Virtuous, is a Roman. 
 
 I'm fick to death O when mail I get loofe 
 
 From this vain world, th' abode of guilt and forrow ! 
 And yet methinks a beam of light breaks in 
 On my departing foul. Alas, I fear 
 I've been too hafty. O ye powers, that fearch 
 The heart of man, and weigh his inmoft thoughts, 
 
 If I have done amifs, impute it not ! 
 
 The bell may err, but you are good, and oh ! [Dies. 
 
 Luc. There fled the greateft foul that ever warm'd 
 A Roman bread ; O Cato / O my friend I 
 Thy will fhall be religioufly obferv'd. 
 B'^t let us bear this awful corps to C<efar, 
 And lay it in his iight, that it may ftand 
 
 A fence 
 
286 C A T O. 
 
 A fence betwixt us and the victor's wrath ; . 
 Cato, tho' dead, fhall ftill protect his friends. 
 
 From hence, let fierce contending nations know 
 What dire effects from civil difcord flow. 
 'Tis this that makes our country with alarms, 
 And gives up Rome a prey to Roman arms, 
 Produces fraud, and cruelty, and flrife, 
 And robs the Guilty world of Cato's life. 
 
 e p I- 
 
 
gilippi^ 
 
 fttlE 
 
 EPILOGUE. 
 
 By Dr. GARTH. 
 
 Spoken by Mrs. PORTER. 
 
 WH AT odd fantaftick things we women do f 
 Woo would not lijlen when young lovers woo ? 
 But die a maid, yet have the choice of two f 
 Ladies are often cruel to their cofl ; 
 % give you pain, them /elves they punijh mojl. 
 Vows of virginity Jhould well be weighed; 
 Too oft they re cancelled, tho? in convents made. 
 
 Would you revenge fuch rajh refolves you may : 
 
 Be fpiteful and believe the thing we fay, 
 
 We hate you when you re eafily [aid nay. 
 
 How needle fs j if you knew us, were your fears ? 
 
 Let Love have eyes, and Beauty will have ears. 
 
 Our hearts are formed as you your/elves would chufe, 
 
 Too proud to ask, too humble to refufe : 
 
 We give to merit, and to wealth we fell; 
 
 Hefighs with mojl fuccefs that Jetties well. 
 
 The woes of wedlock with the joys vje mix ; 
 . 'Tis beft repenting in a coach and fix. 
 
 Blame not our cojiducl, Jlnce we but purfue 
 Thofe lively Uffons we have learn d from you : 
 Tour breajls 720 more the fire of beauty warms, 
 But wicked wealth ufurps the power of charms 3 
 What pains to get the gaudy thing you hate, 
 Tcfwellinfjovj, and be a wretch inflate! 
 
 Vol. I. O 
 
 } 
 
 As 
 
EPILOGUE. 
 
 At pltys you ogle, at the ring you bovj ; 
 
 Even churches are no fancluaries novj : 
 
 fThere, golden idols all your voivs receive, 
 
 She is no goddefs that has nought to give. 
 
 Oh, may once more the happy age appear. 
 
 When words were artlefs, and the thoughts Jincere ; 
 
 When gold and grandeur were unen'i^d things, 
 
 And courts lefs coveted than groves and fprings. 
 
 Love then fh all only mourn when truth complains, 
 
 And conjiancy feel t ran/port in its chains. 
 
 Sighs voith fuccefs their ovjn Jo ft anguijh tell, 
 
 And eyes Jh all utter what the lips conceal : 
 
 Virtue again to its bright Jtation climb, 
 
 And beauty fear no enemy but time, 
 
 The fair Jhall UJlen to defert alone, 
 
 And every Luchfnda CatoVyS*. 
 
 To 
 
Poems on fever al Occafwns. 289 
 
 To Her R O Y A L H I G H N E S S the 
 
 PRINCESS of WALES y 
 
 With the Tragedy of C A T O. Nov. 17 14. 
 
 TH E Mufe that oft, with facred raptures hYd, 
 Has gen'rous thoughts of Liberty infpir'd, 
 And, boldly rifing for Britannia's laws, 
 Engag'd great Cato in her country's caufe, 
 On You fubmiffive waits, with hopes aflui'd, 
 By whom the mighty bleffing ftands fecur'd, 
 And all the glories, that our age adorn, 
 Are promis'd to a people yet unborn. 
 
 No longer mall the widow'd land bemoan 
 A broken lineage, and a doubtful throne ; 
 But boaft her royal progeny's increafe, 
 And count the pledges of her future peace. 
 O born to ltrengthen and to grace our ifle ? 
 While you, fair Princess, in your Off-fpring fmile, 
 Supplying charms to the fucceeding age, 
 Each heavenly Daughter's triumphs we prefage; 
 Already fee th' illuftrious youths complain, 
 And pity Monarchs doom'd to figh in vain. 
 
 Thou too, the darling of our ibnd defires, 
 Whom Albion, opening wide her arms, requires, 
 With manly valour and attractive air 
 Shalt quell the fierce, and captivate the fair. 
 O England' 's younger hope ! in whom confpire 
 The mother's fweetnefs, and the father's fire! 
 For thee perhaps, even now, of kingly race 
 Some dawning beauty blooms in every grace, 
 
 O 2 Some 
 
290 Poems on fever al Occafions. 
 
 Some Carolina, to heaven's dictate's true, 
 Who, while the fcepter'd rivals vainly fue, 
 They inborn worth with confcious eyes mall fee, 
 And flight th' imperial diadem for thee. 
 
 Pleas'd with the profpect of fucceffive reigns, 
 The tuneful tribe no more in daring flrains 
 Shall vindicate, with pious fears opprefl, 
 Endangered rights, and liberty diftreft : 
 To milder founds each Mufe mail tune the lyre, 
 And gratitude, and faith to Kings infpire, 
 And filial love ; bid impious difcord ceafe, 
 And footh the madding factions into peace ; 
 Or rife ambitious in more lofty lays, 
 And teach the nation their new Monarch's praife, 
 Defcribe his awful look, and godlike mind, 
 And Cafarh power with Cato\ virtue join'd. 
 
 Mean-while, bright Princess, who, with graceful eafe 
 And native majefty, are form'd to pleafe ; 
 Behold thofe Arts with a propitious eye, 
 That fuppliant to their great proteftrefs fly ! 
 Then (hall they triumph, and the Britifo llage 
 Improve her manners, and refine her rage, 
 More noble characters expofe to view, 
 And draw her finifht heroines from you. 
 
 Nor you the kind indulgence will refufe, 
 Skill'd in the labours of the deathlefs Mufe : 
 The deathlefs Mufe with undiminifht rays 
 Through diftant times the lovely dame conveys : 
 To Gloriana Waller & harp was fining ; 
 The Queen Hill mines, becaufe the Poet fung. 
 Even ail thofe graces, in your frame combin'd, 
 The common f.ite of mortal charms may find ; 
 (Content our fhort liv'd praifes to engage, 
 The joy and wonder of a fingle age,) 
 Unlefs fome Poet in a lafting fong 
 To late pofterity their fame prolong, 
 InftrucVour fon's the radiant" form to prize, 
 
 our beauty with theirfa£her*s eyes. TO' 
 
Poems on fever al Occafwns. 29 1 
 T O 
 
 Sir GODFREY KNELLER, 
 
 O N H I S 
 Picture of the K I N G, 
 
 J^NELLER, with filence and furprize 
 "* *• We fee Britannia's Monarch rile, 
 A godlike form, by thee difplay'd 
 In all the force of light and made ; 
 And, aw'd by thy delufive hand, 
 As in the prefence-chamber ibnd. 
 
 The magick of thy art calls forth 
 His fecret foul and hidden worth, 
 His probity and mildnefs fnovvs, 
 His care of friends, and fcorn of foes : 
 In every ftroke, in every line, 
 Does fome exalted virtue mine, 
 And All ions happineis we trace 
 Through all the features of his face. 
 
 O may I live to hail the day, 
 When the glad nation fhall furvey 
 Their Sov'reign, thro' his wide command, 
 Paffing in progrefs o'er the land ! 
 Each heart (hall bend, and every voice 
 In loud applauding fhouts rejoice, 
 Whilll all his gracious afpeft praife, 
 And crowds grow loyal as they gaze, 
 
 O 3 This 
 
292 Poems on fever al Occafwns* 
 
 This image on the medal placed, 
 With its bright round of titles graced, 
 And ftampt on Britijb coins (hall live, 
 To richeft ores the value give, 
 Or, wrought within the curious mould, 
 Shape and adorn the running gold. 
 To bear this form, the genial Sun 
 Has daily, fmce his courfe begun, 
 Rejoic'd the metal to refine, 
 And ripened the Peruvian mine. 
 
 Thou, Kneller, long with noble pride,. 
 The foremoft of thy art, has vied 
 With nature in a generous ftrife, 
 And touch'd the canvas into life. 
 Thy pencil has, by Monarchs fought, 
 From reign to reign in ermine wrought, 
 And, in their robes of flate array 'd, 
 The Kings of half an age difplay'd. 
 
 Here fwarthy Charles appears, and there 
 His Brother with dejecled air : 
 Triumphant Naflau here we find, 
 And with him bright Maria join'd ; 
 There Anna, great as when file fent 
 Her armies through the continent, 
 Ere yet her Hero was dilgrac't : 
 O may fam'd Brunfajick be the laft, 
 (Tho heaven fhould with my wiih agree, 
 And long prelerve thy art in thee) 
 The laft, the happier! Britijb King, 
 Whom thou malt paint, or I mall fmg f 
 
 Wile Phidias, thus his (kill to prove, 
 Thro' many a God advanc'd to Jo<ve' 3 
 And taught the polifiit rocks to mine 
 With airs and lineaments divine; 
 Till Greece, amaz'd, and half-afraid, 
 Th* aiTembled deities furveyM 
 
 Great Pan, who wont to chafe the fair, 
 And lov'd the fpreading oak, was there; 
 
 Old 
 
Poems on fever al Occafions, 293 
 
 Old Saturn too with up-caft eyes 
 
 Beheld his abdicated flues ; 
 
 And mighty Mars, for war renown*d, 
 
 In adamantine armour frown'd ; 
 
 By him the childlefs goddefs rofe, 
 
 Minerva, fludious to compofe 
 
 Her tvvilted threads ; the webb ftie ftrung, 
 
 And o'er a loom of marble hung : 
 
 Thetis the troubled ocean's Queen, 
 
 Match'd with a mortal, next was feen, 
 
 Reclining on a funeral urn, 
 
 Her fhort-liv'd darling Son to mourn. 
 
 The laft was he, whole thunder flew 
 
 The Titan-vzce, a rebel crew, 
 
 That from a hundred hills ally'd 
 
 In impious leagues their King defy'd. 
 
 This wonder of the fculptor's hand 
 Produced, his art was at a Hand : 
 For who would hope new fame to raife, 
 Or rifque his well-eftablihYd praife, 
 That, his high genius to approve, 
 Had drawn a Gkorge, or-carv'd a Jovet 
 
 POEM AT A. 
 

 POEMATA. 
 
 
 o 
 
• ####®«"«#€>###'#®*«^<5* • 
 
 • 
 
 HONORATISSIMO VIRO 
 
 CAROLO MONTAGU 
 
 A R M I G E R O 
 SCACCHARII CANCELLARIO, 
 
 iERARII PRiEFECTO, 
 
 REGI a SECRETIORIBUS 
 C O N 3 I L 1 1 S, &c. 
 
 U M tanta auribus tuis obflre- 
 pat vatum nequiilirnorum tur- 
 ba, nihil eftcurqucraris aliquid 
 inufitatum tibi contigilTe, ubi 
 prsc arum hoc argumentunr 
 meis etiam numeris violatum 
 confpcxeris. Quantum virtute bellica prasftent 
 Britanni, recens ex rebus geftis teftatur gloria ^ 
 quam vero in humanionbus Pads ftudiis iion 
 emineamus, indicio funt quos nuprr in lucem 
 einifimus verficuli* Quod fi Congrevius 
 
 ille 
 
i 
 
 C A T I O, 
 
 o, quo folet, furore correptus 
 q I aii€ non exornafTet, vix tanti efTet 
 ipfa Pax ut ilia l^taremartotperditiffimis Poe- 
 tistarnmiiere deeantata, At*dum alios infector, 
 mei ipllus oblkus fuiflevideor, qui haud mino- 
 yes iorfan ex Latinis tibi moleftias allaturus 
 fum, quam quas illiexvcrnaculis fuis carmini- 
 bus attulerunt ; nifi quod inter ipfos cruciatus 
 lenimentum aliquod doiori tribuat tormenti 
 varietas. Nee quidem unquam adduci poflem, 
 ut poema patrio fermone conferiptum oculis 
 ft] is fubjicerem, qui ab iftis conatibus cseteros 
 omnes fcribendo non minus deterres, quam fa- 
 7endo excitaveris. 
 
 Human itatis Tu£ 
 
 CULTOR DEVOT 1SS I M US, 
 
 J o s e p h u s Addison. 
 

 Pax Gulielmi Aufpiciis Europae 
 teddita, 1697. 
 
 POflquam ingens clamorque virum, ftrepitufque 
 tubarum, 
 Atque omnis belli cecidit fragor ; afpice, Cscfar* 
 QucB tibi foliciti, turba importuna, Poetas 
 Munera deducunt : generofac a peftore flamma;, 
 Diraeque armorum effigies, fimulachraque belli 
 Triftia diffugiant : O tandem ablifte triumphis 
 Expletus, penitufque animo totum excute Martem. 
 
 Non ultra ante oculos numerofo milite campi 
 Mifcentur, folito nee fervent arva tumultu ; 
 Stat circum alta quies, curvoque innixus aratra 
 Defertas foffas, et caftra minantia caftris 
 Rufticus invertit, tacitaformidine luftrans 
 Horroremque loci, et funeftos ftragibus agros. 
 Jamque fuper vallum et munimina longa virefcit 
 Expe&ata feges, jam propugnacula rident 
 Vere novo ; infuetos mirabitur incola culmos, 
 Luxuriemque foli, etturgentem afanguine mefTem. 
 
 Afpicis ut toto excitus venit advena mundo 
 Bellorum invifens fedem, & confufa ruinis 
 Oppida, & everfos flammarum turbine muros ! 
 Ut trepidos rerum Annales, triflemque laborum 
 Inquirit feriem, attonitis ut fpeflat ocellis 
 Semirutas turres, et adhuc: polluta cruore 
 Flumina, famofofque Ormondi vulnere campos ! 
 
 Hie, nbi faxa jacent difperfo infecta cerebro, 
 Atque interrupt hilcunt divortia muris, 
 
 Vexillum 
 
3 oo POEMATA. 
 
 Vexillum intrepidus * fixit, cui tempora dudum 
 Budenfes palma,*, peregrinaque laurus obumbrat. 
 Ule ruens aciem in mediam, qua ferrea grando 
 Sparfa furit circum, et plumbi denfiflimus imber, 
 Sulphuream noclem, tetrafque bitumine nubes 
 Ingreditur, crebroque rubentem falgure fumum. 
 Ut vario anfraftu, et disje&is undique Taxis 
 Mxnia difcedunt, fcopulifque immane minantur 
 Defuper horriiicis, et formidabile pendent! 
 
 Hie peftem occultam, et fcecundas fulphure moles 
 Cernere erat,. magno quas inter mota tumultu 
 Prselia fervebant j fubito cum clauflra fragore 
 Horrendum difrupta tonant, femiuftaque membra, 
 Fumantefque artus, laniataque corpora lethum 
 Corripit informe, et rotat ater in aethere turbo. 
 
 Sic, poftquam Enceladi dejecit fulmine fratre* 
 Ccelicolum pater, et vetuit contemnere divos : 
 Divulfam terras faciem, ingentefque ruinas 
 Mortales flupuere ; altum hinc mirantur abeflc 
 Pelion, invertique imis radicibus OiTam; 
 Hie fluvium moles inter confufaque faxa 
 Keptare, atque aliis difcentem currere ripis. 
 Stantdubii, et notos montes umbrafque requirun., 
 Errore ambiguo elufi, et novitate locorum. 
 
 Nempe hie Au riaci nuper vexilla fecutss 
 Confluxere acies, hie, afpera ccrda, Britanni, 
 German ufque ferox, et jun&o fcedere Belga ; 
 Quique truci Boreas, et ccelo damnatus iniquo 
 Vitam agit in tenebris ; et qui dudum ore perufto 
 Decolor admoti prodit vefligia Phcebi: 
 Undique conveniunt, totum conferipta per orbem 
 Agmina, NASsoviqyE latus focialibus armis 
 Circumfufa tegunt, fremitufque et murmura mifcent, 
 Tarn vario disjuncla fitu, tot diflbna linguis. 
 
 'Tc 
 
 * Honoratiiiimus D. Dominus C U T T S, Baro de Gowrsn, &c, 
 
P O E M A T A. 301 
 
 Te tamen e mediis, * Du&or FortuTime, turmia 
 Exere, Tu vitam (fi quid mea carmina pofTunt) 
 Accipies, populique encomia fera futuri, 
 Quern variis edoftum artes, ftudiifque Minerva 
 Omnibus ornatum Marti Rhedycina furenti 
 Credidit invita, et tanto fe jaclat alumno. 
 Hunc nempe ardorem, atque immenfos pectoris seflua 
 Kon jubar Arftoum, aut noftri penuria cceli, 
 Sed plaga torridior, qua fol intentius omnes 
 Effundit radios, totique obnoxia Plicebo 
 India progenuit, tenerifque incoxit ab annis 
 Virtutem immodicam, et generofae incendia mentis. 
 
 Jam quoque torpentem qui infelix fufpicit Arc"ton,, 
 Brumamque aeternam frigufque perambulat, urfae 
 Horrid us exuviis, Gulieimi ingentia facia 
 Deicribit fociis, pugnataque in ordine bella 
 Attentus numerat, neque brumam aut frigora curat. 
 En ! vaftos nivium tradlus et pallid a regna 
 Deferit, imperio extremum f qui fubjicit orbem, 
 Indigenafque hyemes, Britonumque Heroa pererrat 
 Luminibus tacitis; fubeunt nunc fufa Namurae 
 Maenia, nunc tardo quae fanguine plurima fluxit 
 Boinia, nunc dubii palma indilcreta Seneffi. 
 Quae facies, et quanta viri f quo vertice in auras 
 Aflurgit ! quali firmat veitigia greffu, 
 Majeitate rudi, et torvo fpedabilis ore ? 
 
 Sic olim Alcides, immania membra Leoni* 
 Inftratus fpoliis, valla fe mole ferebat, 
 Evandri amplexus dextramque adjungere dextras 
 Cum peteret, tectifque ingens fuccederet hofpes. 
 
 Dum pugnas, Gulielme, tuas campoique cruentos 
 Accipit, in venis ebuliat vividus humor, 
 Corda micant crebro, et mentem ferit aemulus ardor. 
 
 Nort 
 
 * Infig. Donu Chriftoph. CodringtoHj unus ex Rcgii Satelfari 
 3?raefetf:is,. 
 •f MufcOvije Imperatori 
 
302 P O E M A T A. 
 
 Non jam Riphasos hoRis populabitur agros 
 Impune, aut agitabit inulta6 Sarmata prasdas. 
 Quistamen ille procul fremitus! Qux murmura vulgi 
 Nassovium ingeminant! video cava littora circum 
 Fervere remigibus, fubitifque albefcere velis. 
 Anglia folve metus, et inanes mitte querelas, 
 Nassovi fecura tui, defiite tumentes 
 Profpicere in fluclus animo fufpenfa, trucefque 
 Objurgare notos, tardamque requirere puppim : 
 Optatus tibi Caefar adeft, nee ut ante videbis 
 Sollicitum belli fludiis, fatalia Gallo 
 Confilia et tacitas verfantem in peclore pugnas. 
 Olli grata quies et pax tranquilla verendum 
 Compofuit vultum, laetofque afflavit honores* 
 
 Ut denfo circum fe plurimus agmine miles 
 Agglomerat lateri ! ut patriam veterefque penates 
 Refpicit exultans ! juvat oftentare recentes 
 Ore cicatrices, et vulnera cruda, notafque • 
 Mucronum infignes, afHataque fulphure membra. 
 Chara flupet conjux, reducifque incerta mariti 
 Veftigat faciem ; trepida fprmidine proles 
 Stat procul, & patrios horrefcit nefcia vultus* 
 Ille graves cafus, duri et difcrimina belli 
 Enumerat, tumidifque inftaurat pradia verbis. 
 Sic, poftquam in patriam feecunda heroibus Argo 
 Phryxeam attulerat pellem, lanamque rigentem 
 Expofuit Graiis, et tortile velieris aurum, 
 Navita terrificis infamia littora rnonnris 
 Defcribit, mixto fpirantem incendia fumo 
 Serpentem, vigilefque feras, plauftroque gementes 
 Infolito tauros, et anhelos igne juvencos. 
 
 Te tamen, O quantis Gulielme erepte periclis, 
 Accipimus reducem : tibi Diva Britannia fundit 
 Plebemque et Proceres : medias quacunque per urbes 
 Jngrederis, crebrac confurgunt undique pompae, 
 Gaudiaque et plaufus : mixto ordine vulgus euntem 
 
 CircumflU 
 
P O E M A T A. 303 
 
 Circumftat Fremitu denfo : Tibi Jupiter annum 
 
 Serius invertit, luces mirata ferenas 
 
 JRidet Hyems, feftoque vacat ccelum omne triumpho. 
 
 Jamque * Nepos tibi parvus adeit, loetoque juventae 
 lncelTu, et blando teftatur gaudia rifu. 
 Ut Patrius vigor atque elati gratia vultus 
 Caefareum fpirant, majeftatemque verendam 
 Infundunt puero ! ut Mater formofa ferenat 
 Auguftam frontem, et fublimia temperat ora ! 
 Agnofco faciem ambiguam, mixtofque parentes. 
 Ille tuas, Gulielme, acies, et triilia bella, 
 Pugnafque innocua dudum fub imagine lufit. 
 Nunc indignanti fimilis fugitiva pufillae 
 Terga premit turmas, & falfis terroribus implet, 
 Sternitque exiguum ficlo cognomine Galium. 
 Nunc fimulat turres, et propugnacula parva 
 Nominibus fignat variis ; fubitoque tumultu 
 Sedulus innrmas arces, humilemque Namurcam 
 Diruit; interea generofae in pectore fiammae 
 AfTurgunt fenfim juveni, notat ignis honeflas 
 Purpureo fervore genas, et amabilis horror. 
 
 Quis tamen Augufta? immenfas in carmine pompas 
 Inftruet, in luteos ubi vulgo effufa canales 
 Vina rubent, variatque infeclas purpura fordes ? 
 Quis lapfus referet ftellarum, et fictile ccelum, 
 Qua laceram oftendunt redolentia compita chartam, 
 Sulphuris exuvias, tubulofque bitumine cafTos ? 
 
 En procul attonitam video clarefcere noclem 
 Fulgore infolito ! ruit undique lucidus imber, 
 Flagrantefque hyemes ; crepitantia fidera paffim 
 Scintillant, totoque pluunt incendia ccelo. 
 Nee minus in terris Vulcanus mille iiguras 
 Induit, ignivomafque feras, et fulgida monftra, 
 Terribiles vifu formas ! hie membra Leonis 
 Hifpida mentiur, tortifque comantia flammis 
 
 Colla 
 
 * Celfiiffimus Princeps Dux Gloceftrenfis. 
 
5 04 P O E M A T A. 
 
 Colla quatit, rutilafque jubas ; hie lubricus Anguem 
 Ludit, fubfiliens, et multo fibilat igne. 
 
 La^ritiam ingentem atque effufa hasc gaudia civir 
 Jam tandem fecurus agit, pofitoque timore 
 Exercet ventos, claffemque per ultima mundi 
 Impune educit, pelagoque licentius errat : 
 Sea conftricta gelu, mediifque horrentia Cancri 
 Menfibus arva videt ; feu turgida malit olenti 
 Tendere vela nota, qua thurea flamina mifcet 
 JEoijs, et placidis perfundit odoribus auras. 
 
 Vos animae illuflres heroum, umbraeque recentes^ 
 Quarum trunca jacent et adhuc ftillantia crudis 
 Corpora vulneribus, quibus haec optabilis orbi 
 Parta quies, nondum Nassovo abducite veflro 
 Fida fateilitia, at folitis ftipate catervis 
 Ductorem, et tenues circum diffundite turmas. 
 Tuque Maria, tuosnon unquam oblita Britannos, 
 O Diva, O. patiens magnum. expe&are maritum, 
 Ne terris Domi-mm invideas, quanquam amplius illun* 
 Detineant, longamque agitent fub vindice pacem. 
 
 Barometri Defcriptio. 
 
 OU A penetrat foflbr terra; caeca antra, metallo 
 Fcecunda informi, rudibufque nitentia venis ; 
 Dum ftupet occultas gazas, nummofque futuros, 
 Eruit argenti lacices, nitidumque liquoremj 
 Qui nvilio effufus prodic veitigia tra&u, 
 Nee terrain iigno revolubiiis imprimit udo, 
 Sed fraduiiparfim in globulos formam ufque rotundara 
 Servat, et in teretes lapfans fe coliigit orbes. 
 
 lncertum qua fit natura, an negligat ultra 
 Perficier, jubar et maturus inutile temnat; 
 An potius folis vis imperfecta relinquat 
 
 Argentum 
 
 - 
 
P O E M A T A. 305 
 
 Argentum male co&um, divitiafque fluentes : 
 Quicquid erit, magno fe jaclat nobilis ufu ; 
 Nee Deus efFalfit magis ?fpeftabilis olim, 
 Cum Danaen flavo circum pretiofus amiftu 
 Ambiit, et, gratam fuadente libidine formam, 
 Depluit irriguoliquefattum Numen in Auro. 
 
 Quin age, fume tubum fragilem, cui denfior aer 
 Exclufus ; fundo vitri fubfidat in imo 
 Argenti ftagnum ; ut pluvia impendente metallum, 
 Mobile defcendat, vel contra, ubi poftulat anlus, 
 Prodeat hinc liquor emergens, et rurfus inane 
 Occupet afcenfu, tubul unique excurrat inomnem. 
 
 Jam cceli faciem tempeitatdque futuras 
 Confcia lympha monet, brumamque et frigora narrat. 
 Nam quoties liquor infurgit, vitreoque canali 
 Sublatum nequeunt ripae cohibere priores ; 
 Turn laetos fperare dies licet, arva fatentur 
 ^Eflatem, et large difTufo lumine rident. 
 Sin fefe immodicum attollens Argentius humor, 
 Et nimium oppreflus, contendat ad ardua vitri, 
 Jam iitiunt herbas, jam fuccos flam ma fe races 
 Excoquit, et languent confumto prata virore. 
 
 Cum vero tenues nebulas fpiracula terras 
 Fundunt, et madidi fluitant iuper aequora fumi, 
 Pabula venture pi u viae ; turn fufile pondus 
 Inferiora petit ; nee certior Ardea ccelos 
 Indicat humentes, medias quando aetheris oras 
 Tranando, crafTa fruitur fublimius aura, 
 Difcutitet madidis rorantia nubila pennis. 
 Nunc guttae agglomerant, difperfas frigora flipant 
 Particulas, rarufque in nimbum cogitur humor : 
 Prata virent, fegetem fcecundis imbribus aether 
 Irrigat, et bibuias radici alimenta minillrat. 
 Quin ubi plus asquo defcendens uda metalli 
 Fundum ariiat, impatiens pluvial, metuenfque procellam, 
 Agricolas caveant ; non hoc impune colonus 
 Afpicit ; oite^idet mox fceta vaporibus aura 
 
 Colledas 
 
306 P O E MAT A. 
 
 Colleftas hyemes, tempeftatemque fonoram. 
 At licet Argentum mole incumbente levatum 
 Subfidat, penitufque imo fe condat in alveo, 
 Castera quaeque tament -, everfis flumina ripis 
 Expatiata ruunt, fpumantibus aeftuat undis 
 Diluvium, rapidique effufa licentia ponti. 
 
 Nulla tacet fecreta poli mirabile vitrum, 
 Quin varios cceli vultus et tempora prodit. 
 Ante refert, quando tenui velamine tutus 
 Incedes, quando fperabis frigidus ignem. 
 
 Augurro hoc fretus, quanquam atri nubila cceli- 
 Dirumpunt obfcura diem, pluviafque minantur ; 
 Machina fi neget, et fudum promittat apertum, 
 Audax carpat iter nimbo pendente viator; 
 Nee metuens imbrem, pofcentes Meflbr ariflas 
 Profternat : terras jam bruma incumbit inermis, 
 Frigoraque haud nocitura cadunt, feriuntque paratos. 
 
 IXTTMAIO-rEPANQMAXIA. 
 
 S I V E, 
 
 P R M L I U M 
 
 INTER 
 
 Pygmeos et Grues commiflum. 
 
 PEnnatas acies, et lamentabile bellum 
 Rygeadum refero : parvas tu, Mufa, cohortes 
 Inftrue ; tu gladios, mortemque minantia roftra, 
 OfFenfofque Grues, indignantefque pufillam 
 
 Militiam 
 
P O E M A T A. 307 
 
 Militiarm celebra; volucrumque hominumque tumultus. 
 
 Heroum ingentes animos et triilia bella 
 Pieridum labor exhaufit, verfuque fonoro 
 Juffit et aeterna numerorum affurgere pompa : 
 Quit le&os Graium juvenes, et torva tuentem 
 Thefea, quis pedibus velocem ignorat Achillem ? 
 Quern dura JEnex certamina, quern Gu lielmi 
 Gelta latent ? fratres Thebani, et flebile fatum. 
 Pompeii quern non delafiavere legentem ? 
 Primus ego inta&as acies, gracilemque tubrrum 
 Carmine depingam fonitum, nova cailra fecutus ; 
 Exiguofque canam pugiles, Gruibufque maligno* 
 Heroas, nigrifque ruentem e nubibus hoftem. 
 
 Qua fobs tepet ortu, primitiifque diei 
 India lasta rubet, medium inter inhofpita faxa 
 (Per placidam vallem, et paucis accefTu vireta) 
 Pygmeum quondam fteterat, dum fata fmebant, 
 Jmperium. Hinc varias vkzm excoluere per aites 
 Seduli, et afiiduo fervebant arva popello. 
 Nunc f\ quis dura evadat per faxa viator, 
 Defer tofque lares, et valles oflibus albas 
 Exiguis vidct, et veftigia parva ftupefcit. 
 Defolata tenet vi&rix impune volucris 
 Regna et fecuro crepitat Grus impruba nido. 
 Non fie, dum multos rletit infuperabilia annos 
 Parvula progenies ; turn, fi quis eominus ales 
 Congredi, et immixta; auderet fe credere pugna?, 
 Miles atrox aderat, fumptifque feroculus armis 
 Sternit humi volucrem moribundam, humerifque reportat 
 Ingentem praedam ; csefoque epulatur in hofte. 
 Sa?pe improvifas madtabat, fxpejuvabat 
 Diripere aut nidum, aut ulcifci in prole parentem. 
 Nempe larem quoties multa conflruxerat arte, 
 Aut uteri pofuilTet onus, volucremque futuram ; 
 Continuo vultu fpirans immane minaci 
 Omnia vaftaret miles, foetufque necarec 
 Immeritos, vitamque abrumperet imperfectam, 
 
 Cum 
 
308 P O E M A T A. 
 
 Cum tepido nondum maturuit hoilis in ovo. 
 
 Hinc caufse irarum, beila nine, fatalia belli, 
 Atque acies lethc intentse, volucrumque virumquc 
 Commifiae flrages, coniuiaque mortis imago. 
 Non tantos motus nee tarn mimorabile bellum, 
 Maeonius quondam fublimi carmine vates 
 Lufit ; ubi totam ftrepituque armifque paludem 
 Mifcuit : hie (vifu miferabile) corpora murum 
 Sparfa jacent juncis transfixa, hie gutture rauco 
 Rana dolet, pedibufque abfcifTo poplite ternis 
 Reptar humi, iolitis nee fefe faltibus efFert. 
 
 Jamque dies Pygmaeo aderat, quo tempore cadi 
 Pcenituit fcetus, intaclaque maluit ova. 
 Nam fuper his accenfa graves exarfit in iras 
 Grus ftomachans, omnefque fimul, quas Strimonis unda, 
 Aut itagnum Mareotidis, imi aut uda Cayitri 
 Prata tenent, adfunt ; Scythicaque excita palude, 
 Et conjurato volucris defcendit ab Iflro, 
 Stragefque immenfas et vulnera cogitat abfens, 
 Exacuitque ungues iclum meditata futurum, 
 Et roilrum parat acre, fugaeque accommodat alas. 
 Tantus amor belli, et vindidtse arredta cupido. 
 Ergo ubi ver nactus proprium, fufpenfusin alto 
 Aere concuflis exercitus obftrepitalis, 
 Temeque immenfos traclus, femotaque longe 
 ,/Equora defpiciunt, Boreamque et nubila tranant 
 Innumeri: crebrocircurrt ingens flucluat aether 
 Flamine, et affiduus mifcet ccelum omne tumultus. 
 
 Nee minor in terris motus, dum bella faceffit 
 Jmpiger, inftituitque agmen, firmatque phalangas, 
 Et furit areptis animofas homuncio telis: 
 Donee turma duas compofla excurrat in .alas, 
 Ordinibufque frequens, et marte inftrucla perito. 
 
 Jamque acies inter medias {efe arduus infert 
 Pygmeadum duclor, qui m jeftate verendus 
 Inceffuque gravis reliquos fupereminet onm.es 
 
 Mole 
 
P O E M A T A. 309 
 
 Mole gigantea, mediamque aflurgit in ulnam. 
 Torvior afpe&u (hoitilis nam infculpierat unguis 
 Ore cicatrices) vultuque oltentat honeita 
 Roftrorum figna, et crudos in peclore morfus. 
 Immortali odio, astern ifque exercuit iris 
 Alituum gentem, non ilium impune volucris 
 Aut ore, aut pedibus peteret confifus aduncis. 
 Fatalem quoties Gruibus diilrinxerat enfem, 
 Truncavitque alas, celerique fugam abftulit hofli ! 
 Quot fecit flrages ! quae nudis funera pullis 
 Intulit, heu ! quoties implevit Strymona fletu ? 
 
 Jamque procul ibnus auditur, piceamque volantum 
 Profpe&ant nubem beliumque hoilelque ferentem. 
 Crebrefcit tandem, atque oculis fe plurimus oftert 
 Ordinibus ftru&us variis exercitus ingens 
 Alituum, motiique eventilat aerapennis. 
 Turba polum replet, fpecieque immanis obumbrat 
 Agmina Pygmaeorum, etdenfa in nubibus hasret: 
 Nunc denfa, at patriis mox reddita rarior oris. 
 Belli ardent fludio Pygmaei, et lumine faevo 
 Sufpiciunt hoitem ; nee longum tempus, et ingens 
 Turba Gruum horrifico kie iuper agmina lapfu 
 Praecipitat gravis, et bellum fperantibus intert : 
 Fit fragor ; avulfae volitant circum aera pluma?, 
 Mox defefla iterum levibus fe:e eripit alis, 
 Et vires reparata iterum petit impete terras. 
 Armorum pendet fortuna : hie fixa volucris 
 Cufpide, fanguineo fefe furibunda rotatu 
 Torquet agens circum, roftrumque intendit in hoftem 
 Imbelle, et curvos in morte recolligit ungues. 
 Pygmaei hie ilillat lentus de vulnere fanguis, 
 Singultufque ciet crebros, pedibufque pufillis 
 Tundit humum, et moriens unguem execratur acutum, 
 ^Eftuat omne foium ftrepitu, tepidoque rubefcit 
 Sanguine, fparguntur gladii, fparguntur et alae, 
 Ungueique et digiti, commiftaque roftra lacertis. 
 
 Pyg- 
 
3io P O E M A T A. 
 
 Pygmeadum faevit, mediifque in millibus ardet 
 Duftor, quern late hinc atquehinc pereuntia cingunt 
 Corpora fufa Gruum ; mediaque in morte vagatur, 
 Nee plaufu alarum nee roftri concidit idtu. 
 Ille Gruum terror, ilium denfiffima circum 
 Milcetur pugna, et bellum omne laborat in uno : 
 Cum, fubito appulfus (fie Di voluere) tumultu 
 Ex inopino ingens et iormidabilis Ales 
 Comprendit pedibus pugnantem; et (trifle relatu) 
 Suftulit in ccelum ; bellator ab unguibus hasret 
 Pendulus, agglomerat ftrepitu globus undique denfus 
 Alituum ; fruftra Pygmaei lumine mcefto 
 Regem inter nubes lugent, folitoque minorem 
 Heroerh afpiciunt Gruibus plaudentibus efcam. 
 
 Jamque recrudefcit bellum, Grus defuper urget 
 Pygmaeam roftro, atque hoftem petit arduamorfu; 
 Turn fugit alta volans ; is furfum brachia jactat 
 Vulneris impatiens, et inanes faevit in auras 
 Talis erat bzlTi facies, cum Pelion ingens 
 Mitteret in ccelum Briareus, folioque Tonantem 
 Prscipitem excuteret ; fparguntur in adhere toto 
 Fulminaque fcopulique : flagrantia tela deorfum 
 Torquentur Jovis afta manu, dum vafta Gigamum 
 Corpora fufa jacent, femiuftaque fulphure fumant. 
 
 Viribus abfumptis penitus Pygmei tandem 
 Agmina languefcunt; ergo pars veitere terga 
 Horribili perculfa metu, pars tollere vocem 
 Exiguam ; late populus Cubitalis oberrat. 
 Inftant a tergo volucres, lacerantque trahuntque 
 Immitps, certae gentcm extirpnre nefandam. 
 
 Sic Pygmsea domus multos a dominata per annos, 
 Tot bellis defunda, Gvuum tot laqta triumphis, 
 Funditusinteriit : Nempe exitus omnia tandem 
 Certus Regna manet, funt certi denique fines, 
 Quos ultra tranfire nefas : fie corruit olim 
 Aflyriae Imperium, lie magnae Perfidis imis 
 Sedibus everfum eft, et majus utroque Latinum. 
 
 , Eljfu 
 
P O E M A T A. 311 
 
 Elyfii valles nunc agmine Iuilrat inani, 
 Et veterum Heroum mifceturgrandibus umbris 
 Plebs parva : aut, fi quid fidei mereatur anilis 
 Fabula, paftores per no&is opaca puiillas 
 Sa?pe vident umbras, Pygmaeos corpore crafibs. 
 Dum fecura Grimm, et veteres oblita labores, 
 Lsetitks penitus vacat, indulgetque choreis, 
 Angurtofque terit calles, viridefque per orbes 
 Turba levis falit, et lemurum cognomine gaudet. 
 
 RESURRECTIO delineata 
 Ad Altare Col. Magd. Oxon. 
 
 EGregios fuci tractus, calamique labores, 
 Surgentefque hominum formas, ardentiaque ora 
 Judicis, et iimulachra modis pallentia miris, 
 Terribilem vifu pompam, tu carmine Mufa 
 Pande novo, vatique iacros accende furores. 
 
 Oiim planitiem (quam nunc foecunda colorura 
 Infignit piclura) iiihonefto et fimplice cultu 
 Veftiit albedo, led ne rima ulla priorem 
 Agnofcat faciem, mox fundamenta futurx 
 Subflravit piftor tabular, humoremque fequacem 
 Per mures traxit ; velamine mcenia craflo 
 Squallent obducla, et rudioribus illita fucis. 
 
 Utque (polo nondum ftellis fulgentibus apto) 
 Ne fpatio moles immenfa dehifcat inani, 
 Per cavaccelorum, et convexa patentia late 
 Hinc atque hinc interfufus fluitaverat aether ; 
 Mox radiante novum torrebat lumine rnundum 
 Titan, et pallens alienos mitius ignes 
 Cynthia vibrabat; crebrisnunc confitus aflris 
 Scintillare polus, nunc fulgor lacleus omne 
 DifHuere in ccelum, longoque albefcere traclu. ' 
 
 Vol. I. P Sic 
 
3i2 P O E M A T A. 
 
 Sic, operis poftquam lufit primordia piftor, 
 Dum fordet paries, riullumque fatetur Apelltm, 
 Cautius exercet calamos, atque arte tenacem 
 Confundit vifcum, fuccofque attemperat, omnes 
 Indue it tandem formas; apparet ubique 
 Muta cohors, et pkturamm vulgus inane. 
 
 Alligeris muri vacat ora fuprema minillris, 
 Sparfaque per totam cceleftis turba tabellam 
 Raucos infpirat lituos, buccafque tumentes 
 Inflat, etattonitum replet clangonbus orbem. 
 Defuncftis fonus auditur, tabula mque per imam 
 Pieta grave fcit humus, terris emergit apertis 
 Progenies rediviva, et plurima furgit imago. 
 
 Sic, dum ftecondts Cadmus dat lemma fulcis, 
 Terra tumet praegnans, animataque glebalaborat, 
 X^uxuriatur ager fegete fpirante, calefcit 
 Omne folum, crefcitque virorum prodiga meffis. 
 
 Jam pulvis varias terra? difperfa per oras, 
 Sive inter venas teneri concreta metalli, 
 Se:ifim diriguit, feu lefe immifcuit herbis, 
 Explicita eft ; molem rurfus coalefcitin Gnam 
 Divifum funus, fparfos prior alligat artus 
 Junftura, aptanturque iterum coeuntia membra. 
 Hie nondum fpecie perfecla refurgit imago, 
 Vultum truncata, atque inhonefto vulnere nares 
 Manca, et adhuc deeft inform i de corpore multum. 
 Paulatim in rigidum hicvita infinuata cadaver 
 Motu segro vix dum redivivos erigit artus. 
 Inficit his horror vultus, et imagine tota 
 Fufa per attonitam pallet formido flguram. 
 
 Detrahe quin oculos fpedlator, et, ora nitentem 
 Si poterint perferre diem, medium infpice murum, 
 Qua fedet orta Deo proles, Deus ipfe, fereno 
 Lumine perfufus, radiifque infperfus acutis. 
 Circum tranquillae funduntur tempora flamma?, 
 Regius ore vigor fpirat, nitet ignis ocelli's, 
 
 Plurimaquc 
 
P O E M A T A. 313 
 
 Plurimaque effulget majeftas numine toto. 
 Quantum diffimilis, quantum o ! mutatus ab illo, 
 Qui peccata luit cruciatus non fua, vitam 
 Quando luclantem cunclata morte trahebat f 
 Sed fruftra voluit defun&um Golgotha numen 
 Condere, dum vifta fatorum lege triumphans 
 Nativum petiit caelum, et fuper asthera veftus 
 Defpexit lunam exiguam, folemque minorem. 
 Jam latuseffbflum, et paJmas oftendit utrafque, 
 Yulnufque infixum pede, clavorumque recepta 
 Sigin, et aanfa&i quondam veftigia ferri, 
 Umbras hue feliccs tendnnt, numerofaque ccelos 
 r rurba petunt, atquc immortalia dona capefiunt. 
 Matres, et longa; nunc reddita corpora vita: 
 Infantum, juvenes, pueri, innuptasque puella? 
 Stant circum, atque avidosjubar immortale bibentcs 
 Affigunt oculos in Numine ; laudibus rether 
 Intonat, et lasto ridet caelum omnc triumpho. 
 His amor impatiens conceptaque gaudia mentem 
 Funditus exagitant, imoque in pe&ore fervent. 
 Non aeque exultat flagranti cordc Sibylla, 
 Hofpite cum tumet inclnfo, et prascordia fenrit 
 Mota Dei ftimulis, nimioquc calentia Phcebo. 
 
 Quis tamen ille novus perftringit lumina fulgor ? 
 Qaam Mitra emgiem diftinxit pi&or, honefto 
 Surge ntem e tumulo, alatoque iatellite fukam ? 
 Agnofco faciem, vultu latet alter in illo 
 * Wainfletus, fie ille ocnlos, fie ora ferebat : 
 Eheu quando animi par invenietur imago ! 
 
 Quando alium fimilem virtus habitura !- — 
 
 Irati innocuas fecurus numinis iras 
 
 Afpicir, impavidofque in Judice figit ocellos. 
 
 Quin age, et horrentem commixtis igne tenebris 
 Jam videas fcenam ; multo hie ftagnantia fuco 
 Mcenia, flagrantem liquefadlo fulphure rivum 
 Fingunt, et falfus tan& arte accenditur ignis, 
 
 P 2 Ut 
 
 * Coll. Magd. fundator. 
 
3 i 4 P O EM AT A. 
 
 Ut toti metuas tabulae, ne flamma per omne 
 Livida ferpatopus, tenuefque abfumpta recedat 
 Pictura in cineres, propriis peritura favillis. 
 Hue turba infelix agitur, turpifque videri 
 Infrendet dentes, et rugis contrahitora, 
 Vindex a tergo implacabile faevit, et enfem 
 Fulmineum vibrans acie flagrante fceleilos 
 Jam Paradifeis iterum depellitab oris. 
 Heu ! quid agat triitis ? quo fe cceleftibus iris 
 Subtrahat ? o ! quantum vellet nunc aethere in alto 
 Virtutem colere ? at tandem fufpiria ducit 
 Neqnicquam, et fero in lachrymas efFunditur ; obftant 
 Soites non revocanda?, et inexorabile numen. 
 
 Quam varias aperit veneres piclura ! pcriti 
 Quot calami legimus veftigia ! quanta colorum 
 Gratia fe profert ! tales non dilcolor Iris 
 Oftendat, vario cum lumine floridus imber 
 Rore nitet toto, et gutta fcintillat in omni. 
 
 O fuci nitor, o pulchri d urate colores ! 
 Nee, piclura, tua? languefcat gloria forma?, 
 Dum lucem videas, qualem exprimis ipfa, fupremam. 
 
 SPHiERISTERIUM. 
 
 HI C, ubi graminea in latum kfe explicat asquor 
 Planities, vacuoque ingens patet area campo, 
 Cum folem nondum fumantia prata fatentur 
 Exortum, et tumida? pendent in gramine gutta?, 
 Tmproba falx noclis parva incrementa prions 
 Defecat, exiguam radens a cefpite meflem : 
 Turn motu affiduo faxum verfatile terrain 
 Deprimit extantem, et furgentes atterit herbas. 
 Lignea percurrunt vernantem turba palaeitram 
 Uncla, nitens oleo, forma? quibus efTe rotunda? 
 Artincis ferrum dederat, facilifque moveri. 
 
 Ne 
 
POEMATA, 315 
 
 Ne tamen ofFendant incauti errore globorum, 
 
 Quaeque fuis incifa notis flat fphicra ; fed unus 
 
 Hanc vult, qua: infufo multum inclinata metT.llo 
 
 Vertitur in gyros, et iniquo tramite currit ; 
 
 Quin alii diverfa placet, quam parcius urget 
 
 Plumbea vis, motuque finit procedere recto. 
 
 Poftquam ideo in partes turbam diftinxerat sequas 
 
 Confilium, aut fors ; quifque fuis accingitur armis. 
 
 Evolat orbiculus, quae curium meta futurum 
 
 Defignat ; ji&ique Icgens veftigia, primam, 
 
 Qui certamfen init, fphaeram demittit, at ilia 
 
 Eeniter cftufa, exiguum quod ducit in orbem, 
 
 Radititer, donee fenfim primo i m pet efeflb 
 
 Subfillat ; fubito globus cmicat alt jr et alter. 
 
 Mox ubi funduntur late agmina crebra minorem 
 
 Sparfa per orbicu'um, ftipantque frequentia metam, 
 
 Atnue nqgant raciles aditus ; jam cautiusexit, 
 Et leviter i'ek infinuat revolubile lignum. 
 At fi forte globum, qui miiit, fpe&at inertem 
 Scrpere, et impicflum fulito languefcere motum, 
 Pone urget fphaerae veftigia, et anxius inftat, 
 Ol-jurgaique moras, currentique imminet orbi. 
 Atque ut iegnis honos dextrae fervetur, iniquam 
 IncufaX terrain, ac furgentem in marmore nodum. 
 
 Nee riAiD tacu^re, globus cum volvitur actus 
 Infami jaclu, aut nimium veftigia plumbum 
 Allicit, et fphreram a recto trahit infita virtus. 
 Turn qui projecit, ftrepitus efrundit inanes, 
 Et, variam in fpecieln diftorto corpore, falfos 
 Jncrepat errores, et dat convitia ligno. 
 Sphaera fed, irarum temnens ludibria, cceptum 
 Pergit iter, nullifque movetur furda querelis. 
 
 Ilia tamen laudes fummumque meretur honorem, 
 Quae non dirumpit curfum, abfiftitque moveri, 
 Donee turbam inter crebram diiapfa fupremum 
 Perfecit ftadium, et metae inclinata recumbit. 
 Hoftis at ha^rentem orbiculo detrudere fphscram 
 
 P 3 Certat 
 
316 POEMATA, 
 
 Certat, Iuminibufque viam fignantibus omnes 
 Intcndic vires, et mifiile fortiter urgit : 
 Evolat adduclo non fegnis fphaera lacerto. 
 
 Haud ita profiliens Eleo carcere pernix 
 Auriga invehitur, cum raptus ab axe citato 
 Currentefque domos videt, et fugientia tecla. 
 
 Si tamen in duros, obftrudta fatellite multo, 
 Impingant focios, confundatque orbibus orbes, 
 Turn fervet bilis, fortunam damnat acerbam, 
 Atque Deos atque aura vocat crudelia.- 
 
 Si vero incurfus faciles, aditumque patentem 
 Inveniat, partoque hoftis fpolietur honore ; 
 Turba fremit confufa, fonifque frequentibus, euge, 
 Exclamant focii ; plaufu ftrepit omne viretum. 
 
 Interea fefibs inimico Sirius aftro 
 Corripit, et falfas exudant corpora guttas ; 
 Lenia jam zephyri fpirantes frigora, et umbrae 
 Captantur, vultuque fluens abitergitur humor. 
 
 A D 
 
 D. D. H A N N E S 
 
 INSIGNISSIMUM 
 
 Medicum & Poet a m. 
 
 OQui canoro blandius Orpheo 
 Vccale ducis carmen, et exitu 
 Feliciore lucluofis 
 
 Saspe animam revocas ab umbris, 
 Jam feu folutos in numerum pedes 
 Cogis, vel segrum et vix anims tenax 
 Corpus tueris, feu cadaver 
 Luminibus penetras acutis , 
 
 Opus 
 
 , 
 
POEMATA, [317 
 
 Opus relinquens eripe te moras, 
 Frontemque curis folicitam explica, 
 Scyphumque jucundus require 
 Purpureo gravidum Lyaso. 
 Nunc plena magni pocula poftules 
 Memor Wilhelm i, nunc moveat fitim 
 Minifter ingens, imperique 
 
 Prasfidium haud leve, Montacutus. 
 Omitte tandem triite negotium 
 Gravefque curas, heu nimium pius, 
 Nee carteros cautus mederi 
 Ipfe tuam minuas falutem. 
 Fruftra cruorem puliibus incitis 
 Ebullientem pollice comprimis, 
 Attentus explorare venam 
 
 Qua? febris exagitet tumentem : 
 Fruftra liquores quot Chymica expedit 
 Fornax, et error fanguinis, et vigor 
 Innatus herbis te fatigant , 
 Serius aut citius fepulchro 
 Debemur omnes, vitaque deferet 
 Expulfa morbis corpus in hofpitum, 
 Lentumque deflebunt nepotes 
 (Relliquias animse) cadaver. 
 Manes videbis, tu quoque fabulas, 
 Quos pauciores fecerit ars tua ; 
 Suumque vi&orem vicifiim 
 Subjiciet libitina vi&rix . 
 Decurrit illi vita beatior 
 Quicunque Iucem non nimis anxius 
 Reddit moleftam, urgetve curas 
 Sponte fua fatis ingruentes ; 
 Et quern dierum lene fluentium 
 Dele&at ordo, vitaque mutuis 
 Felix amicis, gaudiifque 
 Innocuis bene temperata, 
 
 Machinae 
 
318 P O E M A T A. 
 
 Machine Gefticulantes, 
 
 A N G L I C E 
 
 A PUPPET-SHOW. 
 
 ADmiranda cano levium fpedtacula rerum, 
 Exiguam gentem, et vacuum fine mente popellum; 
 Quern, non furreptis cceli de fornice Aim mis, 
 Innocua melior fabricaverat arte Prometheus. 
 
 Ccmpita qua rifu fervent, glomeratque tumultum 
 Hiltrio, deleclatque inhiantem fcommate turbam j 
 Quotquot laetkiae iludio aut novitate tenentar, 
 Undique congrem permifla fedilia complent. 
 Nee confufus honos ; nummo fubfellia cedunt 
 Diverfo, et varii ad pretium ilat copia fcamnf. 
 Tandem ubi fubtrahitur velamen, lumina paifim 
 Anguftos penetrant aditus, qua plurirha vifum 
 Fila fecant, ne, cum vacuo datur ore fenertra, 
 Pervia frauspateat ; mox itiidula turba penates 
 Ingreditur pidos, et maerjia fquallida fuco. 
 Hie humiles inter fcerras, anguftaque clauftra, 
 Quicquid agunt homines, concurfus, bella, triumphos, 
 Ludit in exiguo plebecula parva theatro. 
 
 Sed prater reliquos incedit Homuncio rauca 
 Voce ftrepens ; major fubnectit fibula vellem, 
 Et referunt vivos errantia lumina motus ; 
 In ventrem tumet immodicum ; pone eminet ingen3 
 A terro globus ; Pygmacum territat agmen 
 Major et immanem miratur turba Gigantem. 
 Hie magna fretus mole, imparibufque lacertis 
 Confifus, gracili jaclat convitia vulgo, 
 Et crebro folvit, lepidum caput, ora cachinno. 
 
 Quaa 
 
P O E M A T A. 319 
 
 Quanquam res agitur folenni feria pompa, 
 Spernit follicitum intraclabilis ille tumultum, 
 Et rifu importunus adeft, atque omnia turbat. 
 Nee raro invadit molles, piclamque protervo 
 Ore petit Nympham, invitoque dat ofcula ligno 
 
 Sed comitum vulgus diverfis membra fatigant 
 Ludis, et vario lafcivit mobile laltu. 
 
 Sacpe etiam gemmis rutila, et fpectabilis auro, 
 Lignea gens prodit, nitidifque fuperbit in oftris. 
 Nam, quoties feftam eclebrat fub imagine lucem, 
 Ordine compofito Nympharum incedit honeflum 
 Agmen, et exigui proceres, parvique quirites. 
 Pygmasos credas pofitis mitefcere bellis, 
 Jai'tiqus, ;nrenia Gruum temnentes pralia, tutos 
 Indulgere jocis, tenerifque vacare choreis. 
 
 Tales, cum medio labuntur fidera ccelo, 
 Parvi fubfiliunt Lemures, populufque pufillus 
 Feftivos, rediens fua per veftigia, gyros 
 Ducit, et angullum crebro pede pulfitat orbem. 
 Mane patent grefTus ; hinc fuccos terra feraces 
 Concipit, in multam pubentia gramma furgunt 
 Luxuriem, tenerifque virefcit cii cuius herbis. 
 
 At non tranquillas nulla abdunt nubila luces, 
 Saepe gravi furgunt bella, horrida bella, tumultu . 
 Arma cient truculenta cohors, placidamque quiete m 
 Dirumpunt pugna: ; ufque adeo infmcera voluptas 
 Omnibus, et mifta: caftigant gaudia curae. 
 Jam gladii, tubuliqueingeito fulphure feed, 
 Protenfaeque halta?, fulgentaique arma, minaeque 
 Telorum ingentes lubeunt , dant elauitra fragorem 
 Horrendum, ruptae ilridente bitumine chartae 
 Confufos reddunt crepitus, et fibila mifcent. 
 Sternitur omne folum pereuntibus ; undique caefce 
 Apparent turmao, civilis crimina belli. 
 
 Sed poilquam infanus pugnce deferbuit aeftus, 
 Exuerintque truces animos, jam Marte fugato, 
 Diverfas repetunt artes, curafque priores. 
 
 Nee 
 
320 POEMATA. 
 
 Nee raro prifd heroes, quos pagina facra 
 
 Suggerit, atqueolim peperit felicior aetas, 
 
 Hie parva redeunt fpecie. Cano ordine cernas 
 
 Antiques prodire, agmen venerabile, Patres. 
 
 Rugis fulcantur vultus, prolixaque barbze 
 
 Canities mento pendet : fie tarda feneclus 
 
 Tithonum minuit, cum moles totra cicada m 
 
 Induit, in gracilem fenfim collefta figuram. 
 
 1 Nunc tamen unde genus ducat, qua? dextra latentes 
 
 Suppeditet vires, quern pofcat turba moventem, 
 
 Expediam. Truneos opifex et inutile lignum" 
 
 Cogit in hum anas fpecies, et robore natam 
 
 Progeniem celo efrorraat, nexuque tenaci 
 
 Crura ligat pedibus, humerifque accommodat armos, 
 
 Et membris membra aptat, et artubus infuit artus. 
 
 Tunc habiles addit trochleas, quibas arte pufillum 
 
 Verfat onus, molique manu famuU||p inerti 
 
 Sufficit occultos motus, vocemque miniflrat. 
 
 His ftrucla auxiliis jam machina tota peritos 
 
 Oilendit fulcos, duri et vefligia ferri : 
 
 Hinc falit, atque agili fe fublevat incita motu,. 
 
 Vocefque emittit tenues, et non fua verba,. 
 
 Ad Infigniflimum Virum 
 
 D. THO. BURNETTUM, 
 
 Sacrae Theoriae Telluric Autorem. 
 
 NO N ufitatum carminis alitem, 
 Burnette, pofcis, non humiles modos : 
 Vulgare pleclrum, languidaeque 
 Refpuis officium camcenze. 
 Tu mixta rerum femina confeius, 
 Molemque cernis diflfociahilem, 
 
 Terram- 
 
POEMAT A. 321 
 
 Terramque concretam, et latcntem 
 Ocean um gremio capaci : 
 Dum veritatem querere pertinax 
 Jgnotapandis, follicitus parum 
 Utcunqueitet commune vulgi 
 Arbitrium et populnris en-or. 
 Auditor ingens continno iragor, 
 lllapfa tell us lubrica deferit 
 
 Fundamina, et compage fra&a 
 Suppolitas gravis urget undas. 
 Impulfus erumpit mcdius liquor, 
 Terras aquarum effufa licentia 
 Claudit vicilTnn , has inter orb:s 
 Reliiquias fluitant prioris. 
 Nunc et reclufo caret re lucidam 
 Bala?na fpeftat-folis imagi'nem, 
 Stellafque miratur natantes, 
 Ettremula: iimulacra lunae. 
 Qua; pempa vocum non imitabilisj 
 Qualis caleicit ipiritus ingeni! 
 Ut tollis undas ! ut frementem 
 Diluvii reprimis tumukum ! 
 Quis tarn valenti peclore ferreus 
 Ut non tremifcens et timido pede 
 Incedatorbis dum dolofi ^« 
 Detegis inftabiles ruinas ? 
 Quin hasc cadentum fragmina montium 
 Naturavultum fumere fimplicem 
 Coget refingens, in priorem 
 Mox iterum reditura formam. 
 Nimbis rubentem fulphureis Jovem 
 Cernas^ ut udis fevit atrox hyems 
 Incendiis, commune mundo 
 Et populis meditata buftum ! 
 Nudus liquentes plorat Athos nives, 
 Et mox liquefcens ipfe adamantinum 
 Fundit cacumen, dum per imas 
 
 Saxa 
 
322 P O E M A T A. 
 
 Saxa fluunt refoluta valles. 
 Jamque alta coeli mcenia corruunt, 
 Et veiha tandem pagina (proh nefas !) 
 Burnette, veftra augebit ignes, 
 Heu focio peritura mundo. 
 Moxacquatellus, mox fubitusviror 
 Ubique rident: En teretem globum ? 
 En lacta vernantis Fa von i 
 Flamina perpetuofque flores! 
 O pe&us ingens ; O animum gravem, 
 Mundi capacem ; fi bonus auguror, 
 Te, noftra quo tcllus fuperbit, 
 Accipiet renovata civem. 
 
 The End of the Firji Volume. 
 
I 
 
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