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No ruffling billows here affault the fhore,
Nor wint'ry floods with fwell'd ambition roar ;
But all, ferene and calm, is form'd to please,
And the smooth stream reflects the bord'ring

trees;

Hither no winds, but zephyrous breaths repair,
Soft as the fighs of love-fick virgins are!
Here fafety reigns, and on the filent brink,
Cud-chewing cattle watch their fleeting drink :
While fishes, conscious of no foes to fhun,
Turn up their fealy nofes to the fun.

[ftate,

[bred, Here, fick with grief, which Anna's abfence Augufta's genius hid her mournful head; And, with low accents, speaking inward pains, Thus to the gliding river fhe complains: When gentle fream to fhun the briny tide, Anon thy fea-met waves fhall backward glide; Then, gentle stream be kind, one moment stay, And, on thy furface, bear my fighs away; Tell the great miftrefs of this happy ifle, Augufta, ftript of joy, forgets to fmile. What though yon tow'ring fpires have ris'n in The city's genius feels an humbler fate. Shou'd art and nature toil to make me fair, Cou'd I tafte glory, and my queen not there? But, oh too fondly I to thee complain; Thou know'ft, unkindly know'ft, 'tis all in vain! Thy streams their eye-bewitching pleasures join, To raife thy Windfor's ftate to ruin mine! Windfor has other boasts, but help'd by thee, Grows proudly charming and out-rivals me. But turn fweet current! bid thy waters ftray, And guide their mazy bends fome other way. Strip the gay cottage of its boastful pride, Nor longer through th' imperious prospect glide. So to thy care this glory fhall remain, 'T' have given Augufta back her queen again. Grave Thamefis thrice fhook his dripping head, And flowly rifing from his oozy bed, While the hufh'd ftream with awful fmoothness He to the mournful genius thus began :

[ran,

Yon queen of cities ought to learn content;
Her gratitude fhou'd these complaints prevent.
Have I not rais'd her to an envy'd state?
Is the not rich, licentious, pow'rful, great?
And would the thus make every blifs her own?
And muft our Anna live for her alone.
Do not yon fun-beams with unwearied race,
Whelm their enliv'ning light from place to place?
Why, then, muft Britain's glory cease to move,
And blefs her world with her divided love?
Go, go, retire! your tears with pain I fee,
And this complaint renew'd fhall dang'rous be!
He faid, and gliding from her prefence went,
And fad Augufta ftrove, but could not be content.

TO THE UNKNOWN AUTHOR
Of the beautiful new Piece, called Pamela.

BLEST be thy pow'rful pen, whoe'er thou art,
Thou skill'd great moulder of the mafter'd heart!
Where haft thou lain conceal'd? or why thought
At this dire period to unveil thy wit?

O late befriended ife! had this broad blaze,
With earlier beamings blefs'd our fathers days,

fit,

The pilot radiance pointing out the fource, Whence public wealth derives its vital courfe; Each timely draught fome healing pow'r b shown,

Ere general gangreen blacken'd to the bone. But feft'ring now, beyond all fenfe of pain, 'Tis hopeless, and the helper's hand is vain.

Sweet Pamela! forever blooming maid! Thou dear enliv'ning (yet immortal) fhade! Why are thy virtues fcatter'd to the wind? Why are thy beauties flash'd upon the blind? What though thy flutt'ring sex might learn ins thee,

That merit forms a rank above degree? That pride, too conscious, falls from ev'ry dis While humble fweetness climbs beyond its sim What though religion, fmiling from thy eyes, Shows her plain pow'r, and charms without guife?

What though thy warmly-pleasing moral fchen: Gives livelier rapture than the loose can dream What though thou build'ft by thy persuasive 2 Maid, child, friend, mistress, mother, neighb

wife?

Though tafte like thine each void of time c Unfunk by spleen, unquicken'd by quadrille? What though 'tis thine, to blefs the lengther. hour,

Give permanence to joy, and ufe to pow'r? Lend late-felt blufhes to the vain and fmart, And squeeze cramp'd pity from the mifer's her What though 'tis thine, to hufh the marg breeze,

Teach liberty to tire, and chains to please? Thine though from stiffness to divest restraint, And to the charmer reconcile the faint. Though fmiles and tears obey thy moving k And paffion's ruffled empire waits thy will. Though thine the fancy'd fields of flow'ry w Thine art's whole pow'r in nature's langu

writ.

Thine to convey ftrong thought with modefa
And, copying converfe, teach its ftyle to pleas
Though thine each virtue that a God could le
Thine every help that every heart can mend:
'Tis thine in vain, thou wak'ft a dying land,
And lift'ft departed hope with fruitless hand.
Death has no cure-thou haft miftim'd thy m
Rome had her Goths-and all beyond was fam

ON CORINNA'S FIRST ATTEMPT IN
POETRY.

WITH eyes unbrib'd, by your enchanting view.
I trac'd impartial your foft numbers through.
Your loofe-drefs'd fancy in each sparkling line,
Gilds the gay current of your deep defign.
Your poem, frongly fine, and foftly bold,
Is filkworm's labour fpun with threads of gold.
Go on, bright maid! nor doubt the world's
plaufe;

Wit arm'd with looks, like yours the critic awes
Though years may knit and lengthen your fucce..
Think not your youth will your due praife

prels:

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Ev'n the broad fun, when first his glories rise, With ftruggling tincture, streaks the eastern fkies;

But foon, through heav'n's enlighten'd orbs, the conquering luftre flics.

THE VALENTINE.

WHY, be it fo! it matters not what name
Yon river bears, fince ftill it flows the fame.
Whate'er I call you, this l'in fure I feel,
No name can speak of you with half my zeal.
In vain, love's meaning, this or that we call,
The comprehenfive lover takes in all!
Yet fince to custom's bent we all incline,
You fhall, to please you, be my valentine.
And fince my charming trifler afks a gift,
The myftic value of this prefent fift.
Accept thefe gloves, and if they worthless seem,
Learn, thus, what pleas they bring for your e-
fteem.

Their spotless white preferr'd their choice to me,
As the best emblem of your chastity.

** Their smoothness may almoft the honour win,
To represent the velvet of your skin. [find,
Their fupplenefs, which join'd with strength, you
Is the juft fabric of your well mix'd mind.
The kid, that wore 'em, had fome faint pretence,
To be the type of your fweet innocence.
How then can I a fitter prefent choose?
Or you thefe emblematic gloves refuse.
One stronger reason, too, my fear has found;
Women, they fay, oft flight the breaft they wound.
And when dark abfence fhades us from their view,
They look not after us, but feek out new.
To fhun this fate these gloves your lover fends,
That you may have him at your fingers ends.

THE REVENGE.

HIGH on the fummit of a craggy rock,
Whofe harden'd fides refift the billows fhock;
Whose cliffy brow, mens eyes with horror view,
O'erlocking, proudly, land and ocean too :
There ftands a roomy cave by nature made,
To knit, in just embraces, light and shade:
Its fpacious mouth the fun's up-rifing greets,
Admits his luftre, but repels his heats!
No glaring gold on this rough portal fhines,
But creeping ivy round its entrance twines.
Wail-flow'rs, wild thyme, and juniper grow there,

And with their odorous influence feed the air.
Surrounding groves, at distance, graceful rife,
Shades for the little fongfters of the skies.
And near the cave, a torrent gufhing o'er,
Dashes the fea beneath with tributary roar.
Stretch'd on a bed of fresh-blown roses here,
Serene the region, and the profpect clear,
Refts, when grown weary by her fummer toil,
The wakeful genius of our happy isle.
Hence, her unbounded fight can trace the fhore,
And look high-posted the proud ocean o'er.
And hence, while hoftile winds grow hoarfe in
vain,
[main.
Guide fate her wide-watch'd Britons 'cross the
'Twas here of late, on an ill-fated day,

Now fwelling winds deficient fails to fil;
Now foft'ning tempefts with reductive skill,
Now with wide bleffings looks fhe through the isle,
And calls forth harvests with a fruitful smile.
Then t'wards Augufta's spires she loves to lean,
And guide ftray'd comforts to Augufta's queen.
But, whether tir'd with her long line of care,
Or lull'd to rest by the unacted air,

A riling languor o'er her fenfes creeps,
And in a fatal hour the guardian fleeps.

Now was the time the prompted Gallic foe
Cali'd out to ftrike a chance-invited blow,
With fhameful odds, in ftrength advanc'd to meet,
Th' unfearing convoys of a British fleet!
With deadly shock th' unequal fquadrons join,
And death-wing'd fires fly fwift from either line.
In jetty pomp black terrors force their way,
And fulph'rous fmoke puts out the eye of day.
Juft in the thunder of the growing fight,
The waking genius ftarted at the fight!
In fad furprise flie rolls her fparkling eyes,
Springs from her couch, and to the ocean flies!
Arriv'd, incumbent on the ruffled air,
She fees rude globes the floating foreft tear:
Her fons o'ermatch'd, like men untaught to yield,
Scud, unrefolv'd, about the watry field:
The fpacious feas with scatter'd vessels charg'd,
To double length the breaking line enlarg’d.
Averse to fly, nor deaf to safety's call,
They hang, like fcatt'ring clouds, about to fall.
But while the foe, encourag'd at his view,
Preffing triumphant on, would dare purfue;
Again united they the fight restore,

Again dart vengeance fiercer than before:
Again the big-mouth'd cannon rends the sky,
And the unconquer'd fuff'rers rush to die.

Thus, while the hunted panther spent with fight,.
Looks round diftreft, and meditates a flight;
If then prevented, he with fudden roar
Turns back, and dyes the field with hostile gore;
Difdaining life upon the fpears he flies,
And heap'd on piles of victims proudly dies.
All this the trembling nymph with grief beheld;
At length her care the victor's force repell'd;
Then wastes no time the ruin'd to deplore,
But guides the rich remainder safe to shore:
Thence to the cave with threat'ning transport flew,
Revolving what her hop'd revenge should do!
There, while de prefs'd with melancholy thought,
Her working fancy diff'rent projects taught,
From heav'n's bright orb a youth divinely fair,
With wings extended, cleav'd th' enlighten'd air;
Juft at the mourning charmer's feet he stay'd,
Look'd lovely on her, bow'd him low, and faid:

Mourn not this little lofs, nor blame thy fate;
Decreed revenge fhall on thy wishes wait:
Look up, bright maid! read Ramilies writ there,
And pay thyself large int'reft for this care!
He faid: and ftrait his wings their plumes advance,
And bear him glitt'ring through the wild expanfe;
The ravish'd nymph beholds his ftarry flight,
And fill'd with promis'd glory bleft the fight.
JOSTLING IN SNOWY WEATHER.
FORGIVE me, Chloris! nor my rudeness blame;
The awful nymph, o'ercharg'd with business, lay; Strange as it is, this frost has bred a flange !

Driv'n from your breast, I glow with new defire; And melt like ftraggling fnow that falls on fire. Had you been black you might have shunn'd this blow;

For diff'rent colours would each other show; But, oh! you're fair, and cold, and soft, and every way like fnow.

LIBERIA WATCH'D AT MIDNIGHT.
As from a window in the wane of night,
With ftarry views I feafted wand'ring fight,
I faw Liberia watch the rifing day,
Whofe luftre was to light her friend away!
That friend whofe kindred paffion ferv'd to prove
The promis'd ardour of her brother's love!
That brother's love, which though it meets regard,
Remains uncrown'd with the yet-hop'd reward!
As in fome overcast and dismal day,
We start to see the fun at once break way;
So, at that hour, to fee fuch charms advance,
When ghosts are said to rife, and fairies dance!
With more than ufual pleasure fill'd my fight,
And mix'd fome wonder with much more delight!
While arm in arm they trac'd the garden walk,
The love-hufi'd air hung lift'ning to their talk,
The dancing breeze which had till then been gay,
At their appearance figh'd and dy'd away.
As they drew near the moon more strongly fhone,
To view their brightness, not to boast her own.
A gen'ral ftillness feem'd to foothe their cares,
And nature's face grew fad, to fuit with theirs :
Shrill-barking Mopfy fmother'd her own joys,
Fearing to drown her mistress' charming voice:
Liberia spoke, but feem'd to speak in vain,
As if unable to describe her pain!

When grief is true, no words its force can paint;
A filent forrow far outfpeaks complaint!
A thousand leaves the deftin'd fifters took;
A thousand unfpoke meanings fill'd each look:
Oft they gaz'd upward to the dawning sky,
And curs'd th' expected hour for drawing nigh:
If now, thought I, fome gentle zephyr blew,
Thus fhould it whifper as it round her flew :
Think, fince your pitying foul does abfence hate,
Abfence from you must fharper pangs create !
Think, if to lofe the fifter gives you woes;
What lofing you the brother undergoes!
Who every night from your lov'd prefence fent,
Does long repeated abfences lament!
And if this parting does yourself displease,
Be taught by sympathy to give him ease.

TO LORD GEORGE GRAHAM;
On bis A&ion near Ofiend, on the 24th of June 1745.
'Twas finely tin'd: third Edward's brightest days
Had from fuch captains claim'd increase of praife,
But now, 'tis tenfold greatnefs thus to rife,
Where fenfe of vict'ry, loft in purse-craft lies!
Where war but pilfers, and but bags conteft;
And public honour is the public jeft.
At fuch a time, to dare the fneerer's joke;
To rush on danger when but foes provoke;
Unbrib'd by profit's impulfe, fight for bays,
And court no premium but his country's praise,

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'Tis prodigy! 'tis out of nature's road;
'Tis fcorn of prudence, and offence to mode.

Shake, Dunkirk and retract thy bold exter Doom'd to due duft, ftands each proud battleme Swell high, propitious furge, hide Tournay's fa And wash off infult, from our cow'rd campaig Look up, ye fea-driv'nghofts! whom pleas'd Tour Saw fink in fruitless fight, forgot tos foon! O'er the falt wave triumphant thunders hear, Hail the wifh'd vengeance that at last draws While France starts wide, and wonders wher

came,

Pale to her trembling genius point a Graham Tell her, 'tis his to feel his country's fire, Hold her paft fame in view to urge it highe To pour atonement o'er the pride of Gaul; Tell her, rewaking glory waits his call, Reclaim afferted ocean's queftion'd (way, And teach the doubtful nations to obey.

Say, pitying Heav'n, that sav'st a blund'ring Whom haft thou late infpir'd to lend us wap Blow, ye broad winds, expand his op'ning Tell us, whence rofe he? Do his country rig Born on thy bleaks, Albania! nurfe of king From gen'rous flock this gen'rous scion spring Prop of a crown when three loft kingdoms Son of thy foul, Montrofe! There, known, tow Far be the omen from thy filial fire, In every wreathe but death's tranfcend thy f Far from thy great forefather's fuff'rings ra For more than all his virtues lov'd and pras Down through time's tide transmit his length fame:

O born above his fate to lift his name.

Oh, Mallet this was he-fweet heav'n-fac Thy friend congratulates thy conscious joy: Pride of thy care, thou led'ft his earliest yo To court plain glory, white as robelefs truth, To fcorn dark lifts, which men diftinction a And climb, felf.finew'd-or not rife at all. Courage by nature his-thou taught 'ft him And innate warmth with polish'd brightneg Breath'd o'er his lift'ning heart reflection's b Thine, half the triumphs of his rifing fame! Gave him defire to know, with pow'r to ple And Britain's future flag fhall blefs thy name. IN A BLANK LEAF OF A BOOK SENT TO MIRANDA.

Go, happy book,———— Who, void of life, art from life's cares fo fret, Thou canft before my lovely charmer lie, Unfcorch'd by all the lightnings of her eye. Midt her infpiring touch thou canst remain, Taftelefs of pleasure, and fecure from pain: While abfent beauty breaks thy author's reft, And hope and fear by turns diftract his break. My angel mistress muft henceforth be thine, And I devote thy offerings to her shrine: On varied themes divert her wand'ring eye, As o'er thy honour'd leaves her glances By: But when her thoughts on fofter fubjects rove, And lead her where thy pages talk of love; Oh then, fo mindful of thy author be, To bid her in a whifper think on me.

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MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.

THE PROGRESS OF WIT;

A CAVEAT.

ONEFUL Alexis, on the Thames' fair fide,
The ladies play-thing and the mufes pride;
With merit popular, with wit polite,

afy though vain; and elegant though light :
Defiring, and deferving others praise,
oorly accepts a fame he ne'er repays;
nborn to cherish, fneakingly approves,

nd wants the foul to spread the worth he loves.
his to the juniors of his tribe gave pain,
or mean minds praise but to be prais'd again;
enceforth renouncing an ungracious Baal,
s altars fmoke not, and their off 'rings fail :
heat his fcorn had rais'd, his pride inflam'd;
ll what they worship'd first they next defam'd;
pos'd at length, from Pindus' top he roll'd,
hile infect witlings pleas'd, his fall behold,
d each cold-croaking Heliconian frog
aps fcornful, and beftrides th' anreigning log.
Far-fall'n Alexis, who fo ill afpir'd,
k of fuccefsiefs war, from wounds retir'd,
here, while in fleep, his forrows ebb'd away,
d hush'd in darknefs, indignation lay;
acy, fair miftrefs of the poet's mind,
ever changing, yet for ever kind;
to'er his dreams her formful radiance fhed,
d his rapt foul through heav'n's thin purlieus
led;

[flame.
ted befide the far-invading dame,
hofe fteeds, wind-footed, paw'd the lambent
gh as a widow'd lover's grief can climb,
r air-built chariot rofe, and hung fublime.
Unveiling, thence, the world's bleak waftes be-
low,

ey faw the fream of life beneath 'em flow;
n from the fable fea of birth it rofe,
a flow, filent, fullen, dread repofe :

", round th' emerging source that glimmer'd
pale,

untains of midnight darkness roll'd a veil :
ft, as the evolving furge fwell'd into day,

ick'ning it mov'd, and roar'd, and rush'd away.
Broad on the left from low oblivion's fhore,
ickfands and rocks reach'd half the current o'er:
cid, like truth, the treach'rous water fhone,
id o'er gay gilded fhoals ran tuneful on;
bbles of gem-like hue, with painted pride,
w'd through the wave, and burnt amid the tide;
intonly kind, the fan's enliv'ning beams

wer'd in light spangles on the dancing ftreams,
ile infect nations, gnats, and wafps, and flies,
ng'd in the rainbow's ever-changing dyes,
cathing their ftings, and fmiling like the fair,
opled the funshine, and adorn'd the air.
Lefs lively, on the right the ftreams deep flow,
ere no false colours mix'd their varied glow;
gawdy bottom catch'd the downcaft eye:
ove no flutt'ring infect wing'd the sky:
enely folems all-One equal whole
fh'd not upon the fenfe, but touch'd the foul:
tead of rocks green islands flourish'd here,
ent and fruitful as the full-grown year;

In place of flies, grave fwans of fnow-like hue,
Sweetly majestic in flow circles flew;
But though these ifles the diftant prospect cheer'd,
No bay, no port, no landing-place appear'd;
Kind birds alone gave entrance o'er the mound,
Nor from the ftream below was inlet found.

Then fancy thus-Fame's future regions these,
Where nothing furfeits, yet where all things pleafe;
Here memory stands fix'd while time runs on,
And worth blooms frefh when life itself is gone;
Danger keeps diftance, foften'd fpleen grows kind,
Ambition temperate, and love refin'd:
Nor pride nor jealousy can here annoy,
Nothing is ecftafy, though all is joy:
Peace without languor, labour void of pain,
Glory unenvied, and unflander'd gain.

Though diff'ring thus the ftreams unfocial fides,
Yet one broad gulf abforb'd the double tides;
From birth devolving, death's blind fea below,
Boundless, and formless, snatch'd the mingled flow;
Both rounding oceans backward feem'd to tend,
And vaft beneath their fable furges blend :
But far more frightful this!-whose dark pro-
found,

A depth eternal life wants line to found:
Unbottom'd fhade roll'd loofe, o'er fwallowed
light-

Fancy grew giddy, nor fuftain'd the fight:
But starting into fear, tranfpos'd remark,
Thick on the rifing ftream's emitted tide,
And fought the fource lefs dreadful, though as dark.
Millions of fhapeless bodies feem'd to glide;
Whofe breathing bulks to life and motion blown,
Shot into human forms completely grown;
Mix'd rank and sex sprung through the liquid jet,
But pouring outward, clear diftinction met;
Some wading naked, trode the flipp'ry plain,
Some cut the fluent wave-fome tir'd with pain,
Failing to float, or wade, neglected fell,
And funk unfnatch'd at in the troubled fwell:
Fortune, dark bustling pow'r, obfcurely feen,
To others, rifing happier and ferene,
Reach'd with blind bounty, and with hafty hand,
Thin boats and buoy'd 'em o'er the fhining fand:
Of diff'rent form thefe boats---a single oar
Diftinguish'd fome---fome wing'd their fides with

more:

Others, with oars and fails conjoin'd, made way, And mow'd the murm'ring furge with fweepy fway:

Push'd their check'd barks, and lab'ring, lagg'd While fome flow pole-men, o'er their toil reclin'd, behind.

While fome effay'd to crofs, and veering wide," Would with strong ftem the stubborn ftream

divide,

And flowly flanting, fought the filent fide;
Swift to the shelvy fhore light gallies flew,
As the fierce channel's rapid current drew,
'I'wixt rocks, and whirlpools, driv'n obliquely gay,
And through the fhoaly funfhine danc'd away.

Caught by a gulfy void that gloom❜d below,
Thefe from the current's fair defcending flow,
In-drawn at once by darkness swallow'd o'er,
Sunk from their funny fcene and rofe no more:

Still gap'd th' unclofing deep, o'er millions gone,
Yet ftill infatiate, hourly fwallow'd on!
Titles, diftinctions, forms, rufh mingled down,
Not levity itself wants weight to drown;
Gamesters, beaux, cafuifts, jinglers, jesters, drinkers,
Fox-hunters, politicians, and free-thinkers,
Prudes, devotees, coquets, grave, light, young, old,
In one mix'd night, the covering waves infold:
Swept from the noise they fought, to reft they
fhun'd,

They plunge for ever into death's profound;
While abler pilots, who refolv'd, stood o'er,
And edging broad, gain'd flow the safer shore :
Snatch'd from their finking feats, were borne to
land,

By watchful fwans, whofe wings the furface fann'd:
There, on green iflands reign'd, efcap'd from cares,
Lords of a blooming world, for ever theirs.

Wide o'er the fcene, Alexis winds his eye,
Swift as the progrefs of the gliders by;
A frange confufion rose---of all who past,
With earness emptiness and barren haste,
Few cross the flood, repugnant strove to steer,
Fewer had ftrength of oars to hold them near!
Tir'd by the current's ill-refifted force,

Or bulg'd by envious prows which crofs'd their courfe,

The boldeft keels, purfuing, or purfu'd,
Entangling and perplex'd, were loft in feud :
While others, heedlefs of their fleeping oars,
Drove in light negligence, nor fhun'd the fhores;
But pendant o'er the helm each fhoal explor'd,
And fnatch'd in tranfport, fhells and ftones on
board:

Or leaping wanton, catch'd the glittering prey,
That buzz'd and gambol'd in their sportive way.
Mean while, moft mournful of the motley fcene,
Cherish'd effect of pride, and food of fpleen!
Boat over boat deftructive paffage made,
And weeping pity mourn'd defective aid:
Sailing prefumers, preffing proudly on,

Bore down each envied rower who nearest shone,
The oar-wing'd veffel eye'd, with dumb difdain,
The creeping pole-man's flow-availing pain,
And lordly wanton, with invafive beak,
Sunk the faint ftruggler, criminally weak!
He too, in concert with fuperior hate,
Loth to exert lefs guilt than match'd his ftate,
Triumphant, in his turn, fought equal prey,
And, o'er the naked wader forc'd his way.

Alexis pondering in fufpended thought,
What meaning all thefe mazy mixtures taught,
Sudden a fhout, from every diftant fide,
Eddied the air, and broke the back'ning tide;
Acclamatory thoufands rofe alarm'd,

All eyes attracted, and each hearing charm'd;
Pointing in transport, all their helms forfook,
And on one object hung their length'ning look.
Down from the gloomy fource in fide-long float,
Proudly defcending, mov'd a glitt'ring boat:
Her filken fails a colour'd radiance threw,
And ting'd the funny beams through which they
flew;

While oars of filver dafh'd the wat'ry spray,
That rain'd in gemmy fhow'is, and dazzled day :

High on the painted ftern a youth appear'd,
Who rather happily than strongly fteer'd;
Faint and unftriking was his anguish'd mien,
Sadden'd by sickness, and o'ercast with spleen;
Yet, from his eyes, there beam'd a living light,
Keen and intent as a fir'd eagle's fight:
And from his voice, (for as he fail'd he fang)
Such magic founds of melting mufic sprung,
That the hufh'd heav'n all downward feem'da '
bend,

And, against nature, the charm'd earth afcend

Carelefs he took'd, yet heedful of his way, Broke the kind current's unobftru&ing (way, That kifs'd his oars, and haften'd to obey: Scarce was his course oblique, for each glad bar, That envious ftem'd all other's rival float, Fix'd and enchanted, when this youth drew Hung on his paffing notes, and help'd him x The mufes row'd him, and the graces care Trimm'd his light fails, and spread them to th In his boat's bottom, green-ey'd envy lay, And ferv'd as ballaft, while the clogg'd his w Down from her chariot, light-wing'd fancy fr And o'er him, loofe, her flarry mantle threw Pleasure, praife, beauty, 'twixt his fhrouds

gay,

And danc'd the measur'd moments foft away; Sportful as zephyrs, in his fmiles they ftrove, And the young loves forfook their mother's

Thus fortunate, thus favour'd, and thus b Luckily negligent, and aptly light; He touch'd no fhoal, fafe rounded every rock, Defpis'd all danger, and fuftain'd no fhock; Till to that calmer coaft approaching nigh, And gliding 'twixt green islands fafely high, Circles of hov'ring fwans with joyful note, Clapp'd their broad wings in triumph o'er hab Charm'd, that fo foon, he reach'd their folen Ere yet one third of the ftream's length war

Steering from ifle to ifle, with joyless awe Thin o'er each height, their white rob'd lar

faw,

Pleas'd, without tranfport, how the palms they h To hail his paffage near their filent shore: Cold and uncharm'd, he fought his fav'rite Immensely distant now, though late fo loud: All was ferene, the air was hufh'd around, The waters calm!-Loft ev'n his mufic's fou Back to the life, impatient looks he caft, And long'd for ev'ry shining infect paft; Distant he faw them, wings o'er wings difpar And in light chases thread the colour'd ray: Eager for thefe, contending pilots ftrove, And catch'd them, careless how their veffels Then with their trophies drefs'd each gaudy While humming drones, in fwarms, their for

hail;

Record paft leaps, foretel their next essays, And buz, melodious, in the fly-men's praife.

Warm'd and mifled, by this falfe fire of fam His beaming eyes with emulation flame; And have 1, recreant, thus renounc'd a field, Where baffled danger can fuch glory yield? Lives there a catch-fly of yon vent'rous prefs, More brave than I am? or, who fears them li

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