Plate II.

Vol.I. facing p-49

That not in Fancy's Maze he wanderd long but stoopd to Truth and moraliz'd his Song.

Ep. to D Arbuthnot.

WINDSOR-FOREST.

To the RIGHT HONOURABLE

GEORGE

Lord LANSDOWN.

THY foreft, Winfdor! and thy green retreats,

At once the Monarch's and the Mufe's feats,

Invite my lays. Be prefent, fylvan maids!
Unlock your fprings, and open all your fhades.
GRANVILLE commands; your aid, O Mufes, bring!
What Mufe for GRANVILLE can refufe to fing? 6
The Groves of Eden vanifh'd now fo long,
Live in description, and look green in fong:

VARIATION S.

VER. 3, etc. originally thus,

Chafte goddess of the woods

Nymphs of the vales, and Naïads of the floods,
Lead me thro'arching bow'rs, and glimm'ring glades.
Unlock your springs---

NOTES.

This Poem was written at two different times: the firft part of it, which relates to the country, in the year 1704, at the fame time with the Pastorals; the latter part was not added till the year 1713, in which it was published. P.

VER. 6.

IMITATION S.

neget quis carmina Gallo? Virg.

"

Thefe, were my breast inspir'd with equal flame,
Like them in beauty, fhould be like in fame.

Here hills and vales, the woodland and the plain,

Here earth and water seem to strive again;

Not Chaos-like together crufh'd and bruis'd,
But, as the world, harmoniously confus'd:
Where order in variety we see,

10

15

20

And where, tho' all things differ, all agree.
Here waving groves a chequer'd scene display,
And part admit, and part exclude the day;
As fome coy nymph her lover's warm address
Nor quite indulges, nor can quite repress.
There, interfpers'd in lawns and op'ning glades,
Thin trees arife that fhun each other's fhades.
Here in full light the ruffet plains extend:
There wrapt in clouds the blueish hills afcend.
Ev'n the wild heath displays her purple dyes,
And 'midft the defert fruitful fields arife,
That crown'd with tufted trees and springing corn,
Like verdant ifles the fable waste adorn.

Let India boat her plants, nor envy we

25

The weeping amber or the balmy tree,

30

While by our oaks the precious loads are born,
And realms commanded which thofe trees adorn,

VARIATIONS.

VER: 25 Originally thus ;

Why should I fing our better funs or air,
Whofe vital draughts prevent the leach's care,
While thro' fresh fields th' enliv'ning odours breathe,
Or fpread with vernal blooms the purple heath? P.

Not proud Olympus yields a nobler fight,

Tho' Gods affembled grace his tow'ring height,
Than what more humble mountains offer here, 30
Where, in their bleffings, all thofe Gods appear.
See Pan with flocks, with fruits Pomona crown'd;
Here blushing Flora paints th' enamel'd ground,
Here Ceres' gifts in waving prospect stand,
And nodding tempt the joyful reaper's hand;
Rich Industry fits smiling on the plains,
And peace and plenty tell, a STUART reigns.
Not thus the land appear'd in ages past,
A dreary desert, and a gloomy waste,
To favage beasts and savage laws a prey,

40

45

And kings more furious and severe than they ;
Who claim'd the fkies, difpeopled air and floods,
The lonely lords of empty wilds and woods:
Cities laid wafte, they ftorm'd the dens and caves,
(For wifer brutes were backward to be flaves,) 50

VARIATIONS.

VER. 49. Originally thus in the MS.

From towns laid waste, to dens and caves they ran (For who first stoop'd to be a slave was man.)

NOTES.

VER. 33. Not proud Olympus, etc.] Sir J. Denham, in his Cooper's Hill, had said,

Than which a nobler weight no mountain bears,
But Atlas only, which supports the spheres.

The comparison is childish, as the taking it from fabulous hiftory destroys the compliment. Our Poet has fhewn more judgment: he has made a manly use of as fabulous a circumftance by the artful application of the mythology.

What could be free, when lawless beasts obey'd,
And ev❜n the elements a Tyrant fway'd?

In vain kind seasons fwell'd the teeming grain,
Soft fhow'rs diftill'd, and funs grew warm in vain ;
The swain with tears his fruftrate labour yields,
And famifh'd dies amidst his ripen'd fields.
What wonder then, a beaft or fubject flain
Were equal crimes in a defpotic reign?

55

Both doom'd alike, for fportive Tyrants bled,
But while the subject starv'd, the beaft was fed. 60
Proud Nimrod firft the bloody chace began,
A mighty hunter, and his prey was man :

Our haughty Norman boafts that barb'rous name,
And makes his trembling flaves the royal game.
The fields are ravifh'd from th' induftrious fwains, 65
From men their cities, and from Gods their fanes:

VER. 57, etc.

VARIATIONS.

No wonder favages or fubjects flain

But fubjects ftarv'd, while savages were fed.

It was originally thus, but the word favagès is not properly applied to beasts but to men; which occafioned the alteration. P.

NOTES.

Where, in their bleffings, all thofe Gods appear, etc. Making the nobility of the hills of Windfor-forest to confift in fupporting the inhabitants in plenty.

VER. 45. favage laws.] The Foreft Laws..

VER. 65. The fields are ravished, etc.] Alluding to the deftruction made in the New Foreft, and the Tyrannies exercised there by William I. P.

IMITATIONS.

V. 65. The fields were ravish'd from th' indufirious fwains, From men their cities, and from Gods their fanes:]