At Heaven's all-powerful edict is prepar'd,
And fenc'd around with an immortal guard.
Tribes, provinces, dominions, worlds, o'erflow
The might plain, and deluge all below:
And every age and nation pours along;
Nimrod and Bourbon mingle in the throng;
Adam falutes his youngest fon; no fign
Of all thofe ages which their births disjoin.
How empty learning, and how vain is art,
But as it mends the life, and guides the heart!
What volumes have been fwell'd,what time been
To fix a hero's birthday, or defcent? [fpent,
What joy must it now yield, what rapture raise,
To fee the glorious race of ancient days?
To greet thofe worthies who perhaps have ftood
Illuftrious on record before the flood?
Alas! a nearer care your foul demands:
Cæfar unnoted in your prefence stands.
How vaft the concourfe! not in number more
The waves that break on the refounding fhore,
The leaves that tremble in the fhady grove,
The lamps that gild the fpangled vaults above;
Thofe overwhelming armies, whofe command
Said to one empire, fall; another, stand;
Whofe rear lay wrapt in night, while breaking
Rous'd the broad front, and call'dthe battle on;
GreatXerxes'worldin arms,proud Canna's field,
Where Carthagetaught victorious Rome to yield,
(Another blow had broke the Fates decree,
And earth had wanted her fourth monarchy.)
Immortal Blenheim, fam'd Ramillia's hoft,
They all are here, and here they all are loft:
Their millions fwell to be difcern'd in vain,
Loft as a billow in th' unbounded main.
I fee, on an empyreal flying throne
Sublimely rais'd, Heaven's everlasting Son
Crown'dwiththat majeftywhichform'dthew
And the grand rebel flaming downward hu
Virtue, dominion, praife, omnipotence,
Support the train of their triumphant Prin
A zone, beyond the thought of angels brig
Around him, like the zodiac, winds its lig
Night fhades the folemn arches of his brow
And in his cheek the purple morning glov
Where'er ferene he turns propitious eyes,
Or we expect, or find, a paradife :
But if refentment reddens their mild beam
The Eden kindles, and the world's in flan
On one hand, knowledge thines in purett
On one, the fword of juftice, fiercely brigh
Now bend the knee in fport, prefent the re
Now tell the fcourg'd Impoftor he fhall ble
Thus glorious, thro' the courts of heaver
Of life and death eternal bends hiscourse; [fo
Loudthunders roundhimroll,andlightnings
Th' angelic hoft is rang'd in bright array;
Some touch the ftring, fome strike the foun
And mingling voices in rich concert (well, [
Voices feraphic! bieft with such a strain,
Could Satan hear, he were a god again.
Triumphant King of Glory! Soul of b What a ftupendous turn of fate is this! O! whither art thou rais'd above the fcorn And indigence of him in Bethlem born; A needlefs, helplefs, unaccounted gueft, And but a fecond to the fodder`d beast! Howchang'dfrom him, who meekly proftrate Vouchfaf'd to wash the feet himself had m From him who was betray'd, forfook, den Wept,languifh'd, pray'd, bled, thirited, gro and died;
And was 't enough to bid the Sun retire Why did not Nature at thy groan expire? I fee, I hear, I feel, the pangs divine; The world is vanith'd-I am wholly thine
This echoing voice now rends the yielding air:
"Forjudgment,judgment, fonsof men,prepare!,
Earth thakes anew, I hear her groans profound, Hung, pierc'd and bare, infulted by the for
And hell thro' all her trembling realms refound. Allheavenintearsabove,earthunconcern'dhe
Whoe'erthou art, thou greateft pow'r of earth.
Bleft with most equal planets at thy birth,
Whofe valour drew the most fuccefsful fword,
Moft realms united in one common lord;
Who on the day of triumph, faid'ft, Be thine
The fkies, Jehovah, all this world is mine;
Dare not to lift thine eye-Alas, my mufe!
Howart thouloft! what numberscanftthouchoofe?
A fudden blush inflames the waving sky,
And now the crimson curtains open fly;
Lo! far within, and far above all height,
Where heaven's great Sov`reign reigns in worlds
Miftaken Caiaphas! ah! which blafphen Thou or thypris 'her? which fhall be condem Well might it thou rend thy garments, well Deep are the horrors of eternal flame! [cia But God is good! 'tis wond'rous all! ev'r Thou gav ft todeath, fhame,torture, diedfor
Now the defcending triumph ftops its flig From earth full twice a planetary height. There all the clouds condens'd two column: Distinct with orient veins and golden blaze One fix'd on earth, and one in fea; and rou
Whence nature He informs, and with one ray
Shot from his eye, does all her works furvey,
Creates,fupports,confounds!wheretimeandplace, Its ample foot the fwelling billows found.
Matter, and form, and fortune, life, and grace,
Wait humbly at the footstool of their God,
And move obedient at his awful nod;
Whence he beholds us vagrant emmets crawl
At random on this air-fufpended ball
(Speck of creation!): if he pour one breath,
The bubble breaks, and 'tis eternal death.
Thence iffuing I behold (but mortal fight
Sultains not fuch a rufhing fea of light!
Thefe an immeafurable arch fupport.
The grand tribunal of this awful court.
Sheets of bright azure form the purest ly
Stream from the crystal arch, and round the
lumns fly.
Death, wrapt in chains, low at the bafis lie
And on the piont of his own arrow dies.
Here high enthron'dth'eternal Judge is pl
With all the grandeur of his Godhead grad
Stances robes in beauteous order meet,
Aada barns beneath his awful feet.
Na archangel eminently bright,
his filver staff of wond'rous height, falls the Christian flag, which waving flies, And hits and opens more than half the skies: The Coub fo thong a red, it sheds a stain Where it outs, on earth, and air, and main; Flobere bill, and fets on fire the wood, Aas the deep-dyed ocean into blood.
Thy pleasure points theshaft and bends the bow,
The cluster blafts or bids it brightly glow:
Tis thou that lead 'ft our pow'rful armies forth,
And giv't great Annethy fceptre o'erthe north.
"Grant I may ever, at the morning ray,
Open with pray'r the confecrated day;
Tune thy great praise, and bid my foul arife,
And with the mounting fun afcend the fkies!
As that advances, let my zeal improve,
And glow with ardour of confummate love;
Nor ceafe at eve, but with the fetting fun
My endless worship thall be ftill begun.
ble Glory! dreadful bright! torture to the guilty fight! Anwary muie, nor dare reveal Wad thoughts with the polluted dwell. (to make the Sun fhrink in his beam) Det affirm, they with it all a dream; War their fouls may with their limbs decay, God be build of his eternal fway. Br, if thou know'it the means, unfold By with transport might the fcene behold. A but by Repentance-by a mind 2nd fevere its own offence to find? B and groans, and never-ceafing care, Abe pious violence of pray`r? e, with fervency till now unknown, heart before th' eternal throne, at temple, which the skies furround, to its Lord a narrow bound: [weigh, TA! whofe balance does the mountains W the wild tumultuous feas obey, W breath can turn thofe wat'ry worlds to Te to tempeft, and that tempeft tame; ret fon,all trembling, proitrate falls, Abounties of thy goodness calls. rewinds all paft offence to fweep, or bury in the deep : I preknefs, may I ever fee, Acante my foul to thee! Bo's wet my mul; my paffions ebb and flow And, nor human motive know! Ian, let anger be my praife, As the graceful indignation raise.
be warm to fuccour the diftrefs'd, the burien from the foul opprefs'd. By underftanding ever read
"And, oh, permit the gloom of foleinn night
To facred thought may forcibly invite.
When this world's thut, and awful planets rife,
Call on our minds, and raife them to the fkies.
Compofe our fouls with a lefs dazzling fight,
And fhew all nature in a milder light;
How ev'ry boilt'rous thought in calms fubfides;
How the imooth'dipirit into goodness glides!
O how divine, to tread the milky way
To the bright palace of the Lord of day!
His court admire, or for his favour fue,
Or leagues of friendship with his faints renew!
Pleas'd to look down, and fee the world afleep,
While I long vigils to its Founder keep ![troul,
volume, which thy wifdom made! was the maiden Spring with flow rypride? Worth Summerlike a (parkling bride? the mother Autumn's bed to crown? As old Winter lay her honours down? great Ottoman, or greater Czar, rope's arbitreis of peace and war. and land, and earth and heav`n be join'd, Igth'eternal Author to my mind! Wans roar, or awful thunders roll, Mughts of thy dread vengeance thake my foul l Weth's in bloom, or planets proudlyfhine, Ale, my heart, the Majefty divine!
lev'ry fcene of life, or peace, or war, Paty, or want, thy glory be my care! lewe in arms or fing beneath our vine? Ianen the vintage, and the conquest thine:
"Canft thou not shake the centre? Oh con-
Subdue by force, the rebel in my foul!
Thou, who canft ftill the raging of the flood,
Restrain the various tumults of my blood;
Teach me, with equal firmness, to fustain
Alluring pleasure, and aflauiting pain.
O may I pant for Thee in each defire,
And with strong faith foment the holy fire!
Stretch out my foul in hope, and grasp the prize
Which in Eternity's deep bofom lies!
At the great day of recompence behold,
Devoid of fear, the fatal book unfold!
Then, wafted upwards to to the blissful feat,
From age to age my grateful fong repeat;
My Light, my Life, my God, my Saviour fee,
And rival angels in the praife of Thee!"
Fables for the Female Sex. Moore.
$310. FARLE I. The Eagle and the
Affembly of Birds.
To her Royal Highnefs the Princess of Wales.
THE moral lay, to beauty due,
I write, Fair Excellence, to you;
Well pleas'd to hope my vacant hours
Have been employ'd to sweeten yours.
Truth under fiction I impart,
To weed out folly from the heart,
And thew the paths that lead aftray
The wand'ring nymph from wisdom's way,
I flatter none. The great and good
Are by their actions understood;
Your monument, if actions raife,
Shall I deface by idle praife?
I echo not the voice of Fame;
That dwelis delighted on your name:
Her friendly tale, however true,
Were flatt'ry, if I told it you.
M 2
The proud, the envious, and the vain,
The jilt, the prude, demand my ftrain;
To thefe, detefting praife, I write,
And vent in charity my fpite:
With friendly hand I hold the glafs
To all, promifcuous, as they pafs :
Should folly there her likeness view,
I fret not that the mirror's true:
If the fantastic form offend,
I made it not, but would amend.
Virtue, in ev'ry clime and age,
Spurns at the folly-foothing page;
While fatire, that offends the ear,
Of vice and paffion, pleases her.
Premifing this, your anger spare;
And claim the fable you who dare.
The birds in place, by fictions press'd,
To Jupiter their pray'rs addrefs'd':
By fpecious lyes the state was vex'd,
Their counfels libellers perplex'd;
They begg'd (to ftop feditious tongues)
A gracious hearing of their wrongs.
Jove grants the fuit. The Eagle fate
Decider of the grand debate.
The Pye, to truft and pow'r preferr'd,
Demands permiffion to be heard.
Says he, prolixity of phrase
You know I hate. This libel fays,
"Some birds there are, who, prone to noise,
Are hir'd to filence wifdom's voice;
And skill'd, to chatter out the hour,
Rife by their emptinefs to pow'r."
That this is aim'd direct at me,
No doubt you'll readily agree;
Yet well this fage assembly knows,
By parts to government I rofe.
My prudent counfels prop the ftate;
Magpies were never known to prate.
The Kite rofe up. His honeft heart
In virtue's fufferings bore a part.
That there were birds of prey he knew:
So far the libeller faid true:
"Voracious, bold, to rapine prone,
Who knew no int'reft but their own;
Who hov'ring oe'r the farmer's yard,
Nor pigeon, chick, or duckling fpar'd."
This might be true; but, if applied
To him, in troth, the flanderer lyed.
Since ign'rance then might be misled,
Such things, he thought, were beft unfaid.
The Crow was vex'd. As yefter-morn
He flew across the new fown corn,
A fcreaming boy was fet for pay,
He knew, to drive the crows away;
Scandal had found him out in turn,
And buzz'd abroad that crows love corn.
The Owl arofe with folemn face,
And thus harangu'd upon the cafe.
That magpies prate, it may be true;
A kite may be voracious too;
Crows fometimes deal in new-fown pease;
He libels not, who ftrikes at thele:
The flander's here-" But there are birds,
Whose wisdom lies in looks not words;
Blund'rers, who level in the dark,
And always fhoot befide the mark."
He names not me; but these are hints,
Which manifeft at whom he fquints,
I were indeed that blund'ring fowl,
To queftion if he meant an owl.
Ye wretches, hence! the Eagle cries,
'Tis confcience, confcience that applies;
The virtuous mind takes no alarm,
Secur'd by innocence from harm;
While Guilt, and his affociate Fear,
Are ftartled at the paffing air.
§ 311. FABLE II. The Panther, the Ho
and other Beafts.
THE man who feeks to win the fair
(So cuftom fays) must truth forbear;
Muft fawn and flatter, cringe and lye,
And raife the goddefs to the fky.
For truth is hateful to her ear;
A rudeness which the cannot bear.
A rudeness! Yes, I fpeak my thoughts;
For truth upbraids her with her faults.
How wretched, Chloe, then am I,
Who love you and yet cannot lye?
And ftill, to make you lefs my friend,
I ftrive your errors to amend!
But fhall the fenfeless fop impart
The fofteft paffion to your heart;
While he, who tells you honest truth;
And points to happiness your youth,
Determines, by his care, his lot,
And lives neglected and forgot?
Truft me, my dear, with greater ease,
Your fafte for flatt'ry I could please;
And fimiles in each dull line,
Like glow-worms in the dark, fhould fhine
What if I fay your lips difclofe
The freshness of the op'ning rofe?
Or that your cheeks are beds of flow'rs,
Enripen'd by refreshing show'rs?
Yet certain as thefe flow'rs fhall fade,
Time ev'ry beauty will invade.
The butterfty of various hue,
More than the flow'r refembles you;
Fair, flutt'ring, fickle, busy thing,
To pleasure ever on the wing,
Gaily coqnetting for an hour,
To die, and ne'er be thought of more.
Would you the bloom of youth should la
'Tis virtue that must bind it fast;
An eafy carriage, wholly free
From four referves or levity;
Good-natur'd mirth, an open heart,
And looks unfkill'd in any art;
Humility enough to own"
The frailties which a friend makes known,
And decent pride enough to know
The worth that virtue can bestow.
Thefe are the charms which ne'er decay, Though youth and beauty fade away; And time, which all things elfe removes, Still heightens virtue, and improves,
Ya" frown, and afk, To what intent That addrefs to you is fent?
are the question, and confess if I lov'd you lefs.
, be angry, or complain,
I be rade while you are vain.
Beneath a lion's peaceful reign,
When beats met friendly on the plain,
A Panther of majestic port
(The varet female of the court)
Wed kin, and eyes of fire,
Edy bofom with desire.
We the mov'd, a fervile crowd
ing creatures cring'd and bow'd:
Aeaev'ry week she held
(Letern belles) with coxcombs fill'd;
Where le, and nonfenfe, and grimace,
Ages, and fcandal, fill'd the place.
the gay fantastic thing
Eed by the fpacious ring!
Long, with important look,
A rack, the Monkey spoke:
Gike me, madam! but I swear,
ever look'd fo fair:
rudeness, but I vow
quite divine till now;
Difmifs the train of fops and fools,
And learn to live by wifdom's rules:
Such beauties might the lion warm,
Did not your folly break the charm;
For who would court that lovely shape,
To be the rival of an ape?
He faid, and fnorting in difdain,
Spurn'd at the crowd, and fought the plain.
$312. FABLE III. The Nightingale and
Glow-worm.
THE prudent nymph, whofe cheeks difclofe
The lily and the blushing rofe,
From public view her charms will screen,
And rarely in the crowd be feen;
This fimple truth fhall keep her wife-
"The faireft fruits attract the flies."
One night a Glow-worm, proud and vain,
Contemplating her glitt'ring train,
Cried, Sure there never was in nature
So elegant, fo fine a creature.
All other infects that I fee,
The frugal ant, induftrious bee,
Or filk-worm, with contempt I view;
With all that low, mechanic crew,
that shape! and then thofe eyes! Who fervilely their lives employ
the gazer dies!"
, for goodnets hufh,
angry at this rate;
Batry, which I hate.
deeper cunning vers'd,
of her mind rehears'd,
- knowledge, taite, and sense,
er have valt pretence!
Yes them always vain
htte not to attain ;
ningly his part,
To pag maldin his art.
Ite Gaow'd his am'rous flame, And for what he durft not name; Yerodomeeting in the wood Me his meaning understood. Ey at the bold addrefs,
4, but yet the must confefs es might inflame his blood, his phrale was fomewhat rude. Hog her neatnefs much admir'd; Tai Afs her fwiftness fir'd:
to feed her folly strove, Aeir praifes thar'd her love.
In bus'nefs, enemy to joy.
Mean, vulger herd! ye are my scorn;
For grandeur only I was born,
Or fure am fprung from race divine
And plac'd on earth to live and shine.
Thofe lights that fparkle fo on high,
Are but the glow-worms of the sky;
And kings on earth their gems admire,
Because they imitate my fire.
She fpoke. Attentive on a fpray,
A Nightingale forbore his lay;
He faw the fhining morfel near,
And flew, directed by the glare;
Awhile he gaz'd with sober look,
And thus the trembling prey bespoke:
Deluded fool, with pride elate!
Know, 'tis thy beauty brings thy fate:
Lefs dazzling, long thou mightst have lain
Unheeded on the velvet plain:
Pride, foon or late, degraded mourns,
And beauty wrecks whom the adorns.
§ 313. FABLE IV. Hymen and Death. SIXTEEN, d'ye fay? Nay then 'tis time; Another year deftroys your prime.
Hrie, whofe gen'rous heart difdain'dBut by fervile flatt'ry gain'd, Wtful courage filence broke,
with indignation broke:
Watt ring monkeys fawn and prate,
The Ay raife contempt or hate;
It's turn'd to ridicule,
Apaaded by the grinning fool.
fox your wit commends,
are you to his felfifh ends; -the vile flatt'rer turn away, Takao make friendships to betray.
ftay-the fettlement? That's made."
Why then 's my fimple girl afraid?
Yet hold a moment, if you can,
And heedfully the fable fcan.
The fhades were fled, the morning blufh'd,
The winds were in their caverns hush'd,
When Hymen, penfive and fedate,
Held o'er the fields his mufing gait.
Behind him, thro' the green-wood fhade,
Death's meagre form the god furvey'd;
Who quickly, with gigantic ftride,
Outwent his pace, and join'd his fide.
The chat on various fubjects ran,
Till angry Hymen thus began:
Relentless Death! whofe iron fway
Mortais reluctant muft obey,
Still of thy pow'r fhall I complain,
And thy too partial hand arraign?
When Cupid brings a pair of hearts,
All over fuck with equal darts,
Thy cruel thafts my hopes deride,
And cut the knot that Hymen tie
Shall not the bloody and the bold,
The mifer hearding up his gold,
The harlot rocking from the few,
Alone thy fell revenge purfue?
But muit the g ntle and the kind
Thy fury, undiftinguith'd, find?
The monarch calmly thus replied:
Weigh weil the cause, and then decide.
That friend of yours you lately nam'd,
Conid alone, is to be blam'd;
Then let the charge be justly laid:
The idle boy neglects his trade,
And by one in twenty years
A complc to your temple bears.
The wrethe, whom your office blends,
Senus not, or Placus fends;
Hiace cae, and bitterness, and ftrife,
Are commca to the nuptial life.
Deutve ve! more than all mankind Your votries my compaflion find. Yet crel am I call'd, and bafe, Who teek the wretched to releafe; The captive from his bonds to free, Indiffoluble but for me. 'Tis I entice him to the yoke; By me your crowded altars fmoke: For mortais boldly dare the nuofe, Secure that Death will fet them loofe.
§314. WHY, Cælia, is your spreading waist So loufe, fo negligently lac'd? Why mouth the wrapping bed- -gown hide Your thowy bofom's fwelling pride? How ill that dreis adorns your head, Dittain`d and rumpled from the bed! Thefe clouds that faade your blooming face A little water might difplace, As Nature ev'ry morn bestows The cryftal dew to cleanse the rofe. Thofe treffes, as the raven black, That wav'd in ringlets down your back, Uncomb`d, and injur'd by neglect, Deltroy the face which once they deck'd. Whence this forgetfulness of diels? Pray, Medum, are you married?—Yes. Nay. then indeed the wonder ceases; No matter now how loofe your dreis is; The end is won, your fortune's made; Your fate now may take the trade.
The Poet and his Patron,
Alas! what pity 'tis to find
This fault in nalf the temale kind!
From hence proceed avertion, ftrife,
And all that fours the wedded life.
Beauty can only point the dart,
"Tis neatnefs guides it to the heart;
Let neatnefs then and beauty ftrive
To keep a wav'ring flame alive.
'Tis harder far (you 'll find it true)
To keep the conqueft, than fubdue;
Admit us once behind the fcreen,
What is there farther to be feen?
A newer face may raise the flame,
But ev'ry woman is the fame.
Then tudy chiefly to improve
The charm that fix'd your husband's love.
Weigh well his humour. Was it dress
That gave your beauty pow'r to blefs?
Purfue it ftill; be neater feen;
'Tis always frugal to be clean;
So fhall you keep alive defire,
And time's iwift wing fhall fan the fire.
In garret high (as itories fay)
A Poet fung his tuneful lay;
So foft, fo fmooth, his verfe you'd swear
Apollo and the Mules there:
Thro' all the town his praifes rung;
His fonnets at the playhoufe fungs
High waving o'er his lab'ring head,
The goddefs Want her pinions fpread,
And with poetic fury fir'd
What Phoebus faintly had infpir'd.
A noble youth, of taite and wit,
Approv'd the sprightly things he writ,
And fought him in his cobweb dome,
Discharged his rent, and brought him home.
Behold him at the ftately board!
Who but the Poet and my Lord!
Each day deliciously he dines,
And greedy quafts the gen rous wines;
His fides were plump, his fkin was fleek,
And plenty winton'd on his cheek;
Altenith'd at the change fo new,
Away
th' infpiring goddefs flew.
Now, dropt for politics and news,
Neglected lay the drooping mufe,
Uninindful whence his fortune came,
He filled the poetic flame;
Nor tale, nor fonnet, for my lady,
Lampoon, nor epigram, was ready.
With just contempt his Patron faw
(Refolv'd his bounty to withdraw);
And fhus, with anger in his look,
The late-repenting fool befpoke:
Bind to the good that courts thee grown Whence has the fun of favour fhone? Delighted with thy tuneful art, Esteem was growing in my heart; But idly thou reject the charm That gave it birth, and kept it warm. Unthinking fools alone defpife The arts that taught them firit to rife.
$315. FABLE VI. The Wolf, the Sheep
and the Lamb.
DUTY demands, the parent's voice
Should fanctify the daughter's choice:
In that is due obedience thewn;
To choofe, belongs to her alone.
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