Transported demi-gods ftood round, Each chief his fev'n-fold fhield display'd, And feas, and rocks, and fkies rebound! IV.. But when thro' all th' infernal bounds,, Love, ftrong as Death, the Poet led What founds were heard, O'er all the dreary coasts!' Dreadful gleams, Fires that glow, Shrieks of woe,, Sullen moans, Hollow groans, And cries of tortur'd ghosts! But hark! he ftrikes the golden lyre ;: Thy ftone, O Sifyphus, ftands ftill, And the pale spectres dance! The furies fink upon their iron beds, And snakes, uncurl'd, hang lift'ning round their heads. V. By the ftreams that ever flow, He fung, and Hell confented And gave him back the fair. Thus fong could prevail O'er death, and o'er hell, A conqueft how hard and how glorious? With Styx nine times round her, VI. But foon, too foon, the lover turns his eyes Now Now under hanging mountains, Befide the falls of fountains, Or where Hebrus wanders, Rolling in meanders, All alone, Unheard, unknown, He makes his moan; He trembles, he glows, Amidst Rhodope's fnows: See, wild as the winds, o'er the defert he flies Hark! Hæmus refounds with the Bacchanals cries Ah fee, he dies! Yet ev'n in death Eurydice he fung, Eurydice ftill trembled on his tongue, Eurydice the woods, Eurydice the floods, Eurydice the rocks and hollow mountains rung.. VII. Mufic the fierceft grief can charm, And fate's feverest rage difarm: Mufic can foften pain to ease, And make defpair and madness please: And antedate the blifs above. This the divine Cecilia found, And to her Maker's praise confin'd the found. And Angels lean from heav'n to hear. THE THE SHEPHERD's WEEK.. IN SIX PASTORAL S. These are Mr. Gay's principal performance. They were originally intended, I fuppofe, as a bur lefque on those of Philips; but, perhaps without designing it, he has hit the true spirit of paftoral poetry. In fact, he more resembles Theocritus than any other English paftoral writer whatsoever. There runs through the whole a strain of ruftic pleasantry which should ever distinguish this fpecies of compofition; but how far the antiquated expreffions used here may contribute to the humour, I will not determine; for my own part, I could wish the fimplicity were preserved,. without recurring to fuch obfolete antiquity for the manner of expreffing it. MONDAY; |