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And Ícave to ruffian bands their fleecy care.

SECANDER.

And oft as Spring renew'd the plains with flow'rs, | Far fly the fwains, like us, in deep defpair;
Breath'd his foft gales, and led the fragrant hours;
With fure return she sought the fylvan scene,
The breezy mountains, and the forefts green.
Her maids around her mov'd, a duteous band!
Each bore a crook all-rural in her hand:
Some fimple lay of flocks and herds they fung;
With joy the mountain and the foreft rung.

6

Be ev'ry youth like royal Abbas mov'd, And ev'ry Georgian maid like Abra loy'd!' And oft the royal lover left the care And thorns of state, attendant on the fair; Oft to the fhades and low-roof'd cots retir'd, Or fought the vale where firft his heart was fir'd: A ruffet mantle, like a fwain, he wore; And thought of crowns and busy courts no more. Be ev'ry youth like royal Abbas mov`d, And ev'ry Georgian maid like Abra lov'd!' Bleft was the life that royal Abbas led: Sweet was his love, and innocent his bed. What if in wealth the noble maid excel; The fimple fhepherd girl can love as well. Let those who rule on Perfia's jewell'd throne Be fam'd for love, and gentleft love alone; Or wreathe, like Abbas, full of fair renown, The lover's myrtle with the warrior's crown. O happy day's!' the maids around her fay; O hafte, profufe of bleffings, hafte away!

Be ev'ry youth like royal Abbas mov'd, • And ev'ry Georgian maid like Abra lov'd!'

ECLOGUE IV.

Agib and Secander; or, the Fugitives.

Scene, a Mountain in Circaffia.---Time, Midnight.

IN fair Circaffia, where, to love inclin'd, Each swain was bleft, for ev'ry maid was kind; At that still hour when awful midnight reigns, And none but wretches haunt the twilight plains; What time the moon had hung her lamp on high, And pass'd in radiance thro' the cloudless sky; Sad o'er the dews two brother thepherds fled, Where 'wild'ring fear and defp'rate forrow led: Faft as they prefs'd their flight, behind them lay Wide ravag'd plains, and valleys ftole away. Along the mountain's bending fide they ran; Till, faint and weak, Secander thus began:

SECANDER.

Oh ftay thee, Agib; for my fect deny, No longer friendly to my life, to fly. Friend of my heart, oh turn thee, and survey, Trace our fad flight thro' all its length of way! And first review that long-extended plain, And yon wide groves, already pafs'd with pain! Yon ragged cliff, whofe dang'rous path we tried And, laft, this lofty mountain's weary fide!

AGIB.

Weak as thou art, yet hapless muft thou know
The toils of flight, or fome feverer woe!
Still as I hafte, the Tartar fhouts behind,

And fhricks and forrows load the fadd'ning wind;
In rage of heart, with ruin in his hand,
He blafts our harvefts, and deforms our land.
Yon citron grove, whence first in fear we came,
Drops its fair honours to the conq'ring flame;

|

Unhappy land! whofe bleflings tempt the fword; In vain, unheard, thou call it thy Perfian lord! In vain thou court'ft him, helpless, to thine aid, To fhield the fhepherd, and protect the maid! Far off, in thoughtlefs indolence refign'd, Soft dreams of love and pleafure foothe his mind : Midft fair fultanas loft in idle joy,

No wars alarm him, and no fears annoy.

AGIB.

Have lent the monarch oft a cool retreat.
Yet thefe green hills, in fummer's fultry heat,
Sweet to the fight is Zabra's flow'ry plain,
And once by maids and fhepherds lov'd in vain!
No more the virgins fhall delight to ove
By Sargis' banks, or Irwan's fhady grove;
On Tarkie's mountain catch the cooling gale,
Or breathe the fweets of Aly's flow'ry vale;
Fair scenes! but, ah! no more with peace poffeft
With cafe alluring and with plenty bleft.
No more the fhepherds whit'ning tents appear,
Nor the kind products of a bounteous year;
No more the date, with fnowy bloffoms crown'd;
But Ruin fpreads her baleful fires around.

SECANDER.

In vain Circaffia boafts her fpicy groves, For ever fam'd for pure and happy loves: In vain the boasts her faircft of the fair, Their eyes blue languifh, and their golden hair. Thofe eyes in tears their fruitlefs grief muft fend; Thofe hairs the Tartar's cruel hand fhall rend.

AGIB.

Ye Georgian fwains, that pitcous learn from far
Circaffia's ruin, and the wafte of war;
Some weightier arms than crooks and staffs pre-
pare,

To fhield your harveft, and defend your fair;
The Turk and Tartar like designs purfue,
Fix'd to deftroy, and steadfast to undo.
Wild as his land, in native defarts bred,
By luft incited, or by malice led,

The villain Arab, as he prowls for prey,
Oft marks with blood and wafting flames the way;
Yet none fo cruel as the Tartar foc,

To death inur'd, and nurs'd in fcenes of woe.

He faid; when loud along the vale was heard A fhriller fhriek, and nearer fires appear'd: Th'affrighted thepherds, thro' the dews of night, Wide o'er the moon-light hills renew'd their flight.

$94. The Splendid Shilling. J. PHILLIPS.

Sing, heavenly Mufe!

Things unattempted yet in profe or rhyme;"
A Shilling, Breeches, and Chimeras dire.

HAPPY the man, who, void of cares and ftrife,
In filken or in leathern purfe retains
A Splendid Shilling. He nor hears with pain
New oyfters cried, nor fighs for cheerful ale:
But with his friends, when nightly mifts arife,

To Juniper's Magype, or Town Hall, repairs;
Where, mindful of the nymph whofe wanton eye
Transfix'd his foul, and kindled amorous flames,
Chloe or Phillis, he each circling glafs
Wisheth her health, and joy, and equal love.
Meanwhile he fmokes, and laughs at merry tale,
Or pun ambiguous, or conundrum quaint.
But I, whom griping penury furrounds,
And hunger, fure attendant upon want
With fcanty offals, and fmall acid tiff,
(Wretched repaft!) my meagre corfe fuftain:
Then folitary walk, or doze at home
In garret vile, and with a warming puff
Regale chill'd fingers; or, from tube as black
As winter chimney, or well-polifh'd jet,
Exhale Mundungus, ill-perfuming feent;
Not blacker tube, nor of a fhorter fize,
Smokes Cambro-Briton (vers'd in pedigree,
Sprung from Cadwallader and Arthur, kings
Full famous in romantic tale) when he
O'er many a craggy hill and barren cliff,
Upon a cargo of fard Ceftrian cheese,
High overshadowing rides, with a defign
To vend his wares, or at th' Arvonian mart,
Or Maridunum, or the ancient town
Yclep'd Brechinia, or where Vaga's fiream
Encircles Ariconium, fruitful foil!
Whence flow nectarcous wines, that well may vie
With Maffic, Setin, or renown'd Falern.

Thus, while my joylefs minutes tedious flow,
With looks demure, and filent pace, a Dun,
Horrible monster! hated by gods and men,
To my aerial citadel afcends:

With vocal heel thrice thund'ring at my gates,
With hideous accent thrice he calls; I know
The voice ill-boding, and the folemn found.
What should I do? or whither turn: Amaz'd,
Confounded, to the dark recefs I fly

Of wood-hole; ftraight my briftling hairs erect
Thro' fudden fear; a chilly fweat bedews
My fhudd'ring limbs, and (wonderful to tell!)
My tongue forgets her faculty of speech;
So horrible he feems! His faded brow
Entrench'd with many a frown, and conick beard,
And fpreading band, admir'd by modern faints,
Difaftrous acts forebode; in his right hand
Long fcrolls of paper folemnly be waves,
With characters and figures dire infcrib'd,
Grievous to mortal eyes (ye gods, avert
Such plagues from righteous men!). Behind him
Another monfter, not unlike himself,
Sullen of afpect, by the vulgar call'd
A Catchpole, whofe polluted hands the gods
With force incredible, and magic charms,
Erft have endued; if he his ample palm
Should haply on ill-fated fhoulder lay
Of debtor, ftraight his body, to the touch
Obfequious (as whilom knights were wont),
To fome enchanted caftle is convey'd,
Where gates impregnable, and coercive chains,
In durance ftrict detain him; till, in form
Of money, Pallas fets the captive free.

[ftalks

Beware, ye debtors! when ye walk beware, Be circumfpect: oft with infidious ken

This caitiff eyes your steps aloof; and oft
Lies perdue in a nook or gloomy cave,
Prompt to enchant fome inadvertent wretch
With his unhallow'd touch. So (poets fing)
Grimalkin, to domeftic vermin fworn
An everlafting foc, with watchful eye
Lies nightly brooding o'er a chinky gap,
Protending her fell claws, to thoughtless mice
Sure ruin. So her difembowell'd web
Arachne in a hall or kitchen fpreads,
Obvious to vagrant flies: fhe fecret stands
Within her woven cell; the humming prey,
Regardlefs of their fate, rush on the toils
Inextricable, nor will aught avail
Their arts, or arms, or thapes of lovely hue;
The wafp infidious, and the buzzing drone,
And butterfly, proud of expanded wings
Diftinct with gold, entangled in her fnares,
Ufelefs refiftance make: with eager ftrides,
She tow'ring flies to her expected spoils;
Then with evenom'd jaws the vital blood
Drinks of reluctant foes, and to her cave
Their bulky carcafes triumphant drags.

So pafs my days. But when nocturnal fhades
This world envelope, and th' inclement air
Perfuades men to repel benumbing frofts
With pleasant wines, and crackling blaze of wood;
Me, lonely fitting, nor the glimmering light
Of make-weight candle, nor the joycus talk
Of loving friceds, delights; dift cfs'd, forlorn,
Amidft the horrors of the tedious night,
Darkling I figh, and feed with difinal thoughts
My anxious mind; or fometimes mournful veria
Indite, and fing of groves and myrtle fhades,
Or dep'rate lady near a parling ftream,
Or lover pendent on a willow-tree.
Meanwhile I labour with eternal drought,
And reftlefs with, and rave; my parched throat
Finds no relief, nor heavy cyes repofe :
But if a flumber haply does invade
My weary limbs, my fancy's ftill awake,
Thoughtful of drink, and eager, in a dream,
Tipples imaginary pots of aie,

In vain: awake, I find the fettled thirst
Still goawing, and the pleasant phantom curse.
Thus do i live, from pleature quite debarr'd,
Nor taite the fruits that the fun's genial rays
Mature--john-apple, nor the downy peach,
Nor walnut in rough-furrow'd coat fecure,
Nor medlar fruit delicious in decay.
Afflictions great! yet greater still remain :
My galligafkins, that have long withstood
The winter's fury, and encroaching frofts,
By time fubdued (what will not time fubdue?)
A horrid chafin difclofe, with orifice
Wide, difcontinuous; at which the winds,
Eurus and Aufter, and the dreadful force
Of Boreas, that congeals the Cronian waves,
Tumultuous enter with dire chilling blafts,
Portending agues. Thus a well-fraught ship.
Long fail'd fecure, or thro' th' Ægean deep,
Or the Ionian, till cruifing near

The Lilybean fhore, with hideous crufh
On Scylla or Charybdis (dang'rous rocks)

Two noted alehoufes in Oxford, 1700.

She

She ftrikes rebounding; whence the shatter'd oak
So fierce a fhock unable to withstand,
Admits the fea; in at the gaping fide

Which madness titles Happiness. While the gay wretch to revels bears The pale remains of fighs and tears;

What only can be found in one.

The crowding waves guth with impetuous rage, And feeks in crowds, like her undone,
Refftlefs, overwhelming! Horrors feize
The mariners; death in their eyes appears;
They ftare, they rave, they pump, they fwear,
they pray:

(Vain efforts!) ftill the batt'ring waves rufh in,
Implacable; till, delug'd by the foam,
The fhip finks found ring in the vaft abyfs.

$95. An Epifle to a Lady. NUGENT. CLARINDA, dearly lov'd, attend

The counfels of a faithful friend;
Who, with the warmest wishes fraught,
Feels all, at leaft, that friendship ought!
But fince, by ruling Heaven's defign,
Another's fate fhall influence thine;
Oh may these lines for him prepare
A blifs which I would die to fhare!

Man may for wealth or glory roam,
But woman must be bleft at home;
To this fhould all her ftudies tend,
This her great object and her end.
Distaste unmingled pleasures bring,
And ufe can blunt Affliction's fting;
Hence perfect blifs no mortals know,
And few are plung'd in utter woe:
While Nature, arm'd against Defpair,
Gives pow'r to mend, or strength to bear;
And half the thought content may gain,
Which fpleen employs to purchafe pain.

Trace not the fair domeftic plan
From what you would, but what you can!
Nor, peevish, fpurn the feanty ftore,
Because you think you merit more!
Blifs ever differs in degree,

Thy fhare alone is meant for thee;
And thou fhouldft think, however small,
That fhare enough, for 'tis thy all :
Vain fcorn will aggravate diftrefs,
And only make that little lefs.

Admit whatever trifies come;
Units compofe the largest fum:
Oh tell them o'er, and fay how vain
Are those who form Ambition's train;
Which fwell the monarch's gorgeous state,
And bribe to ill the guilty great!

But thou, more bleft, more wife than thefe,
Shalt build up happiness on eafe.
Hail, fweet Content! where joy ferene
Gilds the mild foul's unruffled scene;
And, with blith Fancy's pencil wrought,
Spreads the white web of flowing thought;
Shines lovely in the cheerful face,

And clothes each charm with native grace;
Effufion pure of blifs fincere,
A vestment for a god to wear.

Far other ornaments compofe
The garb that shrouds diffembled woes,
Piec'd out with motley dyes and forts,
Freaks, whimfies, feftivals, and sports:
The troubled mind's fantastic drefs,

3'

But chief, my gentle friend! remove Far from thy couch feducing Love. Oh fhun the falfe magician's art, Nor truft thy yet unguarded heart! Charm'd by his fpcils fair Honour flies, And thoufand treach'rous phantoms rife; Where Guilt, in Beauty's ray beguiles, And Ruin lurks in Friendship's fmiles. Lo! where th' enchanted captive dreams Of warbling groves and purling ftreams; Of painted meads, of flow`rs that shed Their odours round her fragrant bed. Quick fhifts the fcene, the charm is loft, She wakes upon a defart coaft; No friendly hand to iend its aid, No guardian bow'r to spread its fhade; Expos'd to ev'ry chilling blaft, She treads th' inhospitable waste; And down the drear decline of life, Sinks a forlorn, difhonour'd wife. Neglect not thou the voice of Fame, But, clear from crime, be free from blame! Tho' all were innocence within, 'Tis guilt to wear the garb of fin; Virtue rejects the foul difguife : None merit praife who praife defpife. Slight not, in fupercilious ftrain, Long practis'd modes, as low or vain! The world will vindicate their caufe, And claim blind faith in Cuftom's laws. Safer with multitudes to ftray, Than tread alone a fairer way: To mingle with the erring throng, Than boldly speak ten millions wrong. Beware of the relentlefs train

Who forms adore, whom forms maintain!
Left prudes demure, or coxcombs loud,
Accufe thee to the partial crowd;
Foes who the laws of honour flight,
A judge who meafures guilt by fpite.
Behold the fage Aurelia ftand,
Difgrace and fame at her command;
As if Heaven's delegate defign'd,
Sole arbiter of all her kind.
Whether the try fome favour'd piece
By rules devis'd in ancient Greece;
Or whether, modern in her flight,
She tells what Paris thinks polite :
For, much her talents to advance,'
She ftudied Greece, and travell'd France;
There learn'd the happy art to please
With all the charms of labour'd eafe;
Thro' looks and nods, with meaning fraught,
To teach what he was never taught.
By her each latent fpring is feen;
The workings foul of fecret fpleen;
The guilt that fkulks in fair pretence;
Or folly veil'd in fpecious fenfe.
And much her righteous fpirit grieves,
When worthleffnefs the world deceives;

Whether

Whether the erring crowd commends
Some patriot fway'd by private ends;
Or hulband truft a faithlefs wife,
Secure, in ignorance, from ftrife.
Averfe fhe brings their deeds to view,
But juftice claims the rig'rous due;
Humanely anxious to produce
At least fome possible excuse.
Oh ne'er may virtue's dire difgrace
Prepare a triumph for the bafe!

Mere forms the fool implicit fway,
Which witlings with contempt furvey;
Blind folly no defect can fee,
Half wifdom views but one degree.
The wife remoter ufes reach,
Which judgment and experience teach,
Whoever would be pleas'd and please,
Muft do what others do with eafe.
Great precept, undefin'd by rule,
And only learn'd in Cuftom's school;
To no peculiar form confin'd,

It fpreads thro' all the human kind;
Beauty, and wit, and worth fupplies,
Yet graceful in the good and wife.
Rich with this gift, and none befide,
In Fashion's ftream how many glide
Secure from ev'ry mental woe,
From treach'rous friend or open foe;
From focial fympathy, that shares
The public lofs or private cares;
Whether the barb'rous foe invade,
Or Merit pine in Fortune's fhade.
Hence gentle Anna, ever gay,
The fame to-morrow as to-day,
Save where, perchance, when others weep,
Her cheek the decent forrow steep;
Save when, perhaps, a melting tale
O'er ev'ry tender breast prevail:

The good, the bad, the great, the small,
She likes, the loves, fhe honours all.
And yet, if fland'rous malice blame,
Patient the yields a fifter's fame.
Alike if fatire or if praise,
She fays whate'er the circle fays;
Implicit does whate'er they do,
Without one point in with or view.
Sure teft of others, faithful glafs,
Thro' which the various phantoms pafs.
Wide blank, unfeeling when alone;
No care, no joy, no thought her own.

Not thus fucceeds the peerlefs dame,
Who looks, and talks, and acts for fame;
Intent, fo wide her cares extend,
To make the univerfe her friend.
Now with the gay in frolics fhines,
Now reafons deep with deep divines.
With courtiers now extols the great,
With patriots fighs o'er Britain's fate.
Now breathes with zealots holy fires,
Now melts in lefs refin'd defires.
Doom'd to exceed in each degree,
Too wife, too weak, too proud, too free;
Too various for one fingle word,
The high fublime of deep abfurd.
While ev'ry talent nature grants
Jut fove to thew how much he wants.

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§ 96. Alexander's Feaft; or the Power of Music,
An Ode on St. Cecilia's Day. DRYDEN.
WAS at the royal feaft, for Perfia won,
By Philip's warlike fon:

'TW

Aloft in awful state

The godlike hero fate

On his imperial throne:

His valiant peers were plac'd around;

Their brows with rofes and with myrtle bound : So fhould defert in arms be crown'd.

The lovely Thais by his fide

Sat, like a blooming eastern bride,
In flow'r of youth and beauty's pride:
Happy, happy, happy pair;
None but the brave,

None but the brave,

None but the brave deferves the fair,

Timotheus, plac'd on high

Amid the tuneful quire,

With flying fingers touch'd the lyre;
The trembling notes afcend the fky,
And heavenly joys infpire,

The fong began from Jove;
Who left his blifsful feats above,
Such is the pow'r of mighty love!
A dragon's fiery form belyed the god:
Sublime on radiant fpheres he rode,

When he to fair Olympia prefs'd, And stamp'd an image of himself, a sqv'reign of the world.

The lift'ning crowd admire the lofty found;
A prefent deity, the vaulted roofs rebound:
With ravifh'd ears
The monarch hears,
Affumes the god,

Affects to nod,

And seems to shake the spheres.

The praife of Bacchus then the sweet musician fung;

Of Bacchus ever fair and ever young:
The jolly god in triumph comes;
Sound the trumpets, beat the drums;
Flush'd with a purple grace

He fhews his honeft face.

[comes!

Now give the hautboys breath; he comes, he
Bacchus ever fair and young
Drinking joys did first ordain:
Bacchus bleflings are a treafure,
Drinking is the foldier's pleature;

Rich

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The mafter faw the madnefs rife ;
His glowing cheeks, his ardent eyes;
And, while he heaven and earth defied,
Chang'd his hand, and check'd his pride.
He chofe a mournful mufe,
Soft pity to infuse :

He fung Darius great and good,
By too fevere a fate,
Fallin, fall'n, fall'n, fall'n,
Fall'n from his high estate,
And welt'ring in his blood;
Deferted at his utmost need
By thofe his former bounty fed,
On the bare earth expos'd he lies,
With not a friend to clofe his eyes.

With downcaft look the joylefs victor fate,
Revolving in his alter'd foul

The various turns of fate below;
And now and then a figh he ftole
And tears began to flow.

The mighty mafter fmil'd, to fee
That love was in the next degree:
'Twas but a kindred found to move;
For pity melts the mind to love.

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Softly fweet, in Lydian measures,
Soon he footh'd his foul to pleasures,
War he fung is toil and trouble;
Honour but an empty bubble;

Never ending, ftill beginning,
Fighting ftill, and still destroying

:

If the world be worth thy winning,
Think, oh think it worth enjoying!
Lovely Thais fits befide thee,

Take the good the gods provide thee.
The many rend the fkies with loud applaufe;
So love was crown'd, but mufic won the cause.
The prince, unable to conceal his pain,

Gaz'd on the fair

Who caus'd his care,

And figh'd and look'd, figh'd and look'd,
Sigh'd and look'd, and figh'd again:

At length, with love and wine at once opprefs'd,
The vanquish'd victor funk upon her breast.
Now ftrike the golden lyre again;
And louder yet, and yet a louder strain.
Break his bands of fleep asunder,

And roufe him, like a rattling peal of thunder.
Hark, hark, the horrid found
Has rais'd up his head,
As awak'd from the dead,
And amaz'd, he ftares around.
Revenge, revenge, Timotheus cries,
See the furies arife,

See the fnakes that they rear,
How they hifs in the air,

And the sparkles that flash from their eyes!
Behold a ghaftly band,
Each a torch in his hand,

Thefe are Grecian ghofts, that in battle were flain,

And unburied remain
Inglorious on the plain;
Give the vengeance due
To the valiant crew:

Behold how they tofs their torches on high,
How they point to the Perfian abodes,
And glitt'ring temples of their hoftile gods!
The Princes applaud, with a furious joy;
And the King feiz'd a flambeau, with zeal to
Thais led the way,
[destroy;

To light him to his prey,

And, like another Helen, fir'd another Troy.
Thus, long ago,

Ere heaving bellows learn'd to blow,

While organs yet were mute;

Timotheus to his breathing flute

And founding lyre

Could fwell the foul to rage, or kindle foft defire
At laft divine Cecilia came,
Inventrefs of the vocal frame;

The fweet enthufiaft, from her facred store,
Enlarg'd the former narrow bounds,
And added length to folemn founds,

With nature's mother-wit, and arts unknown be-
Let old Timotheus yield the prize, [fore.
Or both divide the crown;

He rais'd a mortal to the skies,
She drew an angel down.

$97. An Epifile, from Mr. Phillips to the Earl of
Dorfet. Copenhagen, March 9, 1709.

ROM frozen climes, and endless tracks of fnow,
From ftreams that northern winds forbid to

flow,

What present shall the Mufe to Dorset bring,
Or how, fo near the Pole, attempt to fing?
The hoary winter here conceals from fight
All pleafing objects that to verfe invite."
The hills and dales, and the delightful woods,
The flow'ry plains, and filver ftreaming floods,
By fnow difguis'd, in bright confufion lie,
And, with one dazzling wafte, fatigue the eye.

No gentle breathing breeze prepares the spring,
No birds within the defart region fing.
While rattling chariots o'er the occan fly.
The fhips, unmov'd, the boift'rous winds defy,
The vaft Leviathan wants room to play,
And fpout his waters in the face of day.
The ftarving wolves along the main fea prowl,
And to the moon in icy valleys howl.
For many a fhining league the level main
Here fpreads itself into a glaffy plain :
There folid billows, of enormous fize,
Alps of green ice, in wild diforder rife.
And yet but lately have I seen, e'en here,
The winter in a lovely drefs appear.
Ere yet the clouds let fall the treafur'd fnow,
Or winds begun thro' hazy skies to blow,
At ev'ning a keen caftern breeze arofe;
And the defcending rain unfullied froze.
Soon as the filent fhades of night withdrew,
The ruddy morn disclos'd at once to view

The

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