Page images
PDF
EPUB

The beft, in fome unguarded hour,

Have bow'd the knee, and own'd her pow'r;
Then let the poet not reveal
What candour wishes to conceal.

If I beheld some faulty fair,

Much worse delinquents crowded there:
Prelates in facred lawn I faw,
Grave phyfic, and loquacious law;
Courtiers, like fummer flies, abound;
And hungry poets fwarm around.
But now my partial story ends,
And makes my females full amends.

If Albion's ifle fuch dreams fulfils,
'Tis Albion's ifle which cures thefe ills:
Fertile of ev'ry worth and grace
Which warm the heart and flufh the face.
Fancy difclos'd a finiling train
Of British nymphs, that tripp'd the plain.
Good-nature, first, a fylvan queen,
Attir'd in robes of cheerful green :
A fair and finiling virgin fhe!
With ev'ry charm that fhines in thee.
Prudence affum'd the chief command,
And bore a mirror in her hand;
Grey was the matron's head by age,
Her mind by long experience fage;
Of ev'ry diftant ill afraid,

And anxious for the fimp'ring maid.
The Graces danc'd before the fair;
And white-rob'd Innocence was there.
The trees with golden fruits were crown'd,
And rifing flow'rs adorn'd the ground;
The fun difplay'd each brighter ray,
And fhone in all the pride of day:

When Slander ficken'd at the fight,
And skulk'd away to shun the light.

EAR, ye

HE

§ 213. Vifion II. Pleasure. fair mothers of our ifle, Nor fcorn your Poct's homely ftyle. What tho' my thoughts be quaint or new, I'll warrant that my doctrine's true : Or, if my fentiments be old, Remember, truth is fterling gold.

You judge it of important weight
To keep your rifing offspring ftraight;
For this fuch anxious moments feel,
And ask the friendly aids of steel;
For this import the diftant cane,
Or flay the monarch of the main.
And fhall the foul be warp'd afide
By paffion, prejudice, and pride ?
Deformity of heart I call
The worlt deformity of all.
Your cares to body are confin'd
Few fear obliquity of mind.
Why not adorn the better part?
This is a nobler theme for art.
For what is form, or what is face,
But the foul's index, or its cafe?

Now take a fimile at hand,
Compare the mental foil to land.

[ocr errors]

Shall fields be till'd with annual care,
And minds lie fallow ev'ry year?
O, fince the crop depends on you,
Give them the culture which is due:
Hoe ev'ry weed, and drefs the foil,
So harveft fhall repay your toil.

If human minds refemble trees
(As ev'ry moralift agrees)
Prune all the stragglers of your vine,
Then fhall the purple clusters shine.
The gard❜ner knows, that fruitful life
Demands his falutary knife:

For ev'ry wild luxuriant shoot,

Or robs the bloom, or starves the fruit. A fatirift, in Roman times,

When Rome, like Britain, groan'd with crimes,
Afferts it for a facred truth,

That pleafures are the bane of youth;
That forrows fuch pursuits attend,
Or fuch pursuits in forrows end,
That all the wild advent'rer gains
Are perils, penitence, and pains.
Approve, ye fair, the Roman page,
And bid your fons revere the fage;
In ftudy fpend their midnight oil,
And ftring their nerves by manly toil.
Thus fhall they grow, like Temple, wife;
Thus future Lockes and Newtons rife;
Or hardy chiefs to wield the lance,
And fave us from the chains of France.
Yes, bid your fons betimes forego

Those treach'rous paths where pleasures grow;
Where the young mind is Folly's slave;
Where ev'ry virtue finds a grave.

Let each bright character be nam'd
For wisdom, or for valour fam'd:
Are the dear youths to fcience prone,
Tell how th'immortal Bacon fhone!
Who, leaving meaner joys to kings,
Soar'd high on contemplation's wings;
Rang'd the fair fields of nature o'er,
Where never mortal trod before :
Bacon! whofe vaft, capacious plan
Bespoke him angel, more than man!

Does love of martial fame inspire,
Cherish, ye fair, the gen'rous fire;
Teach them to fpurn inglorious rest,
And roufe the hero in their breaft:
Paint Creffy's vanquifh'd field anew,
Their fouls fhall kindle at the view;
Refolv'd to conquer or to fall,
When liberty and Britain call.
Thus fhall they rule the crimson plain,
Or hurl their thunders thro' the main ;
Gain with their blood, nor grudge the coft,
What their degen'rate fires have loft :
The laurel thus fhall grace their brow,
As Churchill's once, or Warren's now.
One fummer's evening, as I ftray'd
Along the filent moon-light glade,
With those reflections in my breast,
Beneath an oak I funk to reft ;

* Perfius.

A gentle

A gentle flumber intervenes,
And fancy drefs'd inftructive fcenes.
Methought a fpacious road I fpy'd,
And ftately trees adorn'd its fide;
Frequented by a giddy crowd
Of thoughtless mortals, vain and loud;
Who tripp'd with jocund heel along,
And bade me join their fmiling throng.

I ftraight obey'd-perfuafion hung
Like honey on the speaker's tongue :
A cloudlefs fun improv'd the day,
And pinks and rofes ftrew'd our way.
Now as our journey we pursue,
A beauteous fabric rofe to view;
A ftately dome, and fweetly grac'd
With ev'ry ornament of taste.
This ftructure was a female's claim,
And Pleafure was the monarch's name.

The hall we enter'd uncontrol'd,
And faw the queen enthron'd on gold:
Arabian fweets perfum'd the ground,
And laughing Cupids flutter'd round;
A flowing veft adorn'd the fair,
And flow'ry chaplets wreath'd her hair.
Fraud taught the queen a thousand wiles,
A thoufand foft infidious fimiles;
Love taught her lifping tongue to fpeak,
And form'd the dimple in her check;
The lily and the damafk rofe
The tincture of her face compofe;
Nor did the god of wit difdain
To mingle with the fhining train.
Her vot'ries flock from various parts,
And chiefly youth refign'd their hearts;
The old in fparing numbers preft;
But awkward devotees at best.

Now let us range at large,' we cry'd,
Thro' all the garden's boafted pride.'
Here jafmines fpread the filver flow'r,
To deck the wall or weave the bow'r;
The woodbines mix in am'rous play,
And breathe their fragrant lives away.
Here rifing myrtles form a fhade;
There rofes blush, and fcent the glade;
The orange, with a vernal face,
Wears ev'ry rich autumnal grace;
While the young bloffoms here unfold,
There fhines the fruit like pendant gold.
Citrons their balmy fweets exhale,
And triumph in the diftant gale.
Now fountains, murm'ring to the fong,
Roll their tranflucent ftreams along;
Thro' all the aromatic groves
The faithful turtles coo their loves;
The lark, afcending, pours his notes;
And linnets fwell their rapt'rous throats.
Pleasure, imperial fair! how gay
Thy empire, and how wide thy fway!
Enchanting queen, how foft thy reign!
How man, fond man! implores thy chain J
Yet thine each meretricious art,
That weakens and corrupts the heart :
The childith toys and wanton page,
Which fink and proftitute the stage!

The masquerade, that just offence
To virtue, and reproach to sense !
The midnight dance, the mantling bowl,
And all that diffipate the foul;
All that to ruin man combine,
Yes, fpecious harlot, all are thine!

Whence fprung th'accurfed luft of play,
Which beggars thousands in a day?
Speak, forc'refs, fpeak (for thou canft tell)
Who call'd the treach'rous card from hell?
Now man profanes his reas'ning pow'rs,
Profanes fweet friendfhip's facred hours;
Abandon'd to inglorious ends,
And faithlefs to himfelf and friends;
A dupe to ev'ry artful knave,
To ev'ry abject with a flave:
But who against himself combines,
Abets his enemy's designs.
When rapine meditates a blow,
He flares the guilt who aids the foe.
Is man a thief who fteals my pelf-
How great his theft who robs himself!
Is man, who gulls his friend, a cheat-
How heinous, then, is felf-deceit !
Is murder justly deem'd a crime—
How black his guilt who murders time?
Should cuftom plead, as cuftom will,
Grand precedents to palliate ill;
Shall modes and forms avail with me,
When reafon difavows the plea?
Who games, is felon of his wealth,
His time, his liberty, his health:
Virtue forfakes his fordid mind,
And Honour fcorns to ftay behind.
From man when thefe bright cherubs par
Ah, what's the poor deferted heart!
A favage wild that shocks the fight,
Or chaos, and impervious night!
Each gen'rous principle deftroy'd,
And dæmons crowd the frightful void !
Shall Siam's elephant supply
The bancful defolating die!
Against the honeft fylvan's will,
You taught his iv'ry tusk to kill.
Heav'n, fond its favours to difpenfe,
Gave him that weapon for defence:
That weapon, for his guard defign'd,
You render'd fatal to mankind.

He plann'd no death for thoughtless youth;
You gave the venom to his tooth.
Blush, tyrant, blush for, oh! 'tis true,
That no fell ferpent bites like you.

The guests were order'd to depart;
Reluctance fat on ev'ry heart:
A porter fhew'd a diff'rent door,
Not the fair portal known before.
The gates, methought, were open'd wide;
The crowds defcended in a tide :
But oh! ye heav'ns, what vaft furprize
Struck the advent'rers frighted eyes!
A barren heath before us lav,
And gath'ring clouds obfcur'd the day;
The darknefs rofe in fmoky fpires;
The lightnings flafh'd their livid fires:

Loud

Loud peals of thunder rent the air,
While vengeance chill'd our hearts with fear.
Five ruthless tyrants fway'd the plain,
And triumph'd o'er the mangl'd flain.
Here fat Diftafte, with fickly mien,
And more than half devour'd with fpleen;
There flood Remorfe, with thought oppreft,
And vipers feeding on his breast:
Then Want, dejected, pale, and thin,
With bones juft ftarting thro' his fkin;
A ghaftly fiend!-and close behind,
Difcafe his aching head reclin'd!
His everlasting thirst confeft

The fires which rag'd within his breast:
Death clos'd the train! the hideous form
Smil'd, unrelenting, in the storm;
When straight a doleful fhriek was heard;
I 'woke the vifion difappear'd.

Let not the unexperienc'd boy
Deny that pleasures will deftroy;
Or fay that dreams are vain and wild,
Like fairy tales, to please a child.
Important hints the wife may reap
From fallies of the foul in fleep:
And fince there's meaning in my dream,
The moral merits your esteem.

$214. Vifion III. Health.

ATTEND my Vifions, thoughtless youths,
Ere long you'll think them weighty truths;
Prudent it were to think fo now,
Ere age has filver'd o'er your brow:
For he, who at his early years
Has fown in vice, fhall reap in tears.
If Folly has poffefs'd his prime,
Difcafe fhall gather ftrength in time;
Poifon fhall rage in ev'ry vein-
Nor penitence dilute the ftain:
And when each hour fhall urge his fate,
Thought, like the doctor, comes too late,
The fubject of my fong is Health;
A good fuperior far to wealth.
Can the young mind diftruft its worth!
Confult the monarchs of the earth:
Imperial czars and fultans own

No gems fo bright that decks their throne;
Each for this pearl his crown would quit,
And turn a ruftic, or a cit.

Mark, tho' the bleffing's loft with ease,
'Tis not recover'd when you please.
Say not that gruels fhall avail;
For falutary gruels fail :
Say not, Apollo's fons fucceed;
Apollo's fon is Egypt's reed.
How fruitless the phyfician's fkill,
How vain the penitential pill,
The marble monuments proclaim;
The humbler turf confirms the fame!
Prevention is the better cure;
So fays the proverb; and 'tis fure.
Would you extend your narrow fpan,
And make the most of life you can;

Would you, when med'cines cannot fave,
Defcend with eafe into the grave-
Calmly retire, like ev'ning light,
And cheerful bid the world good night ?-
Let Temp'rance conftantly prefide;
Our best physician, friend, and guide!
Would you to wifdom make pretence,
Proud to be thought a man of fenfe -
Let Temp'rance (always friend to fame)
With steady hand direct your aim;
Or, like an archer in the dark,
Your random fhaft will mifs the mark:
For they who flight her golden rules,
In Wifdom's volume ftand for fools.
But morals, unadorn'd by art,

Are feldom known to reach the heart:
I'll therefore ftrive to raife my theme
With all the scenery of a dream.

Soft were my flumbers, fweet my reft,
Such as the infant's on the breaft;
When Fancy, ever on the wing,
And fruitful as the genial fpring,
Prefented, in a blaze of light,
A new creation to my fight.

A rural landscape I defcry'd,
Drefs'd in the robes of fummer pride;
The herds adorn'd the floping hills,
That glitter'd with their tinkling rills;
Below, the fleecy mothers stray'd,
And round their sportive lambkins play'd.
Nigh to a murm'ring brook I faw
An humble cottage, thatch'd with straw;
Behind, a garden, that fupply'd
All things for ufe, and none for pride:
Beauty prevail'd thro' ev'ry part;
But more of nature than of art.

Hail, thou fweet, calm, unenvy'd seat !' I faid, and blefs'd the fair retreat; Here would I pafs my remnant days, 'Unknown to cenfure or to praife;

[ocr errors]

Forget the world, and be forgot, 'As Pope defcribes his veftal's lot.'

While thus I mus'd, a beauteous maid Stepp'd from a thicket's neighb'ring shade; Not Hampton's gallery can bonit, Nor Hudfon paint, so fair a toast : She claim'd the cottage for her own; To Health a cottage is a throne.

The annals fay (to prove her worth)

The Graces folemniz'd her birth.
Garlands of various flow'rs they wrought:
The orchard's blushing pride they brought:
Hence in her face the lily fpeaks,

And hence the rofe which paints her cheeks;
The cherry gave her lips to glow;
Her eyes were debtors to the floe;
And, to complete the lovely fair,
'Tis faid the chefnut ftain'd her hair.

The virgin was averse to courts ;
But often feen in rural sports:
When in her rofy veft the morn
Walks o'er the dew-befpangled lawn,

In allufion to 2 Kings, xviii. 21,

The

The nymph is first to form the race,
Or wind the horn, and lead the chace.
Sudden I heard a fhouting train;
Glad acclamations fill'd the plain;
Unbounded joy improv'd the fcene,
For Health was loud proclaim'd a queen.
Two fmiling cherubs grac'd her throne
(To modern courts, I fear, unknown):
One was the nymph that loves the light,
Fair Innocence, array'd in white;
With fifter Peace in clofe embrace,
And heav'n all op'ning in her face.
The reign was long, the empire great,
And Virtue minifter of ftate.
In other kingdoms, ev'ry hour,
You hear of Vice preferr'd to pow'r :
Vice was a perfect stranger here;
No knaves engrofs'd the royal ear;
No fools obtain'd the monarch's grace;
Virtue difpos'd of ev'ry place.

What fickly appetites are ours,
Still varying with the varying hours!
And tho' from good to bad we range,
No matter,' fays the fool, 'tis change.'
Her fubjects now exprefs'd apace
Diffatisfaction in their face:

Some view the state with Envy's eye;
Some were difpleas'd, they knew not why;
When Faction, ever bold and vain,
With rigour tax'd their monarch's reign.
Thus, fhould an angel from above,
Fraught with benevolence and love,
Defcend to earth, and here impart
Important truths to mend the heart,
Would not th'inftructive gueft difpenfe
With paffion, appetite, and fenfe,
We should his heav'nly lore defpife,
And fend him to his former fkics.
A dang'rous hoftile pow'r arose

To Health, whofe houfchold were her foes:
A harlot's loofe attire fhe wore,
And Luxury the name the bore.
This princefs of unbounded sway,
Whom Afia's fofter fons obey,
Made war aginft the queen of Health,
Affifted by the troops of Wealth.

The queen was firft to take the field,
Arm'd with her helmet and her fhield;
Temper'd with fuch fuperior art,
That both were proof to ev'ry dart.
Two warlike chiefs approach'd the green,
And wond'rous fav'rites with the queen;
Both were of Amazonian race;
Both high in merit and in place.
Here Refolution march'd, whofe foul

No fear could shake; no pow'r controul;
The heroine wore a Roman veft;

A lion's heart inform'd her breast.

There Prudence fhone; whofe bofom wrought
With all the various plans of Thought;
'Twas hers to bid the troops engage,
And teach the battle where to rage.
And now the Syren's armies prefs;
Their van was headed by Excefs;

The mighty wings that form'd the fide,
Commanded by that giant, Pride;
While Sicknefs, and her fifters Pain
And Poverty, the centre gain:
Repentance, with a brow fevere,
And Death were station'd in the rear.
Health rang'd her troops with matchless art,
And acted the defenfive part:
Her army, pofted on a hill,
Plainly bespoke fuperior skill.
Hence were difcover'd, thro' the plain
The motions of the hoftile train:
While Prudence, to prevent furprize,
Oft fally'd with her trufty fpics;
Explor'd cach ambuscade below,
And reconnoiter'd well the foe.
Afar when Luxury defcry'd
Inferior force by art fupply'd,,
The Syren fpake Let fraud prevail,
Since all my num'rous hofts must fail;
Henceforth hoftilities fhall ceafe;
I'll fend to Health, and offer peace.'
Straight the difpatch'd, with pow'rs complete,
Pleafure, her minifter, to treat.

This wicked itrumpet topp'd her part,
And fow'd fedition in the heart!
Thro' ev'ry troop the poifon ran;
All were infected to a man:
The weary generals were won
By Pleafure's wiles, and both undone.

Jove held the troops in high difgrace,
And bade difeafes blaft their race,
Look'd on the queen with melting eyes,
And fnatch'd his darling to the fkies:
Who ftill regards thofe wifer few,
That dare her dictates to purfue.
For where her ftricter law prevails,
Tho' paffion prompts, or vice affails,
Long hall the cloudlefs fkies behold,
And their calun fun-fet beam with gold.

$215. Vifion IV. Content. MAN is deceiv'd by outward show'Tis a plain homespun truth, I know : The fraud prevails at ev'ry age, So fays the fchool-boy and the fage: Yet ftill we hug the dear deceit, And ftill exclain against the cheat. But whence this inconfiftent part? Say, moralifts, who know the heart: If you'll this labyrinth purfue, PIL

go before, and find the clue. I dream'd ('twas on a birth-day night) A fumptuous palace rofe to fight: The builder had, thro' ev'ry part, Obferv'd the chafteft rules of art; Raphael and Titian had display'd All the full force of light in fhade. Around the livery'd fervants wait; An aged porter kept the gate.

As I was traverfing the hall,

Where Bruffels looms adorn'd the wall

(Whofe

(Whofe tap'try fhews, without my aid,
A nun is no fuch useless maid)
A graceful perfon came in view
(His form, it feems, is known to few);
His dress was unadorn'd with lace,
But charms a thoufand in his face.

This, Sir, your property?' I cry'd;
Matter and manfion coincide:
Where all, indeed, is truly great,
And proves that blifs may dwell with state.
Pray, Sir, indulge a stranger's claim,
And grant the favor of your name.'
'Content,' the lovely form reply'd;
But think not here that I refide:
• Here lives a courtier, base and fly;
An open, honest ruftic, I.

Our taste and manners difagree;
• His levee boasts no charms for me:
• For titles and the smiles of kings,
To me are cheap unheeded things.
('Tis virtue can alone impart
The patent of a ducal heart :
Unless this herald fpeaks him great,
What shall avail the glare of state ')
Those fecret charms are my delight,
Which thine remote from public fight:
Paffions fubdu'd, defires at rest→

And hence his chaplain fhares my breast.
There was a time (his Grace can tell)
I knew the Duke exceeding well;
Knew ev'ry fecret of his heart;
In truth we never were apart :
But when the court became his end,
'He turn'd his back upon his friend.

One day I call'd upon his grace,
Juft as the Duke had got a place :
I thought (but thought amifs, 'tis clear)
I fhould be welcome to the peer;
Yes, welcome to a man in pow'r ;
And fo I was for half an hour;
But he grew weary of his gueft,
And foon difcarded me his breast;
Upbraided me with want of merit,
But most for poverty of spirit.

[ocr errors]

You relish not the great man's lot! Come, haften to my humbler cot. Think me not partial to the great, I'm a fworn foe to pride and ftate; No monarch fhares my kind embrace; There's scarce a monarch knows my face; • Content fhuns courts, and oft'ner dwells With modeft worth in rural cells; There's no complaint, tho' brown the bread, Or the rude turf fuftain the head;

Tho' hard the couch and course the meat, • Still the brown loaf and fleep are fweet. Far from the city I refide, And a thatch'd cottage all my pride. True to my heart, I feldom roain, • Because I find my joys at home: For foreign vifits then begin When the man feels a void within. But tho' from towns and crowds I fy, No humorift, nor cynic, I.

'Amidst sequester'd shades I prize
The friendships of the good and wife:
Bid Virtue and her fons attend,
Virtue will tell thee, I'm her friend;
Tell thee, I'm faithful, conftant, kind,
And meck, and lowly, and refign'd!
Will fay, there's no diftinction known
'Betwixt her houshold and my own.'

AUTHOR.

If thefe the friendships you purfue,
Your friends, I fear, are very few.
So little company, you fay,

Yet fond of home from day to day!
How do you fhun Detraction's rod?
I doubt your neighbours think you odd !

CONTENT.

I commune with myself at night, And ask my heart if all be right: If Right' replies my faithful breast, I finile, and close my eyes to reft.

AUTHOR.

You feem regardless of the town: Pray, Sir, how stand you with the gown?

CONTENT.

The clergy fay they love me well; Whether they do, they best can tell : They paint me modeft, friendly, wife, And always praise me to the skies; But if conviction's at the heart, Why not a correspondent part? For fhall the learned tongue prevail, If actions preach a diff'rent tale? Who'll feek my door, and grace my walls, When neither dean nor prelate calls?

With those my friendships most obtain,
Who prize their duty more than gain;
Soft flow the hours whene'er we meet,
And conscious virtue is our treat;
Our harmless breafts no envy know,
And hence we fear no fecret foe;
Our walks Ambition ne'er attends,
And hence we afk no pow'rful friends;
We with the best to church and state,
But leave the fteerage to the great;
Carelcfs who rifes or who falls,
And never dream of vacant stalls:
Much lefs, by pride or int'reft drawn,
Sigh for the mitre and the lawn.

Obferve the fecrets of my art,
I'll fundamental truths impart :
If you'll my kind advice purfue,
I'll quit my hut, and dwell with you.

The pallions are a num'rous crowd,
Imperious, pofitive, and loud;
Curb thefe licentious fons of strife;
Hence chiefly rife the ftorms of life:
If they grew mutinous, and rave,
They are thy mafters, thou their flave.
Regard the world with cautious eye,
Nor raife your expectation high;
See that the balanc'd fcales bc fuch,
You neither fear nor hope too much :
K

For

« PreviousContinue »