Their Armies Wings ftretch'd out, they to the Foes
A long-extended Ridge of War oppofe,
The British Squadrons, tho' outnumber'd far,
Run boldly on the horrid Edge of War.
Both Armies thus rang'd in Battalia ftood;
And Death prepar'd her thirsty Jaws for Blood. Blac. P. Arsh.
Fame, thro' the little City, Tpreads aloud
Th'intended March, amid the fearful Crowd:
The War at hand appears with more Affright,
And rifes ev'ry Moment to the Sight.
The trembling Wives the Walls and Turrets crowd,
And follow, with their Eyes, the dufty Cloud;
Which Winds difperfe by Fits; and fhew from far
The Blaze of Arms, and Shields, and (hining War:
The Troops, drawn up in beautiful Array,
O'er heathy Plains purfue the ready Way:
Repeated Peals of Shouts are heard around,
The neighing Courfers anfwer to the Sound;
And shake with horny Hoofs the folid Grouud. Dryd. Virg
Anon they move
In perfe& Phalanx to the Dorian Mood
Of Flutes and foft Recorders; fuch as rais’d
To Height of nobleft Temper Heroes old
Arming to Battel; and inftead of Rage
Delib'rate Valour breath'd, firm and unmov'd
With Dread of Death to Flight or foul Retreat;
Nor wanting Pow'r to mitigate and fwage,
With folemn Touches, troubled Thoughts, and chafe
Anguish, and Doubt, and Fear, and Sorrow, and Pain,
From mortal and immortal Minds. Thus they,
Breathing united Force, with fixed Thought
Mov'd on in Silence to foft Pipes, that charm'd
Their painful Steps o'er the burnt Soil; and now,
Advanc'd in View, they stand, a horrid Front
Of dreadful Length and dazling Arms, in Guife
Of Warriours old, with order'd Spear and Shield,
Awaiting what Command their mighty Chief
Had to impofe: He thro' the armed Files
Darts his experienc'd Eye, and foon traverse
The whole Battalion views, their Order due,
Their Vifages and Stature as of Gods:
Their Number last he fums. And now his Heart
Diftends with Pride, and hard'ning in his Strength
Glories: For, never fince, created Man
Met fuch imbody'd Force, as, nam'd with thefe,
Could merit more than that fmall Infantry,
Warr'd on by Cranes; tho' all the Giant Brood
Of Phlegra with th' heroick Race were join'd
That fought at Thebes and Ilium, on each Side
Mix'd with auxiliar Gods.
Milt. Par. Loft.
Thus, under heavy Arms, the Youth of Rome
Their long laborious Marches overcome;
Chearly their tedious Travels undergo;
And pitch their fudden Camp before the Foe. Dryd. Virg.
Doubling their Speed, they match with fresh Delight,
Eager for Glory, and require the Fight. Add.
The Steeds with raging Hoofs the Ground did tear,
And Chariots with their Thunder fill'd the Air:
The Troops, advancing o'er the Hills, did choak
The Concave of the Sky with Duft and Smoke:
Thro' which their Armour's glancing Lustre fhow'd,
Like radiant Sun-beams, breaking thro' a Cloud:
The deep Brigades compos'd an endless Throng,
And with an awful Slownefs march'd along:
Drawn out in Order, they difplay'd from far
The fullen Pomp and the rough Looks of War:
As when fhort Days and cold autumnal Air
To fome new Seat warn Swallows to repair:
The chatt'ring Race around their Leaders fly,
And at their Summons rendezvous on high,
And with their Numbers darken all the Sky.
So thick the Franks did on their March appear;
So black and wide their Front, fo long their Rear. Blac. K. As when the Southern Wind involves the Mountains
With a thick Fog, unwelcome to the Shepherd,
But to the Thief more useful than the Night;
For then the harpeft Eye can scarce extend
So far as a ftrong Arm can throw a Stone;
So did the March of the two Armies raife
Whirlwinds of Dust, that frustrated the Sight. Ozel. Hom
When two embattel'd Armies rage,
And in a fpacious Plain at last engage,
When all run here and there; the furious Horfe
Beat o'er the trembling Fields with nimble Force :-
Strait dreadful Sparklings from their Arms appear,
And fill with a ftrange Light the wond'ring Air:
Earth groans beneath their Feet; the Hills around,
Flatt'ring the Noife, reftore the dreadful Sound.
Art is but Nature's Ape, and plays her Ill D'Aven, Gond,
And Art, to stifle Nature, ftrives in vain:
For ev'ry Thing, that's from its Centre borne,
Still thither tends, ftill thither will return:
So from its Orb a Comet glaring flies,
With unaufpicious Beams, thro' diftant Skies;
But foon revolting to its native Sphere,
Owns the attractive Force and Vortex there.
ASCARI DE S.
Two Brothers, nam'd Afcarides, arose: Both had the Volubility of Tongue;
In Meaning faint, but in Opinion ftrong. Garth.
ASTONISHMENT.
This is a Sight, that, like the Gorgon's Head,
Runs thro' my Limbs, and ftiffens me to Stone.
He blushes, and would fpeak, and wants a Voice;
And ftares, and gapes, like a forbidden Ghoft,
Dryd. Cleom.
What means that ghaftly Look?
'Till he be spoke to first.
Haft thou the Furies feen? Why ftand'st thou speechiefs? What means that deep-fetch'd Groan? Why does Despair Stare thro' thy haggard Eyes? Den. Iphig.
Thy late dreadful Tale
Had rais'd fuch various Furies in my Soul,
As left me impotent of Thought or Speech. Den. Lib. Aff
Fixt in Aftonishment, I gaze upon thee,
Like one juft blafted by a Stroke from Heav'n,
Who pants for Breath, and stiffens, yet alive,
In dreadful Looks: a Monument of Wrath! Add. Cato.
He stood amaz'd,
Aftonifhed and blank, while Horrour chill
Ran thro' his Veins, and all his Joints relax'd:
From his flack Hand the Garland wreath'd for Eve
Down dropt, and all the faded Rofes fhed:
Speechlefs he ftood and pale.
He would have cry'd; but, hoping that he dreamt, Amazement ty'd his Tongue, and topp'd th' Attempt.
Dryd. Bocc. Sig. & Guifc.
O my Heart pants, and ev'ry Nerve is thaken:
Upon my Forehead fits a Damp like Death:
My Blood runs cold; I feel the Channel freeze :
Scarce will my trembling Limbs fupport my Weight,
But fhake like Cowards on a Day of Battel. Lanfd. Her.Love.
A Death like Cold feiz'd on me: From my Brow,
Like Southern Dew, the liquid Drops did flow:
Stiff and unmov'd I lay; and, on my Tongue,
My dying Words, when I would fpeak them, hung:
As when imperfect Sounds from Children fall, (Theoe
When in their Dreams they on their Mothers call. Bowles.
Amazement is the ugliest Shape of Fear. D'Aven
(Siege of Rhodes.
ASTROLOGY, and ASTRONO MY.
He fhews them now Tow'rs of prodigious Height,
Where Nature's Friends, Philofophers, remain,
To cenfure Meteors in their Caufe and Flight,
And watch the Winds Authority on Rain.
Others, with optick Tubes, the Moon's fcant Face
(Vaft Tubes which, like long Cedars, mounted lie)
Attract thro' Glaffes to fo near a Space,
As if they came not to furvey, but pry. D'Aven.
Why does the conftant Sun
With meafur'd Steps his radiant Journey run ?
Why does he order the diurnal Hours.
To leave Earth's other Part, and rife in ours?
Why does he wake the correfpondent Moon,
And fill her willing Lamp with liquid Light,
Commanding her with delegated Pow'rs
To beautify the World, and bless the Night?
Why does each animated Star
Love the juft Limits of its proper Sphere ?
Why does each confenting Sign
With prudent Harmony combine,
In Turns to move, and fubfequent appear,
To gird the Globe and regulate the Year?
Man does with dang'rous Curiosity
Thefe unfathom'd Wonders try;
With fancy'd Rules, and arbitrary Laws,
Matter and Motion he reftrains;
And study'd Lines and fictious Circles draws:
Then, with imagin'd Sovereignty,
Lord of his new Hypothefis he reigns:
He reigns! How long? 'Till fome Ufurper rife,
And he too, mighty thoughtful, mighty wife,
Studies new Lines, and other Circles feigns.
From this laft Toil again what Knowledge flows?
Just as much, perhaps, as fhews
That all his Predeceffor's Rules
Were empty Cant, all Jargon of the Schools;
That he on t'other's Ruin rears his Throne,
And fhews his Friend's Miftake, and thence confirms his
Th'Egyptians fay, the Sun has twice
Shifted his Setting and his Rife;
Twice has he rifen in the Weft,
As many Times fet in the Eaft:
But whether that be true, or no,
The Devil any of you know.
Some hold the Heav'ns, like a Top,
Are kept by Circulation up;
And, weret not for their Wheeling round,-
They'd inftantly fall to the Ground.
Plato-believ'd, the Sun and Moon
Below all other Planets run.
Some Mercury, fome Venus feat,
Above the Sun himself in Height.
The learned Scaliger complain'd
'Gainft what Copernicus maintain'd,
That in Twelve hundred Years and odd,"
The Sun had left his antient Road,
And nearer to the Earth is come,
'Bove fifty thousand Miles from Home:
Swore 'twas a most notorious Flami,
And he that had fo little Shame,
To vent fuch Fopperies abroad,
Deferv'd to have his Rump well claw'd:
Which Monfieur Bodin hearing, fwore
That he deferv'd the Rod much more,
That durft upon a Truth give Dooni,
He knew less than the Pope of Rome.
Cardan believ'd, great States depend
Upon the Tip o'th Bear's Tail's End;
Which, as the whisk'd it tow'rds the Sun,
Strew'd mighty Empires up and down:
Which, others fay, muft needs be false,
Becaufe your true Bears have no Tails.
Some fay, the Zodiack Conftellations
Have long fince chang'd their antique Stations
Above a Sign, and prove the fame
In Taurus now, once in the Ram:
Affirm the Trigons chopp'd and chang'd,
The wat❜ry with the fi'ry rang'd:
Then how can their Effects ftill hold.
To be the fame they were of old?
This, tho' the Art were true, would make
Our modern Soothsayers mistake,
And in one Caufe they tell more Lies,
In Figures and Nativities,
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