HENRY AND EMMA,

A POEM,

UPON THE MODEL OF

THE NUT-BROWN MAID.*

BY MATTHEW PRIOR, ESQ.t

TO CLOE.

THOU, to whofe eyes I bend; at whofe command
(Tho' low my voice, tho' artless be my hand)
I take the sprightly reed, and fing, and play;
Careless of what the cenf'ring world may say:
Bright Cloe, object of my conftant vow,
Wilt thou a while unbend thy serious brow?
Wilt thou with pleasure hear thy lover's strains,
And with one heav'nly fmile o'erpay his pains?
No longer fhall the Nut-brown Maid be old;

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Tho' fince her youth three hundred years have roll'd.

At thy defire, fhe fhall again be rais'd;

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And her reviving charms in lafting verse be prais'd.

* See the "POEMS BY UNCERTAIN AUTHORS,”

+ Born 1664; dyed 1721.

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No longer man of woman fhall complain,
That he may love and not be lov'd again:
That we in vain the fickle sex pursue,
Who change the constant lover for the new.
Whatever has been writ, whatever said,
Of female paffion feign'd, or faith decay'd:
Henceforth shall in my verse refuted stand,
Be faid to winds, or writ upon the fand.
And, while my notes to future times proclaim
Unconquer'd love and ever-during flame;
O fairest of the fex! be thou my Mufe:
Deign on my work thy influence to diffuse:
Let me partake the bleffings I rehearse,
And grant me love, the just reward of verse.

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As beauty's potent queen, with ev'ry grace, That once was Emma's, has adorn'd thy face; And as her fon has to my bofom dealt That conftant flame, which faithful Henry felt; 30 O let the story with thy life agree:

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Let men once more the bright example see;
What Emma was to him, be thou to me.
Nor fend me by thy frown from her I love,
Distant and fad, a banish'd man to rove.
But oh! with pity long-intreated crown
My pains and hopes; and, when thou fay'ft that one
Of all mankind thou lov'ft, oh! think on me alone.
WHERE beauteous Ifis and her husband Tame
With mingl'd waves, for ever flow, the fame, 40

In times of yore an ancient baron liv'd;

Great gifts bestow'd, and great respect receiv'd.

When dreadful Edward with fuccessful care

Led his free Britons to the Gallic war;
This lord had headed his appointed bands,
In firm allegiance to the king's commands;
And (all due honors faithfully discharg❜d)
Had brought back his paternal coat, inlarg'd
With a new mark, the witness of his toil,
And no inglorious part of foreign spoil.

From the loud camp retir'd and noisy court,
In honorable ease and rural sport,

The remnant of his days he fafely past;

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Nor found they lagg'd too flow, nor flew too fast.
He made his wish with his estate comply,
Joyful to live, yet not afraid to die.

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One child he had, a daughter chaft and fair, His age's comfort, and his fortune's heir. They call'd her Emma; for the beauteous dame, Who gave the virgin birth, had born the name: The name th' indulgent father doubly lov'd; 61 For in the child the mothers charms improv'd. Yet, as when little, round his knees fhe play'd, He call'd her oft, in fport, his Nut-brown Maid: The friends and tenants took the fondling word (As still they please, who imitate their lord); 66 Ufage confirm'd what fancy had begun; The mutual terms around the lands were known; And Emma and the Nut-brown Maid were one.

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As with her ftature, fill her charms encreas'd; Thro' all the isle her beauty was confefs'd. Oh! what perfections must that virgin share, Who fairest is esteem'd, where all are fair! From diftant shires repair the noble youth, And find report, for once, had leffen'd truth.

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By wonder first, and then by paffion mov'd,

They came; they faw; they marvell'd; and they lov'd.

By public praises, and by fecret fighs,

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Each own'd the gen'ral power of Emma's eyes.
In tilts and turnaments the valiant strove,
By glorious deeds to purchase Emma's love.
In gentle verse, the witty told their flame,
And grac❜d their choicest songs with Emma's name.
In vain they combated, in vain they writ:
Useless their strength, and impotent their wit. 85
Great Venus only must direct the dart,

Which elfe will never reach the fair-one's heart,
Spight of th' attempts of force, and foft effects of

art.

Great Venus muft prefer the happy one:

In Henry's cause her favour must be shown:
And Emma, of mankind, must love but him alone.

While these in public to the caftle came, And by their grandeur justify'd their flame; More fecret ways the careful Henry takes ; His fquires, his arms, and equipage forfakes: 95

In borrow'd name and false attire array'd,
Oft he finds means to fee the beauteous maid.

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When Emma hunts in huntsman's habit drest, Henry on foot pursues the bounding beast. In his right hand his beechen pole he bears: And graceful at his fide his horn he wears. Still to the glade, where she has bent her way, With knowing skill he drives the future prey; Bids her decline the hill, and fhun the brake; And shows the path her steed may safest take; 105 Directs her fpear to fix the glorious wound; Pleas'd, in his toils, to have her triumph crown'd; And blows her praises with no common found.

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A falc'ner Henry is, when Emma hawks:
With her of tarfels, and of lures he talks.
Upon his wrift the tow'ring merlin ftands,
Practis'd to rife, and stoop, at her commands.
And when fuperior now the bird has flown,
And headlong brought the tumbling quarry down;
With humble reverence he accofts the fair.

And with the honor'd feather decks her hair.
Yet ftill, as from the sportive field he goes,
His downcaft eye reveals his inward woes;
And by his look and forrow is expreft,
A nobler game pursued than bird or beaft.

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A fhepherd now along the plain he roves; And, with his jolly pipe, delights the groves. The neighb'ring fwains around the stranger throng.