Copenhagen, March 9, 1709.
FROM frozen climes, and endless tracts of snow,
From ftreams which northern winds forbid to flow,
What present shall the muse to Dorset bring,
Or how, fo near the pole, attempt to fing?
The hoary winter here conceals from fight
All pleafing objects which 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 confusion lie,
And with one dazzling wafte fatigue the eye. 10
No gentle breathing breeze prepares the spring, No birds within the defert region fing. The fhips, unmov'd, the boift'rous winds defy, While rattling chariots o'er the ocean fly. The vaft Leviathan wants room to play, And spout his waters in the face of day. The ftarving wolves along the main sea prowl, And to the moon in icy valleys howl. O'er many a fhining league the level main Here spreads 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, ev'n here, The winter in a lovely dress appear.
Ere yet the clouds let fall the treafur'd fnow,
Or winds begun through hazy skies to blow,
At ev❜ning a keen eastern breeze arose,
And the descending rain unsully'd froze.
Soon as the filent fhades of night withdrew,
The ruddy morn disclos'd at once to view
The face of nature in a rich disguise,
And brighten'd ev'ry object to my eyes:
For ev'ry fhrub, and ev'ry blade of grafs,
And ev'ry pointed thorn, seem'd wrought in glass;
In pearls and rubies rich the hawthorns show, 35
While through the ice the crimson berries glow.
The thick-fprung reeds, which watry marshes yield,
Seem'd polish'd lances in a hostile field.
The ftag, in limpid currents, with furprize,
Sees crystal branches on his forehead rise :
The spreading oak, the beech, and tow'ring pine,
Glaz'd over, in the freezing æther shine.
The frighted birds the rattling branches fhun,
Which wave and glitter in the distant fun.
When if a fudden guft of wind arise,
The brittle foreft into atoms flies,
The crackling wood beneath the tempeft bends, And in a spangled show'r the profpect ends;
Or, if a fouthern gale the region warm,
And by degrees unbind the wintry charm, 50
The traveller a miry country fees,
And journeys fad beneath the dropping trees:
Like fome deluded peafant, Merlin leads
Thro' fragrant bow'rs, and thro' delicious meads,
While here inchanted gardens to him rife,
And airy fabricks there attract his eyes,
His wand'ring feet the magick paths pursue,
And, while he thinks the fair illufion true,
The trackless scenes disperse in fluid air,
And woods, and wilds, and thorny ways appear,
A tedious road the weary wretch returns,
And, as he goes, the tranfient vision mourns.
LITTLE Siren of the stage,
Charmer of an idle age,
Empty warbler, breathing lyre,
Wanton gale of fond defire,
Bane of every manly art,
Sweet enfeebler of the heart,
O, too pleasing in thy ftrain,
Hence, to fouthern climes again;
Tuneful mischief, vocal fpell,
To this island bid farewel;
Leave us as we ought to be,
Leave the Britons rough and free.
Sing, heavenly Mufe,
Things unattempted yet, in prose or rhime,
A fbilling, breeches, and chimeras dire.
HAPPY the man, who, void of cares and ftrife,
In filken or in leathern purse retains
A Splendid Shilling: he nor hears with pain
New oysters cry'd, nor fighs for chearful ale;
But with his friends, when nightly mifts arife, 5
To Juniper's-Magpye, or Town-Hall repairs:
Where, mindful of the nymph, whose wanton eye
Transfix'd his foul, and kindled amorous flames,
Chloe, or Phillis, he each circling glass
Wisheth her health, and joy, and equal love. 10
Meanwhile, he fmoaks, and laughs at merry tale,
Or pun ambiguous, or conundrum quaint.
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