Thou mak'st the beauties of the Romans known, And England boats of riches not her own: Thy lines have heighten'd Virgil's majesty, And Horace wonders at himself in thee. Thou teacheft Perfius to inform our isle In fmoother numbers, and a clearer ftyle: And Juvenal, inftructed in thy page, Edges his fatire, and improves his rage. Thy copy cafts a fairer light on all, And still outfhines the bright original.
Now Ovid boasts th' advantage of thy fong, And tells his story in the British tongue; Thy charming verfe, and fair tranflations fhow How thy own laurel first began to grow; How wild Lycaon, chang'd by angry Gods,
And frighted at himself, ran howling thro' the woods. O may'st thou still the noble tale prolong,
Nor age, nor sickness interrupt thy song : Then may we wondering read, how human limbs Have water'd kingdoms, and diffolv'd in streams, Of thofe rich fruits that on the fertile mould Turn'd yellow by degrees, and ripen'd into gold: How fome in feathers, or a ragged hide,
Have liv'd a fecond life, and different natures try'd. Then will thy Ovid, thus transform'd, reveal
A nobler change than he himself can tell.
Mag. Coll. Oxon.
June 2, 1693.
From Mr. ADDISON'S Account of the ENGLISH POETS.
BUT fee where artful Dryden next appears,
Grown old in rhyme, but charming ev'n in years. Great Dryden next! whofe tuneful mufe affords The sweetest numbers and the fitteft words. Whether in comic founds, or tragic airs,
She forms her voice, fhe moves our fmiles and tears. If fatire or heroic ftrains fhe writes,
Her hero pleafes, and her fatire bites.
From her no harfh, unartful numbers fall, She wears all dreffes, and fhe charms in all: How might we fear our English poetry, That long has flourish'd, should decay in thee; Did not the Mufes' other hope appear, Harmonious Congreve, and forbid our fear! Congreve! whofe fancy's unexhausted store Has given already much, and promis'd more. Congreve shall still preferve thy fame alive, And Dryden's muse shall in his friend survive.
On ALEXANDER'S FEAST: Or, The POWER of MUSICK. An ODE.
From Mr POPE'S ESSAY on CRITICISM, 1. 376.
HEAR how Timotheus' vary'd lays furprize,
And bid alternate paffions fall and rife!
While, at each change, the fon of Libyan Jove Now burns with glory, and then melts with love; Now his fierce eyes with sparkling fury glow, Now fighs fteal out, and tears begin to flow. Perfians and Greeks like turns of nature found, And the world's victor ftood fubdued by found. The power of Mufick all our hearts allow, And what Timotheus was is Dryden now.
Ehold, where Dryden's less prefumptuous car,
Wide o'er the fields of glory ́bear :
Two courfers of ethereal race,
With necks in thunder cloath'd, and long-refounding pace.
Hark, his hands the lyre explore!
Bright-ey'd Fancy hovering o'er,
Scatters from her pictur'd urn,
Thoughts that breathe, and words that burn.
But, ah! 'tis heard no more
Oh! lyre divine, what daring fpirit Wakes thee now? though he inherit Nor the pride, nor ample pinion, That the Theban eagle bear, Sailing with fupreme dominion Through the azure deep of air:
Yet oft before his infant eyes
Such forms, as glitter in the Mufe's ray With orient hues, unborrow'd of the fun : Yet fhall he mount, and keep his distant way Beyond the limits of a vulgar fate
Beneath the good how far-but far above the great.
Upon the DEATH of Lord HASTINGS.
UST noble Haftings immaturely die, The honour of his ancient family, Beauty and learning thus together meet, To bring a winding for a wedding fleet? Muft virtue prove death's harbinger? must the, With him expiring, feel mortality?
Is death, fin's wages, grace's now ? fhall art Make us more learned, only to depart ? If merit be difeafe; if virtue death;
To be good, not to be; who'd then bequeath Himself to difcipline? who'd not esteem Labour a crime? study self-murther deem ? Our noble youth now have pretence to be Dunces fecurely, ignorant healthfully.
Rare linguift whofe worth fpeaks itself, whofe praise, Though not his own, all tongues beides do raife: Than whom great Alexander may feem lefs; Who conquer'd men, but not their languages. In his mouth nations fpake; his tongue might be Interpreter to Greece, France, Italy.
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