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The SMALL-Po x. A Town Eclogue.
By the Right Hon. L. M. W. M.

The wretched Flavia on her couch reclin'd,
Thus breath'd the anguish of a wounded mind:
A glass revers'd in her right hand fhe bore,
For now the fhun'd the face she fought before.

• How am I chang'd? alas! how am I grown?
A frightful spectre, to myself unknown!

• Where's my complexion? where my radiant bloom,
• That promis'd happiness for years to come?
Then with what pleasure I this face furvey'd ;
• To look once more, my vifits oft delay'd!
• Charm'd with the view, a fresher red would rife,
And a new life fhot fparkling from my eyes!

fell.

Ah! faithless glass, my wonted bloom restore;
Alas! I rave, that bloom is now no more!
The greatest good the gods on men bestow,
Ev'n youth itself to me is useless now.
There was a time (Oh! that I cou'd forget!)
When opera-tickets pour'd before my feet;
And at the ring, where brightest beauties shine,
The earliest cherries of the fpring were mine.
Witnefs, O Lilly; and thou, Motteux, tell
How much japan these eyes have made ye
• With what contempt ye faw me oft despise
The humble offer of the raffled prize;
For at the raffle ftill each prize I bore,
With icorn rejected, or with triumph wore !
Now beauty's fled, and prefents are no more!
For me the patriot has the house forfook,
And left debates to catch a paffing look:
For me the foldier has foft verses writ:
For me the beau has aim'd to be a wit.
For me the wit to nonfenfe was betray'd;
The gamefter has for me his dun delay'd,
And over-feen the card he would have play'd.
The bold and haughty by success made vain,
Aw'd by my eyes, have trembled to complain :
The bafhful 'fquire touch'd by a wish unknown,
Has dar'd to speak with spirit not his own;

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• Fir'd by one wish, all did alike adore ;
• Now beauty's fled, and lovers are no more !
As round the room I turn my weeping eyes,
New unaffected scenes of forrow rise!
Far from my fight that killing picture bear,
The face disfigure, and the canvas tear!
That picture, which with pride I us'd to show,
The loft refemblance but upbraids me now.
And thou, my toilette! where I oft have fate,
• While hours unheeded pafs'd in deep debate,
How curls fhould fall, or where a patch to place,
• If blue or fcarlet beft became my face;
• Now on fome happier nymph your aid bestow
• On fairer heads, ye ufelefs jewels, glow!

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No borrow'd luftre can my charms restore;

Beauty is fled, and dress is now no wore!
Ye meaner beauties, I permit ye shine;

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• Go, triumph in the hearts that once were mine;
But midst your triumphs with confufion know,
Tis to my ruin all your arms ye owe.
Wou'd pitying heav'n restore my wonted mein,
Ye ftill might move unthought of, and unfeen:
But oh! how vain, how wretched is the boast
Of beauty faded, and of empire loft!
• What now is left but weeping, to deplore
My beauty fled, and empire now no more!
Ye, cruel chymifts, what with-held your aid?
• Could no pomatums fave a trembling maid?
How falfe and trifling is that art ye boaft;
No art can give me back my beauty loft!
In tears, furrounded by my friends I lay,
• Mafk'd o'er, and trembled at the fight of day;
• MIRMELIO came my fortune to deplore,
(A golden-headed cane well carv'd he bore)
Cordials, he cry'd, my fpirits must restore!
Beauty is filed, and spirit is no more!

GALEN, the grave; officious SQUIRT, was there, With fruitless grief, and unavailing care:

• Machaon too, the great Machaon, known

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By his red cloak and his fuperior frown;

And why, he cry'd this grief and this despair &
You fhall again be well, again be fair;

• Believe my oath; (with that an oath he swore) False was this oath; my beauty is no more!

Ceafe, hapless maid, no more thy tale pursue, • Forfake mankind, and bid the world adieu! • Monarchs and beauties rule with equal sway; All ftrive to ferve, and glory to obey: Alike unpitied when depos'd they grow, Men mock the idol of their former vow.

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Adieu! ye parks !—in some obfcure recefs, Where gentle ftreams will weep at my diftrefs, • Where no falfe friend will in my grief take part, • And mourn my ruin with a joyful heart; • There let me live in fome deferted place, There hide in fhades this loft inglorious face. Ye operas, circles, I no more muft view!

My toilette, patches, all the world adieu !

We have given the rules ufually laid down for paftoral writing, and exhibited fome examples which were written on this plan; but we must beg leave to obferve, that this poem may fometimes partake of more dignity, and afpire even to the fublime, without deviating from nature and right reason. The fublime which arifes from tumults, wars, and what are (too often falsely called great actions, the Paftoral abhors; but that which is blended with the tender and pathetic may be introduced with propriety and elegance. And, indeed, if we confider that the first shepherds were many of them princes (for that Abraham, Mofes, and David, were fuch, we have the teftimony of the scriptures) it will seem somewhat extraordinary that fuch pains fhould have been taken to exclude the fublime from paftoral writing; and we shall be inclined to admit Virgil's Pollio, the Song of Solomon, and Pope's Meffiah, as Paftorals, 'till better reasons are offered to the contrary than have yet appeared; for the true characteristic of Paftoral, and what diftinguishes it from other writings, is its fole confinement to rural affairs, and and if this be obferved it can lofe nothing of its nature by any elevation of fentiment or diction.

As an example of the more dignified and fublime fort of Paftoral, we shall give the young ftudent Pope's MESSIAH, which was written in imitation of Virgil's POLLIO, toge. ther with the tranflations he has added from Isaiah, and Virgil, that the reader may fee what use both poets have made of the fentiments and diction of the prophet.

MESSIAH. A facred Eclogue. In Imitation of VIRGIL'S POLLIO; which is fuppofed to have been taken, in part, from a fibylline prophecy that foretold the coming of Chrift.

Ye nymphs of Solyma! begin the fong; To heav'nly themes fublimer ftrains belong. The moffy fountains, and the fylvan shades,. The dreams of Pindus and th' Aonian maids, Delight no more- -O thou my voice inspire Who touch'd Ifaiah's hallow'd lips with fire! Rapt into future times, the bard begun,

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A virgin fhall conceive, a virgin bear a fon.
From Jefe root behold a branch arise,
Whofe facred flow'r with fragrance fills the skies.
Th' ætherial fpirit o'er its leaves fhall move,
And on its top defcends the myftic dove.
Ye 2 heav'ns! from high the dewy nectar pour,
And in foft filence fhed the kindly show'r !

The 3 fick and weak the healing plant fhall aid,
From storms a fhelter, and from heat a shade.
All crimes fhall cease, and ancient fraud fhall fail;
Returning juftice lift aloft her fcale;
Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend,

And white rob'd innocence from heav'n defcend.
Swift fly the years, and rise th' expected morn!
Oh fpring to light, aufpicious babe, be born!

Ver. 8. A virgin shall conceive- All crimes shall cease, &c.]
Virg. E. 4. v. 6. Jam redit & Virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna ;
Jam nova progenies cœlo demittitur.alto.

Te duce,

qua manent fceleris veftigia noftri,

Irrita perpetua folvent formidine terras――
Pacatumque reget patriis virtutibus orbem.

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Now the virgin returns, now the kingdom of Saturn returns, now a nerv Progeny is fent down from bigh heaven. By means of thee, whatever reliques of our crimes remain, shall be wiped away, and free the world from perpetual fears. He shall govern the earth in peace, with the virtues of bis father.

Ifaiah, chap. vii. ver. 14. Behold a virgin fhall conceive, and bear a fon--Chap. ix. ver. 6, 7. Unto us a child is born, unto us a fon is given; the prince of peace: of the increase of his government, and of his peace, there fhall be no end: upon the throne of David, and upon bis kingdom, to order and to establish it, with judgment, and with justice, for 2 Ch. xlv. ver. 8. 4 Ch. ix. ver. 7.

ever and ever.

Ifaiah, chap. xi. ver. 1. 3 Ch. xxv. ver. 4.

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See nature haftes her earliest wreaths to bring,
With all the incenfe of the breathing spring:
See' lofty Lebanon his head advance,
See nodding forefts on the mountains dance :
See fpicy clouds from lowly Saron rife,
And Carmel's flow'ry top perfumes the skies!
Hark! a glad voice the lonely defart chears;
Prepare the way! a God, a God appears:
A God, a God! the vocal hills reply,
The rocks proclaim th' approaching deity.
Lo, earth receives him from the bending skies!
Sink down ye mountains, and ye vallies rife ;
With heads declin'd, ye cedars, homage pay;
Be fmooth ye rocks, ye rapid floods give way!
The Saviour comes! by ancient bards foretold:
Her him ye deaf, and all ye blind behold!

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Ver 23. See nature baftes, &c.]

Virg. E. 4. v. 18. At tibi prima, puer, nullo munufcula cultu,
Errantes hederas paffim cum baccare tellus,
Mixtaque ridenti colocafia fundet acantho-
Ipfa tibi blandos fundent cunabula flores.

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30

35

For thee, O child, shall the earth without being tilled, produce her early offerings; winding ivy, mixed with baccar, and colocafe with Smiling acanibus. Thy cradie fhall pour forth pleafing flowers about thee.

Ifaiah, chap. xxxv. ver. 1. The wilderness and the folitary place fhall be glad, and the defert fall rejoice and blossom as the rofe. Chap. Ix. ver. 13. The glory of Lebanon fball come unto thee, the fir-trec, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of thy fanctuary.

Ver. 29. Hark! a glad voice, &c.]

Virg. E. 4. v. 46.

Aggredere ô maguos, aderit jam tempus, honores.
Cara deûm foboles, magnum jovis incrementum-
Ipfi lætitia voces ad fydera jactant

Intonfi montes, ipfæ jam carmina rupes,

Ipfa fonant arbufta, Deus, deus ille Menalca!
E. 5. ver. 62.

O come and receive the mighty bonours: the time draws nigh, O beloved offspring of the Gods, O great encrease of Jove! The uncultivated mountains fend fhouts of joy to the ftars, the very rocks fing in verfe, the very fhrubs cry out, A God, a God!

Ifaiah, ch. xl. ver. 3,4. The voice of him that cricth in the wildernefs, prepare ye the way of the Lord! make ftrait in the defart a high way for our God! every valley fhall be exalted, and every mountain and bill fhall be made low, and the crooked fhall be made ftrait, and the the rough places piain. Chap. iv. ver. 23. Break forth into finging, ye mountains! O forest, and every tree therein! for the Lord hath redeemed 5 Ch. xxxv. ver. 2. 6 Ch. xl. ver. 3, 4. 7 Ch. xlii. ver. 18. Ch. xxxv. ver. 5, 6.

Ifrael.

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