Let this fuffice, that plainly I foresee
My dream was bad, and bodes adverfity:
But neither pills nor laxatives I like,
They only ferve to make a well-man fick:
Of thefe his gain the fharp physician makes,
And often gives a purge, but seldom takes :
They not correct, but poifon all the blood,
And re'er did any but the doctors good.
Their tribe, trade, trinkets, I defy them all,
With ev'ry work of 'pothecary's hall.

Thefe melancholy matters I forbear:
But let me tell thee, Partlet mine, and fwear,
That when I view the beauties of thy face,
J fear not death, nor dangers, nor difgrace:
So may my foul have ifs, as when I fpy
The fcarlet red about thy partridge eye,
While thou art conftant to thy own true knight,
While thou art mine, and I am thy delight,
All forrows at thy prefence take their flight.
For true it is, as in principio,
Mulier eft hominis confufio.
Madam, the meaning of this Latin is,
That woman is to man his fovereign blifs.
For when by night I feel your tender fide,
Though for the narrow perch I cannot ride,
Yet I have fuch a folace in my mind,
That all my boding cares are caft behind:
And ev'n already I forget my dream;

He faid, and downward flew from off the beam.
For day light now began apace to spring,
The thrush to whiftle, and the lark to fing.

And ev'n this day, in more delight abound,
Than fince I was an egg, I ever found.

The time fhall come when Chanticleer fhall with
His words unfaid, and hate his boasted bliss:
The crefted bird fall by experience know,
Jove made not him his mafter-piece below;
And learn the latter end of joy is woe.
The veffel of his blifs to dregs is run,
And heav'n will have him tafte his other tun.
Ye wife draw near, and hearken to my tale,
Which proves that oft the proud by flatt'ry fall:
The legend is as true I undertake

As Triftram is, and Launcelot of the Lake:
Which all our ladies in fuch rev'rence hold,
As if in Book of Martyrs it were told.
A fox full fraught with feeming fanctity,
That fear'd an oath, but like the devil, would lie,
Who look'd like Lent, and had the holy leer,
And durft not fin before he faid his pray`r:
This plous cheat that never fuck'd the blood,
Nor chew'd the flesh of lambs but when he could,
Had pass'd three fummers in the neighb'ring wood,)
And mufing long, whom next to circumvent,
On Chanticleer his wicked fancy bent:
And in his high imagination caft,
By ftratagem to gratify his tafte.

The plot contriv'd, before the break of day,
Saint Reynardthrough the hedge had made his way;
The pale was next, but proudly with a bound
He leapt the fence of the forbidden ground:
Yet fearing to be feen, within a bed

Then crowing clapp'd his wings, th' appointed call [Of coleworts he conceal'd his wily head;

To chuck his wives together in the hall.

By this the widow had unbarr'd the door,
And Chanticleer went strutting out before,
With real courage, and with heart to light,
As fhew'd be form'd the vifions of the night.
Now roaming in the yard he fporn'd the ground,
And gave to Partlet the first grain he found.
Then often feather'd her with wanton play,
And trod her twenty times ere prime of day;
And took by turns and gave so much delight,
Her fifters pin'd with envy at the fight.

He chuck'd again, when other corns he found,
And fcarcely deign'd to fet a foot to ground;
But fwagger'd like a lord about his hall,
And his fev'n wives came running at his call.

There foulk'd till afternoon, and watch'd his time,
(As murd'rers ufc) to perpetrate his crime.

O hypocrite, ingenious to defroy,
O traitor, worse than Sinon was to Troy;
O vile fubverter of the Gallic reign,
More falfe than Gano was to Charlemaign!
10 Chanticleer, in an unhappy hour

Did it thou for fake the fafety of thy bow'r:
Better for thee thou hadst believ'd thy dream,
And not that day defcended from the beam!
But here the doctors eagerly difpute:
Some hold predeftipation abfolute :

Some clerks maintain, that heav'n at first forefees,
And in the virtue of forefight decrees.
If this be fo, then prefcience binds the will,

'Twas now the month in which the world be And mortals are not free to good or ill:

P gan,

(If March beheld the first created man:)
And fince the vernal equinox, the Sun,
In Aries twelve degrees, or more had run,
When cafting up his eyes against the light,
Both month, and day, and hour he meafur'd right;
And told more truly, than the ephemeris,
Tor art may err, but nature cannot mifs.

Thus numb'ring times, and feafons in his breaft,
Ilis fecond crowing the third hour confefs'd.
Ther. turning, faid to Partlet, fee, my dear,
How levith nature has adorn'd the year;
How the pale primrose, and blue violet spring,
And birdertheir throats difus'd to fing:
All thefe, are curs; and with pleasure fee
Mar frutting on two legs, and aping me!
An urfede'd creature, of a lumpith frame,
Indu with fewer particles of fiame:
Our dame fits couri o'er a kitchen fire,
1 draw fresh air, and nature's works admire

For what he first forefaw, he muft ordain,
Or its eternal prefcience may be vain :
As bad for us as prefcience had not been;
For first, or laft, he's author of the fin.
And who fays that, let the blafpheming man
Say worke ev'n of the devil, if he can.
For how can that Eternal Pow'r be just
To punish man, who fins because he must
Or, how can he reward a virtuous deed,
Which is not done by us; but firft decreed?
I cannot boult this matter to the bran,
As Bradwardin and holy Auftin can:
If prefcience can determine actions fo
That we must do, becaufe he did foreknow.
Or that foreknowing, yet our choice is tree,
Not fore'd to fin by strict neceffity:
This ftrict neceffity they fimple call,
Another fort there is conditional.

The firft fo binds the will, that things foreknown
By fpontaneity, not choice, are done.

For heaven's unfathom'd power what man can The wife had been detain'd, to keep the husband

So fweetly would he make the winter-day,
That matrons to the church mistook their way,
have And thought they heard the merry organ play.
And he to raife his voice with artful care,
(What will not beaux attempt to please the fair?)
On tiptoe ftood to fing with greater ftrength,
And stretch'd his comely neck at all the length:
And while he pain'd his voice to pierce the fkies,
As faints in raptures ufe, would shut his eyes,
That the found friving through the narrow throat,
His winking might avail, to mend the note.
By this, in fong, he never had his peer,
From fweet Cecilia down to Chanticleer;
Not Maro's mufe who fung the mighty man,

Defcend; fo help me Jove as you shall find
That Reynard comes of no diffembling kind.
Nay, quoth the cock; but I befhrew us both,
If I believe a faint upon his oath :

An honest man may take a knave's advice,
But idiots only will be couzen'd twice:
Once warn'd is well bewar'd: no flatt'ring lies
Shall footh me more to fing with winking eyes,
And open mouth, for fear of catching flies.
Who blindfold walks upon a river's brim
When he should fee, has he deferv'd to swim ?
Better, fir cock, let all contention cease,
Come down, faid Reynard, let us treat of peace.
A peace with all my foul, faid Chanticleer;
But with your favour, I will treat it here:
And left the truce with treason fhould be mixt,
'Tis my concern to have the tree betwixt.

THE MORAL.

In this plain fable you th' effect may fee
Of negligence, and fond credulity:
And learn befides of flatt'rers to beware,
Then moft pernicious when they speak too fair.
The cock and fox, the fool and knave imply;
The truth is moral, though the tale a lie.
Who (poke in parables, I dare not fay;
But fure, he knew it was a pleafing way,
Sound fenfe, by plain example, to convey.
And in a heathen author we may find,
That pleasure with inftruction fhould be join'd:
So take the corn, and leave the chaff behind.

FLOWER

N

THE

AND THE

OR THE

Then, at their call, embolden'd out they come,
And fwell the gems, and burft the narrow room;
Broader and broader yet, their blooms difplay,
Salute the welcome fun, and entertain the day.
Then from their breathing fouls the sweets repair
To fcent the fkies, and purge th' unwholesome air:
Joy spreads the heart, and with a general fong,
Spring iffues out, and leads the jolly months along.
In that sweet season as in bed I lay,
And fought in fleep to pass the night away,
I turn'd my weary fide, but still in vain,
Tho' full of youthful health, and void of pain:
Cares I had none to keep me from my rest,
For love had never enter'd in my breast;
I wanted nothing fortune could fupply,
Nor did the flumber till that hour deny:
I wonder'd then, but after found it true,
Much joy had dry'd away the balmy dew:
Seas would be pools without the brushing air,
To curl the waves; and fure fome little care
Should weary nature so, to make her want repair.
When chanticleer the fecond watch had fung,
Scorning the fcorner Sleep from bed I sprung.
And dreffing, by the moon, in loose array,
Pafs'd out in open air, preventing day,
And fought a goodly grove as fancy led my way.
Straight as a line in beauteous order stood

Of oaks unfhorn a venerable wood:
Fresh was the grafs beneath, and ev'ry tree
At diftance planted in a due degree,
Their branching arms in air with equal space
Stretch'd to their neighbours with a long embrace:
And the new leaves on every bough were seen,
Some ruddy-colour'd, fome of lighter green.
The painted birds, companions of the spring,
Hopping from fpray to fpray, were heard to fing;
Eoth eyes and ears receiv'd a like delight,
Enchanting music, and a charming fight.
On Philomel I fix'd my whole defire;
And liften'd for the queen of all the quire;
LEAF: Fain would I hear her heav'nly voice to fing;
And wanted yet an omen to the fpring.

BOU R.

A

VISION.

Attending long in vain; I took the way,
Which through a path, but fcarcely printed, lay;
In narrow mazes oft it feem'd to meet,

And look'd as lightly prefs'd by fairy feet.
Wand'ring I walk'd alone, for till methought,
To fome ftrange end fo ftrange a path was wrought:
At last it led me where an arbour stood,

The facred receptacle of the wood:
This place unmark'd, though oft I walk'd the green,
In all my progrefs I had never seen :

And feiz'd at once with wonder and delight,
Gaz'd all around me, new to the tranfporting fight.
Iwas bench'd with turf, and goodly to be feen,
The thick young grafs arofe in fresher green:
The mound was newly made, no fight could pafs
Betwixt the nice partitions of the grafs;
The well-united fods fo clofely lay;
For fycamours with eglantine were spread,
And all around the shades defended it from day.

Who twining leaves with such proportion drew,
They rofe by measure, and by rule they grew:
No mortal tongue can half the beauty tell;
For none but hands divine could work fo well.
Both roof and fides were like a parlour made,
A soft recefs, and a cool fummer fhade;
The hedge was fet fo thick, no foreign eye
The perfons plac'd within it could espy:
But all that pafs'd without with ease was seen,
As if nor fence nor tree was plac'd between.
'Twas border'd with a field; and fome was plain
With grafs; and fome was fow'd with rifing grain.
That (now the dew with fpangles deck'd the
ground :)

A sweeter spot of earth was never found.

I look'd, and look'd, and still with new delight;
Such joy my foul, fuch pleafures fill'd my fight:
And the fresh eglantine exhal'd a breath,
Whose odours were of pow'r to raise from death:
Nor fullen difcontent, nor anxious care,
Ev'n tho' brought thither, could inhabit there :
But thence they fled as from their mortal foe;
For this sweet place could only pleasure know.
Thus, as I mus'd, I caft afide my eye
And faw a medlar tree was planted nigh;
The fpreading branches made a goodly show,
And full of op'ning blooms was ev'ry bough:
A goldfinch there I faw with gaudy pride
Of painted plumes, that hopp'd from fide to fide,
Still pecking as the pafs'd; and still the drew
The fweets from ev'ry flow'r, and fuck'd

dew:

Suffic'd at length, fhe warbled in her throat,
And tun'd her voice to many a merry note,
But indiftinct, and neither fweet nor clear,
Yet fuch as footh'd my foul, and pleas'd my ear.
Her fhort performance was no fooner try'd,
When the I fought, the nightingale, reply'd:
So fweet, fo fhrill, fo variously the fung,
That the grove echo'd, and the valleys rung:
And I fo ravish'd with her heav'nly note,

Thus while I fat intent to fee and hear,
And drew perfumes of more than vital air,
All fuddenly I heard th' approaching found
Of vocal mufic, on th' inchanted ground:
An hoft of faints it feem'd, fo full the quire;
As if the blefs'd above did all conspire,
To join their voices, and neglect the lyre.
At length there iffu'd from the grove behind
A fair affembly of the female kind.
A train lefs fair, as ancient fathers tell,
Seduc'd the fons of heaven to rebel.

I pafs their forms, and ev'ry charming grace,
Lefs than an angel wou'd their worth debase:
But their attire, like liveries of a kind,

All rich and rare is fresh within my mind.
In velvet white as fnow the troop was gown'd,
The feams with íparkling emeralds, fet around;
Their hoods and fleeves the fame: and purfied o'er
With diamonds, pearls, and all the shining store
Of eastern pomp: their long defcending train
With rubies edg'd, and fapphires, fweep the plain;
High on their heads, with jewels richly fet
Each lady wore a radiant coronet.

Beneath the circles all the quire was grac'd
With chaplets green on their fair foreheads plac'd.
Of laurel fome, of woodbine many more;
And wreaths of Agnus Caftus, others bore:
Thefe laft who with thofe virgin crowns were drefs'd,
Appear'd in higher honour than the reft.
They danc'd around, but in the midst was feen
the A lady of a more majestic mien ;

I stood entranc'd, and had no room for thought.
But all o'erpow'r'd with extasy of blifs,
Was in a pleafing dream of paradife ;
At length I wak'd; and looking round the bow'r
Search'd ev'ry tree, and pry'd on ev'ry flow'r,
If any where by chance I might efpy
The rural poet of the melody:
But ftill methought the fung not far away;
At laft I found her on a laurel fpray,
Close by my fide the fate, and fair in fight,
Full in a line, against her oppofite;
Where stood the eglantine with laurel twin'd:
And both their native fweets were well conjoin'd.
On the given bank I fat, and liften'd long;
(Sitting was more convenient for the fong !)
Nor till her lay was ended could I move,
But wifh'd to dwell for ever in the grove.
Only methought the time too fwiftly pafs'd,
And ev'ry note I fear'd wou'd be the lat

My fight, and fmell, and licaring were employ'd,
And all three fenfes in full guft enjoy'd.
And what alone did all the reft furpafs,
The sweet poffeffion of the fairy place;
Single, and confcious to my felf alone,

Gi pleasures to th' excluded world unknown.
afures which no where clfe were to be found,
And all Elyfium in a spot of ground.

By ftature, and by beauty mark'd their fov'reign
queen.

She in the midft began with fober grace;
Her fervants eyes were fix'd upon her face :
And as the mov'd or turn'd her motions view'd,
Her measures kept, and step by step pursu'd.
Methought the trod the ground with greater grace,
With more of godhead fhining in her face ;
And as in beauty fhe furpafs'd the quire,
So, nobler than the reft, was her attire.
A crown of ruddy gold inclos'd her brow,
Plain without pomp, and rich without a fhow:
A branch of Agnus Caftus in her hand,
She bore aloft (her fceptre of command:)
Admir'd, ador'd by all the circling crowd,
For wherefoe'er the turn'd her face, they bow'd:
And as fhe danc'd, a roundelay the fung,
In honour of the laurel, ever young:
She rais'd her voice on high, and fung fo clear,
The fauns came fcudding from the groves to hear:
And all the bending foreft lent an ear.
At every close the made, tli' attending throng
Reply'd, and bore the burden of the fong:
So juft, fo fmall, yet in fo fweet a note,
It feem'd the mufic melted in the throat.
Thus dancing on, and finging as they danc'd,
They to the n iddle of the mead advanc'd :
Till round my arbour, a new ring they made,
And footed it about the fecret hade:
Gerjoy'd to fee the jolly troop fo near,
But fomewhat aw'd, I shook with holy fear;
Yet not fo much, but that I noted well
Who did the moft in fong, or dance excell.
Not long I had obferv'd, when from afar

I heard a fudden fymphony of war;
The reighing couifers, and the foldiers cry,
And founding trumps that f.em'd to tear the fky: