ενθα δε οι θελκτήρια πανια τελυκτό
Ένθα ενι μεν φιλότης, εν δ ίμερος, εν
Παρφασις ἡ τ' εκλεψε νοον πυκα περ φρονεονίων
Τον ῥα οι εμβαλε χερσιν.
I SING that graceful toy, whose waving play
With gentle gales relieves the sultry day;
Not the wide Fan by Persian dames display'd,
Which o'er their beauty casts a grateful shade;
Nor that long known in China's artful land,
Which, while it cools the face, fatigues the hand:
Nor shall the Muse in Asian climates rove,
To seek in Indostan some spicy grove,
Where, stretch'd at ease, the panting lady lies,
To shun the fervour of meridian skies,
While sweating slaves catch every breeze of air,
And with wide-spreading Fans refresh the fair;
No busy gnats her pleasing dreams molest,
Inflame her cheek, or ravage o'er her breast,
But artificial zephyrs round her fly,
And mitigate the fever of the sky.
Nor shall Bermudas long the Muse detain, Whose fragrant forests bloom in Waller's strain, Where breathing sweets from every field ascend, And the wild woods with golden apples bend; Yet let me in some odorous shade repose, Whilst in my verse the fair palmetto grows; Like the tall pine it shoots its stately head, From the broad top depending branches spread; No knotty limbs the taper body bears, Hung on each bough a single leaf appears, Which shrivell❜d in its infancy remains, Like a closed Fan, nor stretches wide its veins, But as the seasons in their circle run, Opes its ribbed surface to the nearer sun : Beneath this shade the weary peasant lies,
Plucks the broad leaf, and bids the breezes rise. Stay, wandering Muse! nor rove in foreign
To thy own native shore confine thy rhymes.
Assist, ye Nine! your loftiest notes employ,
Say what celestial skill contrived the toy;
Say how this instrument of love began,
And in immortal strains display the Fan.
Strephon had long confess'd his amorous pain, Which gay Corinna rallied with disdain: Sometimes in broken words he sigh'd his care, Look'd pale, and trembled when he view'd the fair:
With bolder freedoms now the youth advanced, He dress'd, he laugh'd, he sung, he rhymed, he danced:
Now call'd more powerful presents to his aid,
And, to seduce the mistress, bribed the maid:
Smooth flattery in her softer hours applied,
The surest charm to bend the force of pride;
But still unmoved remains the scornful dame,
Insults her captive, and derides his flame.
When Strephon saw his vows dispersed in air,
He sought in solitude to lose his care;
Relief in solitude he sought in vain,
It served, like music, but to feed his pain.
To Venus now the slighted boy complains,
And calls the goddess in these tender strains.
O potent queen! from Neptune's empire sprung,
Whose glorious birth admiring Nereids sung,
Who midst the fragrant plains of Cyprus rove,
Whose radiant presence gilds the Paphian grove,
Where to thy name a thousand altars rise,
And curling clouds of incense hide the skies:
O beauteous goddess! teach me how to move,
Inspire my tongue with eloquence of love.
If lost Adonis e'er thy bosom warm'd,
If e'er his eyes or godlike figure charm'd,
Think on those hours when first you felt the dart,
Think on the restless fever of thy heart:
Think how you pined in absence of the swain;
By those uneasy minutes know my pain.
Even while Cydippe to Diana bows,
And at her shrine renews her virgin vows,
The lover, taught by thee, her pride o'ercame;
She reads his oath, and feels an equal flame:
Oh! may my flame, like thine, Acontius! prove,
May Venus dictate, and reward my love.
When crowds of suitors Atalanta tried,
She wealth and beauty, wit and fame defied;
Each daring lover with adventurous pace
Pursued his wishes in the dangerous race;
Like the swift hind the bounding damsel flies,
Strains to the goal, the distanced lover dies.
Hippomenes, O Venus! was thy care,
You taught the swain to stay the flying fair;
Thy golden present caught the virgin's eyes;
She stoops; he rushes on, and gains the prize.
Say, Cyprian deity! what gift, what art,
Shall humble into love Corinna's heart?
If only some bright toy can charm her sight,
Teach me what present may suspend her flight.'
Thus the desponding youth his flame declares;
The goddess with a nod his passion hears.
Far in Cythera stands a spacious grove,
Sacred to Venus and the god of love;
Here the luxuriant myrtle rears her head,
Like the tall oak the fragrant branches spread;
Here Nature all her sweets profusely pours,
And paints the' enamell'd ground with various
flowers;
Deep in the gloomy glade a grotto bends,
Wide through the craggy rock an arch extends,
The rugged stone is clothed with mantling vines,
And round the cave the creeping woodbine twines.
Here busy Cupids, with pernicious art,
Form the stiff bow and forge the fatal dart:
All share the toil: while some the bellows ply,
Others with feathers teach the shafts to fly;
Some with joint force whirl round the stony wheel, Where streams the sparkling fire from temper'd steel;
Some point their arrows with the nicest skill,
And with the warlike store their quivers fill.
A different toil another forge employs ;
Here the loud hammer fashions female toys;
Hence is the fair with ornament supplied,
Hence sprung the glittering implements of pride;
Each trinket that adorns the modern dame
First to these little artists owed its frame.
Here an unfinish'd diamond crosslet lay,
To which soft lovers adoration
There was the polish'd crystal bottle seen,
That with quick scents revives the modish spleen;
Here the yet rude unjointed snuff-box lies,
Which serves the rallied fop for smart replies;
There piles of paper rose in gilded reams,
The future records of the lover's flames:
Here clouded canes 'midst heaps of toys are found,
And inlaid tweezer-cases strow the ground:
There stands the toilet, nursery of charms,
Completely furnish'd with bright beauty's arms;
The patch, the powder-box, pulville, perfumes,
Pins, paint, a flattering glass, and black-lead
The toilsome hours in different labour slide, Some work the file, and some the graver guide; From the loud anvil the quick blow rebounds, And their raised arms descend in tuneful sounds. Thus when Semiramis, in ancient days, Bade Babylon her mighty bulwarks raise, A swarm of labourers different tasks attend: Here pulleys make the ponderous oak ascend;
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