THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 POEMS 
 
 UPON 
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS, 
 
 BY 
 
 Mr. WILLIAM GONGREVE. 
 
 -MiKUENTUR ATRAE 
 
 Carmine curae, H o r. 
 
 GLASGOW, 
 Printed and sold by R. and A. Foulis 
 
 M DCC Lll.
 
 EPISTLE ^^Cf 
 
 To the Right Honourable 
 
 CHARLES 
 
 Lord HALIFAX, &c. 
 
 ' '' I ^O you, my lord, my mufe her tribute pays 
 jL Of various verfe, in various rudceflays; 
 To you, (he firft addrefs'd her early voice, 
 By inclination led, and fix'd by choice; 
 To you, on whofe indulgence ftie depends, 
 Her few colleded lays fhe now commends. 
 
 By no one meafure bound, her numbers range. 
 And unrefolv'd in choice, delight in change; 
 Her fongs to no diftinguifti'd fame afpire, 
 For, now, (he tries the reed, anon,attempts the lyre ; 
 In high ParnafTus fhe no birthright claims, 
 Nor drinks deep draughts of Heliconian ftreams; 
 
 \ Yet near the facred mount fhe loves to rove, 
 
 > Vifits the fprings, and hovers round the grove. 
 
 ^ She knows what dangers wait too bold a flight, 
 And fears to fall from an Icarian height : 
 Yet, fhe admires the wing that fafely foars. 
 At diflance follows, and its track adores. 
 She knows what room,whatforce,thefwan requires, 
 Whofe tow'ring head above the clouds afpires, 
 A 2
 
 EPISTLE. 
 
 And knows as well, it is your ioweft praife, 
 
 Such heigtits to reach with equal ftrength and eafe. 
 
 O had your genius been to leifure born. 
 And not more bound to aid us, than adorn ! 
 Albion in verfe with antient Greece had vy'd. 
 And gain'd alone a fame, which, there, feven ftates 
 
 divide. 
 But fuch, ev'n fuch renown, too dear had coft, 
 Had we the patriot in the poet loft. 
 A true poetick ftate we had dcplor'd, 
 Had not your miniftry our coin reftor'd. 
 
 But ftill, my lord, tho' your exalted name 
 Stands foremoft in the faired lift of fame, 
 Tho' your ambition ends in publick good, 
 (A virtue lineal to your houfe and blood:) 
 Yet think not meanly of your other praife, 
 Kor flight the trophies which the mufes raife. 
 How oft, a patriot's beft-laid fchemes we find 
 By party crofs'd, or faclion undermin'd ! 
 If he fucceedhe undergoes this lot. 
 The good receiv'd, the giver is forgot. 
 But honours which from verfe their fource derive, 
 Shall both furmount detraction, and furvive: 
 And poets have unqueftion'd right to claim 
 If not the greateft, the moft lafting name. 
 
 W; COXCREVK,
 
 T H L 
 
 Mourning Muse of ALEXIS. 
 
 A 
 
 PASTORAL. 
 
 Lamenting the Death of 
 
 QUEEN MARY 
 
 Infandum Reghia Juha renovate dolor em. Virg. 
 
 ALEXIS, M E N A L C A S. 
 
 M E N A L C AS. 
 
 BEHOLD, Alexis, fcs this gloomy ihade, 
 Which feems alone for forrow's fticltcr made; 
 Where, no glad beams of light can ever play, 
 But night fuccecding night, excludes the day ; 
 Where, never birds with harmony repair, 
 And lightfome notes, to cheer the dusky air, 
 To "welcome day, or bid the fun farewcl, 
 By morning lark, or evening Philomel. 
 
 No violet here, nor daific e'er was fcen, 
 Ko fweetly budding flower, nor fprlnging green: 
 For fragrant myrtle, and the blufhing rofc, 
 'r ic, baleful yew with deadly cyprefs grows. 
 re then, extended on this withcr'd mofs, 
 -■'11 lie, and thou fhalt fin^ of Albion's lof;;
 
 6 POEMSUPON 
 
 Of Albion's lofs, and of Paftora's death, 
 Begin thy mournful fong, and raife thy tuneful breath. 
 ALEXIS. 
 
 Ah woe too great! ah theme which far exceeds 
 The lowly lays of humble fhepherds reeds! 
 
 O could I fing in verfe of equal ftrain, 
 With the Sicilian bard, or Hantaan fwain ; 
 Or melting words, and moving numbers chufe, 
 Sweet as the Britifii Colin 's mourning mufe; 
 Could I, like him, in tuneful grief excel, 
 And mourn like Stella for her Aftrofel; 
 Then might I raife my voice, (fecure of skill,) 
 And with melodious woe the valleys fill; 
 The lift'ning Echo on my fong fliould wait, 
 And hollow rocks Paflora's name repeat; 
 Each whiflling wind, and murm'ring flream fhould tell 
 How lov'd ihe liv'd, and how lamented fell. 
 M E N A L C A S. 
 
 Wert thou with ev'ry bay and lawrel crown'd. 
 And high as Pan himfelf in fong renown'd, 
 Yet would not all thy art avail, to Ihow 
 Verfe worthy of her name, or of our woe : 
 But fuch true paflion in thy face appears, 
 In thy pale lips, thick fighs, and gufhing tears, 
 Such tender forrow in thy heart I read. 
 As fliall fupply all skill, if not exceed. 
 Then leave this common form of dumb diftrefs, 
 Each vulgar grief can fIghs and tears exprefs; 
 In fwcet complaining notes thy paflion vent, 
 And not in fighs, but words explaining fighs, lament. 
 ALEXIS. 
 
 Wild be my words, Menalcas, wild my thought. 
 Artkfs as nature's notes, in birds untaught;
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 
 
 Boundlcls my verfe, and roving be my drains, 
 
 Various as flowers on unfrequented plains. 
 
 And thou Thalia, darling of my breaft, 
 
 By whom infpir'd, I fungat Comus' feaft; 
 
 While in a ring, the jolly rural throng 
 
 Have fate and fmil'd to hear my chearful fong: 
 
 Begon, with all thy mirth and fprightly lays. 
 
 My pipe, no longer now thy pow'r obeys; 
 
 Learn to lament, my mufe, to weep, and mourn. 
 
 Thy fpringing lawrcls, all to cyprefs turn; 
 
 Wound with thy difmal cries the tender air, 
 
 And beat thy fnowy brca^, and rend thy yellow hair; 
 
 Far hence, in utmoft wilds, thy dwelling chufe, 
 
 Begon Thalia, Sorrow is my mufe. 
 
 I mourn P aft or a dead, let Albion mourn ^ 
 
 And fable clouds her chalkie cliff i adorn. 
 No more, thefe woods (hall with her fight be blcfs'd, 
 Nor with her feet, thefe flow'ry plains be prcfs'd ; 
 No more, the winds fiiall with her treflcs play, 
 And from her balmy breath fteal fwects avray ; 
 No more, thefe rivers chearfully fhall pafs, 
 Pleas'd to rcfleft the beauties of her face ; 
 While on their banks the wondring flocks have flood, 
 Greedy of fight, and negligent of food. 
 
 No more, the nymphs fliall with foft tales delight 
 Her cars, no more with dances pleafe her fight; 
 Nor ever more (hall fwain make fong of mirth. 
 To blcfs the joyous day, that gave her birth: 
 Loft is that day, which had from her its light. 
 For ever loft with her, in cndlefs night: 
 In endlefs night, and arms of death flie lies. 
 Death in eternal ftiadcs has ftiut Paftora's eyes. 
 
 Lament ye nymphs, and mourn ye wretched fwains, 
 Stray all yc flocks, and dcfart be ye plains,
 
 S POEMSUPON 
 
 Sigh all ye winds, and weep ye chryftal floods, 
 Fade all ye flowers, and wither all ye woods. 
 
 I mourn Pajiora dead, let Albion mourn, 
 
 ^nd fable clouds her chalkie cliffs adorn. 
 
 Within a difmal grott, which damps furround, 
 All cold flie lies upon th* unwholefonn ground; 
 The marble weeps, and with a filent pace, 
 It's trickling tears diftil upon her face. 
 Fallly ye weep, ye rocks, and falfly mourn! 
 For never will you let the nymph return ! 
 "With a feign'd grief the faithlefs tomb relents, 
 And like the Crocodile its prey laments. 
 
 O fhe was heav'nly fair, in face and mind! 
 Never in nature were fuch beauties join'd: 
 Without, allfhining; and within, all white; 
 Pure to the fenfc, and pleafing to the fight; 
 Like fome rare flow'r, whofe leaves all colours yield, 
 And opening, is with fweeteft odours filPd. 
 As lofty pines o'ertop the lowly reed, 
 So did her graceful height all nymphs exceed. 
 To which excelling height, Ihe bore a mind 
 Humble, as ofiers bending to the wind. 
 
 Thus excellent Ihe was ■ 
 
 Ah wretched fate! fhe was, but is no more. 
 Help me, ye hills and valleys, to deplore. 
 
 J mourn Pajiora dead, let Albion mourn, 
 
 And fahle clouds her chalkie cliffs adorn. 
 
 From that bleft earth, on which her body lies, 
 May blooming flow'rs with fragrant fweets arife: 
 
 Let Myrrha weeping aromatick gum, 
 And ever-living lawrel, fhade her tomb. 
 Thither, let all th* induftrious bees repair. 
 Unlade their thighs, and leave their honey there;
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 
 
 Thither, let Fairies with their train refort, 
 Negleft their revels, and their midnight fport, 
 There, in unufual wailings wafte the night, 
 And watch her, by the fiery glow-worms light. 
 
 There, may no difmal yew, nor cyprefs grow, 
 Nor holly bufli, nor bitter elder's bough; 
 Let each unlucky bird far build his neft, 
 And diftant dens receive each howling beafl; 
 Let wolves be gone, be ravens put to flight, 
 "With hooting owls, and batts that hate the light. 
 
 But let the fighing doves their forrows bring, 
 And nightingales in fweet complainings fing; 
 Let fwans from their forfaken rivers fly, -n 
 
 And fick'ning at her tomb, make hafte to die, > 
 
 That they may help to fing her elegy. J 
 
 Let Echo too, in mimick moan deplore. 
 And cry with me, Paftora is no more! 
 
 I mourn Paftora dead, let Albion mourn. 
 
 And fable clouds her chalkie cliffs adorn. 
 
 And fee, the heav'ns to weep in dew prepare, 
 And heavy mifts obfcure the burden'd air: 
 A fudden damp o'er all the plain is fpread, 
 Each lilly folds its leaves, and hangs its head. 
 On ev'ry tree the bloflbms turn to tears, 
 And ev'ry bough a weeping moifture bears. 
 Their wings the feather'd airy people droop, 
 And flocks beneath their dewy fleeces ftoop. 
 
 The rocks are cleft, and new defcending rills 
 Furrow the brows of all th' irapendin* hills. 
 The water gods to floods their riv'lets turn. 
 And each, with dreaming eyes, fupplies his wanting urn. 
 
 The Fawns forfakc the woods, the nymphs the grove. 
 And round the plain in fad diftraflions rove; 
 In prickly brakes their tender limbs they tear, 
 And leave on thorns their locks of golden hair, 
 B
 
 ip P O E M S U P N 
 
 With their fharp nails, themfclves the Satyrs wound, 
 And tug their fliaggy beards, and bite with grief the gi:ound, 
 
 Lo Pan himfelf, beneath a blafted oak 
 Dejected lies, his pipe in pieces broke. 
 See Pales weeping too, in wild dcfpair, 
 And to the piercing winds her bofom bare. 
 
 And fee yond fading myrtle, where appears 
 The Qjieen of love, all bath'd in flowing tears, 
 See, how file wrings her hands, and beats her breaft, 
 And tears her ufelefs girdle from her waftc: 
 Hear the fad murmurs of her fighing doves, 
 For grief they figh, forgetful of their loves. 
 
 Lo, Love himfelf, with heavy woes oppreft! 
 See, how his forrows fwell his tender breaft; 
 His bow he breaks, and wide his arrows flings, 
 And folds his little arms, and hangs his drooping wings; 
 Then, lays his limbs upon the dying grafs, 
 And all with tears bedews his beauteous face. 
 With tears, which from his folded lids arife. 
 And even Love himfelf has weeping eyes. 
 All nature mourns; the floods and rocks deplore, 
 And cry with me Paftora is no more! 
 
 J mourn Paftora dead, let Albion mour»t 
 
 And fable clouds her chalkie cliffs adorn. 
 
 The rocks can melt, and air in mifts can mourn. 
 And floods can weep, and winds to flghs can turn; 
 The birds, in fongs, their forrows can difclofe, 
 And nymphs and fwains, in words, can tell their woes. 
 But oh ! behold that deep and wild defpair. 
 Which neither winds can fhow, nor floods, nor air. 
 
 See the great Shepherd, chief of all the fwains, 
 Lords of thefe woods, and wide-extended plains, 
 Stretch'd on the ground, and clofe to earth his face, 
 Scalding with tears th' already faded grafs;
 
 severa:l occasions. n 
 
 To the cold clay he joins his throbbing brcaft, 
 No more within Paftora's arms to reft ! 
 No more ! for thofe once foft and circling arms 
 Thcmfclves are clay, and cold are all her charms. 
 Cold are thofe lips, which he no more muft kifs, 
 And cold that bofom, once all downy blifs; 
 On whofe foft pillows, lull'd in fweet delights, 
 He us'd, in balmy fleep, to lofe the nights. 
 
 Ah ! where is all that love and fondnefs fled? 
 Ah ! where is all that tender fwcetnefs laid ? 
 Toduftmuft all that heav'nof beauty come ! 
 And muft Paftora moulder in the tomb ! 
 Ah death ! more fierce, and unrelenting far, 
 Than wildeft wolves, or favage tigers are ; 
 "With lambs and flieep their hungers are appeas'd, 
 £ut rav'nous death the fhepherdefs has feis'd. 
 
 J mourn Pajlora dead, let Albion mourtty 
 
 j4nd fable clouds her chalk'ie cliffs adorn. 
 
 • But fee, MenalcaS, where a fudden light, 
 
 * "With Wonder ftops my fong, and ftrikcs my fight : 
 
 * And where Paftora lies, it fpreads around, 
 
 * Shewing all radiant bright the facred ground. 
 
 * While from her tomb, behold a flame afcends 
 
 ' Of whiteft fire, whofe flight to heav'n extends! 
 
 * On flaky wings it mounts, and quick as fight 
 
 * Cuts thro' the yielding air, with rays of light; 
 
 * 'Till the blue firmament at laft it gains, 
 
 * And fixing there, a glorious ftar remains ; 
 
 Taireji itjhinesof all that light the skies ^ 
 As once on earth -werefeen Pajlora^s Eyes. 
 
 B 2'
 
 POEMS UPON 
 
 To THE KING, 
 
 On the Taking of N A M U R E. 
 
 IRREGULAR ODE. 
 
 Praefentitih'i mat tiros largimtir Honor es: 
 Nil oriturum alias, nilortttm tale fat entes. 
 
 Hor. ad Auguftum, 
 
 I. 
 
 OF arms and war my mufe afpires to fing, 
 And ftrike the lyre upon an untry'd firing: 
 New fire informs my foul, unfelt before; 
 And, on new wings, to heights unknown I foar. 
 O pow'r unfeen ! by whofe refiftlefs force 
 Compell'd, I take this flight, direft my courfe: . 
 For fancy, wild and pathlefs ways will chufe, 
 Which judgment, rarely, or with pain, purfues. 
 Say, facred nymph, whence this great change proceeds • 
 "Why fcorns the lowly fwain his oaten reeds, 
 Daring aloud to ftrike the founding Lyre, 
 
 And fing heroick deeds; 
 Ncglefting flames of love, for martial fire? 
 II. 
 William, alone, my feeble voice can raife; 
 What voice fo weak, that cannot fing his praife! 
 The lift'ning world each whifper will befriend 
 That breaths his name, and ev'ry ear attend.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 13 
 
 The hov'ring winds on downy wings flaall wait around, 
 And catch, and waft to foreign lands, the flying found. 
 Ev'n I will in his praife be heard; 
 
 For by his name my verfe Ihall be preferr'd. 
 
 Born like a lark upon this eagle's wing, 
 
 High as the fpheres, I will his triumph fing; 
 High as the head of Fame ; Fame whofe exalted fize, 
 From the deep vale extends, up to the vaulted skies: • 
 
 A thoufand talking tongues the monfter bears^ 
 A thoufand waking eyes, and ever-open cars; 
 
 Hourly flie ftalks, with huge gigantick pace, 
 Meas'ring the globe, like time, with conftantrace: 
 
 Yet fhall (he flay, and bend to William's praife: 
 Of him, her thoufand ears Ihall hear triumphant lays, 
 Of him her tongues Ihall talk, on him her eyes ihall gazc. 
 HI. 
 But lo, a change aftonilhing my eyes ! 
 
 And all around, behold new objeds rife! 
 What forms are thefe I fee? and whence? 
 
 Beings fubflantial? or docs air condenfe, 
 To cloath in vifionary fhape my various thought? 
 Are thcfe by fancy wrought! 
 
 Can ftrong idea's ftrike fo deep the fenfe! 
 
 O facred poefie ! O boundlefs power ! 
 What wonders doft thou trace,what hidden worlds explore. 
 
 Thro' fcas, earth, air, and the wide circling sky, 
 What is not fought and fecn, by thy all-piercing eye! 
 IV. 
 
 'Twas now, when flow'ry lawns the profpeft made, 
 
 And flowing brooks beneath a forefl'sfliadc; 
 
 A lowing heifer, loveliell of the herd, 
 
 Stood feeding by ; while two fierce bulls prepar'd 
 
 * Viri, Aen, 4,
 
 J4 POEMSUPON 
 
 Their armed heads for fight ; by fate of war, to prove 
 
 The vi£lor worthy of the fair one's love. 
 
 Unthought prefage, of what met next my view I 
 For foon the ftiady fcene withdrew. 
 
 And now, for woods, and fields, and fpringing fiow'rs ; 
 Behold a town arife, bulwark'd with walls, and lofty 
 
 Two rival armies all the plain o'erfpread, [tow'rs ! 
 Each in battalia rang'd, and fliining arms array'd : 
 
 With eager eyes, beholding both from far, 
 
 Namure, the prize and miftrefs of the war; 
 V. 
 
 Now, thirfl of conqueft, and immortal fame, 
 
 Does ev'ry chief and foldier's heart inflame. 
 
 Defenfive arms, the Gallick forces bear; 
 
 "While hardy Britons for the ftorm prepare: 
 
 For Fortune had, with partial hand, before 
 Refign'd the rule to Gallia's pow'r. 
 
 High on a rock the mighty fortrefs ftands, 
 
 Founded by fate; and wrought by nature's hands. 
 
 A wond'rous task it is th* aicent to gain, 
 
 Thro' craggy cliffs, that ftrike the fight with pain, 
 
 And nod impending terrors o'er the plain. 
 To this, what dangers men can add, by force or skill, 
 
 (And great is humane force and wit in ill) 
 Arc join'd ; on ev'ry fide, wide gaging engines wait, 
 
 Teeming with fire, and big with certain fate; 
 
 Ready to hurl deftruftion from above, 
 
 In dreadful roar, morking the wrath of Jove. 
 Thus fearful, does the face of adverfe pow'r appear; 
 
 But Britifh forces are unus'd to fear: 
 Tho' thus oppos'd,they might, if William were not there. 
 
 VI. 
 But hark, the voice of war ! behold the ftorm begin! 
 
 The trumpet's clangor fpeaks inl cud alarms,
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. jf 
 
 Mingling Ihrill notes with dreadful din 
 Of cannons burR, and ratling claOi of arms, [rebound, 
 Clamours from earth to heav'n, from hcav'n to earth 
 Diftinftion, in promifcuous noife is drown'd, 
 And Echo loft in one continu'd found. 
 Torrents of fire from brazen mouths are fenr, 
 Follow'd by peals, as if each pole were rent; 
 ..^uch flames the gulphs of Tartarus difgorge^ 
 So vaulted Aetna roars from V'ulcan's forge; 
 Such were the peals fromthence,fuch the vail blaze that 
 broke, 
 Redning with horrid gloom, the dusky fmoke, 
 When the huge Cyclops did with molding thunder fwcat, 
 And mafllvc bolts on repercufllvc anvils beat. 
 
 VII. 
 Amidft this rage, behold, where William Hands, 
 Undaunted, undifmay'd! 
 With face fercne, difpenfing dread commands; 
 Which heard with awe, are with delight obey'd. 
 A thoufand fiery deaths around him fly j 
 And burning balls hifs harmlefsby: 
 For ev'ry fire bis facred head muft fparc, 
 Nor dares the lightning touch the lawrels there. 
 VIII. 
 Now many a wounded Briton feels the rage 
 Of minive fires that fefter in each limb, 
 Which dire revenge alone has pow'r t' afTwage ; 
 Revenge makes danger dreadlefs fecm. 
 And now, with defp'rate force, and fre/h attack, 
 Thro' obvi,)us deaths, rcfiniefs way they make ; 
 laifing high piles of earth, and heap on heap they lay, 
 And then afcend; refembling thus (as far 
 As race of men inferior, may) 
 The fam'd gigantick war.
 
 i6 POEMSUPON 
 
 "When thofe tall fons of earth, did heav'n afpirc; 
 
 (A brave, but impious fire ! ) 
 
 Uprooting hills, with moft ftupendous hale, 
 
 To form the high and dreadful fcale. 
 
 The Gods, with horror and amaze, look'd down, 
 
 Beholding rocks from their firm bafisrent; 
 Mountain on mountain thrown, 
 With thrcatning hurl, that fliook th' aethereal firmament! 
 Th' attempt did fear in heav'n create ; 
 Ev'n Jove defponding fate, 
 
 'Till Mars with all his force collected, flood, 
 
 And pour'd whole "War on the rebellious brood ; 
 "Who tumbling headlong from th* Empyreal skies, 
 
 O'erwhelm'd thofe hills, by which they thought to rife. 
 Mars, on the Gods did then his aid beftow, [below. 
 
 And now in godlike William ftorms, with equal force 
 IX. 
 
 Still they proceed, with firm unfhaken pace, 
 
 And hardy breads opposM to danger's face. 
 
 With daring feet, on fpringing mines they tread 
 
 Of fecrct fulphur, in dire ambufli laid. 
 Still they proceed; tho' all beneath, the lab'ring earth 
 
 Trembles to give the dread irruptions birth. 
 Thro' this, thro' more, thro' all they go. 
 
 Mounting at laft amidft the vanquifh'd foe. 
 See, how they climb, and fcale the {leepy walls F 
 See, how the Britons rife ! fee the retiring Gauls! 
 Now from the fort, behold the yielding flag is fpread, 
 And William's banner on the breach difplay'd. 
 X. 
 
 Hark, the triumphant fiiouts, from every voice! 
 The skies with acclamations ring! 
 
 Hark, how around, the hills rejoice, 
 
 And rocks reflefted lo's fing !
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 17 
 
 ilautboys and fifes and trumpets join'd, 
 Heroick harmony prepare, 
 And charm to filence every ^vind, 
 And glad the late tormented air. 
 Far, is the found of martial mufic fpread, 
 
 Ech'oing thro' all the Gallick hoft, 
 Whofe numerous troops the dreadful ftorm furvey'd: 
 But they with wonder, or with awe difmay'd, 
 
 Unmov'd beheld the fortrefs loft. 
 "William, their num'rous troops with terror fill'd, 
 Such wondrous charms can godlike valour Ihow! 
 Not the wing'd Perfeus, with petrifick fhield 
 Of Gorgon's head, to niore amazement charm'd his foe. 
 Nor, when on foarin^ horfe he ftew, to aid 
 And fave from monfter's rage, the beauteous maid ; 
 Or more heroick was the deed ; 
 Or flic to furer chains decreed, 
 Than was Namure; 'till now by William freed. 
 XI. 
 Defcend, my mufe, from thy too daring height, 
 Defcend to earth, and eafc thy wide-ftretch'd wing; 
 For weary art thou grown, of this unwonted flight, 
 And doft with pain of triumphs fing. 
 More fit for thee, refume thy rural reeds; 
 For war let more harmonious harps be ftrung: 
 Sing thou of Love, and leave great "William's deeds 
 To Hitn whofung'the Boyne; or Him to whom he fung.
 
 rS P O E M S U P a It 
 
 THE BIRTH OF THE MUSE. 
 
 TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 CHARLES Lord HALL.IFAX. 
 
 Dlgtium lauie virummufa vetat mori. Horat, 
 
 DEfccnd, Celeftial Mufe ! thy fon infpire 
 Of thee to fing ; infufe the holy fire. 
 BelovM of gods and men, thy felf difclofe; 
 Say, from what fource thy heav'nly pow'r arofe, 
 Which from unnumb'red years deliv'nng down 
 The deeds of heroes dcathlefs in renown, 
 Extends their life and fame to ages yet unknown. 
 
 Time and the Mufe fet forth with equal pace ; 
 At once the rivals ftafted to the race : 
 And both at once the deftin'd courfc fliall end, 
 Or both to all eternity contend. 
 One to preferve what t'other cannot fave, 
 And rcfcuc virtue rrfing from the grave. 
 
 To thee, O Montague, thefe flrains are fung, 
 For thee my voice is tun^d, and fpcaking lyre isftrung; 
 For ev'ry grace of ev'ry Mufe is thine, 
 In thee their various fires united /hine, 
 Darling of Phoebus and the tuneful nine! 
 To thee alone I dare my fong eommcnd, 
 Whofe nature can forgive, and pow'r defend, 
 And iliew by turns the patron and the friend. 
 
 Begin, my Mufe, from Jove derive thy fong, 
 Thy fong of right, does firft to Jove belong : 
 
 \
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 19 
 
 For thou thyfelf art of celcftial feed, 
 Nor dare a fire inferior boaft the breed. 
 When fjrft the frame of this vaft ball was made, 
 And Jove with joy the finifh'd work furvcy'd ; 
 Viciflitude of things, of men and flatcs, 
 Their rife and fall were deilin'd by the fates. 
 Then time had firft a name ; by firm decree 
 Appointed lord of all futurity. 
 Within whofe ample bofom fates repofc 
 Caufesof things, and fecret feeds cnclofe, 
 "Which ripening there, fliall one day gain a birth, 
 And force a paflage thro* the teeming earth. 
 To him they give, to rule the fpacious light, 
 And bound the yet unparted day and night ; 
 To wing the hours that whirl the rowling fphcrr, 
 To fhift the feafons, and conduft the year, 
 Duration of dominion and of pow'r 
 To him prefcribe, and fix each fated hour. 
 This mighty rule, to Time the fates ordain, 
 But yet to hard conditions bind his reign, 
 For ev'ry beauteous birth he brings to light, 
 (How good foe'er and grateful in his fight,) 
 He muft again to native earth reftore, 
 And all his race with iron teeth devour. 
 Kor good, nor great fhali ^fcape his hungry maw, 
 But bleeding nature prove the rigid law. 
 
 Not yet, the loofen'd earth aloft was flung, 
 Or poisM amid the skies in ballance hung ; 
 Nor yet, did golden fires the fun adorn, 
 Or borrow'd luftre filver Cynthia's horn ; 
 Nor yet, had Time commifilon to begin, 
 Or fate the many-twifted web to fpin ; 
 When all thcijeav'nJy holt aflembled came, 
 ■To view the world yet '.cfling on its frame ^ c 
 
 C 2 '
 
 20 POEMSUPON 
 
 Eager they prefs, to fee the fire difmifs 
 And rowl the globe along the vaft abyfs. 
 
 When deep revolving thoughts the god retain. 
 Which for a fpace fufpend the promised fccne. 
 Once more his eyes on Time intentivc look, 
 Again, infpeft fate's univerfal book. 
 Abroad the wondrous volume he difplays, 
 And prefent views the deeds of future days. 
 ' A beauteous fcene adorns the foremoft page, 
 Where nature's bloom prefents the golden age. 
 The golden leaf to filver foon refigns, 
 And fair the flieet, but yet more faintly fhincs. 
 Of bafer brafs, the next denotes the times, 
 An impious page deform'd with deadly crimes. 
 The fourth yet wears a worfe and browner face. 
 And adds to gloomy days an iron race. 
 
 He turns the book, and ev'ry age reviews, 
 Then all the kingly line his eye purfues: 
 The firft of men, and lords of earth defign'd. 
 Who under him fliould govern human-kind. 
 Of future heroes, there, the lives he reads, 
 In fearch of glory fpent, and godlike deeds ; 
 Who empires found, and goodly cities build, 
 And favage men compel to leave the field. 
 
 Ail this he faw, and all he faw approv'd ; 
 When lo! but thence a narrow fpace rcmov'd, 
 And hungry time has all the fcene defac'd, 
 The kings deftroy'd, and laid the kingdoms wafte 
 Together all in common ruins lie, 
 And but anon and cv'n the ruins die. 
 Th' Almighty, inly touch'd, compafllon found, 
 To fee great ai^ions in oblivion drown'd; 
 And forward fearch'd the roll, to find if fate 
 Had no referve to fpare the goou and great.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 21 
 
 Bright in his view the Trojan heroes ihine, 
 And Ilian ftructures rais'd by hands divine ; 
 But Ilium foon in native duft is laid, 
 And all her boafted pile a ruin made r 
 Nor great Aeneas can her fall withlland, 
 But flics, to fave his gods, to foreign land. 
 The Roman race fuccecd the Dardan ftate, 
 And firft, and fecond Caefar, god-like great. 
 Still on to after-days his eyes defccnd, 
 And riOng heroes ilill the fearch attend. 
 Proceeding thus, he many empires pafs'dj 
 When fair Britannia fix'd his fight at laft. 
 
 Above the waves fhc lifts her filver head, 
 And looks a Venus born from Ocean's bed. 
 For rowling years, her happy fortunes fmile. 
 And fates propitious blefs the beauteous ifle ; 
 To worlds remote, fhe wide extends her reign. 
 And weilds the trident of the ftormy main. 
 Thus on the bafe of empire firm Ihe flaods, 
 While bright Eliza rules the willing lands. 
 
 But foon a lo wring sky comes on apace, 
 And fate revers'd iTicws an ill-omen'd face. 
 The void of heav'n a gloomy horror fills, 
 And cloudy veils involve herlhining hills ; 
 Of greatneis pafs'd no footftcps flie retains, 
 Sunk in a feries of inglorious reigns. 
 She feels the change, and deep regrets the fiiamc, 
 Of honours loft, and her diminiOi'd name : 
 Confcious, iTie feeks from day to ihrowd her hcad» 
 And glad wou'd fluink beneath her oozy bed. 
 
 Thus far, the facrcd leaves Britannia's woes 
 In fliady draughts and dusky lines difclofe, 
 Th' enfuing fcene revolves a martial age, 
 
 ;il
 
 fi2 POEMSUPON 
 
 Behold! of radiant light an orb arife, 
 "Which kindling day,reftores the darken'd skies: 
 And fee! on fcas the beamy ball defccnds, 
 And now its courfe to fair Britannia bends : 
 Along the foamy main the billows bear 
 The floating fire, and waft the fliining fphcrc. 
 Hail, happy omen ! hail, aufpicious fight ! 
 Thou glorious guide to yet a greater light. 
 For fee a prince, whom dazling arms array, 
 Purfuing clofely, plows the wat'ry way, 
 Tracing the glory thro' the flaming fea. 
 Britannia, rife; awake, O faircft ifle, 
 From iron fleep; again thy fortunes fmile. 
 Once more look up, the mighty man behold, 
 Whofe reign renews the former age of gold. 
 The fates at length the blifsful web have fpun, 
 And bid it round in cndlefs circles run. 
 Again, fhall diftant lands con fefs thy fway, 
 Again, the wat'ry world thy rule obey ; 
 Again, thy martial fons Ihall thirft for fame, 
 And win in foreign fields a deathlefs name; 
 For William's genius ev'ry foul infpires, 
 And warms the frozen youth with warlike fires. 
 Already, fee, the hoftile troops retreat. 
 And feem forewarn'd of their impending fate. 
 Already routed foes his fury feel, 
 And fly the force of his unerring fleel. 
 The haughty Gaul, who well, 'rill now, might boaft 
 A matchlefs fword and unrefifted hoft, 
 At his forcfeen approach the field forfakes; 
 His cities tremble, and his empire iTiakes. 
 His tow'ring enfigns long had aw'd the plain, 
 And fleets audacioufly ufurp'd the main ;
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 2j 
 
 A gath'ring ftorm he feem'd, which from afar 
 Teem'd with a deluge of deftruftivc war, 
 'Till William's ftronger genius foar'd above, 
 And down the skies the daring tempeft drove. 
 So from the radiant fun retires the night, 
 And weftern clouds fbot thro' with orient light. 
 So when th' aflliming God, whom ftorms obey, 
 To all the warring winds at once gives way, 
 The frantic brethren ravage all around, 
 And rocks, and woods, and (hoars their rage rcfoundj 
 Incumbent o'er the main, at length they fweep 
 The liquid plains, and raifc the peaceful deep : 
 But when fuperior Neptune leaveshis bed, 
 His trident fhakcs, and Jliews his awful head ; 
 The madding winds are hufh'd, the tempcfts ccafe, 
 And ev'ry fowling furge refides in peace. 
 
 And now the facrcd leaf a landskip wears, 
 Where, heav'n fcrene, and air unmov'd appears. 
 The rofe and lilly paint the verdant plains, 
 And palm and olive (hade the fylvan fcencs. 
 The peaceful Thames beneath his banks abides, 
 And foft, and (till, the filver furface glides. 
 The Zephyrs fan the fields, the whifp'ring breeze 
 With fragrant breath remurmurs thro' the trees. 
 The warbling birds applauding new-born light, 
 In wanton meafurcs wing their airy flight. 
 Above the floods the finny race repair, 
 And bound aloft, and bask in upper air; 
 They gild their fcaiy backs in Phoebus' beams. 
 And fcorn to skim the level of the ftreams. 
 Whole nature wears a gay and joyous face. 
 And blooms and ripens with the fruits of peace, 
 
 No more the lab'ring hind regrets his toil, 
 But chearfully manures the grateful foil ;
 
 24 ?OEMSUPON 
 
 Secure the glebe a plenteous crop will yield, 
 And golden Ceres grace the waving field. 
 Th' adventurous man, who durfl: the deep explore, 
 Oppofe the winds, and tempt the fhelfy fhoar, 
 Beneath his roof now taftes unbroken reft, 
 Enough with native wealth and plenty blefl. 
 
 No more the forward youth purfues alarms, 
 Nor leaves the facred arts for flubborn arms. 
 No more the mothers from their hopes are torn, 
 Nor weeping maids the promis'd lover mourn. 
 No more the widows fhrieks, and orphans cries, 
 Torment the patient air, and pierce the skies. 
 But peaceful joys the profp'rous times afford, 
 AndbanilVd virtue is again redor'd. 
 And he whofe arms alone fuftain'd the toil, 
 And propp'd the nodding frame of Britain's ifle; 
 By whofe illuftrious deeds, her leaders fir'd. 
 Have honours loft retriev'd, and new acquir'd, 
 With equal fway will virtue's laws maintain, 
 And good, as great, in awful peace (liall reign ; 
 For his example ftill the rule fiiall give, 
 And thofe it taught to conquer, teach to live. 
 
 Proceeding on, the father ftill unfolds 
 Succeeding leaves; and brighter ftill beholds; 
 The lateft feen the faireflfecms to fhine, 
 Yet fudden does to one more fair rcfign. 
 
 Th* Eternal paus'd . 
 
 Nor would Britannia's fate beyond explore; 
 Enough he faw befldes the coming ftore. 
 Enough the heroe had already done, 
 And round the wide extent of glory run: 
 Nor further now the (liining path purfues, 
 But like the fun the fame bright race renews.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS aj 
 
 And flull remorfelefs fates on him have poN¥'r! 
 Or Time unequally fuch worth devour! 
 Then, wherefore fhall the brave for fame conteft? 
 "Why is this man diftingui/h'd from the reft? 
 Whofe foaring genius now fublime afpires, 
 And deathlefs fame the due reward requires. 
 Approving Heav'n th' exalted virtue views, 
 Nor can the claim which it approves refufc. 
 
 The great Creator foon the grant refolves, 
 And in his mighty mind the means revolves. 
 He thought; nor doubted once, again to chufe, 
 But fpake the word, and made th' immortal Mufc. 
 Ke'er did his pow'r produce fo bright a child, 
 On whofe creation infant nature fmil'd. 
 Pcrfeft at firft, a finifh'd form ftic wears, 
 And youth perpetual in her face appears. 
 Th' aflcmbled gods, who long expcfting ftaid, "y 
 
 \Vith new delight gaze on the lovely maid, > 
 
 And think the wifli'd-for world was well dclay'd. J 
 Nor did the fire himfelf his joy difguifc, 
 But ftcdfaft vicw'd, and fix'd.andfed his eyes. 
 Intent a fpace, at length he filence broke, 
 And thus the god thcheav'nly fair befpokc. 
 
 * To thee. Immortal Maid, from this blcfs'd hour, 
 < O'er Time and Fame, I give unbounded pow'r. 
 
 * Thou from oblivion flialt the hero fave; 
 « Shalt raife, revive, immortalize the brave. 
 
 « To thee, the Dardan prince Ihall owe his fame; 
 
 * To thee, the Caefars their eternal name. 
 
 * Eliza, fung by thee, with fate ftiall ftriTC, 
 
 * And long as Time, in facred terfe furvivc. 
 
 * And yet, O Mufe, remains the noblcft theme; 
 
 * The firft of men, mature for endlefi fame; 
 
 D
 
 2i5 POEMSUPON 
 
 * Thy future fongs fhall grace, and all thy lay?, 
 
 * Thenceforth, alone fliall wait on William's praifc* 
 
 * On hisheroick deeds thy verfe fliall rife; 
 
 * Thou flialt diffufe the fires that he fupf^ies. 
 
 * Thro' him thy foiigs fhall mote fublime afpire ; 
 
 * And he, thro* them, fliali deathlefs fame acquire : 
 
 * Nor Time, not Fate his glory fhall oppofe, 
 
 < Or blaft the monuments the Mufe beftows/ 
 
 This faid ; no more remained. Th*^Etherial hoft 
 Again impatient crowd the chryftal coaft. 
 The father, now, within his fpacious hands, 
 Encompafs'd all the mingled mafsof feas and lands; 
 And having heav'd aloft the ponderous fphere, 
 He launch'd the world to float in ambient air. 
 
 On Mrs. Arabella Hunt, Singing. 
 
 IRREGULAR' ODE. 
 
 I. 
 
 LET all be hufht, each foftefl motion ceafe, 
 Be ev'ry loud tumultuous thought at peace; 
 And ev'ry ruder gafp of breath 
 Be calm, as in the arms of death. 
 And thou moft fickle, moft uneafie part. 
 Thou rdfllefs wanderer, my heart. 
 Be ftill; gently, ah gently, leave. 
 Thou bufie, idle thing, to heave. 
 Stir not a pulfe, and let my blood, 
 That turbulent, unruly flood, 
 
 Be foftly ftaid : 
 Ut me be all, but my att«ntion, dcaiv
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 27 
 
 €0, rcil, mineccflary fprings of life, 
 
 Leave your officious toil and ftrife; 
 For I would hear her voice, and try 
 2f it be po^le to 4ie. 
 
 11. 
 -Come all ye love-fick maids and wounded fwaiJis, 
 
 And liften to her healing ftrains. 
 A wond'rous balm between her lips Ihe wears, 
 Of Sov'reign force to foften cares; 
 And this through ev'ry ear fhe can impart, 
 (By tuneful breath diffus'd) to ev'ry heart. 
 Swiftly the gentle charmer flics, 
 And to the tender grief foft air applies, 
 
 Which, warbling myftick founds, 
 Cements the bleeding panter's wounds. 
 But ah! beware of clam'rousmoan: 
 Let no unpleafing murmur, or harfh gro^^n. 
 
 Your flighted loves declare: 
 Your very tend'reft moving fighs forbear, 
 For even they will be too boift'rous here. 
 Hither let nought biu facrcd illence come, 
 And let all fawcy praife be dumb. 
 III. 
 And lo! Silence hinrfclf is here; 
 Jiethinks I fee the midnight god appear, 
 In all his downy pomp array'd, 
 
 Behold thercv'rend ihade: 
 An ancient figh he fits upon, 
 Whofe memory of found is long fincc gone. 
 And purpofely annihilated for his throne: 
 Beneath, two foft tranfparent clouds domcei, 
 Jn which he feems to fink his foftcr feet. 
 A melancholy theught,.coadcns'd to air. 
 Stern from a lover in defpair, 
 
 D 2 1
 
 a8 POEMSUPON 
 
 Like a thin mantle, ferves to wrap 
 In fluid folds his vifionary fhapc. 
 A wreath of darknefs round his head he wears, 
 Where curling mifts fupply the want of hairs i 
 While the flill vapors, v/hich from poppies rife, 
 Bedew his hoary face, and lull his eyes. 
 IV. 
 
 But hark! the heav'nly fphere turns round, 
 And filence now is drown'd 
 In ecftafie of found. 
 How on a fudden the flill air is charmed, 
 As if all harmony were juft alarm'd ! 
 And ev'ry foul with tranfport fiU'd, 
 Alternately is thaw'd and chill'd. 
 See how the heav'nly choir 
 Come flocking to admire, 
 And with what fpeed and care, 
 Defcending angels cull the thinneft air! 
 Hafte then, come all th' immortal throng, 
 
 And liften to her fong; 
 Leave your lov'd manfions, in the sky, 
 And hither, quickly hither fly; 
 Your lofs of heav'n, nor ihall you need to fear, 
 While fhe fings, 'tis heaven here. 
 V. 
 See how they croud, fee how the little cherubs skip! 
 While others fit around her mouth, and fip, 
 
 Sweet halleluiahs from her lip. 
 Thofe lips, where infurprife of blifs they rovcj' 
 For ne'er before did angels tafle 
 So exquifite a feaft, 
 Of mufic and of love. 
 Prepare then, ye immortal choir, 
 Each facred minftrel tunc his lyFC,
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. C; 
 
 And with her voice in chorus join, 
 Her voice, which next to yours is mofl divine. 
 
 Blefs the glad earth with heav'nly lays, 
 And to that pitch th' eternal accents raifc, 
 
 Which only breath infpir'd can reach, 
 To notes,. which only (he can learn, and you can teach: 
 
 While we, charm'd with the lov'd cxcefs. 
 
 Are wrapt in fweet forgetful ncfs 
 Of all, of all, but of the prefent happinefs 
 
 Wifhing for ever in that flate to lye, 
 
 For ever to be dying fo, yet never die. 
 
 Triams Lamentation and Peti- 
 tion to AcbilleSy for the Body 
 of his Son He El or. 
 
 Tranflated from the Greek o( Homer,'lKioil, u^ 
 
 Beginning at this Line, 
 
 Argument introdu£lory to this tranflation. 
 
 He^or^s body {after he -was Jlain) remain' d ftill in the pojfejjion of 
 Achilln ; for -which Priam made great lamentation. Jupiter 
 had pity on him, and fent Iris to comfort him, and dtreB bim 
 after -what manner he Jbould go to Acbillei^s tent; and how he 
 Jhould there ranfom the body of his Jon. Priam accordingly or- 
 ders his chariot to be got ready, and preparing rich prefenis for 
 j4chilleSf fets forward to the Grecian camp, ac company' d by n9
 
 3» POEMSUPOK 
 
 boJy hut hh herald Idaeus. Mercury y at Jupiter* s cottmaudt 
 meets him by the -way, in the figure of a young Grecian, ond^ 
 €fter bemoaning his miifortuneSy undertakes to drive his chariot 
 unobferv^d, through the guards, and to the door of AchiUes^s 
 tent', -which having perform* d, he difcover^d him/elf a god, and 
 giving him a frort inftruBiott, hovt to ntoroe Achilles to compaf- 
 ftonyfiev) up to heaven. 
 
 SO fpakc the God, and heav'nward took his flight ; 
 When Priam from his chariot did alight; 
 Leaving Idacus there, alone he went 
 "With folemn pace into Achilles' tent. 
 Heedlefs, he pafs'd through various rooms of ftatc, 
 Until approaching where the hcroe fat; 
 There at a feaft, the good old Priam found 
 Jove's bcft belov'd, with all his chiefs around: 
 Two only were t'attend his perfon plac'd, 
 Automedonand Alcymus; the reft 
 At greater diftance, greater ftate exprefs-d. 
 
 Priam, unfeen by thefc, his way purfu'd, 
 And firft of all was by Achilles view'd. 
 About his knees his trembling arms he call. 
 And agonizing grafp'd and held 'em faft; ' 
 Then caught his hands, and kifs'd and prefj'd *em clpfc, 
 Thofe hands, th' inhuman authors of his woes; 
 Thofe hands, whofe unrelenting force had coft 
 Much of his blood (for many fons he loft.) 
 
 But, as a wretch who has a murder done, 
 And fceking refuge, does from juftice run; 
 Entring fome houfe, in hafte, where he's unknowji,, 
 Creates amazement in the lookers on: 
 So did Achilles gaze, furpriz'd to fee 
 The godlike Priam's royal mifcry; 
 
 \
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 3» 
 
 All on each other gaz'd, all in furprize 
 And mute, yet feem'd to qucftion with their eycj. 
 'Till he at length the folemn filence broke; 
 And thus the venerable fuppliant fpoke. 
 
 Divine Achilles, at your feet behold 
 A proftratc king, in wretchcdncfs grown old. 
 Think on your father, and then look on me, 
 His hoary age and helplcfs perfon fee ; 
 So furrow'd are his checks, fo white his hairs, 
 Such, and fo many his declining years; 
 Cou'd you imagine (but that cannot be) 
 Cou'd you imagine fuch, his mifery ! 
 Yet it may come, when he (hall be opprcfs'd, 
 And ncighb'ring princes lay his country wafte; 
 Ev'n at this time perhaps fome pow'rful foe, 
 "Who will no mercy, no compalTion ftiow, 
 Ent'ring his palace, fees him feebly fly, 
 And feek proteftion, where no help is nigh. 
 In vain, he may your fatal abfence mourn, 
 And wifh in vain for your delay 'd return ; 
 Yet, that he hears you live, is fome relief; 
 Some hopes alleviate his cxcefs of grief; 
 It glades his foul to think, he once may fee 
 His much-lovM fon; would that were granted mc! 
 But I, moft wretched I! of all bereft! 
 Of all my worthy fons, how few are left! 
 Yet fifty goodly youths I had to boaft, 
 "When firft the Greeks invaded Ilion'scoaft: 
 Nineteen, the joyful iflue of one womb, 
 Are now, alas! a mournful tribute to one tomb. 
 Mercilefs war this devaftation wrought. 
 And their Itrong nerves to difTolution brought. 
 
 Still one was left, in whom was all ray hopr, 
 My age's comfort, and his country's prop;
 
 S2 •• ' P E M S U P O N^ 
 
 He£lor, my darling, and my laft defence, 
 Whofe life alone, their deaths could recompencc: 
 And, to compleat my ftore of countlefs woe, 
 
 Him you have flain of him bereav'd me too! 
 
 For his fake only, hither am I come; 
 
 Rich gifts I bring, and wealth, an endlefs fum ; 
 
 All to redeem that fatal prize you won, 
 
 A worthlefs ranfom for fo brave a fon. 
 
 Fear the juft gods, Achilles ; and on me 
 "With pity look, think you your father fee ; 
 Such as I am, he is; alone in this, 
 I can no equal have in miferics ; 
 Of all mankind, mod wretched and forlorn, 
 Bow'd with fuch weight, as never has been born ; 
 Reduc'd to kneel and pray to you, from whom 
 The fpring and fourcc of all my forrows come; 
 "With gifts, to court mine and my country's bane, 
 And kifs thofe hands, which have my children ilain. 
 Hefpake. 
 
 Now, fadnefs o'er Achilles' face appears, 
 Priam he views, and for his father fears ; 
 That, and companion melt him into tears. 
 Then, gently with his hand he put away 
 Old Priam's face ; but he ftill proftrate lay, 
 And there with tears, and fighs, afreOi begun 
 To mourn the fall of his-ill fated fon. 
 But paffion difF'rent ways Achilles turns. 
 Now, he Patroclus, now, his father mourns: 
 Thus, both, with lamentations fiU'd the place,' 
 *Till forrow feem'd to wear one common face.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 33 
 
 The Lamentations of Hecuba^ 
 
 Andromache^ and Helen^ over 
 
 the dead body of HeBor. 
 
 Tranflated from the Greek oi Homer y 'i\tx^. -. 
 Beginning at this line, 
 
 *Hwf V Xpoy-OTriTTKO^ iKt'hoLTO TTOLICLV IT CUCiV. 
 
 Conncftion of this with the former Tranllation. 
 
 Priam, at bji, moves ^chilUs to compafion, and after having made 
 him frefents of great value, obtains the body of his fon. Mer^ 
 cury a-wakens Priam early in the morning, and advifis him to 
 hafie away -with the body, left Agamemnon fjould be informed 
 of his being in the camp : he himfdf helps to harnefs the mules 
 andhorfes, and conveys him fafely, and without noife, chariot 
 and all, from among the Grecian tents; then flies up to Hea- 
 ven, leaving Priam and Jdaeus to travel on with the body to- 
 •ward Troy. 
 
 "KJ O W did the faffron Morn her beams difplay, 
 J- ^ Gilding the face of univcrfal day ; 
 When mourning Priam to the town return'd ; 
 Slowly his chariot mov'J, as that had mourn'd; 
 The mules beneath the mangled body go, 
 As bearing (now) unufual weight of woe. 
 To Pergamus' high top CafTindra flies, 
 rhcnce llae afar the fad procelfion fpics: 
 Her father and Idaeus firll appear, 
 Then Heftor's corps extended on a bier;
 
 34 POEMSUPON 
 
 At which, her boundlefs grief loud cries began, 
 And, thus lamenting, through the ftreets Ihc ran: 
 « Hither, ye wretched Trojans, hither all! 
 
 * Behold the god-like Hefior's funeral! 
 
 * If e'er you went with joy, to fee him come 
 
 * Adorn'd with conqueft and with lawrels home, 
 t Aflemble now, his ranfom'd body fee, 
 
 * What once was all your joy, now all your mifery !* 
 
 She fpake, and ftrait the numerous crowd obey'd, 
 Norman, nor woman, in the city Itaid; 
 Common confcnt of grief had made 'em one, 
 With clam'rous moan to Scaea's gate they run, 
 There the lov'd body of their Heftor meet, 
 Which they, with loud and frefh lamentings, greet. 
 His rev'rend mother, and his tender wife, 
 Equal in love, in grief had equal ftrife: 
 In forrow they no moderation knew, 
 Sut wildly wailing, to the chariot flew; 
 There flrove the rolling wheels to hold, while each 
 Attempted firil his breathlefs corps to reach : 
 Aloud they beat tncir brcafts, and tore their hair, 
 Rending around with flirieks the fuff 'ring air. 
 
 Now had the throng of people ftopt the way, 
 Who would have there lamented all the day, 
 But Priam from his chariot rofe, and fpake, 
 « Trojans, enough; truce with your forrows make; 
 
 * Give way to me, and yield the chariot room; 
 
 * Firil let me bear my Heftor's body home, 
 
 * Then mourn your fill.* At this the crowd gave way, 
 Yielding,^ like waves of a divided fea. 
 
 Idaeus to the palace drove, then laid 
 With care, the body on a fumptuous bed. 
 And round about were skilful fingers plac'd, 
 Who wept, and figh'd, and in fad notes exprefs'il
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 3^ 
 
 Their moan ; all in a chorus did agree 
 
 Of univerfal, mournful harmony. 
 
 "When firft, Andromache her paffion broke, 
 
 And thus, ( clofe preiUng his pale cheeks] Hie fpoke. 
 
 Andromache's Lamentation, 
 
 O my loft husband! let me ever mourn 
 Thy early fate, and too untimely urn : 
 In the full pride of youth thy glories fade, 
 And thou in allies muft with them be laid. 
 
 "Why is ray heart thus miferably torn! 
 Why am I thus diftrefs'd ! why thus forlorn.' 
 Am I that wretched thing, a widow left? 
 Why do I live, who am of thee bereft ! 
 Vet I were bleft, were I alone undone; 
 Alas, my child ! where can an infant run ? 
 Unhappy orphan ! thou in woes art nurft; 
 
 Why were you born ? 1 am with blcflings curft ! 
 
 For long e'er thou flialt be to manhood grown, 
 Wide defolaiion will lay wafte this town: 
 Who is there now that can protedion give, 
 Since he, who washer ftrength, no more doth livc.^ 
 Who of her rev'rend matrons will have carer 
 Who fave her children from the rage of war? 
 For he to all father and husband was, 
 And all are orphans now, and widowsby his lofs. 
 Soon will the Grecians, now, infultingcomc, 
 ftind bear us captives to their diftant home; 
 [, with my child, muft the fame fortune fiiarc, 
 (^nd all alike, be pris'ners of the war; 
 'Mongft bafe-born wretches he his lot muft have, 
 And be to fome inhuman lord, a flavc, 
 E 2
 
 35 POEMSUPON 
 
 Elle fome avenging Greek, v-ith fury fiU'd, 
 
 Or for an only fon, or father kill'd 
 
 By He£lor*s hand, on him will vent his rage. 
 
 And with his blood his thirfty grief aflwage; 
 
 For many fell by his relentlefs hand, 
 
 Biting that ground, which with their blood was ftain'd. 
 
 Fierce was thy father ( O my child) in war, 
 And never did his foe in battle fpare ; 
 Thence come thefe fuf! 'rings, which fo much have cod 
 Much woe to ail, but fure to me the moll. 
 I faw him not, when in the pangs of death, 
 Kor did my lips receive his hteft breath; 
 Why held he not to me his dying hand ? 
 And why receiv 'd not I his lart command ? 
 Something he would have faid, had I been there, 
 Which I fhould ftill in fad remembrance bear; 
 For I could never, never words forget, 
 Which night and day, I fhould with tears repeat. 
 
 She fpake, and wept afre(h, when all around 
 A general figh diffus'd a mournful found. 
 Then Hecuba, who long had been oppreft 
 With boiling paffions in her aged breaft, 
 Mingling her words with fighs and tears, begun 
 A lamentation for her darling fon. 
 
 Hecuba's Lainentatlon. 
 
 Heflor, my joy, and to my foul more dear 
 Than all my othernum'rous iflue were; 
 O my laft comfort, and my beft belov'd! 
 Thou, at whofe fall, ev'n Jove himfelf was mov'd, 
 And fent a God his dread commands to bear, 
 So far thou wert high Heav'n's peculiar card
 
 I 
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 37 
 
 From fierce Achilles' chains thy corps was freed; 
 So kind a fate was for none elfe decreed : 
 My other fons, made pris'ners by his hands, 
 "Were fold like flaves, and iliipt to foreign lands. 
 Thou too wcrt fcntenc'd by his barb'rous doom, 
 And dragg'd, when dead, about Patroclus' tomb, 
 His lov'd Patroclus, whom thy hands had flain: 
 And yet that cruelty was us'd in -vain, 
 Since all could not rcflorc his life again. 
 Now frelh and glowing, even in death thou art, 
 And fair as he who fell by Phoebus' dart. 
 
 Here weeping Hecuba her paflion flay'd, 
 And univerfal moan again was made; 
 "When Helen's lamentation hers fupply'd, 
 And thus, aloud, that fatal beauty cry'd. 
 
 Helen's Lamentation. 
 
 O Hcftor, thou wert rooted in my heart, 
 No brother there had half fo large a pan ! 
 Not Icfs than twenty years are now pais'd o'er, 
 Since firft I landed on the Trojan fliore; 
 Since [ with godlike Paris fled from home; 
 ( Wou'd I had dy'd before that day had come!) 
 In all which time ( (o gentle was thy mind) 
 I ne'er could charge thee with a deed unkind; 
 Not one untender wc^rd, or look of fcorn, 
 "Which I too often have from others born. 
 But you from their reproach ftill fet me free, 
 And kindly have rcprov'd their cruelty; 
 If by my filters, and the Queen revil'd 
 (For the pood King, like you, was ever mild) 
 Your kindncfs Aill has all my grief beguil'd. 
 
 2 

 
 38 POEMSUPON 
 
 Ever in tears let me your lofs bemoan, 
 Who had no friend alive, but you alone: 
 All will reproach me now, where-e'er I pafs, 
 And tiy with honor from my hated face. 
 
 This faid ; ilie wept, and the vaft throng was mov'd, 
 And with a general figh her grief approv'd. 
 "When Priam (who had heard the mourning crowd) 
 Rofe from his feat, and thus he fpakc aloud. 
 
 ' Ceafe your lamentings, Trojans, for a while, 
 
 * And fell down trees to build a funeral pile; 
 
 * Fear not an ambufli by the Grecians laid, 
 
 * For with Achilles twelve days truce I made.* 
 
 He fpake, and all obey'd as with one mind. 
 
 Chariots wcrebroiij^ht, and mules and oxen join'd; 
 
 Forth from the city all the people went. 
 
 And nine days fpace was in that labour fpcnt; 
 
 The tenth, a molt Hupcndous pile they made, 
 
 And on the top the manly Heftor laid. 
 
 Then gave it fire; while all, with weeping eyes. 
 
 Beheld the rolling flames and fmoak arife. 
 
 All night they wept, and all the night itburn'd; 
 
 But when the rofie morn with day return'd, 
 
 About the pile the thronging people came, 
 
 And with black wine quench'd the remaining flame. 
 
 His brothers then, and friends fcarch'd cv'ry where, 
 
 And gathering up his fnowy bones with care. 
 
 Wept o'er 'em; when an urn of gold was brought, 
 
 Wrapt in foft purple palls, and richly wrought, 
 
 In which thefacred alhes were interr'd, 
 
 Then o'er his grave a monument they rear'd. 
 
 Mean time, ftrong guards were plac'd, and careful fpicx, 
 
 To watch the Grecians, and prevent furprize. 
 
 The work once ended, all the vaft refort 
 
 Of mourning people went to Priam's court;
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. jj 
 
 There they refreih'd their weary limbs with reft, 
 Ending the fun'ral with a folcran feaft. 
 
 Paraphrafe upon HORACE, 
 ODE XIX. LIB. I. 
 
 Mater faeva cupidimm, &c. 
 
 rr^ HE tyrant Qiieen of foft dcflres, 
 -*- With the refiitlefs aid of fprightly win» 
 And wanton eafe, confpires 
 To make my heart its peace refign, 
 And re-admit love's long rejefted fires. 
 
 For beauteous Glyccra I burn, 
 The flames fo long repell'd with double force return: 
 Matchlefs her face appears, and fhines more bright 
 Than polifh'd marble when rcflcfting light; 
 Her very coynefs warms; 
 And with a grateful fullennefs Ihe charms: 
 Each look darts forth a thoufand rayj, 
 Whofe luftre an unwary fight betrays, 
 My eye-balls fwim, and I grow giddy while I gazt. 
 II. 
 She comes ! fhc comes! flie rulhcs in my veins! 
 At once all Venus enters, and at large (he reigns! 
 Cyprus no more with her abode is bleft, 
 I am her palace, and her throne my breaft. 
 Of ravage Scythian arms no more 1 write, 
 Or Parthian archers, who in flying fight,
 
 40 POEMSUPON 
 
 And make rough war their fport; 
 Such idle themes no more can move, 
 Nor any thing but what's of high import, 
 And what's of high import, but lovef 
 Vervain and gums, and the green turf prepare; 
 "With wine of two years old, your cups be fill'd : 
 
 After our facrifice and pray'r, 
 The Goddefs may incline her heart to yield. 
 
 STANZAS. 
 
 In imitation of Horace, Lib. II. Ode. XIV. 
 
 Eheu fugaceSy Pcjihuwe, Pojihumtj 
 Labuntur anniy &c. 
 
 A H! no, 'tis all in vain, believe me 'tis, 
 "^^ This pious artifice. 
 
 Not all thefe pray'rs and alms can buj 
 
 One moment tow'rd eternity. 
 
 Eternity! that bound lefs race, 
 
 Which Time himfelf can never run: 
 (Swift, as he flies, with an unweary'd pace) 
 "Which, when ten thoufand, thoufand years are donc^ 
 Is ftill the fame, and ftill to be begun. 
 
 Fix'd are thofe limits, which prefcribc 
 A Ihort extent to the moft lafting breath ; 
 And tho' thou cou'dft for facrifice lay down 
 Millions of other lives to fave thy own, 
 
 'Twerc fruitlefs all; not all would bribe 
 Onefupernumerary gafp from death.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. ^t 
 
 ir. 
 
 In vain thy inexhauftcd ftore 
 
 Of wealth, in vain thy pow'r j 
 Thy honours, titles, all inuft fail, 
 Where piety itfelf can nought avail. 
 The rich, the great, the innocent and juft, 
 
 Muft all be huddled to the grave, 
 "With the mod vile and ignominious flavc, 
 And undiftinguifh'd lye in duft. 
 In vain the fearful flies alarms, 
 in vain he is fecure from wounds of arms, 
 In vain avoids the faithlefs Teas, 
 And is confin'd to home and cafe. 
 Bounding his knowledge, to extend his days. 
 
 In vain are all thofe arts we try, 
 All our evafions, and regret to die : 
 From the contagion of mortality, 
 
 No clime is pure, no air is free : 
 And no retreat 
 Is fo obfcure, as to be hid from fate. 
 III. 
 Thou muft, alas ! thou muft, my friend; 
 (The very hour thou now doft fpcnd 
 In ftudying to avoid, brings on thy end) 
 Thou muft forego the dearcft joys of lifcj . 
 Leave the warm bofom of thy tender wife, 
 And all the much-lovM off-fpring of her womb, 
 To moulder in the cold embraces of a tomb. 
 All muft be left, and all be loft; 
 Thy houfe, whofe ftatcly ftrufture fo much coft, 
 
 Shall not afford 
 Room for the ftinking carcafs of its lord. 
 Of all thy pleafant gardens, grots and bow'rs, 
 Thy coftly fruits, thy far-fctch'd plants and flow'rs, 
 F
 
 42 P O E M S U P O N 
 
 Nought fhalt thou fave; 
 Or but a fprig of rofemary fhalt have. 
 To wither with thee in the grave : 
 The reft fhall live and flourifh, to upbraid 
 Their tranfitory mafter dead. 
 
 IV. 
 Then fliall thy long-ex pefting heir, 
 
 A joyful naourning wear: 
 And riot in the waftc of that cflate 
 Which thou haft taken fo much pains to ^tt- 
 All thy hid ftores he (hall unfold, 
 And fet at large thy captive gold. 
 That precious wine, condemned by thee 
 To vaults and prifons, /hall again be free: 
 Eury'd alive tho' now it lycj, 
 
 Again fliall rife, 
 Again its fparkling furface fhow. 
 And free as element profufely flow. 
 With fuch high food he fliall fet forth his feafl?, 
 That cardinals fliall wifli to be his guefts ; 
 And pamper'd prelates fee 
 Themfelves out-done in luxury. 
 
 In Imitation oi HO RAC E, 
 
 O D E IX. L I B. I. 
 
 Vides ttt alta, &c. 
 
 I. 
 
 BLESS me, 'tis cold! how chill the airf 
 How naked docs the world appear! 
 But fee (big with the ofF-fpring of the North) 
 The teeming clouds bring forth :
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 43 
 
 A Jhow'r of foft and fleecy rain 
 
 Falls, to new-cloath the earth again. 
 
 Behold the mountain -tops, around, 
 
 As if -with fur of crmins crown'd : 
 
 And low ! how by degrees 
 
 The univcrfal mantle hides the trees, 
 
 In hoary flakes, which downward fly, 
 As if it were the Autumn of the sky : 
 Trembling the groves fuftain the weight, and bow 
 
 Like aged limbs, which feebly go 
 Beneath a venerable head of fnow. 
 
 II. 
 Difl^ufive cold docs the whole earth invade, 
 Like a difeafe, through all its veins 'tis fprcad, 
 And each late living ftream is numb'd and dead. 
 Let's melt the frozen hours, make warm the air ; 
 Let chearful £rcs Sol's feeble beams repair; 
 Fill the large bowl with fparkling wine; 
 Let's drink, 'till our own faces fliine, 
 
 'Till we like funs appear, 
 To light and warm the hemifphere. 
 Wine can difpenfe to all both light and heat, 
 
 They are with wine incorporate: 
 That pow'rful juice, with which no cold dares mis, 
 Which RiW is fluid, and no froft can fix; 
 
 Let that but in abundance flow, 
 And let it ftorm and thunder, hail and fnaw, 
 'Tis Heav'n's concern; and Jet it be 
 The care of Heav'n ftill, for me. 
 rhofe winds, which rend the oaks and plough the Teas, 
 Great Jove can, if he pleaie, 
 With one commanding nod appeafc. 
 F 2
 
 44 POEMSUPON 
 
 iir. 
 
 Seek not to know to-morrow's doom ; 
 That is not ours, which is to come. 
 The prcfent moment's all our flore: 
 The next, fhould Heav'n allow, 
 Then this will be no more : 
 So all our life is but one inflant now. 
 Look on each day you've paft 
 To be a mighty treafure won : 
 And lay each moment out in hafte ; 
 We're fure to live too faft, 
 And cannot live too foon. 
 Youth does a thoufand plea lures bring, 
 "Which from decrepid age will fly ; 
 The flow'rs that fiourifii in the fpring, 
 In Winter's cold embraces die. 
 IV. 
 Now Love, that everlafting boy, invites 
 To revel, while you may, in foft delights: 
 Mow the kind nymph yields all her charms, 
 Nor yields in vain to youthful arms. 
 Slowly ihe promifes at night to meet, 
 But eagerly prevents the hour with fwifter feet, 
 To gloomy groves and fhades obfcure /he flies, 
 There vails the bright confefllon of her cyts. 
 Unwillingly fhe flays, 
 Would more unwillingly depart. 
 And in foft fighs conveys 
 The whifpers of her heart. 
 Still file invites, and ftill denies, 
 And vows flie'U leave you if y 'are nide; 
 Then from her ravillier fhe flies, 
 But flies to be purfu'd :
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 4; 
 
 If from his fight flie does herfelf convey, 
 With a feign'd laugh fhe will herfelf betray, 
 And cunningly inftruft him in the way. 
 
 SONG. 
 
 ILook'd, and I figh'd, and I wifhM I cou'd fpeak, 
 And very fain would have b°en at her ; 
 But when I ftrove moft my great paflion to break, 
 Still then, I faid leail of the matter. 
 11. 
 I fwore to myfelf, and refolv'd I wou'd try 
 
 Some way my poor heart to recover : 
 But that was all vain, for I fooner cou'd die, 
 Than live with forbearing to love her. 
 III. 
 Dear Caelia be kind then ; and fince your own eyes 
 
 By looks can command adoration, 
 Give mine leave to talk too, and do not defpife 
 Thofe oglings that tell you my paflion. 
 IV. 
 We'll look, and we'll love, and tho' neither fliou'd fpeak. 
 
 The plcafure we'll ftill be purfuing ; 
 And fo, without words, I don't doubt we may make 
 A very good end of this wooing. 
 
 The RECONCILIATION. 
 
 RECITATIVE. 
 
 FAIR Caelia love pretended, 
 And nam'd the myrtle bow'r, 
 Where Damon long attended 
 Beyond the promis'd hour.
 
 4^ POEMSUPON 
 
 At length impatient growing 
 Of anxious expeftation, 
 His heart with rage o'erflowing, 
 He vented thus his paffion. 
 
 ODE. 
 
 * To all the fex deceitful, 
 
 * A long and laft adieu ; 
 
 * Since women prove ungrateful 
 
 * As oft as men prove true. 
 
 * The pains they caufe are many, 
 
 ' And long and hard to bear, 
 
 * The joys they give (if any) 
 
 ' Few, fliort, and unfincerc.' 
 RECITATIVE. 
 But Caelia now repenting 
 Her breach of alTignation, 
 Arrived with eyes confenting 
 And fparkling inclination. 
 Like Citherea fmiling, 
 She blufh'd, and laid his pafllon; 
 The fhepherd ceas'd reviling, 
 And fung this recantation. 
 
 PALINODE. 
 
 * How engaging, how endearing, 
 
 * Is a lover's pain and care! 
 
 * And what joy the nymph's appearing, 
 
 * After abfence or defpair! 
 
 * Women wife encreafe defiring, 
 
 < By contriving kind delays; 
 
 * And advancing, or retiring, 
 
 * All they mean is more to pkafe.'
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 47 
 
 ABSENCE. 
 
 ALAS! what pains, what racking thoughts he proves, 
 "Who lives renr>ov'd from her he deareft loves! 
 In cruel abfence doom'd part joys to mourn, 
 And think on hours that will no more return! 
 Oh! let me ne'er the pangs of abfence try, 
 Save me from abfence, love, or let mc die. 
 
 SONG. 
 
 FALSE though flie be to mc and love. 
 I'll ne'er purfue revenge; 
 For ftill the charmer I approve, 
 
 Tho' I deplore her change. 
 
 In hours of blifs we oft have met. 
 
 They could not always laft; 
 And though the prcfcnt I regret, 
 
 I'm grateful for the paft. 
 
 SONG in DIALOGUE. 
 
 For TWO WOMEN. 
 
 I. 
 
 ILoTt, and am bclov'd again, 
 Strcphon no more Ihall figh in vain ; 
 I've try'd his faith, and found him true, 
 And all my coynefs bid adieu. 
 2. 
 I love, and am belov'd again, 
 Yet flill my Thyrfis Ihall complain ;
 
 4? POEMSUPON 
 
 I'm fure he's mine, while I refufe him, 
 But when I yield, I fear to lofe him. 
 
 1. Men will grow faint with tedious faftlng. 
 
 2. And both will tire with often tafting, 
 When they find the blifs not lafling. 
 
 1. Love is compleat in kind poflefling. 
 
 2. Ah no! ah no! that ends the blefllng. 
 
 Chorus of both. 
 
 * Then let us beware how far we confent, 
 
 * Too foon when we yield, too late wc repent ; 
 
 * 'Tis ignorance makes men admire : 
 
 * And granting defire, 
 < We feed not the fire, 
 
 • But make it more quickly expire. . 
 
 SONG. 
 I. 
 
 TELL me no more I am deceiv'd ; 
 That Cloe's falfe and common : 
 I always knew (at leaft believ'd) 
 
 She was a very woman ; 
 As fuch, I lik'd, as fuch, carefs'd. 
 She ftill was conftant when polTefs'd, 
 She could do more for no man. 
 
 n. 
 
 But oh ! her thoughts on others ran. 
 And that you think a hard thing; 
 
 Perhaps, fhe fancy'd you the man, 
 And what care I one farthing ? 
 
 You think Hie's falfe, I'm fure flie'skind; 
 
 I take her body, you her mind, 
 Who has the better bargain ?
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 49 
 
 The PETITION. 
 
 GRANT me, (rcntlc Love, faid J, 
 One dear blefllng e'er I die; 
 Long I have born excefs of pain, 
 Let me now fome blifs obtain. 
 
 Thus to Almighty Love I cry'd, 
 "When angry, thus the Go^s reply 'd. 
 
 Bleffings greater none can have, 
 Art thou not Amynta's (lave? 
 Ceafe, fond mortal, to implore, 
 For love. Love himfclf 's no more. 
 
 SONG. 
 
 I. 
 
 CRUEL Amynta, can you fee 
 A heart thus torn, w hich you betray'd ? 
 Love of himfelf ne'er vanquilli'd me, 
 But through your eyes the conqucfl made, 
 
 ir. 
 
 In ambufh there the traitor lay, 
 
 Where I was led by faithlefs fmiks : 
 No wretches are fo loft as they, 
 
 Whom much fecurity beguiles. 
 
 SONG. 
 
 T. 
 
 SEE, fee. Hie wakes, Sabina wakes! 
 And now the fun bet^ins to rife ; 
 Lefs glorious is the morn that breaks 
 From his bright beams, than her fair cyc^. 
 G
 
 ;» POEMSUPON 
 
 ir. 
 
 With light united, day they give, 
 But different fates e'er night fulfil. 
 
 How many by his warmth will live ! 
 How many will her coldnefs kill ! 
 
 Occafioned on ^ LadyV having writ Verses in 
 Co77imendatio7i of a Poem niihich <was ivritten in 
 Praife of another Lady. 
 
 HARD is the task, and bold th* adventrous flight 
 Of him, who dares in praife of beauty write j 
 For when to that high theme our thoughts afcend, 
 'Tis to detraft, too poorly to commend. 
 And he, who praifing beauty, do's no wrong, 
 May boaft to be fuccefsful in his fong : 
 But when the fair themfelves approve his lays, 
 And one accepts, and one vouchfafes to praife, 
 His wide ambition knows no farther bound, 
 Nor can his mufe with brighter fame be crown*d. 
 
 EPIGRAM. 
 
 IVritten after the Decenfe of Mrs. Arabella Hunt, 
 under her Pidure drawn p/ajing on a Lute, 
 
 WERE there on earth another voice like thine, 
 Another hand fo bleft with skill divine ! 
 The late afflicted world fome hopes might have, 
 And harmony retrieve thee from the grave.
 
 EVERAL OCCASIONS. 
 
 SONG. 
 
 I. 
 
 PIOUS Selinda goes to pray'rs, 
 If I but ask the favour ; 
 And yet the tender fool's in tears, 
 When flie believes I'll leave her. 
 II. 
 Wou'd I were free from this reflraint, 
 
 Or elfe had hopes to win her; 
 WouM flie cou'd make of me a feint, 
 Or I of her a fmner. 
 
 HYMN to HARMONY 
 
 In Honour of 
 
 St. CECILIA'S Day, MDCCI. 
 
 Sit to Mufick hy Mr. John Eccles. 
 
 O Harmony, to thee we fing, 
 To thee the grateful tribute bring 
 Of facred verfc, and fweet refounding lays; 
 Thy aid invoking while thy pow'r we praifc, 
 All hail to thee 
 All-pow'rful Harmony! 
 G 2
 
 y2 POEMSUPON 
 
 Wife Nature owns thy undifputed fway, 
 Her wond'rous works refigning to thy care: 
 The planetary orbs thy rule obey, 
 And tuneful roll, unerring in their way, 
 Thy voice informing each melodious {pberc. 
 CHORUS. 
 ♦ All hail to thee 
 * All-pow'rful Harmony!* 
 II. 
 Thy voice, O Harmony, with awful found 
 Could penetrate th' abyfs profound, 
 Explore the realms of ancient night, 
 And fearch the living fource of unborn light. 
 
 Confufion heard thy voice and fled, 
 And Chaos deeper plung'd his vanquilh'd head. 
 Then didft thou. Harmony, give birth 
 To this fair form of Heav'n and earth; 
 Then all thofe fliining worlds above 
 In myftick dance began to move 
 Around the radiant fphere of central fire, 
 A never ceafing, never filent choir. 
 CHORUS. 
 ' Confufion heard thy voice and fled, 
 * And Chaos deeper plung'd his vanquifli'd head. 
 III. 
 Thoiionly, Goddefs,firft cou'dft tell 
 The mighty charms in numbers found; 
 And didft to Hcav'nly minds reveal 
 The fccrct force of tuneful found. 
 When firft Cyllenius form'd the lyre, 
 
 Thou didft the God infpire; 
 "When firft the vocal fliell he ft rung, 
 To which the mufes fung :
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. j? 
 
 Then firft the mufes fung ; melodious ftrair.s Apollo plaicf, 
 And mufick firft begun by thy aufpicious aid. 
 
 Hark, hark, again Urania fings! 
 Again Apollo Itrikcs the trembling ftrings! 
 And fee, the liti'ning deities around 
 Attend infatiate, and devour the found. 
 CHORUS. 
 * Hark, hark, again Urania fings! 
 ' Again Apollo ftrikes the trembling llrings ! 
 * And fee, the lift'ning deities around 
 ' Attend infatiate, and devour the found/ 
 IV. 
 Defcend Urania, Heav'niy fair! 
 To the relief of this afflifted world repair ; 
 See how with various woes oppreft, 
 The wretched race of men is worn ; 
 Con(uni'd with cares, with doubts diftrcft, 
 Or by confiifting paflions torn. 
 Reafon in vain employs her aid, 
 The furious will on fancy waits ; 
 "While reafon ftill by hopes or fears betray'd, 
 Too late advances, or too foon retreats. 
 "Mufick alone with fuJden charms can bind 
 The wandring fenfe, and calm the troubled mind. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 ' Mufick alone with fudden charms can bind 
 ' The wandring fenfe, and calm the troubled mind.' 
 
 V. 
 Begin the pow'rful fong, yc Sacred Nine, 
 Your inltruments and voices join; 
 Harmony, peace, and fweet defire, 
 In cv'ry breaft infpire. 
 Revive the melancholy drooping heart, 
 And foft repofe to reftkfs thoughts impart.
 
 S4 P O E M S U P O N 
 
 Appeafe the wrathful mind, 
 To dire revenge and death inclin'd : 
 "With balmy founds his boiling blood afTwagc, 
 And melt to mild remorfe his burning rage. 
 'Tis done ; and now tumultuous paflions ceafe; 
 
 And all is hulht, and all is peace. 
 The weary world with welcome eafe isbleft, 
 By mufick lull'd to plcafing reft. 
 CHORUS. 
 
 * *Tis done ; and now tumultuous paffions ceafe j 
 
 * And all is huflit, and all is peace. 
 
 * The weary world with welcome eafe is bleft, 
 
 * By Mufick lull'd to pleafing reft.* 
 
 VI. 
 Ah, fweet repofe, too foon expiring! 
 Ah, foolifli man, new toils requiring! 
 Curs'd ambition, ftrife purfuing, 
 Wakes the world to war and ruin. 
 See, fee, the battle is prepar'd ! 
 
 Behold the hero comes ! 
 Loud trumpets with flirill fifes arc heard ; 
 And hoarfe refounding drums. 
 "War, with difcordant notes and jarring noife, 
 The harmony of peace deflroys. 
 CHORUS. 
 
 * War, with difcordant notes and jarring noife, 
 
 * The harmony of peace deftroys.' 
 
 VII. 
 Sec the forfaken fair, with flreaming eyes 
 Her parting lover mourn ; 
 She weeps, flie fighs, defpairs and dies, 
 And watchful waftes the lonely livelong nights, 
 
 Bewailing part delights 
 That may no more, no never more return.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. Jf 
 
 O footh her cares 
 With foftcft fweeteft airs, 
 'Till viftory and peace reftore 
 Her faithful lover to her tender breaft. 
 Within her folding arms to reft, 
 Thence never to be parted more, 
 No never to be parted more. 
 CHORUS. 
 ' Let vi£lory and peace reftore 
 i Her faithful lover to her tender breaft, 
 
 * Within her folding arms to reft, 
 
 * Thence never to be parted more, 
 
 * No never to be parted more.' 
 
 VIII. 
 Enough, Urania, heav'nly fair! 
 Now to thy native skies repair, 
 And rule again the ftarry fphere, 
 Cecilia comes, with holy rapture fiil'd, 
 
 To eafc the world of care. 
 Cecilia, more than all the mufcs skill'd ! 
 Phoebus himfclf to her mufi yield, 
 
 And at her feet lay down 
 His golden harp and lawrel crown. 
 The foft enervate lyre is drown'd 
 In the deep organ's more majeftick found. 
 In peals the fwelling notes afcend the skies; 
 Perpetual breath the fwelling notes fupplies, 
 And lafting as her name, 
 Who form'd the tuneful frame, 
 Th' immortal mufick never dies. 
 Grand CHORUS. 
 * Cecilia, more than all the mufes skill'd, 
 
 * Phoebus himfclf to her muft yield,
 
 ;5 POEMSUPON 
 
 < And at her feet lay down 
 
 * His golden harp and hwrel crown. 
 < Thefoft enervate lyre isdrown'd 
 
 < In the deep organ's move noajeftick found. 
 
 < In peals thefwelling notes afcend the skies; 
 * Perpetual breath the fwelling notes fupplics, 
 
 « And lafting as her name, 
 
 * Who form'd the tuneful frame, 
 
 * Th' immortal mufick never dies.* 
 
 VERSES 
 
 To the Memory of 
 
 GRACE Lady GETHIN, 
 
 Occafioned by reading her Book, intitled 
 
 RELIQUIAE GETH INIANAE. 
 
 AFTER a painful life in ftudy fpcnt, 
 The learn'd thtmfelves their ignorance lament; 
 And aged men, whofe lives exceed the fpace, 
 "Which feen-.s the bound prtfcrib'd to mortal race, 
 "With hoary heads, their fhort experience grieve, 
 Asdoom'd to die before they've learn'd to live. 
 So hard it is true knowledge to attain. 
 So frail is life, and fruitlefs human pain! 
 Who e'er on this refle£ls, and then beholds, 
 With ftrift attention, what this book unfolds, 
 With admiration flruck, fliall queftion who 
 So very long could live, fo much to know ?
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. ;7 
 
 For fo compleat the fjnilh'd piece appears, 
 
 That learning leems combin'd with length of years; 
 
 And both improv'd by pureft wit, to reach 
 
 At all that ftudy, or that time can teach. 
 
 But to what height muft his amazement rife ! 
 
 When having read the work, he turns his eyes 
 
 Again to vicNV the foremoft opening page, 
 
 And there the beauty, fex, and tender age 
 
 Of her beholds, in whofe pure mind arofe 
 
 Th' aetherial fource from whence this current flows! 
 
 When prodigies appear, our reafon fails, 
 
 And fuperftition o'er philofophy prevails. 
 
 Some hcav'nly minifter we flrait conclude, 
 
 Some angel-mind with female form indu'd, 
 
 To make a fliort abode on earth, was fent, 
 
 (Where no perfection can be permanent) 
 
 And having left her bright example here, 
 
 Was quick 'recall'd, and bid to difappear. 
 
 Whether around the throne, eternal hymns 
 
 She fings, amid the choir of feraphims; 
 
 Or fome refulgent ftar informs, and guides, 
 
 Where fhe, the bled intelligence, prefides; 
 
 Is not for us to know who here remain ; 
 
 For 'twere as impious to enquire, as vain: 
 
 And all we ought, or can, in this dark ftate, 
 
 Is, what we haveadmir'd, to imitate. 
 
 H
 
 58 POEMSUPON 
 
 E P I T A P H 
 
 Upo?i Robert Huntington, ^Stanton Har- 
 court, Efq; tfW Robert his So?i. 
 
 'TPHIS peaceful tomb does now contain 
 
 Father and fon, together laid; 
 Whofe living virtues fliall remain, 
 
 When they, and this, are quite decay'd. 
 What man fhou'd be, to ripenefs grown. 
 
 And finilh'd worth fliou'd do, or Ihun, 
 At full was in the father fliown ; 
 
 What youth cou'd promifc, in the fon. 
 
 But death obdurate, both dcftroy'd 
 
 The perfeft fruit, and op'ning bud: 
 Firft feiz'd thofe fweets we had enjoy'd, 
 
 Then robb'd us of the coming good. 
 
 To Mr. D R Y D E N, 
 
 On his Tranflation of P E R S I U S. 
 
 AS when of old heroick ftory tells 
 Of knights imprifon'd long by magick fpells, 
 'Till future time the deftin'd hero fend, 
 By whom, the dire enchantment is to end;
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. S9 
 
 Such fecms this work, and fo referv'd for thee. 
 Thou great revcaler of dark poefie. 
 
 Thofc fullen clouds, which have, for ages pafl, 
 O'er Perfius' too-long fufF'ring mufs been caft, 
 Difperfe, and flie before thy facred pen, 
 And, in their room, bright tracks of light are feen. 
 Sure Phoebus* felf thy fwclling breaft infpires, 
 The God of mufick, and poetick fires : 
 Elfe, whence proceeds this great furprife of light! 
 How dawns this day, forth from the womb of night! 
 
 Our wonder now does our paft folly fhow, 
 Vainly contemning what we did not know: 
 So, unbelievers impioufly defpife 
 The facred oracles, in myfteries. 
 Perfius, before, in fmallefteem was had, 
 Unlefs, what to antiquity is paidj 
 But like Apocrypha, with fcruple read, 
 [So far, our ignorance our faith mif-led) 
 'Till you, Apollo's darling prieft, thought fit 
 To place it in the poet's facred writ. 
 
 As coin, which bears fome awful monarch's face, 
 For more than its intrinfick worth will pafs : 
 So your bright image, v/hich we here behold. 
 Adds worth to worth, and dignifies the gold. 
 To you, we all this following treafurc owe, 
 This Hippocrene, which from a rock did flow. 
 
 Old Stoick virtue, clad in rugged lines, 
 Polifh'd by you, in modern brillant fhines; 
 And as before, for Perfius, our elleem 
 To his antiquity was paid, not him : 
 bO now, whatever praife from us is due, 
 belongs not to old Perfius, but the new. 
 For llill obfcure, to us no light he gives j 
 Dead in himfclf, in you alone he lives. 
 H 2
 
 Co P O E M S U P O N 
 
 So, ftubborn flints their inward heat conceal, 
 'Till art and force th' unwilling fparks reveal ; 
 But thro' your skill, from thofe fmall feeds of fire, 
 Bright flames arife, which never can expire. 
 
 The ELEVENTH 
 
 Satire <?/^Ju venal. 
 
 The A R G U M E N T. 
 
 The deftgn of this Satire is to expofe and reprehend all manner of 
 intemperance and debauchery ; but more particularly that exor- 
 litant luxury ufed by the Romans, in their feajiing. The Poet 
 draws the occafionfrom an invitation^ -which he here makes to 
 his friend, to dine -with him ; very artfully preparing him, "with 
 •what he -was to expeB from his treat, by beginning the Satire 
 ■with a particular inve^ive againji the vanity and folly offome 
 perfoHS, -who having hut mean fortunes in the world, attempted 
 to live up to the height of men of great eflates and quality. He 
 ftfcws us, the miferable end of fuch fpend-thrifts and gluttons; 
 •with the fnanner and courfcs, which they took to bring them- 
 felves to it ; advifing men to live within bounds, and to propor- 
 tion their inclinations to the extent of their fortune. He gives 
 his friend a hill of fare, of the entertainment he has provided 
 for him; and from thence he takes occafion to reflet upon the. 
 temperance and frugality of the greatefl men, informer ages : 
 to which he oppofes the riot and intemperance of the prefent ; 
 attributing to the latter a vifible remijjhefs, in the care of Hea- 
 ven over the Roman ftate. He inftances fome lewd praBices at 
 feafisj and by the bye^ touches the nobility, with making vice ani
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 6i 
 
 dehaiichery confift -with their principal pkafures. He concludes 
 ■vAth a repeated invitation to his friend; adviftng him {in one 
 particular foviewhat freely) to a negk& of all cares and dif- 
 qiiiets, for the prefeiit; and a uiodcrate ufe of pkafures for the 
 future. 
 
 IF noble (i) Attlcus make fplendid feafts, 
 And with expenfive food indulge his guefts; 
 His wealth and quality fupport the treat: 
 Nor is it luxury in him, but flate. 
 But when poor (2) Rutilus fpends all he's worth, 
 In hopes of fetting one good dinner forth; 
 Tis downright madnefs: for what greater jcfls, 
 Than begging gluttons, or than beggars feafts? 
 
 But Rutilus is now notorious grown. 
 And proves the common theme of all the town. 
 
 A man, in his full tide of youthful blood, 
 Able for arms, and for his country's good ; 
 Urg'd (3) by no pow'r, reftrain'd by no advice, 
 But following his own inglorious choice: 
 >Mongft common fencers, praftifcs the trade. 
 That end dtbafing, for which arms were made; 
 Arms which to man ne'er-dying fame afford, 
 But his difgrace is owing to his fword. 
 Many there are of the fame (4) wretched kind. 
 Whom their defpairing creditors may find 
 Lurking in fliambles; where with borrow'd coin 
 They buy choice meats, and in cheap plenty dine; 
 Such, whofe fole blifs, is eating; who can give 
 But that one brutal reafon why they live. 
 And yet what's more ridiculous: of thefe, 
 The pooreft wretch, is ftill moft hard to pleafe; 
 And he whofc thin tranfparent rags declare 
 How much his tatter 'd fortune wants repair,
 
 ^2 POEMSUPON 
 
 Wou'd ranfack cv'ry element, for choice 
 Of ev'ry filTi and fov/l, at any price ; 
 If brought from far, it very dear has coft, 
 It has a flavour then, which pleafes moft, 
 And he devours it with a greater guft. 
 
 In riot thus, while money lafts, he lives, 
 And that exhauflcd, ftill new pledges gives; 
 'Till forc'd of meer neceffity, to cat, 
 He comes to pawn his difli, to buy his meat. 
 Nothing of filver, or of gold he fparcs. 
 Not what his mother's facred image bears; 
 The brok;:n (j) relick, he with fpeed devours, 
 As he wou'd all the reft of 's anceftors, 
 If wrought in gold, or if expos'd to fale, 
 They'd pay the price of one luxurious meal. 
 Thus certain ruin treads upon his heels, 
 The flings of hunger, foon, and want he feels; 
 And thus is he reduc'd at length, to fervc 
 Fencers, for miferable fcraps, or ftarvc. 
 
 Imagine now, you fee a plenteous feaft: 
 The queftion is, at whofe expence 'tis dreft. 
 In great (6) Ventidius, we the bounty prize ; 
 In Rutilus the vanity delpife. 
 Strange ignorance ! that the fame man, who knows 
 How far yond' mount above this mole-hill fhows, 
 Shou'd not perceive a difference as great, 
 Between fmall incomes and a vaft eltate ! 
 From Heav'n, to mortals, furc, that rule was fent, 
 Of ' Know thy felf,' and by fomc God was meant 
 To be our never-erring pilot here, 
 Through all the various courfes which we fleer. 
 Thirfites, (7) tho' the moft prefumptuous Greek, 
 Yet durft not for Achilles' armour fpeak;
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. ^3 
 
 "When fcarce (8) Ulyflcs had a good pretence, 
 With all th' advantage of his eloquence. 
 "Who-e'er attempts weak caufes to fupport, 
 Ought to be very fure he's able for't ; 
 And not miftake flrong lungs and impudence, 
 For harmony of words, and force of fenfe; 
 
 * Fools only make attempts beyond their skill; 
 
 * A wife man's pow'r's the limit of his will.' 
 
 If Fortune has a niggard been to thee, 
 Devote thyfelf to thrift, not luxury; 
 And wifely make that kind of food thy choice, 
 To which neccffity confines thy price. 
 Well may they fear fome miferable end, 
 Whom gluttony and want, at once attend ; 
 Whofc large voracious throats have fwallow'd all, 
 Both land and ftock, int'reft and principal: 
 Well may they fear, at length, vile (o) Pollio's fate, 
 Who fold his very ring to purchafe meat; 
 And tho' a knight, 'mongft common Haves now flands, 
 Begging an alms, with undillinguifli'd hands. 
 Sure fudden death to fuch Ihou'd welcome be, ^ 
 
 On whom, each added year heaps milery, C 
 
 Scorn, poverty, reproach and infamy. j 
 
 But there are fteps in villany, which thefc 
 Obferve to tread and follow, by degrees. 
 Money they borrow, and from all that lend. 
 Which, never meaning to reftore, they fpend; 
 But that and their fmall Itock of credit gone, 
 Left Rome Hiould grow too warm, from thence they run: 
 For of late years 'tis no more fcandal grov.n, 
 For debt and roguery to quit the town. 
 Than in the midft of Summer's fcorching hear, 
 From crouds, and noife, and bLifincfs to retreat.
 
 64 POEMSUPON 
 
 One only grief fuch fugitives can find ; 
 
 Refiefting on the pleafures left behind; 
 
 The plays and loofe diverfions of the place, 
 
 But not one blufli appears for the difgrace. 
 
 Ne'er was of modefty fo great a dearth, 
 
 * That out of count'nance virtue's fled from earth ; ' 
 
 Baffled, expos'd to ridicule and fcorn, 
 
 She's with (lo) Aftrea gone, not to return. 
 
 This day, my ( 1 1 ) Perficus, thou /halt perceive 
 "Whether, myfelf I keep thofe rules I give. 
 Or elfe, an unfufpcfted glutton live; 
 If mod'ratc fare and abfiinence, I prize 
 In publick, yet in private Gormandize. 
 Evander's (12) feaft reviv'd, to day thou'lt fee, 
 The poor Evander, I, and thou fl^alt be 
 Alcides (13) and Aeneas both to me. 
 Mean time, I fend you now your bill of fare ; 
 Be not furpriz'd, that 'tis ali homely cheer: 
 For nothing from the ihambles I provide, 
 But from my own fmall farm, the tend'reft kid 
 And fatteft of my flock, a fuckling yet, 
 That ne'er had nourilhm.ent, but from the teat; 
 No bitter willow-tops have been its food, 
 Scarce grafs; its veins have more of milk than blood. 
 Next that, fliall mountain Sparagusbe laid, 
 Puli'd by fomc plain, but cleanly country-maid. 
 The largeft eggs, yet warm within their neft, 
 Together with the hens which laid 'em, dreft ; 
 Clufters of grapes, preferv'd for half a year. 
 Which plump and frefii as on the vines appear; 
 Apples of a ripe flavour, frcfh and fair; 
 Mixt with the Syrian and the Signian pear, 
 Mellow'd by winter, from their cruder juice. 
 Light of digeflion now, and fit for ufe.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 6s 
 
 Such food as this, wou'd have been heretofore 
 Accounted riot in a fenator: 
 
 "When the good (14) Curius thought it no difgrace, 
 With his own hands, a few fmall herbs to drcfs ; 
 And from his little garden culi'd a feaO, 
 Which fctter'd flaves wou'd now difdain to tafte ; 
 For fcarce a flave, but has to dinner now, 
 The well-drefsM (i j) paps of a fat pregnant fow. 
 
 But heretofore 'twas thought a fumptuous treat, 
 On birth-days, feftivals, or days of Gate; 
 A fait, dry fiitch of bacon to prepare : 
 If they had fre/li meat, 'twas dcHcious fare ! 
 Which rarely happen'd : and 'twas highly priz'd 
 If {i5) ought was left of what they facrific'd. 
 To entertainments of this kind, wou'd come ) 
 The worthieft and the greatcff men in Rome ; 
 Nay, fcldom any at fuch treats were feen, 
 But thofe who had at leaft thrice (17) confuls been ; 
 Or the (18) diaator's ofUce had difcharg'd, 
 And now from honourable toil enlarg'd, 
 Retir'd to husband and manure their land, 
 Humbling themfelves to thofe they might command. 
 Then might y'havc fcen the gogd old gen'ral haftc, 
 Before th' appointed (19) hour, to fuch a feaft; 
 His fpade aloft, as 'twere in triumph held, 
 Proud of the conqucft of fome f^ubborn field. 
 'Twas then, when pious confuls bore the fway, 
 And vice difcourag'd, pale and trembling lay, 
 Our (20) cenfors then were fubjeft to the law, 
 * Ev'n pow'r itfclf, of juftice flood in awe.' 
 It was not then, a Roman's anxious thought. 
 Where largcfl tortoifc-fhclls were to be bought, 
 I
 
 64 POEMSUPON 
 
 Where pearls might of the greatcft price be had, 
 
 And fliining jewels to adorn his (21) bed, 
 
 That he at vaft cxpence might loll his head. 
 
 Plain was his couch, and only rich his miad ; 
 
 Contentedly he llept, as cheaply, as he din'd. 
 
 The foldier then, in (22) Grecian arts unskill'd, 
 
 Returning rich with plunder, from the field ; 
 
 If cups of filver, or of gold he brought, 
 
 With jewels fet, and exquifitely wrought, 
 
 To glorious trappings ftreight the plate he turn'd, 
 
 And with the glitt'ring fpoil his horfe adornM; 
 
 Or elfe a helmet for himfelf he made, 
 
 Where various warlike figures were inlaid : 
 
 The Roman wolf, fuckling the (23) twins was there. 
 
 And Mars himfelf, arm'd with his fhield and fpear, 
 
 Hov'ring above his creft, did dreadful fliow, 
 
 As threatning death to each refifting foe. 
 
 No ufe of filver, but in arms, was known ; 
 
 Splendid they were in war, and there alone. 
 
 No fide-boards then, with gilded plate were drefs'd, 
 
 No fweating flaves, with mafllve diflies prefs'd; 
 
 Expenfive riot was not underftood, 
 
 But earthen platters held their homely food. 
 
 Who wou'd not envy them, that age of blifs, 
 
 That fees with fliame the luxury of this ? 
 
 * Heav'n unwearied then, did bleflings pour, 
 
 * And pitying Jove foretold each dang'rous hour ; 
 
 * Mankind were then familiar with the God, 
 
 * He fnufF'd their incenfe with a gracious nod ; 
 
 * And would have dill been bounteous, as of old, 
 
 * Had we not left him for that idol, gold. 
 
 * His golden (24) ftatues, hence the God have driv'n : 
 
 * For well he knows, where our devotion's giv'n, 
 
 « 'Tis gold we worfliip, though we pray to Heav'n.'
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. <57 
 
 Woods of our own afforded tables then, 
 
 Tho' none can pleafe us now but from Japan. 
 
 Invite my lord to dine, and let him have 
 
 The niccft difh his appetite can crave; 
 
 But let it on an oaken board be fet, 
 
 His lordihip will grow fick, and cannot eat : 
 
 Something's amifs, he knows not what to think, 
 
 Either your venfon's rank, or (2;) ointments ftink. 
 
 Order fomc other table to be brought, 
 
 Something, at great cxpence in India bought, 
 
 Beneath whofe orb, large yawning panthers lie, 
 
 Carv'd on rich pedeftals of (26) ivory: 
 
 He finds no more of that offcnfive fmell, 
 
 The meat recovers, and my lord grows well. 
 
 An iv'ry table is a certain whet; 
 
 You would not think how heartily he'll eat, 
 
 As if new vigour to his teeth were fent. 
 
 By fympathy from thofe o'th' elephant. 
 But fuch fine feeders arc no guefts for mc : 
 
 Riot agrees not with frugality; 
 
 Then that unfafhionable man am I, 
 
 With me they'd ftarve, for want of ivory: 
 
 For not one inch does my whole houfe afford, 
 
 Not in my very tables, or chefs-board; 
 
 Of bone, the handles of my knives arc made, 
 
 Yet no ill tafte from thence affefts the blade, 
 
 Or what I carve ; nor is there ever left 
 
 Any unfav'ry haut-gouft from the haft. 
 
 A hearty welcome, to plain wholefome meat, 
 
 You'll find, but ferv'd up in no formal ftatc ; 
 
 No few'rs, nor dextrous carvers have I got, 
 
 Such as by skilful (27) Trypherus are taught: 
 
 In whofe fam'd fchools the various forms appear 
 
 Of fillies, beafts, and all the fowls o'th' air; 
 J?
 
 68 P O E M S U P O N 
 
 And where, with blunted knives, his fcholors learn 
 
 How to difleft, and the nice joints difcern ; 
 
 While all the neighbours are with noife oppreft, 
 
 From the harfli carving of his wooden feaft. 
 
 On me attends a raw unskilful lad. 
 
 On fragments fed, in homely garments clad, 
 
 At once my carver, and my (28) Qanymedc; 
 
 With diligence he'll ferve us while we dine, 
 
 And in plain beechen vefTcls, fill our wine. 
 
 No beauteous boys I keep, from (29) Phrygia brought, 
 
 No Catamites, by Ihameful Pandars taught: 
 
 Only to me two home-bred youths belong, 
 
 Unskill'd in any but their mother-tongue; 
 
 Alike in feature both, and garb appear, 
 
 With honeft faces, though with uncurl'd hair. 
 
 This day thou flialt my rural pages fee, 
 
 Por I have dreft 'em both to wait on thee. 
 
 Of country fwains they both were born, and one 
 
 Jsly ploughman's is, t'other my fiiepherd's foo ; 
 
 A chearful fweetnefs in his looks he has, 
 
 And innocence unartful in his face: 
 
 Tho' fometimes fadnefswill o'er-cafl the joy. 
 
 And gentle fighs break from the tender boy; 
 
 His abfence from his mother, oft he'll mourn, 
 
 And with his eyes look wilhes to return, 
 
 Longing to fee his tender kids again. 
 
 And feed his lambs upon the flow'ry plain; 
 
 A modeft blulli he wears, not form'd by art. 
 
 Free from deceit his face, and full as free his heart. 
 
 Such looks, fuch bafhfulnefs, might wcU adorn 
 
 The cheeks of youths that are more nobly born; 
 
 But noblemen thofe humble graces fcorn. 
 
 This youth, to-day Ihall my fmall treat attend, 
 
 And only he with wine fhall fervc my friend, 
 
 I
 
 ] 
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 69 
 
 With wine from his own country brought, arvd made 
 From the fame vines, beneath whofe fruitful Ihadc 
 He and his wanton kids have often play'd. 
 But you, perhaps, expeft a modiOi feaft, 
 With am'rous fongs and (30) wanton dances grac'd; 
 When fprightly females, to the middle bare, 
 Trip lightly o'er the ground, and frisk in air; 
 Whofe pliant limbs in various poftures move. 
 And twine and bound, as in the rage of love. 
 Such fights, the languid nerves to a^iion flir, 
 And jaded luft fprings forward with this fpur. 
 Virtue (31) would Ihrink to hear this Icwdncfs told, 
 "Which husbands, now, do with their wives behold; 
 A needful help, to make 'em both approve 
 The dry embraces of long- wedded love. 
 In nuptial cinders, this revives the fire, 
 And turns their mutual loathing to dcfirc. 
 But fbe, who by her fexes charter, muft 
 Have double plcafure paid, feels double luft ; 
 Apace fhe warms, with an iramod'rate heat. 
 Strongly her bofom heaves, and pulfes beat; 
 With glowing cheeks, and trembling lips Ilie lies, 
 With arms expanded, and with naked thighs, 
 Sucking in paflion both at ears and eyes. 
 But this becomes not me, nor my eftate; 
 Thcfe are the vicious follies of the great. 
 Let him who does on iv'ry tables dine, 
 Whofe marble floors with drunken fpawlings fhinc; 
 Let him lafcivious fongs and dances have, 
 Which, or to fee, or hear, the lewdeft flavc, 
 The vileft proftitute in all the ftews, 
 With bafhful indignation wou'd refufc. 
 But fortune, there, extenuates the crime; 
 What's vice in me, is only mirth in him:
 
 70 POEMSUPON 
 
 The fruits which murder, cards or dice afford^ 
 A veftal ravidi'd, or a matron whor'd, 
 Are laudable diverCons in a lord. 
 
 But my poor entertainment is defign'd 
 T' afford you pleafures of another kind: 
 Yet with your tafte your hearing fhall be fed, 
 And Homer's facred lines, and Virgil's read; 
 Either of whom does all mankind excel, 
 Tho' which exceeds the other, none can tell. 
 It matters not with what ill tone they're fung, 
 Verfe fo fublimcly good, no voice can wrong. 
 
 Now then be all thy weighty cares away, 
 Thy jealoufies and fears, and while you may, 
 To peace and foft repofe, give all the day. 
 From thoughts of debt, or any worldly ill 
 Be free, be all uneafie paffions ft ill. 
 What tho' thy wife do with the morning light, 
 (When thou in vain haft toil'd and drudg'd all night) 
 Steal from thy bed and houfe, abroad to roam, 
 And having quench 'd her flame, come brcathlefs home, 
 Fleck'd in her face, and with diforder'd hair, 
 Her garments ruffled, and her bufom bare ; 
 "With ears ftill tingling, and her eyes on fire, 
 Half drown'd in fin, ftill burning in defire: 
 Whilft you arc forc'd to wink, and fcem content, 
 Swelling with paftSon, which you dare not vent; 
 Nay, if you wou'd be free from night-alarms, 
 You muft feem fond, and doating on her charms. 
 Take her (the laft of twenty) to your arms. 
 
 Let this, and cv'ry other anxious thought, 
 At th' entrance of my threfhold be forgot; 
 All thy domeftick griefs at home be left. 
 The wife's adult'ry, with the fervants theft; 
 
 } 
 
 }
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 71 
 
 And (the moft racking thought, -which can intrude) 
 Forget falfe friends and their ingratitude. 
 
 Let us our peaceful mirth at home begin, 
 \Vhilc (32) Megalen/ian Hiovs are in the (33) Circus feen: 
 There (to the bane of horfes) in high ftate 
 The (34) praetor fits, on atriumphd feat; 
 Vainly with cnfigns, and with robes adorn'd, 
 As if with conqueft, from the wars return'd. 
 This day all Rome, (if I may be allow'd, 
 Without offence to fuch a num'roiis crowd, 
 To fay all Rome) will in the Circus fweat; 
 Eccho's already do their Ihoats repeat: 
 
 Methinks I hear the cry ' Away, away, 
 
 * The (3 j) green have won the honour of the day.* 
 
 Oh, fhou'd thefe fports be but one year forborn, 
 Rome would in tears her lov'd diverfion mourn ; 
 For that would now a caufe of (36) forrow yield, 
 Great as the lofs of (37) Cannae's fatal field. 
 Such (hows as thefe, were not for usdefign'd, 
 But vig'rous youth to aftive fports inclin'd. 
 On beds of rofcs laid, let us repofe, 
 "While round our heads rcfrefhing ointment flowsj 
 Our aged limbs we'll bask in Phoebus' rays, 
 And live this day devoted to our cafe. 
 Early to-day we'll to the bath repair. 
 Nor need we no-w the common (38) cenfure fear: 
 On feftivals, it is allow'd no crime 
 To bath, and eat, before the ufual time; 
 But that continu'd, wou'd a loathing give, 
 Nor could you thus a week together live: 
 For, frequent ufe would the delight exclude: 
 ' Pleafure's a toil, when conl^antly purfu'd.*
 
 72 POEMSUPON 
 
 Explanatory Notes on the foregoing 
 
 Satire, 
 
 I A Tticus. Thenameof a very eminent perfoD in Rome: 
 l\ but here it is meant to fignify any one of great wealth 
 and quality. 
 
 2 Rutilus. One who by his own extravagant gluttony, 
 •was at length reduc'd to the moft fnameful degree of pover- 
 ty. This, likewife, is here made life of as a common name 
 to all beggarly gluttons, fuch whofe unreafonablc appetites 
 remain after their eftates are confum'd. 
 
 3 * Urg'd by no pow'r, reftrain'd by no advice.' 
 Sometimes perfons wcrecompcH'd, by the tyranny of Nero, 
 to praftife the trade of fencing, and to fight upon theftage, 
 for his inhuman diverfion; otherwife,feldom any but com- 
 mon flaves or condemn'd malefactors were fo employ'd: 
 Which made it the greater refleftion on any perfon, who 
 either voluntarily, or forc'd by his own extravagance, for a 
 livelyhood (like Rutilus) apply'd himfelf to that wretched 
 trade. 
 
 * Reftrain'd by no advice.' 
 
 Hinting, that though he was notcompcll'd to fuch a 
 praftice of fencing; yet it was a fliame that he was fuffer'd 
 to undertake it, and not adviled, or commanded by the 
 magiftracy, to the contrary. 
 
 4 ' Of the fame wretched kind,' viz. 
 Reduc'd to poverty by riotous living. 
 
 5 * The broken reli£l.' 
 
 Broken, or defaced ; that it might not be difcover'd to be 
 his mother's pifture, v/hen expos'd to fale. 
 
 6 Ventidius. A noble Roman, who liv'd hofpitabJy. 
 
 7 Therfites. An impudent, deformed, ill-tongu'd fellow 
 (as Homer defcribes him, Iliad 2.) who accompany 'd the 
 Grecian army to the fiege of Troy : where he took a privi- 
 lege often to rail and fnarle at the commanders. Some re- 
 late that at laft Achilles, for his fawcinefs, kill'd him with a 
 blow of his fift. Therefore we arc not to underftand Juve- 
 nal, here, as relating a matter of fad; but Therfites is
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 73 
 
 ufed here, to fignifie any body of the fame kind : as before^ 
 Atticus and Rutilus. The meaning is, that fuch as he ought 
 not (neither would he, had he been prefent) have prefumed 
 to oppofe Ajax and UlyfTes in contending for Achilles his 
 armour. See hischaraikradmirablyimprov'd by Mr. Dry- 
 den in his tragedy of ' Truth found too late.' 
 
 8 UlylTcs. The moft eloquent of all the Grecian princes. 
 After Achilles's death, Ajax a fam'd Grecian warrior pre- 
 tended to his armour; Ulyflcs oppofed him, before a coun- 
 cil of war, and by his admirable eloquence obtain'd the 
 prize, Ovid. Mctam. 13. 
 
 9 Pollio. Brought to that pafs, by his gluttony, that he 
 was forc'd to fell his ring, the mark of honour and diftinc- 
 tion, worn by the Roman knights. 
 
 10 Aftrea. The goddefs of jultice, whom the poets feign 
 to have fled to Heaven after the golden age, 
 
 * Ultima coeleftum terras AQraea rcliquit.' Ovid. 
 
 11 Perficus. Juvenal's friend, to whom he makes an in- 
 vitation, and addreffes this fatirc. 
 
 12 Kvander. A prince of Arcadia, who unluckily killing 
 his father, forfook his own country, and came into Italy; 
 fettling in that place, where afterwards Rome was built. 
 Virgil, Acn 8. tells us that he entertained both Hercules 
 and Aeneas, when he was in a low condition. 
 
 13 Alcides. Hercules, fo called from his grandfather 
 Alcaeus. 
 
 14 Curlus Dcntatus. A great man who had been three 
 times confulof Rome,andhad triumphed ovcrmany kings; 
 yet as great an example of temperance as courage. 
 
 ly A difh in great efteem among the Romans. 
 * Nil vulva pulchrius ampla.' Horat. 
 
 16 If they kill'd a facrifice, and any flelh remain'd to 
 fpare, it was priz'd as an accidental rarity. 
 
 17 Conful. By the tyranny of TarquiniusSupcrbus, (the 
 laft Roman king) the very name of king became hateful 
 to the people. After his expulfion, they affembled, and re- 
 folv'd to commit the government, for the future, into the 
 hands of two perfons, who were to be chofen every year 
 a-new, and whom they call'd confuls. 
 
 18 Diftator, Was a general chofen upon fome emergent 
 occafions; his office was limited for fix months; which 
 
 K
 
 74 P O E M S U P O ^F 
 
 time expired, (if occafion were) they chofc another, or cofi- 
 tinu'd the fame, by a new eleftion. The Dictator diffcr'd 
 in nothing froQi a king, but in his name, and the duration 
 of his authority: his power being full as great, but his 
 name not fo hateful to the Romans. 
 
 19 < Before th' appointed hour,' 
 
 It was accounted grecdinefs, and fhameful, to eat before 
 the ufual hour, which was their ninth hour ; and our three 
 a clock, afternoon. But upon feltival days, it was permit- 
 ted them, to prevent the ordinary hour ; and always ex- 
 cufiblc in old people. 
 
 20 Cenfors, Were two great officers, part of whofe bu- 
 linefs was to infpeft the lives and manners of men ; they 
 bad power to degrade knights and exclude fenators, when 
 guilty of great mildemeanors : and in former days they 
 were fo ftrict, that they flood in awe one of another. 
 
 21 The manner of the Romans eating, was to lie upon 
 beds or couches about the table, which formerly were made 
 of plain wood, but afterwards st great expence, adorn'd 
 with tortoifell-iells, pearls, and ivory. 
 
 ,22 Grecian arts. The Romans copied their luxury from 
 the Greeks; the imitation of whom, was among them as ■ 
 fafhionable, as of the French among us. Which occafions 
 this faying, with fo much indignation in our poet. Sat. 3. 
 
 ' Non pofTum ferre, Qiiirites, 
 
 ♦ Graecam Urbcm ' 
 
 23 Romulus and Remus. Twins, and founders of the 
 Roman empire ; who the poets feign were nurft by a wolf: 
 the woman's name being Lupa. 
 
 24 Formerly the ftatues of the Gods were made of clay: 
 but now of gold. Which extravagance was difplealing 
 even to the Gods themfclvcs. 
 
 25- The Romans ufed to anoint themfelves with fwcet 
 ointments, at their feafts, immediately after bathing. 
 
 26 Ivory was in great efteem among them, and preferr'd 
 to hlver. 
 
 27 Trypherus. There were in Rome, profefTors of the 
 art of carving; who taught publickly in fchools. Of this 
 kind Trypherus was the moft famous. 
 
 28 Ganymede. Cup-bearer. 
 
 29 Phrygia. Whence pretty boys were brought to
 
 SEVERALOCCASIONS. 7^ 
 
 Rome, and fold publickly in the markets, to vile u(es. 
 
 30 An ufual part of the entertainment, when great men 
 feafted, to have wanton women dance after a lafcivious 
 manner. 
 
 31 * Virtue would (lirink to hear this lewdnefs told, 
 
 * Which husbands. nov/,do with their wives behold.' 
 Thefc lines in Juvenal, 
 
 ' Speftant hos nuptae, juxta recubante marito, 
 * Quod pudeat narrafTc aliquem praefentibus ipfis.' 
 in fome late editions, are plac'd nearer the latter end of this 
 Satire: and in the order of this iranflation, wou'd fohave 
 follow'd, after Line 349, viz. 
 
 * Such (hows as thefe, were not for us defirn'd, 
 
 * But vig'rous youth to active fports incJin'd.' 
 
 But I have continued 'em in this place after Lubin. Be- 
 fides the example of the learned Holyday for the fame po- 
 rtion ; agreeing better here, in my mind, with the fenfc 
 both before and after. For the Megalenfian games con • 
 flfting chiefly of races, and fuch like exercifes ; I cannot 
 conceive where the extraordinary caufeof Ihame lay in fe- 
 male fpeftators : but it was a manifcft immodefty, for them 
 to lye by their husbands, and fee the lewd aftions of their 
 own fex, in the manner defcrib'd. 
 
 32 Megalenfian Jhows. Games in honour of Cybelc, the 
 mother of the Gods. She was called /jiiyx\n /u.nTnp, Magna 
 Mater, and from thence thete games Megalcfia, or Ludi 
 Megalenfes ; they began upon the 4th of April, and con- 
 tinued fix days. 
 
 33 Circus. The place where thofc games were cele- 
 brated. 
 
 34 Praetor. An o.^.cer not unlike our mayor or ITierifT. 
 He was to overfec thefe fports, and fate in great Rate, while 
 they were afting; to the deRriiftionof many horfes, which 
 "Were fpoiled in running the races. 
 
 3 5" ' The green have won the honour of the day.' 
 In running the races in the Circus, with horfes in chariots; 
 there were four difiinft factions, known by their liveries : 
 ■which were green, a kind of rullet red, white, and blue. 
 One of thefe factions was always favoured by the court, 
 and at this time probably the green. Which makes o;;r 
 Poet fancy he hears the flionts, for joy of their party. Af- 
 K2
 
 76 P O E M S U P O N 
 
 tcrward Domitian added two more, the golden and purple 
 
 ftiftions. 
 
 36 Ref]e£}ing on the immoderate fondnefs the Romans 
 had for fuch Ihows. 
 
 37 Gannae. A {mall town, near which Hannibal obtain'd 
 a great vi£lory over the Romans : in that battle were ilain 
 /joooo men, and fo many gentlenjen, that he fent three bu- 
 Jlicls full of rings to Carthage, as a token of his vif^ory. 
 
 38 See the Notes at Fig. ^<j. 
 
 PROLOGUE 
 
 T O 
 
 Q^U E E N MART, 
 
 UPON 
 
 Her Majeflys coming to fee the Old Batchelor, after 
 havmg feen the Double -Dealer, 
 
 BY this repeated aft of grace, we fee 
 Wit is again the care of majefty ; 
 And while thus honour'd our proud llage appears, 
 We feem to rival ancient theatres. 
 Thus flouridi'd wit in our forefathers age, 
 And thus the Roman and Athenian ftage. 
 
 Whofe wit is bcft, we'll not prefume to tell ; 
 But this we knov/, our audience will excell : 
 For never was in Rome, nor Athens, feen 
 So fair a circle, and fo bright a queen. 
 
 Long has the mufcs land been over-caft, 
 And many rough and flormy \yinters palt j
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 77 
 
 Hid from the world, and thrown in iliadcs of night, 
 Of heat dcpriv'd, and almoft void of lipht : 
 While wit, a hardy plant, of nature bold, 
 Has flruggled ftrongly with the killing cold : 
 So does it ftill through oppofition grow, 
 As if its root was warmer kept by fnow: 
 But when fliot forth, then draws the danger near, ^ 
 
 On ev'ry fide the gathering winds appear, > 
 
 And blafts deftroy that fruit, which fro;ts wou'd fpare. 3 
 But now, new vigour and new life it knows, 
 And warmth that from this royal prcfencc flows. 
 
 O wou'd /he (hinc with rays more frequent here ! 
 How gay wou'd, then, this drooping land appear! 
 Then, like the fun, with pleafure jlie might view, 
 The fmiling earth, cloath'd by her beams anew. 
 O'er all the meads, fliou'd various flowers be fecn 
 Mix'd with the lawrel's never-fading green, 
 The new creation of a gracious queen. 
 
 EPILOGUE 
 
 AT THE 
 
 Opening of the Queen's Theatre /« the Hay- Market, 
 nvith an Italian Pajloral : Spoken by I\Irs, Brace- 
 girdle. 
 
 WHatevcr future fate our houfe may find, 
 At prefent we expeft you ihou'd be kind: 
 Inconftancy itfelf can claim no right, 
 Before enjoyment and the wedding night,
 
 78 POEMSUPON 
 
 You mufl be fix'd a little e'er you range, 
 
 You muft be true 'till you have time to change. 
 
 A week at leaft; one night is fure too foon : 
 
 But we pretend not to a honey moon. 
 
 To novelty we know you can be true, 
 
 But what, alas! or who, is always new? 
 
 This day, without prefumption, we pretend 
 With novelty entire you're entertain'd; 
 For not alone our houle and fcenes are new, 
 Our fong and dance, but ev'n cur aftors too. 
 Our play itfelf has fomething in't uncomnoon, 
 Two faithful lovers, and one conflant woman. 
 In fweet Italian ftrains our fiicphcrds fing, 
 Of harmlefs loves our painted forrefts ring 
 In notes, perhaps lefs foreign than the thing. 
 To found and fliow at firft we make pretence, 
 In time we may regale you with fomc fenfe, 
 But that, at prefent, were too great expencc. 
 We only fear the beaux may think it hard. 
 To be to-night from fmutty jefts debarr'd: 
 But in good breeding, fure, they'll once excufe 
 Ev'n modefty, when in a ftranger mufe. 
 The day's at hand, when we fhall fhift the fcene. 
 And to your felves fhew your dear felves again: 
 Paint the reverfe of what you've feen to-day, 
 And in bold flrokes the vicious town difplay.
 
 SEVtPlAL OCCASIONS. jf 
 
 PROLOGUE 
 
 T o 
 
 P Y R R H u s King «/ E P I R u s. 
 
 /^U R age has much improv'd the warrior's art; -v 
 
 ^^ For fighting, now, is thought the weakeft part; > 
 
 And a good head, more ufeful than a heart. J 
 
 This way of war, docs our example yield ; 
 
 That ftage will win, which longeft keeps the field. 
 
 We mean not battle, when we bid defiance; 
 
 But ftarving one another to compliance. 
 
 Our troops cncamp'd are by each other view'd, 
 
 And thofe which firft are hungry, are fubdu'd. 
 
 And there, in truth, depends the great decifion: 
 
 They conquer, who cut off the ff)e's provifion. 
 
 Let fools, with knocks and bruifes, keep a pother; 
 
 Our war and trade, is to out-wit each other. 
 
 But, hold : will not the politicians tell us, 
 
 That both our conduft, and our forefight, fail us, 
 
 To rail'e recruits, and draw new forces down, 
 
 Thus, m the dead vacation of the town? 
 
 To mufter up our rhimes, without our reafon, 
 
 And forage for an audience out of feafon.* 
 
 Our author's fears muft this falfe ftep excufe; 
 
 'Tis the firft flight of a jult-fcather'd mufe : 
 
 Th' occafion ta'cn, when criticksare away; 
 
 Half wits and beaux, thofe rav'nous birds of prey.
 
 U P O E M S U P OH 
 
 But, Heav'n be prais'd, far hence they vent their wrath, 
 
 Mauling, in mild lampoon, th' intriguing Bath. 
 
 Thus does our author his firft flight commence ; 
 
 Thus, againft friends at firft, with foils -we fence: 
 
 Thus prudent Gimcrack try'd if he were able 
 
 (Ere he'd wet foot) to fwim upon a table. 
 
 Then fpare the youth : or if you'll damn the play, 
 Let him but firft have his; then take your day. 
 
 EPILOGUE 
 
 T O 
 
 O R O O N O K O. 
 
 Spoken by Mrs. I'^erbruggett, 
 
 YOU fee wc try all ftiapes, and fliifts, and arts, 
 To tempt your favours, and regain your hearts. 
 "We weep, and laugh, join mirth and grief together, 
 Like rain and funftiine mixt, in April weather. 
 Your diifcrent taftes divide our poet's cares: 
 One foot the fock, t'other the buskin wears : 
 Thus while he ftrives to pleafe, he's forc'd to do't, 
 Like Volfcius, hip-hop, in a fingle boot. 
 Criticks, he knows, for this may damn his books: 
 But he makes feafts for friends, and not for cooks. 
 Tho' errant-knights of late no favour find, 
 Sure you will be to ladies-errant kind. 
 To follow fame, knights-errant make profcillon: 
 \Ve damfels fly, to fave our reputation: 
 So they, their valour iiiow, we, our difcretion. 
 
 ]
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 8i 
 
 To lands of monfttrs, and fierce beafts they go. 
 
 Vv'e, to thofe iflands where rich husbands grow : 
 
 Tho' they're no monfters, we may make 'em fo. 
 
 If they'reof Englifh growth, they'll bear't with patience 
 
 Bi;t fave us from a fpoufe of Oroonoko's nations! 
 
 Then blcfs your ftars, you happy London wives, 
 
 Who love at large, each day, yet keep your lives: 
 
 Nor envy poor Imoinda's doating blindnefs, 
 
 V/ho thought her husband kill'd her out of kindnefs. 
 
 Death with a husband ne'er had /hewn fuch charms, 
 
 Ilr.d ihc once dy'd within a lover's arms. 
 
 Her error was from ignorance proceeding: 
 
 Poor foul ! ihe wanted fome of our town breeding. 
 
 forqive the Indian's fondnefs of her fpoufe ; 
 
 T.-.eir law no Chriftian liberty allows: 
 
 Alas ! they make a confcience of their vows! 
 
 If Virtue in a Heathen be a fault ; 
 
 T..sn damn the Heathen fchool, where fhc was taught. 
 
 might have learnt to cuckold, jilt and fliam, 
 I'.-d. Covcnt-Garden been in Surinam. 
 
 I 
 
 PROLOGUE to the Husband 
 his own Cuckold. 
 
 A Comedy ^written by Mr. J. Dryden, Junior. 
 
 THIS year has been remarkable two ways, 
 For blooming poets, and for blafted plays. 
 We've been by much appearing plenty mock'd, 
 At once both tantaliz'd, and over-flock'd. 
 Our authors too, by their fuccefs of late, 
 Begin to think third days are out of date. 
 L
 
 82 POEMSUPON 
 
 What can the caufe be, that our plays won't kecp^ 
 
 Unlefs they have a rott fome years like (heep ? 
 
 For our parts, we confcfs we're quite afliam'd 
 
 To read fuch weekly bills of poets damn'd. 
 
 Each parifh knows 'tis but a mournful cafe 
 
 When chriftnings fall, and funerals encreafe. 
 
 Thus 'tis, and thus 'twill be when we are dead, 
 
 There will be writers which will ne'er be read. 
 
 Why will you be fuch wits, and write fuch things? 
 
 You're willing to be wafps, but want the flings. 
 
 Let not your fpleen provoke you to that height, 
 
 'Odflifeyou don't know what you do, firs, when you write. 
 
 You'll iind that Pegafus has tricks, when try'd, •) 
 
 Tho' you make nothing on^t but up and ride ; I? 
 
 Ladies and all, I'faith, now get aftride. J 
 
 Contriving charafters, and fcenes, and plots. 
 
 Is grown as common now, as knitting knots ; 
 
 With the fame cafe, and negligence of thought, 
 
 The charming play is writ, and fringe is wrought. 
 
 Tho' this be frightful, yet we're more afraid, 
 
 When ladies leave, that beaux will take the trade : 
 
 Thus far 'tis well enough, if here 'twou'd flop, 
 
 But Hiou'd they write, we muft e'en fhut up fhop. 
 
 How iliall we make this mode of writing fink? 
 
 A mode, faid I ? 'tis a difeafe, 1 think, C 
 
 A ftubbom tetter that's not cur'd with ink. j 
 
 For ftill it fpreads, 'ti-U each th' infeftion takes, 
 
 And feizes ten, for one that itforfakes. 
 
 Our play to-day is fprung from none of thefe, 
 
 Nor fhould you damn it, tho' it does not pleafe, 
 
 Since born without the bounds of your four feas. 
 
 For if you grant no favour as 'tis new, 
 
 Yet as a ftranger, there is fomething due: 
 
 From Rome (to try its fate) this play was fent; 
 
 Start not at Rome, for there's no Popery meant;
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. ^5 
 
 Tho* there the poet may his dwelling chufc, 
 Yet ftill he knows his country claims his mufe. 
 Hither an offering his firft-born he fends, 
 "Whofe good, or ill-fuccefs, on you depends. 
 Yet he has hope fome kindnefs may be fhown, 
 As due to greater nierit than his own, 
 And begs the fire may for the fon attone. 
 There's his laft refuge, if the play don't take, 
 Yet fpare young Dryden for his Father's lake. 
 
 PROLOGUE 
 
 To the Court, 
 
 On the QU E E N's B'lrth-Day, 1704. 
 
 THE happy mufe, to this high fccne prcferr'd, 
 Hereafter fliall in loftier ftrains be heard ; 
 And, roaring to tranfccnd her ufual theme, 
 Shall fing of virtue and heroick fame. 
 No longer fhall fhe toil upon the ftage, 
 And fruitlefs war v/ith vice and folly wage; 
 No more in mean difguife (he iliall appear, 
 ^nd fliapes fhe wou'd reform be forc'd to wear: 
 While ignorance and malice join to blame, 
 And break the mirror that reflefts their /hame. 
 Henceforth fhe fliall purfue a nobler task, 
 Shew her bright virgin face, and fcorn the S;;tyr's mask, 
 Happy her future days ! which are defign'd 
 Alone to paint the beauties of the mind. 
 By juft originals to draw with care, 
 And copy from the court a faultlefs fair; 
 L 2
 
 U POEMSUPON 
 
 Such labours with fuccefs her hopes may crown, 
 And fhame to manners an incorrigible town. 
 
 "While this defign her eager thought purfues, 
 Such various virtues all around fhc views, 
 She knows not where to fix, or which to chufe. 
 Yet ftill ambitious of the daring flight, 
 ONE only awes her with fuperior light. 
 From that attempt the confcious raufe retires, 
 Kor to inimitable worth afpires ; 
 But lecretly applauds, and filently admires. 
 
 Hence fhe reflcfts upon the genial ray 
 That firft enliven'd this aufpicious day: 
 On that bright Itar, to whofe indulgent pow'r 
 We owe the bleflings of the prefent hour. 
 Concurring omens of propitious fate 
 Bore, with one facred birth, an equal date: 
 "Whence we derive whatever we poflefs, 
 By foreign conqueft, or domeftick peace. 
 
 Then Britain, then thy dawn of blifs begun : 
 Then broke the morn that lighted up this fun! 
 Then was itdoom'd whofe councils fhou'd fucceed; 
 And by whofe arm the Chriftian world be freed ; 
 Then the fierce foe was pre-ordain'd to yield, 
 And then the battle won at Blenheim's glorious field. 
 
 i
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 85- 
 
 THE 
 
 TEARS 
 
 O F 
 
 AMARYLLIS for AMYNTAS. 
 
 A 
 
 PASTORAL, 
 
 Lamenting the DEATH of the 
 
 Late Lord Marquifs of^ L A N F R D, 
 
 Infcribed to the 
 
 Right Honourable the Lord COBOL ?Hlh^ 
 Lord High-Treafurer oi England. 
 
 QuaWs populed moerens Philomela fub umbra 
 ^mijfos queritur fetui 
 
 ■rniferabik Carmen 
 
 Jntegraty et moejiis late loca quejiibus implet. 
 
 Virg. Gcorg. 4. 
 
 * rr^ WAS at the time, -when new returning light 
 A With welcome rays begins to cheat the fight; 
 When grateful birds prepare their thanks to pay, 
 And warble hymns to hail the dawning day;
 
 26 POEMSUPON 
 
 When woolly flocks their bleating cries renew, 
 And from their fleecy fides firfl: fhake the filver dew. 
 
 'Twas then that Amaryllis, heav'nly fair, 
 Wounded with grief, and wild with her defpair, 
 Forfook her myrtle bow'r and rofie bed, 
 To tell the winds her woes, and mourn Amyntas dead. 
 Who had a heart fo hard, that heard her cries 
 And did not weep ? Who fuch relentlefs eyes ? 
 Tygers and wolves their wonted rage forego, 
 And dumb diftrefs and new compaffion flicw, 
 As taught by her to taftc of human woe. 
 Nature herfelf attentive filence kept, 
 And motion feem'd fufpended while Ihc wept ; 
 The rifing fun reftrain'd his fiery courfe, 
 And rapid rivers lifien'd at their fourcej 
 Ev'n eccho fcar'd to catch the flyitig found, 
 Left repetitions fiiould her accents drown ; 
 The very morning wind with- held his breeze, 
 Nor fann'd with fragrant wings the noifelefs trees ; 
 As if the gentle Zephyr had been dead, 
 And in the grave with lov'd Amyntas laid. 
 No voice, no whifp*ring figh, no murm'ring groan, 
 Prefum'd to mingle with a mother's moan ; 
 Her cries alone her anguifh could exprefs, 
 All other mourning would have made it lefs. 
 
 Hear me, fhe cry'd, ye nymphs and Silvan Gods, 
 Inhabitants of thefc once lov'd abodes ; 
 Hear my diftrefs, and lend a pitying ear. 
 Hear my complaint — you would not hear my pray'r; 
 The lofs which you prevented not, deplore. 
 And mourn with me Amyntas now no more. 
 
 Have I not caufe, ye cruel pow'rs, to mourn? 
 Lives there like me another wretch forlorn ?
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 87 
 
 Tell me, thou fun that round the world doft lliinc, 
 Haft thou beheld another lofs like mine ? 
 Ye winds, who on your wings fad accents bear. 
 And catch the founds of forrow and defpair, 
 Tell me if e'er your tender pinions bore 
 Such weight of woe, fuch deadly fighs before? 
 Tell me, thou earth, on whofe widc-fprcading bafc 
 The wretched load is laid of human race, 
 D.oft thou not feel thy fclf with me opprcft ! 
 Lye all the dead fo heavy on thy breaft i 
 When hoary winter on thy fhrinking head 
 His icy, cold,deprefling hand has laid, 
 Haft thou not felt lefs chilnefs in thy veins ? 
 Do I not pierce thee with more freezing pains ? 
 But why to thee do I relate my woe, 
 Thou cruel earth, my moft rcmorfelcfs foe ! 
 "Within whofe darkfome womb the grave is made. 
 Where all my joys are with Amyntas laid? 
 What is't to mc, tho' on thy naked head 
 Eternal winter fliould his horror ihed, 
 Tho' all thy nerves were numb'd with ecdlefs froft, 
 And all thy hopes of future fpring were loft ? 
 To me what comfort can the fpring afford r 
 Can my Amyntas be with fpring rcftor'd ? 
 Can all the rains that fall from weeping skies, 
 Unlock the tomb where my Amyntas lies:' 
 
 No, never! never! Say then, rigid earth, 
 
 What is to me thy everlafting dearth, 
 Tho' never ftow'r again its head /l;ould rear, 
 Tho' never tree again fliould blofTom bear; 
 Tho' never grafs fhou'd cloath the naked ground. 
 Nor ever healing plant or wholfom herb be found. 
 None, none were found when I bewail'd their want, 
 Nor wholfjm herb was found, nor iicaling plant.
 
 88 POEMSUPON 
 
 To eafe Amyntas of his cruel pains ; 
 
 In vain I fearch'd the valleys, hills and plains; 
 
 But wither'd leaves alone appear'd to -view, 
 
 Or pois'nous weeds diftilling deadly dew. 
 
 And if fome naked ftalk, not quite decay'd. 
 
 To yield a frefli and friendly bud eflay'd, 
 
 Soon as I reach'd to crop the tender Ihoot, 
 
 A fhricking mandrake kill'd it at the root. 
 
 "Witnefs to this ye fawns of ev'ry wood, 
 
 "Who at the prodigy aftonifliM flood. 
 
 Well I remember what fad figns ye made. 
 
 What fliow'rs of unavailing tears ye flied ; 
 
 How each ran fearful to his moflle cave, 
 
 "When the laft gafp the dear Amyntas gave. 
 
 For then the air was fill'd with dreadful cries, 
 
 And fudden night o'erfpread the darken'd skies; 
 
 Phantoms, and fiends, and wand'ring fires appear'd, 
 
 And skreams of ill-prefaging birds were heard. 
 
 The foreft (hook, and flinty rocks were cleft, 
 
 And frighted ftreams their wonted channels left; 
 
 With frantick grief o'erflowing fruitful ground, 
 
 Where many a herd and harmlefs fwain was drown'd. 
 
 While I forlorn and defolate was left, 
 
 Of ev'ry help, of ev'ry hope bereft; 
 
 To ev'ry element cxpos'd I lay, 
 
 And to my griefs a more defencelefs prey. 
 
 For thee, Amyntas, all thefe pains were born, 
 
 For thee thefe hands were wrung, thefe hairs were torn; 
 
 For thee my foul to figh fhall never leave, 
 
 Thefe eyes to weep, this throbbing heart to heave. 
 
 To mourn thy fall I'll fly the hated light, 
 
 And hide my head in fliades of endlefs night : 
 
 For thou wert light, and life, and health to me ; 
 
 The fun but thanklefs fhines thart fhews not rhce
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. S^ 
 
 Wert thou not lovely, graceful, good and young? 
 The joy of fight, the talk of ev'ry tongue? 
 Did ever branch fo fweet a bloflbm bear ? 
 Or ever early fruit appear fo fair? 
 Did ever youth fo far his years tranfccnd? 
 Did ever life fo immaturely end ? 
 For thee the tuneful fwains provided lays, 
 And ev'ry mufe prepar'd thy future praifc. 
 For thee the bufie nymphs ftripp'd ev'ry grove. 
 And myrtle wreaths and flow'ry chaplets wove. 
 But now, ah difmal change ! the tuneful throng 
 To loud lamentings turn the chearful fong. 
 Their pleafing task the weeping virgins leave, 
 And with unfinifh'd garlands drew thy grave. 
 There let me fall, there, there lamenting lie, 
 There grieving grow to earth, defpair, and die. 
 
 This faid, her loud complaint of force fhc ccas'd, 
 Excefs of grief her faultring fpcech fupprefs'd. 
 Along the ground her colder limbs (he laid, 
 Where late the grave was for Amyntas made ; 
 Then from her fwimming eyes began to pour, 
 Of foftly falling rain, a filver fhow'r ; 
 Her loofely flowing hair, all radiant bright, 
 O'er-fpread the dewy grafs like ftrcams of light: 
 As if the fun had of his beams been fhorn, 
 And caft to earth the glories he had worn. 
 A fight fo lovely fad, fuch deep diftrefs 
 No tongue can tell, no pencil can exprcfs. 
 
 And now the winds, which had fo long been ftill. 
 Began the fwelling air with fighs to fill; 
 The water-nymphs, who motionlefs rcmaifl'd, 
 Like images of ice, while fhe complain'd. 
 Now loos'd their ftreams; as whendefcending rains 
 Roll the fteep torrents headlong o'er the plains. 
 M
 
 9» POEMSUPON 
 
 The prone ereation, who fo long had gaz'd, 
 Charm'd with her cries, and at her griefs amazM, 
 Began to roar and howl with horrid yell, 
 Difmal to hear, and terrible to tell ; 
 Nothing but groans and fighs were heard around^ 
 And eccho multiply'd each mournful found. 
 
 When all at once an univerfal paufc 
 Of grief was made, as from fomc fecret caufe. 
 The balmy air with fragrant fcents was fill'd, 
 As if each weeping tree had gums diftill'd. 
 Such, if not fweeter, was the rich perfume 
 Which fwift afc^nded from Amyntas* tomb : 
 As if th' Arabian bird her neft had fir'd, 
 And on the fpicy pile were new expir'd. 
 
 And now the turf, which late was naked feeir, 
 Was fudden fpread with lively fpringing green ; 
 And Amaryllis faw, with wond'ring eyes, 
 A flow'ry bed, where ihe had wept, arife; 
 Thick as the pearly drops the fair had flied, 
 The blowing buds advane'd their purple head; 
 From ev'ry tear that fell, a violet grew, [hue. 
 
 And thence their fweetnefs came, and thence their moumfal 
 
 Remember this, ye nymphs and gentle maids, 
 When folitude ye feek in gloomy fhades ; 
 Or walk on banks where filent waters flow, 
 For there this lonely flow'r will love to grow. 
 Think on Amyntas, oft as ye Ihall ftoop 
 To crop the flalks and take 'em foftly up. 
 When in your fnowy necks their fweets you wear, 
 Give a foft figh, and drop a tender tear : 
 To lov'd Amyntas pay the tribute due. 
 And bkfs his peaceful grave, where firft they grew.
 
 To CYNTHIA, 
 
 Weeping and not Speaking. 
 ELEGY. 
 
 WH Y are thofe hours, which Heav'n in pity lent 
 To longing love, in fruitkfs forrow fpcnti" 
 "Why fighs my fair? why does that bofom move 
 With any paffion ftirr'd, but rifing love i" 
 .Can difcontent find place within that brcaft, 
 On whofe foft pillows ev'n defpair might reft? 
 Divide thy woes, and give me my fad part, 
 I am no ftrangcr to an aking heart ; 
 Too well I know the force of inward grief, 
 And well can bear it, to give you relief: 
 All love's fevercft pangs I <an endure; 
 I can bear pain, tho' faopelefs of a cure. 
 I know what 'tis to weep, and Cgh, and pray, 
 To wake all night, yet dread the breaking day; 
 I know what *tisto wifh, and hope, and all in vaia^ 
 And meet, for humble love, unkind difdain ; 
 Anger, and hate, I have been fore *d to bear, 
 
 Nay jealoufy and I have felt defpair. 
 
 Thefe pains, for you, I have been forc'd to ^rovc, 
 For cruel you, when I began to love, 
 'Till warm compaffion took at length my part, 
 And melted to my wifh your yielding heart. 
 O the dear hour, in which you did refign! 
 "When round my neck your willing arms did twine, 
 And, ID a kifs, you faid your heart was mine. 
 M ?
 
 92 POEMSUPON 
 
 Thro' each returning year, may that hour be 
 Diftinguifli'd in the rounds of all eternity; 
 Gay be the fun, that hour, in all his light, 
 Let him colleft the day, to be more bright. 
 Shine all, that hour, and let the reft be night. 
 And fliall I all thisheav'n of blifs receive 
 From you, yet not lament to fee you grieve ! 
 Shall I, who nouriOi'd in my brcaft defire, 
 "When your cold fcorn, and frowns forbid the £rc; 
 Now, when a mutual flame you have reveal'd, 
 And the dear union of our fouls is feal'd, 
 ^Vhen all my joys compleat in you I find, 
 Shall I not fhare the forrows of your mind? 
 
 O tell me, tell me all whence does arife 
 
 This flood of tears? whence are thefe frequent fighs? 
 Why does that lovely head, like a fair flow'r 
 Opprefs'd with drops of a hard-falling fliow'r, 
 Bend with its weight of grief, and feem to grow 
 Downward to earth, and kifs the root of woe? 
 Lean on my bread, and let me fold thee faft, 
 Lock'd in thefe arms, think all thy forrows paft; 
 Or, what remain, think lighter made by me; 
 So I fhould think, were I fo held by thee. 
 Murmur thy plaints, and gently wound my ears; 
 Sigh on my lip, and let me drink thy tears ; 
 Join to my cheek, thy cold and dewy face, 
 And let pale grief to glovying love give place. 
 
 fpeak — for \voe in filence moft appears ; 
 Speak, ere my fancy magnifie my fears. 
 
 Is there acaufe, which words cannot exprefs? 
 Can I not bear a part, nor make it Icfs? 
 
 1 know net whar to think, — am I in fault? 
 I havq not to my knowledge err'd in though?,
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 93 
 
 Nor wander 'd from my love, nor wou'd I be 
 Lord of the world to live deprived of thee. 
 You weep a-fre(h, and at that word you ftart ! 
 
 Am I to be dcpriv'd then ? muft we part ! 
 
 Curfe on that word fo ready to be fpokc, 
 For through my lips, unmeant by me, it broke. 
 Oh no, we muft not, will not, cannot part, 
 And my tongue talks unprompted by my heart. 
 Yet fpeak, for my diftraction grows apace, 
 And racking fears, and rcftlefs doubts increafe; 
 And fears and doubts to jcaloufie will turn, 
 The hotte^ hell, in which a heart can burn. 
 
 A M O R E T. 
 
 I. 
 
 FAIR Amorct is gone aftray; 
 Purfue and feek her, ev'ry lover; 
 I'll tell the figns by which you may ' 
 The wand 'ring fliepherdefs difcovcr. 
 II. 
 Coquet and coy at once her air, 
 
 Both ftudy'd, tho' both feem neglefted j 
 Carelefs fhe is with artful care, 
 AfkEiir.g to feem unaiFefted. 
 III. 
 With skill her eyes dart ev'ry glance, 
 
 Yet change fo foon you'd ne'er fufpeft 'cm; 
 For flie'd perfuade they wound by chance, 
 Tho' certain aim and art dircft 'cm.
 
 94 POEMSUPON 
 
 IV. 
 
 She likes herfelf, yet others hates 
 
 For that which in hcrfclf fhe prizes; 
 And vrhile (he laughs at them, forgets 
 
 She is the thing that fhe dcfpifes. 
 
 L E S B I A. 
 
 WHEN Lcsbia firtt I faw fo hear'nly fair, 
 With eyes fo bright, and with that awful air, 
 I thought my heart, which durft fo high afpirc, 
 As bold as his, who fnatch'd celeftial fire. 
 But foon as e'er the beauteous idiot fpokc, 
 Forth from her coral lips fuch folly broke, 
 Like balm the trickling nonfenfe heal'd my wound, 
 And what her eyes cnthrall'd, her tongue unbound. 
 
 DORIS. 
 
 DORIS, a nymph of riper age, 
 Has every grace and art ; 
 A wife obferver to engage, 
 
 Or wound a heedlefs heart. 
 Of native blufli, and rofie dye, 
 
 Time has her cheek bereft; 
 "Which makes the prudent nymph fupply, 
 
 With paint, th* injurious theft. 
 Her fparkling eyes /he ftill retains, 
 
 And teeth in good repair; 
 And her well-furnifli'd front difdains 
 
 To grace with borrow'd hair.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. if 
 
 Of Cze, /he is not fhort, nor tall, 
 
 And docs to fat incline 
 Ko more, than what the Frtnch wou'd call 
 
 * Aimable Embonpoint.' 
 Farther, her perfon to difdofe 
 
 I leave let it fuffice, 
 
 She has few faults, but what flic knowf, 
 
 And can with skill difguifc. 
 She many lovers has rcfus'd. 
 
 With many more comply 'd; 
 Which, like her cloaths, when little us'd, 
 
 She always lays afide. 
 She's one, who looks with great contempt 
 
 On each affefted creature, 
 Whofe nicety would fecm exempt 
 
 From appetites of nature. 
 She thinks they want or health or fcnfe, 
 
 Who want an inclination; 
 And therefore never takes offence 
 
 At him who pleads his paffion. 
 Whom flie refufes, flie treats ftill 
 
 With fo much fwect behaviour, 
 That her refufal, through her skill, 
 
 Looks almoft like a favour. 
 Since ihe this foftnefs can expreft 
 
 To thofe whom flic rcjefts, 
 She rauft be very fond, you'll gucfs, 
 
 Of fuch whom flie afFcfts. 
 But here our Doris far outgoes, 
 
 All that her fex have done ; 
 She no regard for cuflom knows. 
 
 Which reafon bids her fliun.
 
 9($ POEMSUPON 
 
 By Reafon, her own reafon's meant. 
 
 Or if you pleafe, her will: 
 For wiien this laft is difcontent, 
 
 The firfl is ferv'd but ill. 
 Peculiar therefore is her way ; 
 
 Whether by nature taught, 
 I ihall not undertake to fay. 
 
 Or by experience bought. 
 But who o'ernight obtain'd her grace, 
 
 She can next day difown, 
 And llare upon the flrange-man's face, 
 
 As one fhe ne'er had known. 
 So well ihe can the truth difguife, 
 
 Such artful wonder frame, 
 The lover or diftrufls his eyes, 
 
 Or thinks 'twas all a dreaai. 
 Some, cenfure this as lewd and low. 
 
 Who are to bounty blind ; 
 For to forget what wc beftow, 
 
 Befpeaks a noble mind. 
 Doris, our thanks nor asks, nor needs, 
 
 For all her favours done : 
 From her love flows, as light proceeds 
 
 Spontaneous from the fun. 
 On one or other, ftill her fires 
 
 Difplay their genial force; 
 And /he, like Sol, alone retires, 
 
 To fhine elfcwhcre of courfe.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 97 
 
 To SLEEP. 
 ELEGY. 
 
 /^ Sleep! thou flatterer of happy minds, 
 ^^ How foon a troubled breaft thy falihood finds! 
 Thou common friend, officious in thy aid, 
 "Where no diftrefs is (hown, nor want betray'd: 
 But oh, how fwift, how fure thou art to fhun 
 The wretch, by fortune or by love undone! 
 Where are thy gentle dews, thy fofter pow'rs, 
 Which us'd to wait upon my midnight hours? 
 Why doft thou ceafe thy hov'ring wings to fprcad, 
 With friendly fliade around my reftlefs bed? 
 Can no complainings thy compaflion move? 
 Is thy antipathy fo ftrong to love! 
 O no ! thou art the profp'rous lover's friend, 
 And doft uncaird his pleafing toils attend. 
 With equal kindnefs, and with rival charms, 
 Thy flumbers lull him in his fair one's arms; 
 Or from her bofom he to thine retires, 
 Where footh'd with eafe, the panting youth rcfpircs, 
 'Till foft rcpofe reftore his drooping fenfe, 
 And rapture is rcliev'd by indolence. 
 But oh, what fortune does the lover bear, 
 Forlorn by thee, and haunted by defpair ! 
 From racking thoughts by no kind flumber freed, 
 But painful nights his joylefs days fucceed. 
 But why, dull God, do I of thee complain? 
 Thou didft not caufe, nor canft thou cafe my pain. 
 ■N
 
 98 P O E M S U P O N 
 
 forgive what my diftrafting grief has faid, 
 I own, unjuftly I thy floth upbraid. 
 For oft I have thy profFer'd aid repeli'd, 
 And my reluftant eyes from reft with-held; 
 Implor'd the mufe to break thy gentle chainSj, 
 And fung with Philomel my nightly ftrains. 
 With her I ling, but ceafe not with her fong, 
 For more enduring woes my days prolong. 
 The morning lark to mine accords his note, 
 And tunes to my diftrefs his warbling throat: 
 Each fetting and each rifmg fun I mourn, 
 Wailing alike his abfcnce and return. 
 
 And ail for thee what had I well nigh faid ? 
 
 Let me not name thee, thou too charming maid, 
 No — —as the wing'd muficians of the grove, 
 Th' aflbciatcs of my melody and love, 
 In moving found alone relate their pain, 
 And not with voice articulate complain ; 
 So (hail my mufe my tiincful forrows fing, 
 And lofe in air her name from whom they fpring* 
 O may no wakeful thoughts her mind molell. 
 Soft be her llumbers, and fihcere her reft : 
 For her, O lleep, thy balmy fweets prepare; 
 The peace I lofe for her, to her transfer. 
 Hufht as the falling dews, whofe noifelefs fiiow'rB 
 Imperlc the folded leaves of cv'ning flow'rs, 
 Steal on her brow: and as thofc dews attend, 
 'Till warn'd by waking day to re-afcend ; 
 So wait thou for her morn ; then, gently rife, 
 And to the world reftore the day break of her eyes.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 
 T O 
 
 Sir Godfrey Kneller, 
 
 Occafion'd 
 
 Bjf L -J s Ticlure. 
 
 T Yield, O Kneller, to fuperior skill, 
 ^ Thy pencil triumphs o'er the poet's quill : 
 If yet my vanquifti'd mufe exert her lays, 
 It is no more to rival thee, but praifc. 
 
 Oft have I try'd, with unavailing care, 
 To trace fomc image of the much-lov'd fair; 
 But ftill my numbers ineffeftual prov'd, 
 And rather fhew'd how much, than whom, I lov'd : 
 But thy unerring hands, with matchlefs art. 
 Have fhewn my eyes th' impreffion in my heart ; 
 The bright idea both exifts and lives. 
 Such vital heat thy genial pencil gives : 
 Whofe daring point, not to the face coniin'd, 
 Can penetrate the heart, and paint the mind. 
 Others fome faint referablance may exprefs, 
 "Which, as 'tis drawn by chance, we find by guefs. 
 Thy piftures raife no doubts, when brought to vicAV, 
 At once they're known, and feem to know us too. 
 Tranfcendent artift ! how compleat thy skill ! 
 -Thy pow'r to aft, is equal to thy will. 
 N 2 
 
 99
 
 loo P O E M S U P O N 
 
 Nature and art, in thee, alike contend, 
 Not to oppofe each other, but befriend: 
 For what thy fancy has with fire defign'd, 
 Is by thy skill, both tempered and refin'd. 
 As in thy piftures, light confents with fliade, 
 And, each, to other is fubfervient made. 
 Judgment and genius fo concur in thee, 
 And both unite in perfeft harmony. 
 
 But after-days, my friend, muft do thee right, 
 And fct thy virtues in unenvy'd light. 
 Fame due to vafl defert, is kept in flore, 
 Unpay'd, 'till the deferver is no more. 
 Yet, thou, in prefent, the beft part haft gain'd, 
 And from the chofen few applaufe obtain'd : 
 Ev'n he who beft cou'd judge and beft cou'd praifc, 
 Ha3 high cxtoU'd thee, in his deathlcfs lays ; 
 Ev'n Dryden has immortaliz'd thy name ; 
 Let that alone fuffice thee, think that, fame. 
 Unfit 1 follow, where he led the way, 
 And court applaufe, by what I fcem to pay. 
 Myfelf I praife, while I thy praife intend. 
 For 'tis fome virtue, virtue to commend: 
 And next to deeds, which our own honour raife, 
 Is, to diftinguifli thcro who merit praife.
 
 To a C A N D L E. 
 
 ELEGY. 
 
 THOU watchful taper, by whofe filent light 
 I lonely pafs the melancholy night ; 
 Thou faithful witnefs of my fecret pain, 
 To whom alone I venture to complain; 
 O learn with me, my hopclefs love to moan; 
 Commiferate a life fo like thy own. 
 Like thine, my flames to my deftruftion turn, 
 Walling that heart, by which fupply'd they burn. 
 Like thine, my joy and fuffering they difplay. 
 At once, are figns of life, and fymptoms of decay. 
 And as thy fearful flames the day decline, 
 And only during night prefumc to fliine; 
 Their humble rays not daring to afpire 
 Before the fun, the fountain of their fire : 
 So mine, with confcious fliame, and equal awe, 
 To fliades obfcure and folitude withdraw; 
 Kor dare their light before her eyes difclofe. 
 From whofe bright beams their being firft arofc.
 
 102 F O E M S U P O N 
 
 O V I D's Third Book 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 ART of LOVE. 
 Tranflated into ENGLISH VERSE. 
 
 WHEREIN 
 
 He recommends Rules and InflruSihnt to the Fair 
 Sex, in the Condu^ of their Aftiours : After hav 
 ing already compofed two Books for the Ufe of 
 Men, upon the fame Subject. 
 
 THE men are arm'd, and for the fight prepare ; 
 And now we noull inftruft and arm the fair. 
 Both fexes, well appointed, take the field, 
 And mighty love determine which fhall yield. 
 Man were ignoble, when, thus arm'd, to ihow 
 Unequal force againft a naked foe : 
 No glory from fuch conquefl can be gain'd, 
 And odds are always by the brave difdain'd. 
 
 But, fome exclaim, what frenfie rules your mind? 
 Would youencreafe the craft of woman-kind ! 
 Teach them new wiles and arts! as well you may 
 Inftruft a fnake to bite, or wolf to prey, 
 lut, fure, too hard a cenfure they purfuc, 
 
 Vho charge on all, the failings of a few. 
 ' Examine, firft, impartially each fair, 
 
 ^hen, as ihe merits, or condemn, or fpare.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 105 
 
 If (i) Mcnelaus, and the king of men, 
 
 With juftice, of their fifter-wives complain; 
 
 If falfe (2) Eriphylc forfook her faith, 
 
 And for reward procur'd her husband's death j 
 
 Penelope (3) was loyal Hill, and chafle, 
 
 Tho' twenty years her lord in abfence pafs'd. 
 
 Refleft how (4) Laodamia's truth was try'd, 
 
 Who, tho' in bloom of youth, and beauty's pride. 
 
 To fharc her husband's fate, untimely dy'd. 
 
 Think how (;) Alceftes' piety was prov'd, 
 
 Who loft her life, to fave the man /he lov'd. 
 
 Receive me, Capaneus, (6) Evadne cry'd ; 
 
 Nor death itfelf our nuptials /hall divide: 
 
 To join thy aflies, plcas'd I Ihall expire. 
 
 She faid, and leap'd amid the fun'ral fire. 
 
 Virtue (7) herfelf a goddefs we confefs, 
 
 Both female in her name and in her drefs; 
 
 No wonder then, if to her fex inclin'd. 
 
 She cultivates with care a female mind. 
 
 But thcfe exalted fouls exceed the reach 
 
 Of that foft art, which I pretend to teach. 
 
 My tender barque requires a gentle gale; 
 
 A little wind will fill a little fail. 
 
 Of fponful loves I fing, and (hew what ways 
 
 The willing nymph muft ufe, her blifs to raife, 
 
 And how to captivate the man fhe'd pleafc. 
 
 Woman is foft, and of a tender heart, 
 
 Apt to receive, and to retain love's dart : 
 
 Man has a breaft robuft, and more fecure, 
 
 It wounds him not fo deep, nor hits fo fure. 
 
 Men oft are falfe; and, if you fearch with care, 
 
 Vou'U find lefs fraud imputed to the fair. 
 
 The faithlefs (8) Jafon from Medea fled, 
 
 And made Creufa partner of his bed. 
 
 I
 
 I04 POEMSUPON 
 
 Bright (9) Ariadne, on an unknown /hore, 
 
 Thyabfence, perjur'd Thefeus, did deplore. 
 
 If then, the wild inhabitants of air 
 
 Forbore her tender lovely limbs to tear, 
 
 It was not owing, Thefeus, to thy care. 
 
 Enquire the caufc, and let Demophoon tell, 
 
 "Why (10) Phillis by a fate untimely fell. 
 
 Nine tirejes, in vain, upon the promis'd day, 
 
 iShe fought th' appointed fliore, and view'd the fea: 
 
 Her fall the fading trees confent to mourn. 
 
 And filed their leaves round her lamented urn. 
 
 The prince fo far for piety renown'd, 
 To thee, (11) Eliza, was unfaithful found; 
 To thee forlorn, and languifhing with grief, 
 His fword alone he left, thy laft relief. 
 Ye ruin'd nymphs, fliall I the caufe impart 
 Of all your woes ? 'tv/as want of needful art. 
 Love, of itfelf, too quickly will expire; 
 But powerful art perpetuates defire. 
 Women had yet their ignorance bewail'd, 
 Had not this art by Venus been rcveal'd. 
 
 Before my fight the Cyprian goddefs ftione. 
 And thus fiie faid ; * What have poor women done? 
 
 * Why is that weak, defencelefs fex expos'd ; 
 
 * On ev'ry fide, by men well arm'd, enclosed? 
 
 * Twice are the men infirufted by thy mufc, 
 
 * Nor muft fiie now to teach the fex refufe. 
 
 « The (12) bard who injur'd Helen in his fong, 
 
 * Recanted after, and redrefs'd the wrong. 
 < And you, if on my favour you depend, 
 
 * The caufe of women, while you live, defend.' 
 This faid, a myrtle fprig, which berries bore, 
 She gave me (for a myrile wreath file wore.) 
 
 I
 
 The giftreceiv'd, my fenfe enlighten'd grew, 
 
 And from her prefence infpiration drew. 
 
 Attend, ye nymphs, by wedlock unconfin'd, 
 
 And hear my precepts, while fhe prompts my mind. 
 
 Ev'n now, in bloom of youth, and beauty's prime, 
 
 Beware of coming age, nor wafte your time: 
 
 Now, while you may, and rip'ning years invite, 
 
 Enjoy the feafonable, fwect delight: 
 
 For rolling years, like ftealing waters, glide j 
 
 Nor hope to flop their ever-ebbing tide: 
 
 Think not, hereafter will the lofs repay j 
 
 For ev'ry morrow will the tafte decay. 
 
 And leave lefs rclidi than the former day. 
 
 I've feen the time, when on that wither'd thorn, 
 
 The blooming rofe vy'd with the blufliing morn. 
 
 "With fragrant wreaths I thence have deck'd my head. 
 
 And fee, how leaf- lefs now, and how decay 'd ! 
 
 And you, who now the love-fick youth rejeft, 
 
 "Will prove, in age, what pains attend negleft. 
 
 None, then, will prefs upon your midnight hours, 
 
 Nor wake, to ftrew your ftrect with morning flow'rs. 
 
 Then nightly knockings at your door will ceafc, 
 
 Whofe noifelcfs hammer, then, may ruft in peace. 
 
 Alas, how foon a clear complexion fades ! 
 How foon a wrinkled skin plump flefh invades! 
 And what avails it, tho' the fair one fwears 
 She from her infancy had fome grey hairs * 
 She grows all hoary in a few more years, 
 And then the venerable truth appears. 
 The fnake his skin, the deer his horns may caft, 
 And both renew their youth and vigour pafs'd : 
 But no receipt can human-kind relieve, 
 Doom'd to decrepit age, without reprieve. 
 O 
 
 ]
 
 io6 POEMSUPON 
 
 Then crop the flow'r which yet invites your eye^ 
 And which, ungather'd, on its flalks muft die. 
 Bclides, the tender fex is form'd to bear, 
 And frequent births, too foon will youth impair: 
 Continual harvelt wears the fruitful field, 
 And earth itfelf decays, too often till'd. 
 Thou didll not, Cynthia, fcorn the Latmian {13) fwainj 
 Nor thou, Aurora, (14) Cephalus difdain; 
 ThePaphian queen, who, for (ij) Adonis' fate, 
 ■So deeply mourn'd, and who laments him yet, 
 Has not been found inexorable fince ; 
 Witnefs (i5) Harmonia, and the Dardan prince. 
 Then take example, mortals, from above, 
 And like immortals live, and like 'em love. 
 Refufe not thofe delights, which men require, 
 Nor let your lovers languifh with defirc. 
 Falfc tho' they prove, what lofs can you fuftain? 
 Thence let a thoufand take, 'twill all remain. 
 Tho' conflant ufe, ev'n flint and fteel impairs, 
 What you employ no diminution fears. 
 Who would, to light a torch, their torch decay? 
 Or who can dread drinking an ocean dry? 
 Still women lofe, you cry, if men obtain : 
 What do they lofe, that's worthy to retain (17}? 
 Think not this faid to proftitute the fex, 
 But undeceive whom needlcfs fears perplex. 
 Thus far a gentle breeze fupplies our fail, 
 Now launch'd to fea, we ask a brisker gale. 
 And, firfl, we treat of drefs. The well-drefs'd vine 
 Produces plumpeft grapes, and richeft wine; 
 And plenteous crops of golden grain are found, 
 Alone, to grace well-cultivated ground. 
 Beauty's the gift of Gods, the fcxes pride ! 
 Yet, to how many, is that gift deny'd ?
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. I©7 
 
 Art helps a face; a face, tho' heav'nly fair, 
 May quickly fade for want of needful care. 
 In ancient days, if women flighted drefs, 
 Then men were ruder too, and lik'd it Icfs. 
 If He£lor's ( i8) fpoufe was clad in flubborn fluff, 
 A foldier's wife became it well enough. 
 Ajay, to fltield his ample breaft, provides 
 Seven lufty bulls, and tanns their flurdy hides; 
 And might not he, d'y^ think, be well carefs'd, 
 And yet his wife not elegantly drefs'd? 
 "With rude fimplicity Rome firfl was built, 
 "Which now we fee adorn'd, andcarv*d, and gilt ; 
 This ( 19) Capitol with that of old compare; 
 Some other Jove, you'd think, was worfliipp'd there. 
 That lofty pile, where fenatcs diftate law, 
 When Tatius reign'd, was poorly thatch'd with flraw: 
 And where Apollo's fane refulgent flands, 
 Was heretofore a tra£l of paflure-lands. 
 Let ancient manners other men delight ; 
 But me the modern pleafe, as more polite. 
 Not, that materials now in gold are wrought, 
 And diftant fliores for orient pearls are fought; 
 Not for, that hills exhauft their marble veins, 
 And ftruftures rife whofe bulk the fea reflrains; 
 But, that the world is civiliz'd of late, 
 And polifh'd from the rufl of former date. 
 Let not the nymph v/ith pendants load her ear, 
 Nor in embroid'ry, or brocard appear; 
 Too rich a drefs may fometimes check dcfire; 
 And cleanlinefs more animate love's fire. 
 The hair difpos'd, may gain or lofc a grace, 
 And much become, or mif- become the face. 
 What futes your features, of your glafs enquire. 
 For no one rule is fix'd for head attire. 
 O 2
 
 iq8 P O E M S U P N 
 
 A face too long fhou'd part, and fiat the hair, 
 Left, upward comb'd, the length too much appear: 
 So Laodamia drefs'd. A face too round, 
 Shou'd fliow the ears, and with a tour be crownM. 
 On either fhoulder, one, her locks difplays ; 
 Adorn'd like Phoebus, when he fmgs his lays : 
 Another, all her trelFes ties behind ; 
 So drefs'd, Diana hunu the fearful hind. 
 Didievell'd locks mod graceful are to fome; 
 Others, the binding fillets more become : 
 Some plat, like fpiral fhells, their braded hair, 
 Others, the loofe and waving curl prefer. 
 But, to recount the fevcral drefles worn, 
 Which artfully each fev'ral face adorn, 
 Were endlefs, as to tell the leaves on trees, 
 The beafts on Alpine hills, or Hybla's bees. 
 Many there are, Avho feem to flight all care, 
 And with a pleaGng negligence enfnare ; 
 Whole mornings oft, in fuch a drefs are fpent, 
 And all is art, that looks like accident. 
 With fuch diforder (20) lole was grac'd, 
 When great Alcides ficft the nymph embrac'd. 
 So Ariadne came to Bacchus' bed, 
 when with the conqueror from Crete fhc fled. 
 
 Nature, indulgent to the fex, repays 
 The lolTes they fuftain, by various ways. 
 Men ill fuppiy thofe hairs they fhed in age. 
 Loll, like autumnal leaves, when north-winds rage. 
 Women, with juice of herbs, grey locks difguifc, 
 And art gives colour which with nature vycs. 
 The well-wove tours they wear, their own are thought; 
 But only are their own, as what they've bought. 
 Nor need they blufh to buy heads ready drefs'd, 
 And chufe, at publick /hops, what futes 'era bell.
 
 Coftly apparel let the fair one fly, 
 Enrich'd with gold, or with the Tyrian dye. 
 What folly muft in fuch cxpence appear, 
 "When more becoming colours are lefs dear? 
 One, with a dye is ting'd of lovely blue ; 
 Such as, thro' air ferene, the sky we view. 
 With yellow lullre fee another fpread. 
 As if the golden fleece compos'd the thread. 
 Some, of the fea-green wave the caft difplay; 
 With this, the nymphs, their beauteous forms array: 
 And fome, the fafFron hue will well adorn ; 
 Such is the mantle of the blufliing morn. 
 Of myrtle berries, one, the tinfture ihows; 
 In this, of amcthyfis, the purple grows, 
 And, that, more imitates the paler rofe. 
 Nor Thracian cranes forget, vrhofe filv'ry plumes 
 Give patterns, which employ the mimick looms, 
 Nor almond, nor the chefnut dye difclaim; 
 Kor others, which from wax derive their name. 
 As fields you find, with various fiow'rs o'erfpread, 
 When vineyards bud, and winter's froft is fled ; 
 So various are the colours you may try, 
 Of which, the thirfty wool imbibes the dye. 
 Try ev'ry one, what bcft becomes you, wear ; 
 For no complexion all alike can bear. 
 If fair the skin, black may become it beft. 
 In black the lovely fair (21) Brifeis drefs'd: 
 If brown the nymph, let her be cloath'd in white, 
 Andromeda (22)fo charm'd the wond'ring fight. 
 
 I need not warn you of too pow'rful fmells, 
 V/hich, fometimes health, or kindly heat expels. 
 Nor, from your fender legs to pluck with care 
 The cafua! growth of all unfeemly hair.
 
 no P E M S U P O N 
 
 Tho' not to nymphs of (23) Caucafus I fing, 
 Nor fuch who tafte remote the Myfian (24) fpring ; 
 Yet, let me warn you, that, thro' no negleft, 
 You let your teeth difclofc the leaft defeft. 
 You know the ufe of white to make you fair, 
 And how, with red, loft colour to repair; 
 Imperfe£l eye-brows you by art can mend. 
 And skin, when wanting, o'er a fear extend. 
 Nor need the fair one be afham'd, who tries, 
 By art, to add new luftre to her eyes. 
 
 A little bock {2;) I've made, but with great care, 
 How to preferve the face, and how repair. 
 In that, the nymphs, by time or chance annoy 'd, 
 May fee, what pains to plcafe 'em I've employ'd. 
 But, ftill beware, that from your lover's eye 
 You keep conceal'd the med'cines you apply: 
 Tho' art affifls, yet muft that art be hid, 
 Left, whom it would invite, it ihould forbid. 
 "Who would not take offence, to fee a face 
 All daub'd, and dripping with the melted greafe r 
 And tho' your unguents bear th' Athenian name, 
 The wool's unfav'ry fcent is ftill the fame. 
 Marrow of ftags, nor your pomatums try, 
 Nor clean your furry teeth, when men are by; 
 For many things, when done, afford delight, 
 Which yet, while doing, may offend the fight. 
 Even Myro's (26) ftatues, which for art furpafs 
 All others, once were but a ftiapelefs mafs; 
 Rude was that gold which now in rings is worn, 
 As once the robe you wear was wool unfl:orn. 
 Think, how that Rone rough in the quarry grew, 
 "Which, now, a pcrfcft Venus ftiews to view. 
 While we fuppofe you fleep, repair your face, 
 Lock'd from obfcrvers, in fome fecret place.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. ii; 
 
 Add the laft hand, before yourfelvcs you fhow ; 
 Your need of art, -why fhould your lover know ? 
 For many things, when moft conceal'd, are bcft; 
 And few, of ftrift enquiry, bear the teft. 
 Thofe figures which in theatres are feen, 
 Gilded without, are common wood within. 
 But no fpeftators are allow 'd to pry, 
 'Till all is finifh'd, which allures the eye. 
 
 Yet, I muft own, it oft affords delight, 
 To have the fair one comb her hair in fight; 
 To view the flowing honours of her head 
 Fall on her neck, and o'er her flioulders fpread. 
 But let her look, that flie with care avoid 
 All fretful humours, while flie's fo employ'd; 
 Let her not ftill undo, with peeviQi hafie, 
 All that her woman does ; who does her beft. 
 I hate a vixon, that her maid afiails, 
 And fcratches with her bodkin, or hernails; 
 While the poor girl in blood and tears mult mourn, 
 And her heart curfcs, what her hands adorn. 
 
 Let her who has no hair, or has but fome, 
 Plant centinels before her drefiling-room: 
 Or in the fane of the good goddefs drefs, 
 "Where all the male- kind are debarr'd accefs. 
 
 'Tis faid, that I (but 'tis a tale devis'd) 
 A lady at her toilet once furpriz'd ; 
 Who ftarting, fnatch'd in hafie the tour fhc wore, 
 And in a hurry, plac'd the hinder part before. 
 But on our foes fall ev'ry fuch difgrace, 
 Or barb'rous beauties of the Parthian race. 
 Ungraceful 'tis to fee without a horn 
 The lofty hart, whom branches beft adorn ; 
 A leaf-lefs tree, or an unvcrdant mead ; 
 And as unpraccful is a hair-lefs head.
 
 112 P 6 E M S U P O N 
 
 But think not, thefe inftru£lions are defign'cJ 
 
 For firft-rate beauties of the finifh'd kind : 
 
 Nor to a Semele, or (27) Leda bright, 
 
 Nor an (28) Europa, thefc my rules I write ; 
 
 Nor the fair Helen do I teach, whofe charms 
 
 Stirr'd up Atrides, and all Greece, to arms : 
 
 Thee to regain, well was that war begun, 
 
 And Paris well defended what he won; 
 
 What lover, or what husband, would not fight 
 
 In fuch a caufe, where both are in the right ? 
 The croud I teach, fomc homely, and fome fair; 
 
 But of the former fort, the larger Ihare. 
 
 The handfome leal^ require the help of art, 
 
 Rich in themfelves, and pleas'd with nature's part. 
 
 When calm the fea, at eafe the pilot lyes, 
 
 But all his skill exerts when Horms arife. 
 Faults in your perfon, or your face, correft; 
 
 And few are feen that have not fome defe£l. 
 
 The nymph too fhort, hef feat fhould feldom quit, 
 
 Left, when fhe ftands, flie may be thought to fit; 
 
 And when extended on her couch fhe lyes. 
 
 Let length of petticoats conceal her fize. 
 
 The lean, of thick- wrought ftuff her cloaths fiiould chufe, 
 
 And fuller made, than what the plumper ufe. 
 
 If pale, let her the crimfon juice apply ; 
 
 If fwarthy, to the ( 29) Pharian varnifh fly. 
 
 A leg too lank, tight garters ftill muft wear; 
 
 Nor fliould an ill-fhap'd foot be ever bare. 
 
 Round fhoulders, (30) bolfter'd, will appear the leaft; 
 
 And lacing ftrait, confines too' full a breaft. 
 
 Whofe fingers are too fat, and nails too coarfe, 
 
 Should always fliun much gefture in difcourfe. 
 
 And you, whofe breath is touch'd, this caution take. 
 
 Nor failing, nor too near another fpeak.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 113 
 
 Let not the nymph with laughter much abound, 
 Whofe teeth are black, uneven, or unfound. 
 You hardly think how much on this depends, 
 And how a laugh, or fpoils a face, or mends. 
 Gape not too wide, left you difclofe your gums. 
 And lofe the dimple which the check becomes. 
 Nor let your fides too ftrong concudions ftiake, 
 Left you the foftnefs of the fex forfake. 
 In fome, diftorlions quite the face difguifc; 
 Another laughs, that you would think fhe cries. 
 In one, too hoarfe a voice v/e hear betray'd, 
 Another is as harfh as if fhe bray'd. 
 
 What cannot art attain! many, with eafe, 
 Have learn'd to weep, both when and how they pleafc. 
 Others, thro' affeftation, lifp, and find, 
 In imperfe£lion, charms to catch mankind. 
 Negledno means which may promote your ends; 
 Now learn what wayof walking recommends. 
 Too mafculine a motion ftiocks the fight; 
 But female grace allures with ftrange delight. 
 One has an artful fwlng and jut behind, 
 "Which helps her coats to catch the fwclling wind ; 
 Swell'd with the wanton wind, they loofcly flov/, 
 And ev'ry ftep and graceful motion ftiow. 
 Another, like an (31) Umbrian's fturdy fpoufe, 
 Strides all the fpace her petticoat allows. 
 Between extreams, in this, a mean adjuft. 
 Nor fhew too nice a gate, nor too robuft. 
 
 If fnowy white your neck, you ftill ihould wear 
 That, and the flioulderof the left arm, bare. 
 Such fights ne'er fail to fire my am'rous heart, 
 And make me pant to kifs the naked part. 
 
 (32) Sirens, tho' monfiers of the ftormy main, 
 Can Hiips, when under fail, with fongs, detain ; 
 P
 
 114 P O E M S U P O N 
 
 Scarce could Ulylles by his friends be bound. 
 
 When firft he liften'd to the charming found. 
 
 Singing infinuates : learn, all ye maids; 
 
 Oft, when a face forbids, a voice perfuades. 
 
 Whether on theatres loud itrains we hear, 
 
 Or in Ruelle fome foft Egyptian air. 
 
 Well (hall Ihe fmg, of whom I make my choice, 
 
 And with her lute accompany her voice. 
 
 The rocks were Itirr'd, the beaft to liften ftaid, 
 
 When on his lyre melodious (33) Orpheus play'd 
 
 Even Cerberus and hell that found obeyM. 
 
 And ftones officious were, thy walls to raife, 
 
 O Thebes, attrafted by (34) Amphion's lays. 
 
 The Dolphin, dumb itfelf, thy voice admir'd, 
 
 And was, (35) Arion,by thy fongs infpir'd. 
 
 Of fweet (36) Callimachus the works reliearfe, 
 And read (37) Philetas and (38) Anacreon's verle. 
 Terentirin plays may much the mind improve; 
 But foftelt (39) Sapho beft inftruds to love. 
 Propertius, Gallus, and (40) Tibulkis read, 
 And let (41) Varronian yerfe to thefe fucceed. 
 Then mighty Maro's work with care perufe; 
 Of all the Latian bards the nobleft mufe. 
 Even I, 'tis poilible, in after-days, 
 May 'fcape oblivion, and be nam'd with thefe. 
 My labour'd lines, fome readers may approve, 
 Since I've inftrufted either fex in love. 
 Whatever book you read of this foft art, 
 Read with a lover's voice, and lover's heart. 
 
 Tender epiltlcs too, by me are fram'd, 
 A work before unthought of, and unnam'd. 
 Such was your facred will, O tuneful Nine! 
 Such thine, Apollo, and Lyaeus, thine! 
 
 Still unaccompliOi'd may the maid be thought, 
 Who gracefully to dance was never taught:
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 
 
 That aSive dancing may to love engage, 
 Witnefs the well-kept dancers of the ftage. 
 
 Of fome odd trifles I'm alTiam'd to tell, 
 Tho' it becomes the fex to trifle well ; 
 To raffie prettily, or fliir a dye, 
 Implies both cunning and dexterity. 
 Nor is't amifs at chefs to be expert, 
 For games moft thoughtful, fomctimes, raoft divert. 
 Learn ev'ry game, you'll find it prove of ufe; 
 Parties begun at play, may love produce. 
 But eafier 'tis to learn how bets to lay. 
 Than how to keep your temper while you play. 
 Unguarded then, each breaftis open laid, 
 And while the head's intent, the heart's bctray'd. 
 Then, bafe defire of gain, then, rage appears, 
 Quarrels and brawls arifc, and anxious fears; 
 Then, clamours and rcviiings reach the sky, 
 While lofing gamefters all the Gods defic. 
 Then horrid oaths arc utter'd ev'ry caft ; 
 They grieve, and curfe, and ftorm, nay weep at hft. 
 Good Jove avert fuch fliameful faults as thefe, 
 From ev'ry nymph whofe heart's inclin'd to pleafc. 
 Soft recreations fit the female kind; 
 Nature, for men, has rougher fports defign'd : 
 To weild the fword, and hurl the pointed fpear; 
 To ftop, or turn the fteed, in full career. 
 
 Tho' martial fields ill fute your tender frames, 
 Nor may you fwim in Tiber's rapid ftreams ; 
 Yet when Sol's burning wheels from Leo drive, 
 And at the glowing (42) Virgin's fign arrive, 
 'Tis both allow'd, and fit you fiiould repair 
 To pleafant walks, and breathe rcfrefhing air. 
 To Pompey's (43) gardens, or the fhady groves 
 "Which Cacfar honours, and which Phoebus loves: 
 P 2
 
 li6 POEMSUPON 
 
 (44) Phoebus, who funk the proud Aegyptian fleet, 
 
 And made Auguftus' viftory compleat ; 
 
 Or feek thole fhades, where monuments of fame 
 
 Are rais'd, to Livia's and (45-) Oftavia's name ; 
 
 Or, where (46) Agrippa firft adorn'd the ground, 
 
 When he with naval viftory was crown'd. 
 
 To Ifis' (-47) fane, to theatres rcfort; 
 
 And in the Circus fee the noble fport. 
 
 In ev'ry publick place, by turns, be fliown; 
 
 In vain you're fair, while you remain unknown. 
 
 Should you, in finging, (48) Thamyras tranfcend ; 
 
 Your voice unheard, who cou'd your skill commend? 
 
 Had not (49) Apelles drawn the fea-born queen, 
 
 Her beauties, ftill, beneath the waves had been. 
 Poets infpir'd, v/rite only for a name, 
 
 And think their labours wcllrepay'd with fame. 
 
 In former days, I own, the poets were 
 
 Of Gods and Kings the moft peculiar care; 
 Majeflick awe was in the name ailow'd, 
 And, they, with rich pofTeiTions were endow'd. 
 Ennius(5-o) with honours was by Scipio grac'd. 
 And, next his own, the poet's Hatue plac'd. 
 But now their ivy crowns bear no ellecm, 
 And all their learning's thought an idle dream. 
 Still, there's a pleafure, that proceeds from praife: 
 What could the high renown of Homer raife. 
 But that he fung his Iliad's deathlefs lays? 
 
 Who could have been of (ji) Danae's charms a (Tur'd, 
 Had /he grown old, within her tow'r immur'd ? 
 This, as a rule, let ev'ry nymph purfue ; 
 That 'tis her int'rcit oft to come in view. 
 A hungry wolf at ail the herd will run, 
 In hopes, thro' many, to make fure of one. 
 So, let the Hiir the gazing croud alTail, 
 That over one, at Icaft, Ilie may prevail.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 117 
 
 In cv'rj place to plcafc, be all her thought; 
 
 V/'heVc, fometimcs, leafl we think, the fifli is caught. 
 
 Sometimes, all day, we hunt the tedious foil, 
 
 Anon, the flag himfelf fhall feek the toil. 
 How cou'd Andromeda once doubt relief, 
 
 Whofe charms were hcighten'd and adorn'd by grief? 
 
 The widow'd fair, who fees her lord expire, 
 
 "While yet (he weeps, n:iay kindle new defire, 
 
 And Hymen's torch relight with fun'ral fire. 
 Beware of men who are too fprucely drefs'd; 
 
 And look, you fly with fpeed a fop profefs'd. 
 
 Such tools, to you, and to a thoufand more, 
 
 "Will tell the fame dull ftory o'er and o'er. 
 
 This way and that, unfteadily they rove, 
 
 And never fix'd, are fugitives in love. 
 
 Such flutt'ring things all women fure fhould hate, 
 
 Light, as thcmfelves, and more effeminate. 
 
 Believe me ; all I fay is for your good ; 
 
 Had (j2) Priam been believ'd, Troy ftill had flood. 
 
 Many, with bafe dcfigns, v.'ill paffion feign, 
 Who know no love, but fordid love of gain. 
 But let not powdcr'd heads, nor elTenc'd hair, 
 Your well-believing, eafie hearts enfnare. 
 Rich cloaths are oft by common fliarpers worn, 
 And diamond rings fellonious hands adorn. 
 So, may your lover burn with fierce defire 
 Your jewels to enjoy, and beft attire. 
 Poor Cloe robb'd, runs crying thro' the flreets; 
 And as flie runs, * Give me my own,' repeats. 
 How often, (5-3) V^enus, haft thou heard fuch cries, 
 And laugh'd amidft thy Appian votaries ? 
 Some fo notorious are, their very name 
 l^Iuft ev'ry nymph whom they frequent, defame.
 
 ti8 POEMSUPON 
 
 Be warn'd by ills, which others have deftroy'd, 
 And faithlefs men with conftant care avoid. 
 Truft not a Thefcus, fair Athenian maid, 
 Who has fo oft th' attefting Gods betray'd. 
 And thou, Demophoon, heir to Thefeus"' crimes, 
 Haft loft tny credit to all future times. 
 
 Promifc for promife, equally afford, 
 But once a contract made, keep well your word. 
 For, fhe for any aCi of hell is fit, 
 And, undifmay'd, may facrilege commit; 
 "With impious hands cou'd quench the veftal fire, 
 Poifon her husband, in her arms, for hire, 
 Who,firft, to take a lover's gift complies, 
 And then defrauds him, and his claim denies. 
 
 But hold, my mufe, check thy unruly horfe, 
 And more in fight purfuc th' intended courfe. 
 
 If love epiftles, tender lines impart, 
 And Billet-doux are fent, to found your heart, 
 Let all fuch letters, by a faithful maid, 
 Or confident, be fccretly convey'd : 
 Soon from the words, you'll judge, if read with care, 
 When feign'd a pafHon is, and when fincere. 
 E'er in return you write, fome time require; 
 Delays, if not too long, encreafcdefire: 
 Nor let the prefling youth with eafe obtain, 
 Nor yet refufe him with too rude difdain. 
 Now, let his hopes, now, let his fears encreafe, 
 But by degrees, let fear to hope give place. 
 
 Be fure avoid fet phrafes, when you write, 
 The ufual way of fpeech is more polite. 
 How have I feen the puzzled lover vex'd, 
 To read a letter with hard words perplex'd! 
 A ftyle too coarfe, takes from a handfome face. 
 And makes us wi(h an uglier in its place.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 119 
 
 But fince (tho' chaflity be not your care) 
 You from your husband ftill wou'd hide th' affair, 
 Write to no ftranger, 'till his truth be try'd; 
 Nor in a foolifh meflenger confide. 
 "What agonies that woman undergoes, 
 "Whofe hand the traitor threatens to expofe ; 
 Who ralhly trufting, dreads to be deceived, 
 And lives for ever to that dread enflavM! 
 Such treachery can never be furpafs'd, 
 Forthofe difcov'ries, fure as light'ning.blaft: 
 Might I advife, fraud fhou'd vith fraud be paid ; 
 Let arms repel all who with arms invade. 
 
 But fince your letters may be brought to light, 
 What if in fev'ral hands you learn'd to write? 
 My curtc on him who firft the fex bciray'd, 
 And this advice fo necefliry made. 
 Nor let your pocket-book two hands contain, 
 Firft, rub your lover's out, then write again. 
 Still one contrivance more remains behind, 
 Which you may ufc as a convenient blind ; 
 As if to women writ, your letters frame, 
 And let your friend to you tubfcribe a female name. 
 
 Now, greater things tc tell, my mufc prepare, 
 And clap oii all the fail the barque can bear. 
 Let no rude paflions in your looks 6nd place ; 
 For fury will deform the fincil face: 
 It f wells the lips, and blackens all the veins. 
 While in the eye a Gorgon horror reigns. 
 
 When on her flute divine (s-^j) Minerva play'd, 
 And in a fountain faw the change it made, 
 Swelling her cheek; (he flung it quick afide; 
 * Nor is ihy mufick fo much worth,' fhe cry'd. 
 Look in your glafs, when you with anger glow, 
 And you'll confefs, you fcarce yourlelvcs can know.
 
 130 P E M S U P N 
 
 Kor ^vith excefllve pride infult the fight, 
 
 For gentle looks, alone, to iove invite. 
 
 Believe it as a truth that's daily try'd, 
 
 There's nothing more deteftable than pride. 
 
 How have I feen forae airs diTguft create, 
 
 * Like things which by antipathy wc hate ! ' 
 
 Let looks with looks, and fmiles with fmiles be paid, 
 
 And when your lover bows, incline your head. 
 
 So, love preluding, plays at firft with hearts, 
 
 And after wounds with deeper piercing darts. 
 
 Kor me a melancholy raiftrefs charms; 
 
 Let fad (jj) Tecmefla weep in Ajax' arms. 
 
 Let mourning beauties, fullen heroes move ; 
 
 We chearful men, like gaiety in love. 
 
 Let Heclor in Andromache delight, 
 
 "Who, in bewailing Troy, waftes all the night. 
 
 Had they not both born children (to be plain) 
 
 I ne'er cou'd think they'd with their husbands lain. 
 
 I no idea in my mind can frame, 
 
 That either one or t'other doleful dame, 
 
 Cou'd toy, cou'd fondle, or cou'd call their lords 
 
 My life ; my foul ; or fpeak endearing words. 
 
 \Vhy, from coroparifons fhou'd I refrain. 
 Or, fear fmall things by greater to explain ? 
 Obfcrve what conduft prudent gen'rals ufe, 
 And how their fev'ral officers they chufe; 
 To one, a charge of infantry commit. 
 Another, for the horfc, is thought more fit. 
 So you your fev'ral lovers fhould feleft, 
 And, as you find 'em qualify'd, dire£l. 
 The wealthy lover ftore of gold fhould fend ; 
 The lawyers fhould, in courts, your caufe defend, 
 "VVe, who write verfe, with verfe alone fhould bribe; 
 Moft apt to love is al! the tuneful tribe.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 121 
 
 By us, your fame fliall thro' the world be blaz'd ; 
 So (f 6) Nemefis, fo Cynthia's name was rais'd. 
 From eafi to weft, Lycoris' praifes ring: 
 Nor are Corinna's filent, whom we flng. 
 No fraud the poet's facred breaft can bear ; 
 Mild arc his manners, and his heart fincerc: 
 Nor wealth he feeks, nor feels ambition's fires, 
 But fhuns the bar ; and books and fhades requires. 
 Too faithfully, alas ! we know to love, 
 "With eafe we fix, but we with pain remove; 
 Our fofter ftudies with our fouls combine, 
 And, both, to tendernefsour hearts incline. 
 Be gentle, virgins, to the poet's pray'r, 
 The God that fills him, and the mufe, revere; 
 Something divine is in us, and from heav'n 
 Th' infpiring fpirit can alone be giv'n. 
 'Tis fin, a price from poets to cxaft; 
 But 'tis a fin no woman fears to aft. 
 Yet hide, howe'er, your avarice from fight, 
 Left you too foon your new admirer fright. 
 As skilful riders rein, with diff 'rent force, 
 A new-back'd courfer, and a well-train'd horfe; 
 Do you, by diif'rent management, engage 
 The man in years, and youth of greener age. 
 This, while the wiles of love are yet unknown, 
 "Will gladly cleave to you, and you alone: 
 With kind carefles oft indulge the boy. 
 And all the harveft of his heat enjoy. 
 Alone, thus blefs'd, of rivals moft beware ; 
 ' Nor love, nor empire, can a rival bear.' 
 Men more difcreetly love, when more mature. 
 And many things, which youth difdains, endure ; 
 No windows brealc nor houfes fct on fire, 
 Nor tear ti;cir own^ or miftrefics attire.
 
 122 P O E M S U P O N 
 
 In youth, the boiling blood gives fury vent, 
 But, men in years, more calmly wrongs refent. 
 As wood when green, or as a torch when wet, 
 They (lowly burn, but long retain their heat. 
 More bright is youthful flame, but foonerdies; 
 Then, fwiftly feize the joy that fwiftly flies. 
 
 Thus all betraying to the beauteous foe, 
 How, furely to enflave ourfelves, we fliow, 
 To truft a traitor, you'll no fcruple make, 
 "Who is a traitor only for your fake. 
 
 V/ho yields too foon, will foon her lover lofe; 
 , Wou'd you retain him long, then long refufe. 
 Oft, at your door, make him for entrance wait, 
 There let him l^'e, and threaten and entreat. 
 When cloy'd with fweets, bitters the taftc reftore; 
 Ships, by fair v/inds, arc fometimes run afhore. 
 Hence fprings the coldnefs of a marry'd life, ' 
 The husband, when he pleafes, has his wife. 
 Bar but your gate, and let your porter cry 
 ' Here's no admittance, Sir ; I muft deny : * 
 The very husband, fo repuls'd, will find 
 A growing inclination to be kind. 
 
 Thus far, with foils you've fought; thofc laid afidCj 
 I, now, fharp weapons for the fex provide ; 
 Nor doubt, againft myfelf, to fee 'em try'd. 
 
 When, firft, a lover you defign to charm, 
 Beware, left jealoufies his foul alarm ; 
 Make him believe, with all the skill you caBj 
 That he, and only he's the happy man. 
 Anon, by due degrees, fmall doubts create, 
 And let him fear fomc rival's better fate. 
 Such little arts make love its vigour hold. 
 Which elfe wou'd languidi, and too foon grow old 
 Then ftreins the conrfer to out-ftrip the wind. 
 
 ■\
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIOITS. 
 Love, when extinft, fufpicions may revive ; 
 I own, when mine's fecure, 'ris fcarce alive. 
 Yet, one precaution to this rule belongs; 
 Let us at moft fufpeft, not prove our wrongs. 
 Sometimes, your lover to incite the more. 
 Pretend, your husband's fpies befet the door: 
 Tho' free as (jy) Thais, ftill afFca a fright; 
 For, feeming danger heightens the delight. 
 Oft let the youth in thro' your window ftcal, 
 Tho' he might enter at the door as well ; 
 And, fometimes, let your maid furprize pretend, 
 And beg you in fome hole to hide your friend. 
 Yet, ever and anon, difpel his fear, 
 And let him tafte of happincfs fincere; 
 Left, quite difhearten'd with too much fatigue, 
 He (hou'd grow weary of the dull intrigue. 
 
 But I forget to tell, how you may try 
 Both to evade the husband, and the fpy. 
 
 That wives fhou'd of their husbands ftand in awe, 
 Agrees with juftice, modefty, and law : 
 But, that a miftrefs may be lawful prize, 
 None but her keeper, I am fure, denies. 
 For fuch fair nymphs, thefe precepts are defign'd, 
 Which ne'er can fail, join'd with a willing mind, 
 rho' ftuck with ( j8) Argus' eyes your keeper were, 
 Advis'd by me, you (hall elude his care. 
 
 When you to wafli or bathe retire from fight, 
 "an he obferve what letters then you write > 
 Or, can his caution againft fuch provide, 
 Which, in herbreaft, your confident may hide? 
 Can he the note beneath her garter view, 
 Or that, which, more conceal'd, is in her fiioe? 
 Sfet, thefc perceiv'd, you may her back undrefs, 
 And, v/riting on her skin, your mind expreft. 
 
 0,2
 
 124 P O E M S U P O N 
 
 New milk, or pointed fpires of flax, when green, 
 Will ink fupply, and letters mark unfeen. 
 Fair will the paper fhow, nor can be read, 
 *Till all the writing's with warm aflies fpread. 
 
 Acrifuis was, with all his care, betray'd ; 
 And in his to\y'r of brafs, a grandflre made. 
 Can fpies avajl, when you to plays refort, 
 Or in the Circus view the noble fport? 
 Or, can you be to Ifis' fane purfu'd, 
 Or Cybele's, whofe rites all men exclude ? 
 Tho' watchful fervants to the bagnio come, 
 They're ne'er admitted to the bathing-room. 
 Or, when fome fudden ficknefs you pretend, 
 May you not take to your fick-bed a friend? 
 Falfe keys a private pafTage may procure, 
 If not, there arc more ways befides the door. 
 Sometimes, with wine, your watchful follow'r treat; 
 When drunk, you may with eafe his care defeat: 
 Or, to prevent too fudden a furprifc, 
 Prepare a fleeping draught, to feal his eyes : 
 Or let your maid, ftill longer time to gain, 
 
 An inclination for his perfon feign ; 
 
 With faint refiftance let her drill him on, 
 
 And, after competent delays, be won. 
 
 But, what need all thefe various doubtful wiles, 
 
 Since gold the greateft vigilance beguiles? 
 
 Believe me, men and Gods with gifts are pleas'd ; 
 
 Ev'n angry Jove with ofF'rings is appeas'd. 
 
 With prefents, fools and wife alike are caught; 
 
 Give but enough, the husband may be bought. 
 
 But let me warn you, when you bribe a fpy, 
 
 That you for ever his connivance buy; 
 
 Pay him his price at once, for with fuch men 
 
 You'll know no end of giving now and then.
 
 Once, I remember, I with caufe complain'd, 
 Of jealoufie occafion'd by a friend, 
 Eelieve me, apprehcnfions of that kind, 
 Are not alone to our falfe fex confin'd. 
 Truft not, too far, your fhe-companion's truth, 
 Left ftie fometimes fhou'd intercept the youth: 
 The very confident that lends the bed, 
 May entertain your lover, in your ftead. 
 Kor keep a fervant with too fair a face. 
 For fuch I ve known fupply her lady's place. 
 
 But, whither do I run with heedlefs rage, 
 Teaching the foe unequal war to wage? 
 Did ever bird the fowler's net prepare ? 
 Was ever hound inftrufled by the hare? 
 But all felf-ends and int'reft fet apart, 
 I'll faithfully proceed to teach my art. 
 Defcncelefs and unarra'd expofe my life, 
 And for the (5-9) Lemnian ladies, whet the knife. 
 
 Perpetual fondnefs of your lover feign, 
 Kor will you find it hard, belief to gain ; 
 Full of himfelf, he your defign will aid : 
 To what we wifli, 'tis eafie to perfuade. 
 With dying eyes, his face and form furvey, 
 Then, figh, and wonder he fo long cou'd ftay : 
 Now, drop a tear, your forrows to alTwage, 
 Anon, reproach him, and pretend to rage. 
 Such proofs as thefe, will all diftruft remove, 
 And make him pity your exceffive love. 
 Scarce to himfelf will he forbear to cry, 
 * How can I let this poor fond creature dye ? ' 
 But chiefly, one, fuch fond behaviour fires, 
 Who courts his glafs, and his own charms admires, 
 Proud of the homage to his merit done.
 
 12^ POEMSUPON 
 
 Light wrongs, be fure, you ftill with mildnefs bear, 
 Nor ftrait fly out, when you a rival fear. 
 Let not your pafHons o'er your fenfe prevail, 
 Nor credit Yightly ev'ry idle tale. 
 Let Procris' fate a fad example be 
 Of what effecls attend credulity. 
 
 Near, where his purple head Hvmettus fhows 
 And flowering hills, a facred fountain flows; 
 \Vith foft and verdant turf the foil is fpread, 
 And fweetly fmclling flirubs the ground o'erfhade. 
 There, Rofemary and bays their odours join, 
 And with the fragrant myrtle's fcent combine. 
 There, tamarisks with thick-leav'd box are found, 
 And cytifus, and garden pines, abound. 
 "While thro' the boughs, foft winds of Zephyr pafs, 
 Tremble the leaves, and tender tops of grafs. 
 Hither, wou'd Cephalus retreat to reft, 
 "When tir'd with hunting, or with heat oppreft: 
 And, thus, to Air, the panting youth wou'd pray, 
 * Come, gentle Aura, come, this heat allay. 
 But fome tale-bearing too officious friend, 
 By chance, o'er-heard him as he thus complain'd ; 
 Who, with the news to Procris quick repair'd, 
 Repeating word for word what fhe had heard. 
 Soon as the name of Aura reach'd her ears, 
 "With jealoufie furpriz'd, and fainting fears. 
 Her rofie colour fled her lovely face, 
 And agonies, like death, fupply'd the place; 
 Pale /he appear'd as are ihe falling leaves, 
 When firft the vine the Winter's blaft receives. 
 Of ripen'd quinces, fuch the yellow hue. 
 Or, when unripe, we cornel berries view. 
 Reviving from her fwoon, her robes flie tore, 
 Nor her own faultlefs face to wound, forbore.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 127 
 
 Now, all diihcvell'd, to the wood (he flies, 
 "With (60) Bacchanalian fury in her eyes. 
 Thither arriv'd, Tne leaves, below, her friends ; 
 And, all alone, the fhady hill afccnds. 
 What folly, Procris, o'er thy mind prevail'd? 
 "What rage, thus, fatally, to lye conceal'd? 
 Whoe'er this Aura be (luch was thy thought) 
 She, now, fliall in the very faft be caught. 
 Anon, thy heart repents its rafh defigns, 
 And now to go, and now to flay inclines: 
 Thus, love, with doubts perplexes ftill thy mind, 
 And makes thee feek, what thou muft dread to find. 
 But ftill thy rival's name rings in thy ears, 
 And more fufpicious ftill the place appears: 
 But more than all, exceflive love deceives. 
 Which, all it fears, too eafily believes. 
 
 And, now, a chillnefs run thro* cv'ry vein, 
 Soon as ftie faw where Cephalus had lain. 
 'Twas noon, when he again retir'd, to ftiun 
 The fcorching ardour of the mid -day fun ; 
 With water, firft, he fprinkled o'er his face, 
 Which glow'd with heat; then fought his ufual place, 
 Procris, with anxious but with filent care, 
 View'd him extended, with his bofombare; 
 And heard him, foon, th* accuftom'd words repeat, 
 * Come Zephyr, Aura come, allay this heat : ' 
 Soon as Ihe found her error, from the word, 
 Her colour and her temper were reftorM. 
 With joy file rofe, to clafp him in her arms: 
 But, Cephalus, the ruftling noife alarms ; 
 Some beaft, he thinks, he in the bufhes hears, 
 And ftrait, his arrows and his bow prepares. 
 
 Hold! hold! unhappy youth! 1 call in vain, 
 
 With thy own hand thou haft thy Procris flain.
 
 128 P O E M S U P O N 
 
 < Me, me, ((he crys) thou'ft wounded with thy dart! 
 
 * But Cephalus was wont to wound this heart. 
 « Yet, lighter on my afhes, earth will lye, 
 
 * Since, tho'' untimely, I unrival'd die: 
 
 * Come, clofe with thy dear hand my eyes in death, 
 
 * Jealous of Air, to Air I yield my breath.' 
 Clofe to his heavy heart, her cheek he laid, 
 
 And wafli'd, with ftreaming tears, the wound he made; 
 At length, the fprings of life their currents leave, 
 And her laft gafp, her husband's lips receive. 
 
 Now, to purfue our voyage we muft provide, 
 'Till, fafe to port our weary bark we guide. 
 
 You may expe£l, perhaps, I now fhou'd teach 
 What rules, to treats and entertainments reach. 
 Come not the firll, invited to a feaft; 
 Rather, com.e laft, as a more grateful gueR. 
 For, that, of which we fear to be depriv'd, 
 Meets with the fureft welcome, when arriv'd. 
 Befides, complexions of a coarfer kind, 
 From candle-light, no fmall advantage find. 
 .During the time you eat, obferve fome grace. 
 Nor let your unwip'd hands befmear your face; 
 Nor, yet, too fqueamiflily your meat avoid, 
 Left we fufpeft you were in private cloy'd. 
 Of all extreams in either kind beware, 
 And ftill, before your belly's full, forbear. 
 No glutton nymph, however fair, can wound, 
 Tho' more than Helen fhe in charms abound. 
 
 I own, I think, of wine the mod'rate ufe. 
 More fuits the fex, and fooner finds excufe; 
 It warms the blood, adds hiftre to the eyes. 
 And wine and love have always been allies. 
 But, carefully from all intemp'rance keep, 
 Nor drink 'till you fee double, lifp, or fleep.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 12? 
 
 For in fuch fleeps, brutalities are done, 
 
 Wi:'jch, tho' you loath, you have no power to fhun. 
 
 And now th' inftrucled nymph from table led, 
 Shou'd next be taught, how to behave in bed. 
 But modefty forbids : nor more, my mufe, 
 With weary wings, the labour'd flight purfues; 
 Her purple (61) fwans unyoak'd, the chariot leave, 
 And needful reft (their journey done) receive. 
 
 Thus, with impartial care, my art I Ihow, 
 And equal arms, on either fcx beftow : 
 While men and maids, who by my rules improve, 
 Ovid, muft own, their mafter is in love. 
 
 NOTES upon the foregoing 
 Translation. 
 
 I A Gamemnon and Menelaus, two brothers, marry'd 
 l\ two fifters, Clytemneftra and Helena, both of 'em 
 preferr'd galants to their husbands beds. 
 
 2 Eriphyle, daughter of Talaon, king of Argos, for the 
 fake of a golden chain, perfuaded her husband Amphiaraus 
 to go to the Thcban war, in which ihe knew he mult be 
 ilain. 
 
 3 Penelope, daughter of Icarus and Polycafta, was mar- 
 tied toUlyfles, and much celebrated by the ancients for her 
 invincible chaftity. 
 
 4 When Laodamia heard her husband Protefilaus was 
 kill'd in the Trojan war, fiie paflionaiely defired to fee his 
 ghoft, which being granted her by the Gods, fhe embraced 
 it fo clofcly that /he perifli'd in the embrace. 
 
 5 She offer'd to die to lengthen her husband Admetus's 
 life. 
 
 6 Evadne the daughter of Iphias marry 'd Capaneus, who 
 fignaliz'd himlclf in the Theban war 
 
 7 Virtue was rj[^,ref.nted at R.,>me in a woman's habit, 
 and had a temple aaJ altars dedicated to her. 
 
 R
 
 130 P O E M S U P O N 
 
 8 Jafon, the fon of Aefon, marry'd Medea the kin;» of 
 Cclchos' daughter, who had affilkd him in carrying off the 
 golden fleece, but afterwards forfook her, and marrj'd Cre- 
 iifa daughter to the king of Corinth. 
 
 9 Ariadne, the daughter of Minos king of Crete, being 
 in love with Fhefeus, conduced him out of the labyrinth, 
 by the means of a clew of thread. She fled from Crete with 
 Thcleus, who left her on a barren Qiore, and fhe was after- 
 wards marry 'd to Bacchus. 
 
 10 Phyllis, daughter of Lycurguskingof Thrace,defpair- 
 ing of the return of Dcmophoon, fon of Thefeus, to whom 
 ilic had granted her laft favours, was transformed into an 
 almond-tree as flie was going to hang hcrfclf. 
 
 1 1 Aeneas and Dido. The pious hero excus'd his falf- 
 hood by the injunfrion of the Gods. 
 
 12 The poet Stefichorus wrote a bitter fatire againfl 
 Helen, for which her brothers Caftor and Pollux pluck'd 
 out his eyes ; but having recanted fome time after in his 
 Palinodia, a poem quite contrary to the former, he was re- 
 ilored to his fight. 
 
 13 Endymion, v/ith whom the moon fell in love, and 
 defcended to converfe with him on Mount Latmos in Caria. 
 
 14 Aurora being in love with Cephakis, who had mar- 
 ry'd Procris the liing of Athens his daughter, found him fo 
 invincibly conftant to his wife, that, 'tis faid,fhe was forc'd 
 to ravifli him. The reader will meet with a fuller account 
 of him at the end of this book. 
 
 I J Adonis the fon of Cynaras, king of Cyprus, was flain 
 by a boar as he was a hunting, to the unexpreflible grief of 
 the Goddefs Venus. 
 
 16 Harmonia, or Hermione, was the daughter of Venus 
 by the God Mars, as was the Dardan prince Aeneas her 
 fon by Anchifes. 
 
 17 ' Still women lofe, you cry, &c. 
 
 * Et tamen ulla viro mulier non expedit, inquit. 
 
 * Quid, nifi quam fumis, die mihi perdis aquam?* 
 Thefe verfcs are not barely tranflated to the literal fenfc 
 "Which is conceiv'd to be in 'em ; but paraphras'd according 
 to the interpretation of Heinfius, who feems truly to under- 
 ftand the text, tho' differing in his conjeflure fromScaliger 
 and other commentators. If any reader is curious enough
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 131 
 
 toconfultthc commentary of Heinfius on this place, he will 
 find by other inftances cited froraOv id, that 'aquanilumere* 
 was a phrafe appropriated to a particular tinae and cultotn 
 among women. This had not been infilled on here, had it 
 not been the only pafiage in this book which all other com- 
 mentators but Heinfius have rendcr'd unintelligible ; for o- 
 therwife the verfes are not very confiderable: and the nioft 
 which Ovid fays in this place, is no more than if fpeaking 
 of eating he had fajd, ' Why fl^ould any one fcruplc to ufe 
 
 * their hands, when it can coft 'em nothing bat a little wa- 
 
 * ter to wafh 'em afterwards, which is not worth faving' * 
 
 18 Andromache, the wife of He£lor, is always repre- 
 fented as a plain fort of woman. 
 
 19 The Capitol was a hill in Rome, fo called from a 
 man's head, which was found there as the Romans were 
 digging the foundation of the temple of Jupiter. 
 
 20 lole, daughter of Eurytus, king of Oechalia, and 
 wife to Hercules. He took her from her father by force, 
 becaufe the king would not confent to it when he return'd 
 from Aetolia, where he had marry'd Dcianira. 
 
 21 Hippodamia the daughter of Brifes, from thence 
 call'd Briifeis, fell by lot to Achilles at the fackof Lyr- 
 nefTus. 
 
 22 Andromeda, the daughter of Ccpheus king of Acthi- 
 opia, was for her mother's pride expofcd to be devoured by 
 an horrible fea-monfter, but being refcued by Pcrfcus, fhc 
 •was afterward marry'd to him. 
 
 23 Caucafus is a mountain which flretches itfelf from 
 the Eaft- Indies to Mount Taurus, but goes by feveral 
 names, according as it is inhabited by feveral nations. 
 
 24 Myfia is a country in Aha Minor bordering upon 
 Troas, remarkable for nothing more than the worthlcfncTs 
 of its inhabitants. Ovid faith he is addrefling himfelf to 
 the polite Roman ladies, and not to the wild inhabitants 
 of Caucafus and Myfia. 
 
 2 5" He means his book * de ^^edicamine Faciei,' of which 
 we have fome fragments remaining. 
 
 26 There were two famous ftatuaries of this name, one 
 a Lycian, and the other of Eluthera. 
 
 27 Semele, the daughter of Cadmus, and mother of 
 Bacchus by Jupiter, having the curiofitv to enjoy the God 
 R 2
 
 132 P O E M S U P O N 
 
 in his celeftial majefty, was burnt by lightning. Leda was 
 the daughter of Theltius, and the wife of Tyndarus king 
 of Oebalia: Jupiter in the fliape of a fwan enjoy'd her as 
 ilie was bathing in the River Eurotus. 
 
 28 Europa, the daughter of Agenor king of Phaenicia, 
 was ravifh'd by Jupiter in the Ihapeof a bull. 
 
 29 Pharos was a little ifland at the mouth of the Nile, 
 abounding with crocodiles, the entrails of which were ex- 
 cellent to take off freckles, or fpots in the face, and whiten 
 the skin. 
 
 30 Analeftides, little bolfters of flocks. The fame inven- 
 tion is us'd in our days, both for this defe£t in women, and 
 in calv'd (lockings for the men. And 'tis fatisfaflory to 
 the curious to know the fafhion is 1800 years old. 
 
 31 The Umbrians inhabited a country joining to the 
 Appenine hills, which run from Savona, on the coaft of 
 Genoa, to the Sicilian ftreights. This nation were reckon'd 
 as ruflick in their manners, as ftrong in bodies, and (tout 
 of heart. The poet gives us, in an Umbrian woman, a juft 
 idea of a modern peafant's wife. 
 
 32 The Syrens were three in number, Parthcnope, Leii- 
 cofia and Ligia, half women, and half fifii. One made ufe 
 of her voiced the fecond of her lyre, and the third of her 
 ilute. Their haunt was on the coaft of Sicily, where they 
 charm'd voyagers, but UlyHcs efcap'd them. 
 
 33 Orpheus' was fo skilful in playing on the lyre, that 
 *tis faid he drew after him trees and wild beafts,and charm- 
 ed hell with his mufick, whither he went to recover his 
 ■wife Eurydice. 
 
 34 Amphion, the fon of Jupiter and Antiope, is faid to 
 have built the walls of Thebes by the found of his lyre. 
 
 3f Arion was a mufician of Lesbos. Having got a great 
 deal of money in his travels, the failors robb'd him and 
 threw him over-board as he was returning home by fea; 
 but a dolphin, charm'd with his mufick, convey'd him on 
 his back fafe toPeloponefus, where he procured Periander 
 to put the failors to death. 
 
 36 Callimachus, the fon of Battus, was look'd upon to 
 be one of the wittied and politeft men of his age. 
 
 37 Philctas was a native of Coos, an ifland in the Ae- 
 gean fea; he wgs a celebrated poet, and writer of elegies^
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 133 
 
 and flounfli'd under Philip, and his fon Alexander the 
 Great. 
 
 38 Anacreon was a lyrick poetof Teios; being a great 
 lover of wine, he choak'd himfelf with a grape- ftone as he 
 was drinking. 
 
 39 Sapho was born at Mitylcne in the ifle of Lesbos: 
 fhe writ nine books of elegies, and fevcral epigrams and fa- 
 tires. Her fentiiiients were very tender in her verles, for 
 which reafoQ Ovid rcconrimends 'em. According to Ibme 
 authors, flie flung herfclf into the fca, becaule Phaon ne- 
 glected her. 
 
 40 Thefe three were celebrated poets of the Auguflan 
 age. Propcrtius was a nati'. e of Umbria, and very much 
 elleemed by Mecaenas. Gallus commanded under Auguflus 
 in Aegypt; and Tibullus was no lefs remarkable for his 
 wit, than his gallantry and profufion. 
 
 41 Publius Terentius Varro Atacinus, of the province 
 of Gallia Narbonenlis, was in love with a lady call'd Leu- 
 cadia, whom he celebrated in his poetry. 
 
 42 The poet means the fummer feafon, when the fun 
 paifes through Cancer, Leo, and Virgo. 
 
 43 Thcfe were the raoft noted gardens in Rome, and in 
 the field of Mars. 
 
 44 'Tis faid Phoebus defcended at the battle of Aftium, 
 and was prcfcni on the Roman fide when Auguftus beat 
 Mark Anthony. 
 
 45 Oftavia's portico built near Marcellus's theatre. 
 
 46 Agrippa marry 'd Julia, Auguflus's daughter by Scri- 
 bonia, and his father in law hononr'd him with a naval 
 crown after he beat Pompey in Sicily. One of the porti- 
 cos in Rome was built or nam'd by Agrippa. 
 
 47 Ovid gives us to undcrQand, in his firft book of the 
 Art of Love, that people frequented the temple of Jfis, on 
 purpofc to carry on their amorous intrigues. 
 
 48 Thamyras, the fon of Philammon, was a poet, and 
 one of the grcateft mnficians of bis time: having gain'd 
 the prize of finging at the Py thick games, he met the mufes 
 in his return homewards, and had the infolence to give 
 them a challenge, fancying he cou'd out do them in that 
 art ; at which the daughtersof Jupiter were fo enrag'd that 
 Jhey depriv'd him of ins realon, or as Diodorus fays thejr
 
 134 P O E M S U P O N 
 
 took from him his voice, and his art of playing on the lute. 
 
 49 Apelles was for his great skill call'd the Prince of 
 Painters; his mafter piece was reckoned the Venus rifing 
 out of the fea, of which Ovid fpeaks in this place. 
 
 50 Ennius was the firft Roman that wrote annals in 
 heroick verfe ; his fubjcft was the wars of Italy, and par- 
 ticularly the fccond Punick war, which he did to compli- 
 ment his friend and patron Scipio, in whofc tomb he was 
 bury'd, and who placed the poet's ftatue near his own, 
 which Hiows how highly he honour'd him. 
 
 ji Danae daughter of Acrifius, king of Argos; who 
 having confulted the oracle, and being told he (hould be 
 kill'd by her Ibn, fhut her up in a brazen tower to prevent 
 it. But Jupiter transforming himfelf into a golden fhower, 
 brib'd her keepers, and got her with child ; which, being 
 born, was the renown'd Pcrfeus. Her father commanded 
 both the babe and his mother to be thrown into the fca ; 
 but being fortunately caltalhoar, on one of the illands call'd 
 Cycladcs, the king of the ifland marry'd the mother; ,and 
 Perfeus, when he was grown up, unwittingly kill'd his 
 grandfather. 
 
 5-2 Priam, king of Troy, and father of Paris who dole 
 Helen, was for rertonng her to the Greeks when they de- 
 manded her by their ambaffadors; but other councils pre- 
 vailing, the warenfu'd, which ended in the deftruftion of 
 Troy, and the death of Priam, who was kill'd by Pyrrhus, 
 fon of Achilles, after forty years reign. 
 
 53 The temple of Venus flood in the Appian way, and 
 was much frequented by the intriguing Roman ladies, who 
 came thither to meet their fpaiks. 
 
 5-4 Minerva playing on her flute by a river fide, and ob- 
 ferving in the water what grimaces it obliged her to make, 
 flung away the inftrumcnt in a paflaon. 
 
 j; Tecmelfa, the daughter of Teuthrantes a Phrygian 
 prince, was taken prifoner by the Grecians, and fell to A- 
 jax his lot, upon the divifion of the fpoil. 
 
 j6 Thefe are names the Roman poets of thofe times 
 gave their miftreffes in their vcrfes. 
 
 57 Thais was a name given to all fort of women of a 
 Jewd charafter, who however affeft difcreiion. 
 
 58 Argos had an hundred eyes, and kept lo from Jupi-
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 13,- 
 
 tcr by Juno's order, for which Mercury kill'd hira by com- 
 mand of his father Jove; to oiake him amends Juno'turn'd 
 him into a peacock, and placed his eyes in his tail. 
 
 59 The poet alludes here to thofe wicked women who 
 rofe againft the men, and did not fpare their own husbands. 
 
 60 T he prieftciles and pnefts of Bacchus, who celebrated 
 the fellival of that God, did it with the noife of Ihouts, 
 drums, timbrels, and cymbals, were crown'd with ivy, vine, 
 &c and carry 'da Thyrfus or ftafFv/rcath'd with it in their 
 hands; they were frantick and outragious in their aftions 
 during this ceremony. 
 
 61 By this Ovid (hews he's both a poet and a lover, for 
 the fwans are dedicated to Apollo, and are faid to draw 
 Venus's car fometimes, tho' the doves are ofteneft us'd up- 
 on that occafion. 
 
 O F 
 
 T L E A S I N Gy 
 
 A N 
 
 EPISTLE 
 
 T O 
 
 Sir RICHARD TEMTLE. 
 
 jT^IS ftrange, dear Temple, how it comes to pafs, 
 
 -I- That no one man is pleas'd with what he has. 
 So Horace fings — and fare, as flrange is this: 
 That no one man's difpleas'd with what he is. 
 The foolilh, ugly, dull, impertinent, 
 Arc with their perfons and their parts content.
 
 n6 P O E M S U P O N 
 
 Nor is that all ; fo odd a thing is man, 
 He moft would be whit leaft he fhould or cart. 
 Hence, hoinidy faces dill are foremoft feen, 
 And crofs-ihap'd fops affiift the niceft mien ; 
 Gowards extol true courage to the skies, 
 And fools are fiill moft forward to advife; 
 Th' untrufted wretch, to fecrcGe pretends, 
 Whifp'ring his nothing round to all as friends. 
 Dull rogues afFcft the politician's part; 
 And learn to nod, and fmile, and fhrug v/ith art; 
 Who nothing has to lofe, the war bewails j 
 And he who nothing pays, at taxes rails. 
 Thus, man, perverfe, againft plain nature ftrives, 
 And to be artfully abfurd, contrives. 
 Plautus will dance, Lufcus at ogling aims, 
 Old Tritus keeps, and undone Probus games. 
 Koifome Curculio, whofe envenom'd breath, 
 Tho' at a diftance utter'd, threatens death, 
 Full in your teeth his (linking whifper throws; 
 Kor mends his manners, tho' you hold your nofe. 
 Therfites, who fecras born to give offence, 
 From uncouth form, and frontlefs impudence, 
 Aflumes foftairs, and with a llur comes in, 
 Attempts a fmile, and fliocks you with a grin. 
 Raucus harangues with a dilTuafive grace, 
 And Helluo invites with a forbidding face. 
 
 Nature, to each allots his proper fphere, 
 But, that forfaken, we like comets err: 
 Tofs'd thro' the void, by fome rude fljock we're broke, 
 And all our boafted fire is loft in fmoke. 
 
 Next to obtaining wealth, or pow'r, or eafe, 
 Men moft affeft, in general to pleafe ; 
 Of this afFeftion, vanity's the fource, 
 And vanity alone obftru£ls its courfe ;
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 137 
 
 That telefcope of fools, thro' which they fpy 
 
 Merit remote, and think the objeft nigh. 
 
 The glafs remov'd, would each himfelf furvcy, 
 
 And in juft fcalcs, his ftrength and weaknefs weigh, 
 
 Purfue the path for which he was defign'd. 
 
 And to his proper force adapt his mind ; 
 
 Scarce one, but to fome merit might pretend, 
 
 Perhaps might plcafe, at leaft would not offend. 
 
 Who would reprove us while he makes us laugh, 
 
 Muft be no Bavius, but a Bickerftaffe. 
 
 If Garth, or Blackmore, friendly potions give, 
 
 V/c bid the dying patient drink and live: 
 
 "When Murus comes, we cry, Beware the pill ; 
 
 And wifh the tradefman were a tradefman ftill. 
 
 If Addifon, or Rowe, or Prior write, 
 
 "We ftudy 'em with profit and delight ; 
 
 But when vile Macerand Mundungus rhyme, 
 
 We grieve we've Isarnt to read, ay, curfe the time. 
 
 All rules of pleafing in this one unite, 
 
 * Affeftnot any thing in nature's fpight.' 
 Baboons and apes ridiculous we find ; 
 For what ? for ill refcmbling human-kind. 
 
 ' None are, for being what they are, in fault, 
 
 * But for not being what they wou'd be thought.' 
 
 Thus I, dear friend, to you my thoughts impart, 
 As to one perfcdl in the pleafing art ; 
 If art it may be call'd in you, who fecm. 
 By nature, form'd for love, and for efteem. 
 Affsfting none, all virtues you polfcfs, 
 And really are what others but profefs. 
 I'll not offend you, while myfelf I pleafe ; 
 I loath to flatter, tho' I love to praifc. 
 Bur when fuch early worth fo bright appears, 
 And antedates the f.m:ie '.vhich waits on years ; 
 S
 
 138 POEMSUPON 
 
 I can't fo ftupidly aiTefted prove, 
 
 Not to confefs it, in the man I love. 
 
 Tho' now I aim not at that known applaufc 
 
 You've won in arms, and in your country's caufc ; 
 
 Nor patriot now, nor hero I commend, 
 
 But the companion praife, and boa ft the friend. 
 
 But you may think, and fome, Icfs partial, fay, 
 That I prefume too much in this eflay. 
 How fhould I fhow what pleafes ? how explain 
 A rule, to which I never could attain i 
 To this objeftion I'll make no reply. 
 But tell a tale, which, after, we'll apply. 
 
 I've read, or heard, a learned perfon, once, 
 Cfoncern'd to find his only fon a dunce ; 
 Compos'd a book in favour of the lad, 
 Whofe memory, it feems, was very bad. 
 This work contain'd a world of wholefome rules. 
 To help the frailty of forgetful fools. 
 The careful parent laid the treatife by, 
 'Till time iliould make it proper to apply. 
 Simon at length the took'd-for age attains, 
 To read and profit by his father's pains; 
 And now the fire prepares the book t'impart. 
 Which wasyclep'd ' Of Memory the Art.' 
 But ah! how oft is human care in vain! 
 For now, he could not find his book again. 
 The place where he had laid it, he forgot, 
 Nor could himfelf remember what he wrote. 
 
 Now to apply the ftory that I tell. 
 Which if not true, is yet invented well. 
 Such is my cafe : like moft of theirs who teach ; 
 J ill may praftife, what I well may preach. 
 Myfelf not trying, or not turn'd to pleafe, 
 May lay the line, and meafure out the ways-
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 139 
 
 The Mulcibers, who in the Minories fweat, 
 
 And maffive bars on ftubborn anvils beat, 
 
 Deform'd themfelves, yet forge thofe ftays of flecl, 
 
 "Which arm Aurelia with a fhape to kill. 
 
 So Maccr and Mundungus fchool the times, 
 
 And write in rugged profe the rules of fofter rhymes. 
 
 "Well do they play the careful critick's part, 
 
 Inftrufting doubly by their malchlefs art : 
 
 Rules for good verfc they firfl with pains indite, 
 
 Then Ihew us what are bad, by what they write. 
 
 S 2
 
 FIND ARIQ,UE 
 
 ODE. 
 
 Humbly ofFer'd to the 
 
 QUEEN. 
 
 On the Viftorious Progrefs of 
 
 Her M A J E S T Y' s Arms, under the 
 Conduft of the Duke of Marlborough. 
 
 To which is prefixed, 
 A Discourse on the PiNDARiquE Ode. 
 
 Operosa parvus 
 
 Carmina fingo. Hor. ode 2. L. 4.
 
 A 
 
 DISCOURSE 
 
 O N T H E 
 
 PI ND ARIQ^U E ODE. 
 
 THE following Ode is an attempt towards re- 
 ftoring the regularity of the antient Lyrick 
 Poetry, which feems to be altogether forgotten or 
 unknown by our Englifti writers. 
 
 There is nothing more frequent among us, than a 
 fort of poems intituled Pindarique Odes ; pretend- 
 ing to be written in imitation of the manner and 
 ftyle of Pindar, and yet I do not know that there is 
 to this day extant in our language, one Ode con- 
 trlv'd after his model. What idea can an Englifh 
 reader have of Pindar (to whofe moi.th, when a 
 child, the bees * brought their honey, in omen of 
 the future fweetnefs and melody of his fongs) when 
 he (hall fee fuch rumbling and grating papers of 
 verfes, pretending to be copies ol his works ? 
 
 The charafler of thefe late Pindariques, is, a 
 bundle of ramhling incoherent thoughts, exprefs'd 
 in a like parcel of irregular Stanzas, which alfo con- 
 iiltof fuch another complication of difproportion'd, 
 uncertain and pcrplex'd verfes and rhimes. And 
 
 * Paufan. Boeotic
 
 144 P O E M S U P O N 
 
 I appeal to any reader, if this is not the condition 
 in which thefe titular Odes appear. 
 
 On the contrary, there is nothing more regular 
 than the Odes of Pindar, both as to the exaft obfer- 
 vation of the meafures and numbers of his Stanzas 
 and Verfes, and the perpetual coherence of his 
 thoughts. For tho' his digreflions are frequent, and 
 his tranfitions fudden, yet is there ever fomefecret 
 connedlion, which tho' not always appearing to the 
 eye, never fails to communicate itfelf to the under- 
 flanding of the reader. 
 
 The liberty which he took in his numbers, and 
 which has been fo * mifunderftood and mifapply'd 
 by his pretended imitators, was only in varying the 
 Stanza's in different Odes ; but in each particular 
 Ode they are ever correfpondent one to another in 
 their turns, and according to the order of the Ode. 
 -All the Odes of Pindar which remain to us, are 
 
 * Forcertainly they have 
 utterly mifunierftood Ho- 
 race, L. 4. Ode 2 . who have 
 apply 'd ' numeric jue fcrtur 
 • lege fblutis/to all the Odes 
 of Pindar: which, there, ex- 
 prefly relates only to his di- 
 thyramMcks.and wl.ich arc 
 all entirely bit. Nothing is 
 plainer, than the fcnfe of 
 Horace in that place. He 
 (ays, Pindar deferves the 
 lawiel, let him write of 
 what, or i.i what manner 
 
 foevcr, viz. fir(l, whether 
 he writes Dithyrambicks, 
 which ' break through the 
 ' bounds prefcrib'd to other 
 ' OdLs;' or, fecondly, whe- 
 ther he writes of Gods and 
 heroes, thtir warlike at- 
 chievemcnts, &c. or, third- 
 ly, whether he fjngs of 
 the vi£!ors in the Grecian 
 games : or, laftly, whether 
 he fiTigs in honour of the 
 dead, and writes elegies, 
 &c.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 14^ 
 fongs of triumph, vi<f>ory or fuccefs in the Grecian 
 games : they were fung by a Chorus, and adapted 
 to the Lyre, and fometimes to the Lyre and *Pipe; 
 they con filled oftneH: of three Stanzas ; the firft 
 \j^as call'd the Strophe, from the verfion or circular 
 motion of the fingers in that Stanza from the right 
 band to thef left. The fecond Stanza was call'd the 
 Antiflrophc, from the contraverfion of the Chorus ; 
 the fingers, in performing that, turning from the 
 left hand to the right, contrary always to their mo- 
 tion in the Strophe. The third Stanza was called 
 the Epode, (it may be as being the After- fong) 
 which they fung in the middle, neither turning to 
 One hand nor the other. 
 
 What the origin was of thefe different motions 
 and ftations in finging their Odes, is not our pre- 
 fent bufinefs to enquire. Some have thought tbn 
 by the contrariety of the Strophe and Antiflrophc, 
 
 • Pind.Ol/mp. 10. and 
 H )r.ice L. 4. Ode. / . miflis 
 Carminibas non fjnefiftu'a 
 and L. 3 . OJe i 9. cur pen- 
 ^et tacita fiftula cum Lyra ? 
 
 f Or from the left to the 
 right, for the Scholiafts dif- 
 fer in that, as may be feen in 
 Find. Schol. Introciuc. ad 
 Oiymp. And Alex, ab Ale- 
 xandre. L. 4. c. 17. fpeak- 
 ing of the ceremony of the 
 Chorus, Jays, ' Curfum au- 
 
 'fpicati aLievadcxtrorfum 
 
 • mox a dcxtra Laevor- 
 
 *fum. ' £ut the learned 
 Schmidius takc.<; part with 
 the firft opinion, as more 
 confiftent with the notions 
 of the ancients concerning 
 the motions of the heaven- 
 ly fpheres, and agreeable to 
 Homer there cited by him. 
 See Eraf. Schmid. Prole- 
 gom. in Olymp. et de Car- 
 min. Lyric, 
 
 T
 
 146 P O E M S U P O N - 
 
 they intended to reprefent the contrarotation of tl!!«» 
 Primum Mobile, in refpedt of the Seci.nda Mo- 
 billa; and that by their itanding {t,ll at theEpode, 
 they meant to lignifie the ftabiliiy of the eartb. 
 * Others afcribe the inlVitution to Thefeus, who 
 thereby exprelTed the windings jnd turnings of the 
 labyrinth, in celebruing his return from thence. 
 
 The method obferv'd in the compolition of thefe 
 Odes, was therefore as follows. The poet having 
 made choice of a certain number of veiies to coii- 
 (litute his Strophe or firfl: Stanza, was obl;g'd to 
 obferve the fame in his Antiftrophe, or fecond Staiv 
 za ; and which accordingly perpetually agreed when- 
 ever repeated, both in number of V'erfes and quan- 
 tity of Feet : he was then again at liberty to make a 
 new choice for his third Stanz j, or Epode ; where, 
 accordingly, he diverfify'd his numbers, as his ear 
 or fancy led him ; compofmg that Stanza of more 
 or fewer Verfes than the former, and thofe Verfes of 
 different meafures and quantities, for the greater 
 variety of harmony, and entertainment of the ear. 
 
 But then this Epode being thus form'd, he was 
 ftrid^rly oblig'd to the famef meufure as often as he 
 fhould repeat it in the order of his Ouc, fo that e- 
 very Epode in the fame Ode is eternally the fanie in 
 meafure and quantity, in refpefl to itfelf ; as is alfb 
 every Strophe and Antiftrophe, in refped to each o- 
 ther. 
 
 The Lyrick poet Stefichorus (whom :}: Longlniis 
 
 * Pind.Schol. ctSchmid. ibid, f Vid. Jul Seal. Poetic, 
 ad Fill. Cap. p7.1. 3 . \ Longin. deSub. c. 13.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. I4? 
 reckons amongfr the ableft imitators of Homer, and 
 of who.n * Qviintilian fays, that if ht; could have 
 kept within bounds, he would have been nearcft 
 of any body, in merit, to Homer) was , if not the in- 
 venter of this order in the Ode, yet fo ftricl an ob- 
 ferver of it in his compofjtions, that the three Stan- 
 zas of Stefichorus became a common proverb to ex- 
 pref? a thing univerfally known, f ' ne iria quidem 
 *Stefichori nofti ;' fo thatwhenanyonehadamindto 
 reproach another with exccfllve ignorance, he could 
 Bot do it more efTedtually than by telling him, ' he 
 * did not fo much as know the three Stanzas of Ste- 
 *iichorus; * that is, did not know that an Ode 
 ought to confift of a Strophe, an Antiftrophe, and 
 an Epode. If this was fuch a mark of ignorance a- 
 mongthem, I am fare we hive been pretty long li- 
 able to the fame reproof; I mean, in rcfpedt of our 
 imitations of the Odes of Pindar. 
 
 My intention is not to make a long Preface to a 
 fhort Ode, nor to enter upon a d (Teriation of I y- 
 rick Poetry in general: but thus much I thought 
 proper to fay, for the information of thofe readers 
 whofe cQurfe of fludy has not led 'cm into fuch en- 
 quiries. 
 
 I hope I fhall not be Co mifunderftood, as to have 
 it thought that 1 pretend to give an exad copy of 
 Pindar in this enluing Ode; or that I look upon it 
 as a pattern for his imitators for the future : far 
 
 * Quint. Inrt 1. i o. c. I. 
 yiviis-Ktfii * de vehemen- 
 
 ' ter indoc^o et imperito 
 ' dici folitum.* Erafm. A- 
 
 daa. 
 
 T 2
 
 14^ P O E M S U P O N 
 
 from fach thoughts, I have only given an infl^nce 
 of what is pradlicable, and am fenfible that I am as 
 diftant from the force and elevation of Pindar, as o- 
 thershave hitherto been from the harmony and re- 
 gularity of his numbers. 
 
 Again, we having no Chorus to fing our Odes, 
 the titles, as v^'eW as ufe of Strophe, Ant'.iircphe, and 
 Epode, are obfolete and impertinent : and certain- 
 ly there may be very good Englifn Odes, without 
 the diftindion of Greek appellations to their Stan- 
 zas. That I have men tion'd 'cm here, and obftrv'd 
 the order of 'em in the enfuing Ode, is therefore 
 only the more intelligibly to explain the extraordi- 
 nary regularity of the compofition of thefe Odes, 
 v/hich have been reprcfen ted to us hitherto, as the 
 moft confus'd ftructures in nature. 
 
 However, though there be no necedity that our 
 triumphal odes fiiould conllft of the three aforc- 
 nientipn'd Stanzas; yet if the reader can obferve 
 that the great variation of the numbers in the third 
 Stanza (call it Epode, or what you pleafe) has a 
 pleafing effeft in tlie Ode, and makes him return to 
 tht firll: and fecond 'Stanzas, with more appetite, 
 than he could do if always cioy'd with the famequan- 
 tities and meafures, I cannot fee why fome ufe may 
 not be made of Pindar's example, to the great im- 
 provement of the Englifn Ode. There is certainly 
 a pleufure in beholding any thing that has art and 
 dilhculty in the contrivance; efpecially, if it appears 
 fo carefully executed, that the difficulty does not 
 fiiew itfelf, 'till it is fought for; and iliatthe fceniing 
 eaflnefs of the work, firilfetsus upon the enquiry.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 14^ 
 
 Nothing can be call'd beautifi?] without proportion. ^ 
 When fymmctry and harmony are wanting, neither 
 the ej'e nor the ear can be pleas'd. Therefore cer- 
 tainly Poetry, which includes i'iv.ntingand viufick, 
 foould not be deftitute of 'em; and of all Poetry, 
 efpecially theOde, whofecnd andelfcnce is harmony. 
 Mr. Cowley, in his Preface to his Pindariqce Odes, 
 fpeaking of the mifick of Numbers, fays 'which 
 
 * f(^metimes (efpecially in fongs and Odes) almoft 
 
 * without any thing elfe makes an excellent Poet.' 
 
 Having mention 'd Mr. Cowlt-y, it may very well 
 be expelled, that fomething (houkJ be faid of him, 
 at a time when the imitation of Pindar is the theme 
 of our difcourfe. But there is that great deference 
 due to the memory, great parts, and learning of 
 that gentleman, that I think norhing (hould be ob- 
 jefted to the latitude he has tjken in his Pindarique 
 Odes. The beauty of his Verfes, are an atonement 
 for the irregularity of his Stanzas ; and though he 
 did not imitate Pindar in the (Iri^nefs of his Num- 
 bers, he has very often happily copy'd him in the 
 force of hi? figures, and fublimity of his ftyle and 
 fenciments. 
 
 Yet I mud beg leave to add, that I believe thofe ir- 
 regulir Odes of Mr. Cowjey, may have been the prin- 
 cipal though innocent occafion, of fo many deform- 
 ed poems fince, which mftcad of being true pidturej 
 of Pindar, have (ro ufe the Italian painters term) 
 been only Caricaturas of him, refemMances that for 
 themoft part have been either horrid or ridiculous. 
 
 For my own part, I frankly own my error, in 
 having heretofore mif-cail'd a few irregular Stanzas
 
 ija P O E M S U P O N 
 
 aPindarique Ode; and poffibly, if others, who have 
 beenunder the fame miftake, would ingenuonflycon- 
 fefs the truth, tht y might own, that never having con- 
 fulted Pndar himfelf, they took, all his irregularity' 
 upon truft ; and finding their account In the great 
 cafe with which they could produce Odes without 
 being oblig'd either to meafure or defign, remain'd 
 fatisfy'd ; and it may be were not altogether un- 
 willing to negle(5l being undeceiv'd. 
 
 Though there be little (if any thing) left of Or- 
 pheus but his name, yet if ♦ Paufanias was well in- 
 form'd, we may be aflur'd, that Brevity was a beauty 
 which he moft induftrioufly labour'd to preferve in 
 his Hymns, notwithftanding, as the fame author re- 
 ports, that they were but few in number. 
 
 The (hortnefs of the following Ode will, I hope, 
 atone for the length of the Preface, and in fome mea- 
 fure for the defeds which may be found in it. It 
 confifts of the fame number of Stanzas with that 
 beautiful Ode of Pindar, which is the firft of his Py- 
 thicks ; and though 1 was unable to imitate him in 
 any other beauty, I refolvM to endeavour to copy 
 his brevity, and take the advantage of a remark he 
 has made in the laft Strophe of the fame Ode, which 
 take in the Paraphrafe of Sudorius. 
 
 * Qiii multa paucis ftringere commode 
 
 * Novcrc, morfus hi facile invidos 
 
 * Sperniint, et auris menfquc pura 
 ' Omne fupcrvacuum rejedat.' 
 
 * Boeotic.pag. j88.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. i;x 
 
 ODE. 
 
 I. 
 
 DAUGHTER of memory, immortal rnufe, 
 Calliope; what poet wilt thou chulc 
 
 Of A N N A 's name to finp ? 
 To whom wilt thou thy fire inipart, 
 Thy lyre, thy voice, and tuneful art; 
 "Whom raife fublime on thy acthcrial wing, 
 And confccrate with dews of thy Caftalian fpring? 
 II. 
 Without thy aid, the moft afpiring mind 
 Muft flag beneath, to narrow flights confinM, 
 Striving to rife in vain: 
 Nor e'er can hope with equal lays 
 To celebrate bright Virtue's praite. 
 Thy aid obtiir.'d, even I, the humbleft fwain, 
 May climb Pierian heights, and quit tne lowly plain. 
 
 in. 
 
 High in the flarry orb is hung, 
 And next Alcidcs' i^uardian arm, 
 That (i) harp to which thy Orpheus fung, 
 Who woods, and rocks, ana \^ iuds, cou'd charm; 
 That harp which on Cvllenc's (hady hiii, 
 Wh<n 6rft the vocal fheil was found, 
 
 With more than m^ rtal 5.kill 
 Inventcr Hermes tau.aht to found : 
 Her'-ncs on bri.'ht Latona's Ion, 
 
 By fweet perfuafion won,
 
 t;2 ? O fi m § tr P u 
 
 The -wond'rous work beftow'd; 
 Latona's fon, to thine 
 Indulgent, gave the gift divine ! 
 A God the gift, a God th' invention fhowM. 
 
 I. 
 To that high-founding lyre I tune my ftrains; 
 A lower note his lofty fong difdains 
 Who fings of Anna's name. 
 The lyre is ftrnck! the founds I hear! 
 O mufe, propitious to my pray'r! 
 O well-known founds! O melody, the fame 
 That kindled Mantuan fire, and rais'd Maeonian flame! 
 
 ir. 
 
 Kor are thefe founds to Britifh bards unknown, 
 Or fparingly reveal'd to one alone: 
 Witnefs fweet Spencer's lays: 
 And witnefs that immortal fong, 
 As Spencer fweet, as Milton ftrong, 
 Which humble Boyn o'er Tybcr's flood cou'd raife, 
 And mighty William fing, with well-proportion 'd praifc, 
 
 in. 
 
 Rife, fair Augufta, lift thy head, 
 With golden tow'rs thy front adorn; 
 Come forth, as comes from Tithon's bed 
 With chearful ray the ruddy morn. 
 Thy lovely form, and frefli reviving ftate, 
 In cryftal flood of Thames furvey; 
 
 Then, blefs thy better fare, 
 Blefs Ann a ' s moft aufpicious fway. 
 While diftant realms and neigbb'ring lands, 
 
 Arm'd troops and hoftile bards 
 
 On every fide moleft, 
 
 Thy happier clime is free, 
 Fair Capital of I/iberty ! 
 And plenty knows, and days of halcyon reft.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. i;3 
 
 I. 
 
 As Britain's ifle, when old vex'd ocean roars, 
 Unfliaken fees againft her filver Ihoars 
 His foaming billows beat ; 
 So Britain's Q,U E E N amidft the jars 
 And tumults of a world in wars, 
 Fix'd on the bafe of ber well-founded ftate, 
 Serene and fafc looks down, nor feels the lliocks of fate. 
 II. 
 But greateft fouls, tho' bleft with fweet repofe, 
 Are fooneft touch'd with fenfe of others woes. 
 Thus Anna's mighty mind. 
 To mercy and foft pity prone, 
 Andmov'd with forrows not her own, 
 Has all her peace and downy reft refign'd. 
 To wake for common good, and fuccour human-kind. 
 III. 
 Fly, tyranny, no more be known 
 
 Within Europa's blifsful bound ; 
 • Far as th' unhabitable Zone 
 Fly ev'ry hofpitable ground. 
 To horrid (2) Zembla's frozen realms repair, 
 
 There with the baleful beldam, Night, 
 
 Unpeopl'd empire fhare, 
 And rob thofe lands of legal right. 
 For now is come the promis'd hour. 
 When juftice fliall have pow'r; 
 Juftice to earth reftor'd ! 
 Again Aftrea reigns! 
 Anna her equal fcale maintains^ 
 And M A R L B R 6 weilds her fure deciding fword. 
 
 I. 
 Now, cou'dft thou foar, my muCe, to fing the Man 
 In heights fublime, as when the Mantuan fwan 
 U
 
 ir4 P O E M S U P O N 
 
 Her tow'ring pinions fpread ; 
 Thou (houldft of Marlbro fing, whofe hand 
 Unerring from his Q^U E E N ' s command, 
 Far as the (3) feven-mouth'd Ifter's fccret head, 
 To fave th' imperial (late, her hardy Britons led. 
 II. 
 Nor there thy fong fhou'd end ; tho' all the Nine 
 Might well their harps and heav'nly voices join 
 To fing that glorious day, 
 When bold Bavaria fled the field. 
 And veteran Gauls unus'd to yield, 
 On Blenheim's plain imploring mercy lay ; 
 And fpoils and trophies won, perplcx'd the viftor's way. 
 III. 
 But cou'd thy voice of Blenheim fing. 
 And with fuccefs that fong purfue ; 
 What art cou'd aid thy wearied wing 
 To keep the viftor ftill in view ? 
 For as the fun ne'er flops his radiant flight, 
 Nor fets, but with impartial ray 
 
 To all who want his light 
 Alternately transfers the day : 
 So in the glorious round of fame. 
 Great Marlbro, ftill the feme, 
 IncefTant runs his courfc; 
 To climes remote, and near. 
 His conqu'ring arms by turns appear, 
 And univerfal is his aid and force. 
 
 I- 
 
 Attempt not to proceed, unwary mufe, 
 
 For O! what notes, what numbers cou'dft thou chufe, 
 Tho' in all numbers skill'd ; 
 To fing the hcroe's matchlcfs deed, 
 Which (4) Bclgia (av'd, and Brabant freed ;
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. ijj 
 To fing Ramilia's day ! to which muft yield 
 (;) Cannae's illuftrious fight, and fam'd (6) Pharfalia's field. 
 II. 
 In the fliort courfe of a diurnal fun, 
 Behold the work of many ages done ! 
 What vcrfe fuch worth can raife ? 
 Luftre and life, the poet's art 
 To middle virtue may impart ; 
 But deeds fublimc, exalted high like thefe, 
 Tranfcend bis utmofi flight, and nx2ck his diHant prail'e. 
 III. 
 Still wou'd the willing mufc afpire, 
 With tranfport ftill her ftraios prolong; 
 But fear unftrings the trembling lyre, 
 And admiration flops her fong. 
 Go on, great Chief, in Anna's caufe proceed ; 
 Nor fheath the terrors of thy fword, 
 
 'Till Europe thou haft freed. 
 And univerfal peace refior'd. 
 This mighty work when thou flialt end, 
 Equal rewards attend, 
 Of value far above 
 Thy trophies and thy fpoils ; 
 Rewards even worthy of thy toils, 
 Thy Q^UEEN's juft favour, and thy Country's love, 
 
 NOTES to the foregoing ODE. 
 
 I A^RpHEUS was faid to be the fon of the mufc Cal- 
 V^ Hope. The poetical fiftion of the harp of Orpheus 
 is this. Mercury, the fame day that he was born of Maia 
 in Cyllene, a mountain of Arcadia, found a living tortoife, 
 which he carried home with him fo his cradle, and im- 
 mediately compos'd a harp of the fhcll. A little after he 
 ftole the oxen of Apollo ; this caus'd fome diffcrcr.ce be- 
 tween the deities, but the matter being referr'd to Jupiter, 
 V 2
 
 1^6 P O E M S U P O N 
 
 he order'd Mercury to return the oxen to the right owner; 
 on this there foUow'd not only a reconciliation but friend- 
 fhip, and. Apollo expreffing an extream pleafure at the in- 
 vention of the harp, Mercury beftow'd it on him as a 
 pledge of his future friendfliip. Of this Homer, in his 
 
 ♦ Hymn to Mercury,' fpeaks at large. Afterwards Apollo 
 inventing another inftrument call'd the Cithara, gave the 
 lyra to Orpheus. The mufes, after the death of Orpheus, 
 tranllated his harp into heaven, where it became a con- 
 flellation, and is plac'd between the knee and left arm of 
 Engonafis or Hercules. 
 
 * -2 Nova Zembla, a miferable region in the Frigid Zone, 
 where there is neither tree nor herb, but perpetual froft 
 and fnow, and where, for one half of the year, it is con- 
 tinual night. 
 
 3 Lucan in his Third Book, V. 202. gives it the indefi- 
 nite epithet of ' Multifidi Iftri.' But Ovid. Trift. 2. < Solus 
 
 * ad ingrefllis mifllis Septemplicis Iftri.' And Sidonius A- 
 pollinaris gives it the fame epithet, on the like occafion 
 with this Ode, when in his Panegyrick to Majorianus 
 Caefar, he tells him, 
 
 * lUicet aggredcris, quod nullus tempore noftro 
 ' Auguilus potuit, rigidum Septemplicis Iftri 
 
 * Agmen in arma rapis ' 
 
 The ancient geographers differ'd very much in their ac- 
 count of the rife of this river ; fo that on a double account 
 the fame epithets may be appropriated to it which are u- 
 fual to the Nile. "^^ * 
 
 4 Bclgia need not only be ftriftly underftood of the fe- 
 ven provinces, call'd ' Belgium Foederatum,' by the dif- 
 tindion tnadc in the time of Phil. 2. but may alfo be in- 
 terpreted with refpeft to that which was anciently call'd 
 Belgium, comprehending the lower Germany, in regard of 
 the great confequences attending fuch a viftory. 
 
 5" Cannae, as inconfiderablc a village as Blenheim, 'till 
 in like manner made memorable and illuftriousby the great 
 and intirc vidory which Hannibal obtain'd there over the 
 Romans. 
 
 6 Pharfalia, famous for the overthrow ofPompey by 
 Julius Caefar, a wonderful viftory, but may juftly be faid 
 to yield to that of Ramiljes. For the defign and end of 
 the firft was to enflave mankind, the rnanifeft aim and 
 event of the latter has been to fet 'cm at liberty.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 157 
 
 To the Right Honourable the 
 
 EARL of GODOLTHIN, 
 
 Lord High-Treasurer of 
 GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 P I NDARIQ^UE ODE. 
 
 Quemvls media true turha : 
 
 ^ut ob avaritiam, aut mifera ambitione Idborat. 
 
 Huhc cafit argenti fpkndor 
 
 Hie miitat merces furgcnte a fole, ad eum quo 
 Vefpertina tepet regio : quin per tnala praeceps 
 
 Fertur ■ 
 
 Omnes hi metuunt verjus, odere poetas. 
 
 Hor. Sat. 4. L. i. 
 
 O D E. 
 
 I. 
 
 To hazardous attempts and hardy toils, 
 Ambition fome excites ; 
 And fome, defirc of martial fpoils 
 To bloody fields invites j 
 Others, infatiate thirft of gain 
 Provokes to tempt the dangerous main,
 
 :;8 POEMS UPON 
 
 To pafs the burning line, and bear 
 Th' inclemency of ■vfrinds, and feas and air ; 
 Preflfing the doubtful voy'ge 'till India's Ihore 
 Her fpicy bofom bares, and fprcads her fhining ore. 
 II. 
 Nor widows tears, nor tender orphans cries, 
 Can flop th' invader's force ; 
 Nor fwelling feas, nor threatning skies, 
 
 Prevent the pirate's courfe : 
 Their lives to fclfifh ends decreed, 
 Thro' blood or rapine they proceed ; 
 No anxious thoughts of ill repute 
 Sufpend th' impetuous and unjuft purfuit : 
 But pow'r and wealth obtain'd, guilty and great, 
 Their fellow-creatures fears they raife, or urge their hate. 
 III. 
 But not for thefc, his iv'ry lyre 
 
 Will tuneful Phoebus firing. 
 Nor Polyhymnia crown'd amid the choir 
 
 Th' immortal Epode fing. 
 Thy fprings, (i) Caftalia, turn their ftrcams afidc 
 
 From rapine, avarice, and pride ; 
 Nor do thy greens, fliady (2) Aonia, grow, 
 To bind with wreaths a tyrant's brow. 
 I. 
 How juft, moft mighty Jove, yet how fevere 
 Is thy fupreme decree, 
 (3) That impious men fhall joylels hear 
 
 The mufes harmony ! 
 Their facred fongs, (the recompence 
 Of virtue and of innocence) 
 Which pious minds to rapture raife, 
 And worthy deeds at once excite and praife,
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 1/9 
 
 To guilty hearts afford no kind relief; 
 But add inflaming rage, and more afflifting grief. 
 II. 
 Monftrous (4) Typhoeus, thus, new terrors fill, 
 He, who aflail'd the skies, 
 And now, beneath the burning hill 
 
 Of dreadful Aetna lies. 
 Hearing the lyre's celefiial found, 
 He bellows in th'abyfs profound ; 
 Sicilia trembles at his roar. 
 Tremble the feas, and far Campania's fhoar ; 
 While all his hundred mouths, at once expire 
 Volumes of curling fmokc, and floods of liquid fire. 
 
 in. 
 
 From Heav'n alone, all good proceeds ; 
 To hcav'nly minds belong 
 All pow'r and love, Godolphik, of good deeds, 
 
 And fcnfe of facred fong ! 
 And thus, moft plcafing are the mufe's lays 
 To them who merit moft her praifc ; 
 Wherefore, for thee, her iv'ry lyre flie ftrings, 
 And foars with rapture while flie fings. 
 I. 
 Whether, affairs of moft important weight 
 Require thy aiding hand, 
 And Anna's caufc and Europe's fate 
 
 Thy ferious thoughts demand ; 
 Whether, thy days and nights are fpcat 
 In cares, on publick good intent ; 
 Or, whether, leifure hours invite 
 To manly fports, or to refin'd delight ; 
 In courts refiding, or to plains retir'd, 
 Where gen'rous ftceds conteft, with emulation fir'U,
 
 i^o P E M S U P N 
 
 II. 
 
 Thee ftill fhe feeks, and tuneful fings thy nanw, 
 As once fhc {;) Theron fung, 
 "While with the deathlefs worthy's fame 
 
 Olympian (6) Pifa rung: 
 Nor lefs fublimc, is now, her choice, 
 Nor lefs infpir'd by thee, her voice: 
 And now, flie loves aloft to found 
 The man for more than mortal deeds renown'd ; 
 Vary'ing anon her theme, (lie takes delight [flight. 
 The fwift-heel'd (7) horfe to praife, and fing his rapid 
 III. 
 And fee 1 the (8) air-born racers Hart, 
 Impatient of the rein; 
 Fafter they run, than 'flies the Scythian dart, 
 
 Nor pafling, print the plain ! 
 The winds themfelves who with their fwiftnefs vye, 
 
 In vain their airy pinions ply ; 
 So far in matchlefs fpeed, thy courfers pafs 
 Th' aethcrial authors of their race. 
 I. 
 And DOW, a while, the well-flrain'd courfers breath ; 
 And now, my mufe, prepare 
 Of (9) olive leaves a twifted wreath 
 
 To bind the vigor's hair. 
 (10) Pallas, in care of human kind, 
 The fruitful olive firft defign'd ; 
 Deep in the glebe her fpear fhe lanc'd, 
 When all at once, the laden boughs advanced ; 
 The Gods with wonder view'd the teeming earth, 
 And all, with one confent, approv'd the beauteous birth.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. l6t 
 II. 
 
 This done, earth-fhaking Neptune next eflay'd, 
 In bounty to the world, 
 To emulate the blue-ey'd maid ; 
 
 And his huge trident hurl'd 
 Againft the founding beach; the ftroke 
 Transfix'd the globe, and open broke 
 The central earth, whence, fwift as light 
 Forth rufh'd the firft-born horfe Stupendous fight ! 
 Neptune, for human good the beaft ordains, [ ' reins.' 
 Whom foon he tam'd to ufe, and taught to (ii) ' hear the 
 III. 
 Thus Gods contended, (noble ftrife! 
 Worthy the heav'nly mind) 
 Who mod fliould do to foften anxious life, 
 
 And moft endear mankind. 
 Thus, thou GoDOLPHiN, doft with Marlbro ftrive, 
 
 From whofe joint toils we reft derive: 
 
 Triumph in wars abroad his arm aflures, 
 
 Sweet peace at home thy care fecures. 
 
 NOTES to the foregoing ODE. 
 
 I /"^Ommonly Caftalius, but by Virg. Georg. 3. call'd 
 V^ Caftalia, a fountain at the foot of Parnaftus, facred 
 to the mufes. 
 
 2 Aonia, the hilly and woody part of Boeotia, believ'd 
 to have been much frequented by the mufes. 
 
 3 * That impious men Hiall joylefs hear, &c.' 
 
 This thought or opinion is borrov/'d from Pindar, Pyth. i. 
 ■where he fays ' But fuch men whom Jupiter hates arc 
 
 * confounded with terror when they hear the fweet har- 
 
 * mony of the mufes.' This paflage is often cited by Plu- 
 tarch, and others, in favour of Mufick and Poetry. Mr. 
 Cowley in his Notes on his Davideis, Book i. on David's 
 difpofTcfling Saul of the evil fpirit. collefts a great num- 
 ber of furprizing citations on this fubjeft, 
 
 X
 
 i62 P O E M S U P O N 
 
 4 Typhoeus, one of the giants who attempted to florm 
 Heav'n ; but Jupiter ftruck him with thunder, and laid him 
 under the ifland of Sicily, with Aetna on his breaft. This 
 Stanza is alfo copied from the fame Ode of Pindar, where 
 this monfter is faid to have an hundred heads, as alfo in 
 Olymp. 4. 
 
 5 Theron, a prince of Agrigentum, to whom Pindar ad- 
 drefles his fecond and third Olympick. 
 
 6 Pifa, a town in Peloponnefus, near to which the Olym- 
 pick games were celebrated. 
 
 7 So Horace, L. 4. Ode 2. fpeaks of Pindar, as fing- 
 
 ing fometimes the Hero, fometimes the Horfe ; 
 
 < Pugilemve Equumve dicit, &c.* 
 
 8 Air-born. Alluding to the notion that mares have 
 eonceiv'd by the weftern wind, without the alTiftance of 
 a horfe : fee Virg. Geor. 3- ver. 273. from whence TalTo 
 has borrov/'d the birth of Raymond's horfe. Gierufalem. 
 Canto 7. 
 
 ' Volta Paperta bocca incontro I'ora 
 
 * Raccoglie i femi del fecondo vento, 
 
 * E de tepidi fiati (6 meraviglia \) 8cc. 
 
 * Ore omnes verfae in Zephyrum, ftant rupibus altis, 
 
 * Exceptantque Leves auras : et faepe firfe ullis 
 
 * Conjugiis, vento gravidae (mirabile diftu ! ) &:c.' 
 
 9 Olive leaves. An olive garland was the reward of 
 viftory in the Olympick Games. 
 
 10 Pallas, &c. The fable on which this digreflion is 
 founded, is, that Neptune and Pallas had a contention 
 who fliould give the name to Athens ; and it was agreed, 
 that which of 'em lliould confer the greateft benefit on man- 
 kind, fhould obtain the viftory. The Gods were afiembled 
 in judgment, and Pallas llruck the earth with her fpear, 
 whence up fprung the fruitful olive-tree j then Neptune 
 in his turn darted his trident againft the earth, which 
 opening was deliver'd of a horfe j but the viftory was ad- 
 judg'd to Pallas. 
 
 11 < To hear the reins ' They who do not remem- 
 ber Virgil, may think this metaphor too bold. He has 
 ventur'd to apply it even to the. chariot rather than ihc 
 horfes, Georg. i. 
 
 ' Feitur equis auriga, neque audit currus habenas.'
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. i6; 
 
 A N 
 
 IMPOSSIBLE THING- 
 
 A TALE. 
 
 TO thee, dear Dick, this tale I fend, 
 Both as a critick and a friend. 
 I tell it with fome variation 
 (Not altogether a tranflation) 
 From La Fontaine; an author, Dick, 
 Whofe mufe would touch thee to the quick. 
 The fubjcft is of that fame kind, 
 To which thy heart feems moft inclin'd: 
 How verfe may alter it, God knows, 
 Thou lov'ft it well, I'm fure, in profc. 
 So, without preface, or pretence, 
 To hold thee longer in fufpence, 
 I fhall proceed, as I am able, 
 To the recital of my fable. 
 
 A Goblin of the merry kind, 
 More black of hue, than curfl of mind, 
 To help a lover in diftrefs, 
 Contriv'd a charm with fuch fuccefs| 
 That in fhort fpace the cruel dame 
 Relented, and return'd his flame. 
 'The bargain made betwixt 'cm both, 
 Was bound by honour and by oath ; 
 
 X 2
 
 j64 P O E M S U P O N 
 
 The lover laid down his falvation, 
 And Satan ftak'd his reputation. 
 The latter proiDis'd on his part 
 (To ferve his friend and fhew his art,) 
 That madam Ihou'd by twelve a clocks 
 Tho' hitherto as hard as rock, 
 Become as gentle as a glove, 
 And kits and coo like any dove. 
 In ihort, the woman fhould be his, 
 
 That is, upon condition viz. 
 
 That he, the lover, after tailing 
 
 "What one wou'd \yifli were evcrlafting ; 
 
 Should, in return for fuch enjoyment, 
 
 Supply the fiend with frcfli employment: 
 
 That's all, quoth Pug; my poor requeft 
 
 Is, only never to have reft ; 
 
 You thought, 'tis like, with reafon too, 
 
 That I lliould have been ferv'd, not you: 
 
 But what? upon my friend impofe ! 
 
 No tho' a devil, none of thofe. 
 
 Your bufinefs then, pray underlland me, 
 
 Is nothing more but to command me. 
 
 Of one thing only let me v/arn ye. 
 
 Which fomewhat nearly may concern ye ; 
 
 As foon as e'er one work is done, 
 
 Strait name a new o -e ; and fo on ; 
 
 Let each to other quick fuccecd. 
 
 Or elfe — you know how 'tis agreed — > 
 
 for if thro' any hums or haws. 
 
 There haps an interveening paufe. 
 
 In which, for want of frefh commands, 
 
 Your flave obfequious, idle ftands. 
 
 Nor foul nor body eyer more 
 
 Shall fervc the nymph whom you adore:
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. i6^ 
 
 But both be laid at Satan's feet, 
 To be difpos'd as he thinks meet. 
 
 At once the lover all approves : 
 For who can hefitate that loves ? 
 And thus he argues in his thought: 
 Why, after all, I venture nought; 
 "What myftery is in commanding ? 
 Does that require much underftanding? 
 Indeed, wer't my part to obey, 
 He'd go the better of the lay : 
 
 But he muf> do what I think fit 
 
 Plhaw, pfliaw, young Belzebub is bit. 
 
 Thus pleas'd in mind, he calls a chair, 
 Adjufts, and combs, and courts the fair: 
 The fpell takes place, and all goes right, 
 And happy he employs the night 
 In fweet embraces, balmy kifles; 
 And riots in the blifs of blilTes. 
 O joy, cry'd he, that haft no equal ! 
 But hold — no raptures— mark the fequcl. 
 For now, when near the morning's dawn, 
 The youth b;gan as 'twere to yawn; 
 His eyes a filky flumber feiz'd, 
 Or would have done, if Pug had pleas'd ; 
 But that officious Daemon, near. 
 Now buzz'd forbufinefs in his ear; 
 In hafte, he names a thoufand things : 
 The goblin plys his wicker wings, 
 Ai)d in a trice returns to ask 
 Another, and another task. 
 Now, palaces are built and tow'rs, 
 The work of ages in few hours. 
 'Then, ftorms are in an inftant rais'd, 
 "VVhich the next momentary appeas'd.
 
 i66 P O E M S U P O N 
 
 Now ihow'rs of gold and gems are rain'd, 
 
 As if each India had been drain'd: 
 
 And he, in oneaftonilh'd view, 
 
 Sees both Golconda and Peru. 
 
 Thefe things, and ftranger things than thefe, 
 
 Were done with equal fpeed and eafe. 
 
 And now to Rome poor Pug he'll fend : 
 
 And Pug foon reach'd his journey's end, 
 
 And foon return'd with fuch a pack 
 
 Of bulls and pardons at his back, 
 
 That now, the fquire (who had feme hope 
 
 In holy water and the Pope,) 
 
 Was out of heart, and at a ftand 
 
 What next to wiHi, and what command ; 
 
 Invention flags, his brain grows muddy, 
 
 And black defpair fucceeds brown iludy. 
 
 In this diflrefs the woful youth 
 
 Acquaints the nymph with all the truth, 
 
 Begging her counfel, for whofe fake 
 
 Both foul and body were at ftake. 
 
 And is this all? rcplys the fair; 
 
 Let me alone to cure this care. 
 
 When next your Daemon fiiall appear, 
 
 Pray give him look, what I hold here, 
 
 And bid him labour, foon or late, 
 To lay thefe ringlets lank and ftrair. 
 Then, fomething fcarcely to be feen, 
 Her finger and her thumb between 
 She held, and fweetly fmiling, cry'd, 
 Your goblin's skill fliall now be try'd. 
 
 She faid; and gave what (hall I call 
 
 That thing fo flnning,crifp and fmall, 
 Which round his finger ftrove to twine? 
 A tendril of the Cyprian vine ?
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 167 
 
 O fprigfrom Cytherca's grove; 
 Shade of the labyrinth of love? 
 With awe, he now takes from her hand 
 That fleece-like flow'r of fairy land : 
 Lefs precious, whilom, was the fleece 
 Which drew the Argonauts from Greece; 
 Or that, which modern ages fee 
 The fpur and prize of chivalry, 
 Whofe curls of kindred texture, grace 
 Heroes and kings of Spani/h race. 
 
 The fpark prepar'd, and Pug at hand, 
 He ifTucs thus, his flrift command. 
 This line, thus curve and thus orbicular, 
 Render dircft, and perpendicular ; 
 But fo direft, that in no fort 
 It ever may in rings retort. 
 See me no more 'till this be done: 
 
 Hence, to thy task avaunt, be gone. 
 
 Away the fiend like lightning fiySy 
 And all his wit to work applys: 
 Anvils and preflls he employs. 
 And dins whole hell with hamm'ring noife. 
 In vain: he to no terms can bring 
 One twirl of that reluftant thing; 
 Th' elaftick fibre mocks his pains, 
 And its firft fpiral form retains. 
 New ftratagcms the fprite contrives, 
 And down the depths of fea he dives: 
 This fprunt its pcrtnefs fure will lofs 
 When laid (fa id he) to foak in ooze. 
 Poor foolifh fiend ! he little knew 
 Whence Venus and her garden grew. 
 Old ocean, with paternal waves 
 F The child of his owr. bed receives, 
 
 L_ ;_._____ ___._ _ .___
 
 16S P O E M S U P O N 
 
 Which oft as dipt new force exerts, 
 And in more vig'roiis curls reverts. 
 So, -when to earth, Alcides flung 
 The huge Anteus, whence he fpriing, 
 From ev'ry fall freHi flrength he gain'd, 
 And with new life the fight maintain'd. 
 The baffled goblin grows perplex'd, 
 Nor knows what flcight to praftife next; 
 The more he trys, the more he fails; 
 Nor charm, nor art, nor force avails, 
 But all concur his fhame to fliow, 
 And more exafperate the foe. 
 
 And now he penfive turns and fad, 
 And looks like melancholick mad. 
 He rolls his eyes now off, now on 
 That wonderful phoenomenon. 
 Sometimes he twifts and twirls it roundj 
 Then, paufmg, meditates profound : 
 No end he fees of his furprize, 
 Nor v.'hat it fliould be can devife r 
 For never yet was wool or feather, 
 That could ftand buffagainft all weather; 
 And unrelax'd like this, refift 
 Both wind and rain, and fnow and mift. 
 What ftuff, or whence, or how 'twas made, 
 V/hat fpinfter witch could fpin fuch thread, 
 He nothing knew ; hut to his coft 
 Knew all his fame and labour loft. 
 Subdu'd,abafh'd, he gaveit o'er; 
 'Tis faid, he blufh'd ; 'tir, fare, he fwore 
 Not all the wiles that hell could hatch 
 Could conquer that Supfrb Must AC E» 
 Defeated thus, thus difcontent 
 Back to the man the Daemon went:
 
 SEVERAL O C C A S r 0' K S. i6f 
 
 I grant, quoth he, our contraft null, 
 And give you a difcharge in full. 
 But tell me now, in nanK of wonder, 
 (Since I fo candidly knock under,) 
 "What is this thing? where could it grow? 
 Pray take it — 'tis in * Statu quo.' 
 Much good may't do you; for ray part, 
 I wafli my hands oft from my heart. 
 
 In truth, Sir Goblin or Sir Fairy, 
 Replies the lad, you're too foon weary. 
 "What, leave this trifling task undone! 
 And think'ft thou this the only one? 
 Alas! were this fubdu'd, thou'dft find 
 Millions of more fuch ftill behind, 
 V/hich might employ, ev'n to eternity. 
 Both you and all your whole fraternity. 
 
 The Tea/ant in Search oihisHeifer, 
 
 A TALE after M. De la Fontaine. 
 
 IT fo befell : a filly fwain 
 Had fought his Heifer long in vain j 
 For wanton Hie had frisking ftray'd, 
 And left the lawn, to feek the fhade. 
 Around the plain he rolls his eyeSy 
 rhen, to the wood, in haftc he hies; 
 Where, fingling out the faireft tree, 
 Eie climbs, in hopes to hear or fee. 
 
 Anon, there chanc'd that way to paf? 
 \ jolly lad and buxom lafs : 
 
 y
 
 170 POEMSUPON 
 
 The place was apt, the paftime pleafant; 
 
 Occafion with her forelock prefent : 
 
 The girl agog, the gallant ready ; 
 
 So lightly down he lays my lady. 
 
 But fo (he turn'd, or fo was laid, 
 
 That (he fome certain charms difplay'd, 
 
 Which with fuch wonder ftruck his (jght, 
 
 (With wonder, much ; more, with delight) 
 
 That loud he cry'd in rapture, What! 
 
 What fee I, Gods! what fee I not ! 
 
 But nothing namM ; from whence 'tis guefa'd, 
 
 *Twas more than well could be exprefsM, 
 
 The clown aloft, who lent an ear, 
 Strait ftopt him (hort in mid career : 
 And louder cry'd, Ho : honefl friend, 
 That of thy feeing feeft no end ; 
 Doft fee the Heifer that I feek? 
 If doft, pray be fo kind to fpeak.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 171 
 
 HOMERS 
 
 H Y M N to V E N U S: 
 
 Tranflated into English Verse. 
 
 To the Reader of theenfuingHYMN. 
 
 OF the three greater Hymns of Homer, viz. 
 one to Apollo, one to Mercury, and one tc 
 Venus, this to Venus is the fhorteft; it is alfo the 
 moft fimple in its defign, and connedled in its parts. 
 The other two abound more in digreHions both 
 geographical and mythological, and contain many 
 allufions to ancient cuftoms and hiftory, which 
 without a commentary could not well be underftood 
 by the generality of readers. Thefe confiderations 
 determin'd me to acquiefce in the tranflation of 
 this Hymn ; tho' I had once entertain'd thoughts 
 of turning 'em all three into Englifh Verfe. 
 
 As I had often read them all with extraordinary 
 pleafure ; I could not avoid fometimes reflecting 
 on the cenfures of fome grammarians, who have 
 deny'd or at lead doubted them to be genuine. 
 Y 2
 
 172 P E M S U P O ^b^ 
 
 A Poem which is good in itfelf, cannot really 
 lofe any thing of its value, tho' it fhould appear, 
 upon a flri<^ entjuiry, not to be the work of To emi- 
 nent an author, as him, to whom it was firft im- 
 puted. But all truth is fo amiable in itfelf, that 
 even where it is of leaft importance there is a plea- 
 fure in the fearch after it, and a fatisfaftion in the 
 vindication of it. 
 
 Tho' the b£auties of this enfuin^r Poem, in the 
 original, want not even the name of Ho'mcr to re- 
 commend 'em, and much leis does that mighty 
 name ftand in need of their reputation, yet, if they 
 are his, 'tis an- iHJuftice to him to afcribe 'em to j:ny 
 other; and it is a hardihip toth.^m to deprive 'em 
 of the authority due to them, and to leave 'em to 
 make their way thro' bad judgments, purely by 
 their own merit. 
 
 I will not trouble the reader with the enquiry my 
 curiofity led me to make in this matter ; I will only 
 give him one reafon, of many, why thcf. Hymns 
 may be rccciv'd for genuine. The moil fufpec^ed of 
 'em all, is that to Apollo. (As for this to Venus.it 
 were almplt enough to induce us to conclude it le- 
 gitimate, to obierve that Lucretius,- thought it not 
 below him to copy, from the beginning of it, the 
 beginning of his own admirable Poem.) 
 
 The Hymn to ApcUo has been fuppos'd to have 
 been written by one Cynaethus of L.h os, who was 
 afamous* repeater of Homer's Verfes. To obviate- 
 
 * Afctr the deccafe of 
 Homer, ther^ were fuch 
 
 f irifons who raade a pro- 
 
 feffion of repeating his ver- 
 fi s ; from the repetitions of 
 vhom, a:;d of their defcenr
 
 SEVERALOCCASTONS. 173 
 
 which fuppofition, we Only reply, that this very 
 Hymn to Apollo is quoted twice by Thucydides in 
 the third book of his Hiftory, and exprefly quoted 
 as the work of Homer.. 
 
 After his fecond quotation, which conGfts of about 
 half a fcore Verfes, Thucydides obferves that ia 
 thofe Verfes Homer has made mention of himftlfi 
 ht^nce, 'tis beyond quelUon Thucydides believ'd or 
 rather was alfor'd it was the work of Homer. He 
 might be very well morally alfur'd of it, for he liv'd 
 within * four hundred years of Homer, and that is 
 nodiftince of time to reader the knowledge of fuch 
 things either uncertain or oi^fcure in fuch a coun- 
 try as Greece, and to a man of fuch learning, power 
 and wifdofn as our author. The learned Cafaubon, 
 in his comment on a palfage in the firft book of f 
 Strabo takes the liberty to d:lf.nt from Strabo, and 
 cites as authority againit him part of the quotation 
 made by Thucydides from the a foremen tion'd 
 Hymn ot Homer. Strabo fays, Homer has made no 
 menrion of what country he was : in one of the 
 Verfes cited by Thucydides, Homer calls himfelf 
 
 dsnts or fiicccfTor? (for they 
 became a fed) tie entire 
 poems of Homer in after- 
 times were coUeifled and put 
 in nrdcr. Thell- were caii'd 
 Homeriftac, or Homeridae : 
 of uhom fee Aelian. \"ar 
 Kia. L. 1:5. C. 14. Atlie- 
 nacuj, L. i, ), 14. Strabo 
 
 L. 14. Pindar Nem. Ode 2. 
 C ■>elius Rodig. L. 7. C. 2 9. 
 
 * Herodotus fays of him- 
 felf, in Euterpe, he was but 
 fuur huc;dred years after 
 Homer. Thucdides was 
 contemporary with Hero- 
 dotus. 
 
 I Strab. L, i . pag. 30.
 
 174 P O E M S UT O N 
 
 the t * blind man of rocky Chios.' Cafaubon'^ 
 
 note is as follows: * in Hymno Apoliinis quem 
 
 * ego cur debeamus aSsTfiv contra autoritatem Thu- 
 ^ cydidis, caufam nullam fatis magnam video : in 
 
 * eo inquam Hymno, haec de fe Homerus,' &c. 
 
 Now whether it be more reafonable, by the ex- 
 ample of fo learned a man as C-:faubon, to give 
 credit to the authority of Thucydides, the mod 
 grave, wife, faithful, and confummate Hifiorian 
 that ever wrote; or to give into the fcruples, con- 
 jecHiures, and fuggeftioRs of Scholiafts and Gram- 
 marians; 1 leave to the determination of each im- 
 partial reader. 
 
 ^ The original fays 
 
 The bhnd man who lives 
 in rocky or fandy Chios: 
 and whofe poems Ihall bf 
 in the higheftcfleem to all 
 
 'pofterity:' which indeed 
 only proves that he dwelt 
 there ; not that he was 
 born there.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 175 
 
 HOMERS 
 
 HYMN to VENUS. 
 
 SING, mufc, the force, and all-informing fire 
 Of Cyprian Venus, goddefs of defire: 
 Her charms, the immortal minds of Gods can move, 
 And tame the ftubborn race of men to love. 
 The wilder herds and ravenous beads of prey 
 Her influence feel, and own her kindly fway. 
 Thro' pathlefs air, and boundlels ocean's fpacc, 
 She rules the feather'd kind and finny race; 
 "Whole nature on her fole fupport depends, 
 And far as life exills, her care extends. 
 
 Of all the num'rous hoft of Gods above, 
 But three are found inflexible to love. 
 Bluc-ey'd Minerva free prefervcs her heart, 
 A virgin unbeguil'd by Cupid's art; 
 In fhining arms the martial maid delights, 
 O'er war prefides, and well-difputcd fights; 
 With third of fame Hie firft the hero fir'd, 
 And firft the skill of ufcful arts infpir'd ; 
 Taught artifts firft the carvjng tool to wield, 
 Chariots with brafs to arm, and form the fenceful ihield- 
 She firft taught modeft maids in early bloom 
 To fhun the lazy liff, and fpin, or ply the loom. 
 
 Diana next, the Paphian queen defies, 
 Her fmiling arts and proiFer'd frieodrnip flies:
 
 ^f6 P O K M S U P O N 
 
 She loves, with well-mourh'd hounds and chearful horn, 
 
 Or filver-foundinf^ voice, to wake the morn, 
 
 To draw the bow, or dart the pointed fpear, [deer. 
 
 To wound the inbiintaift boar,' or roufc the wood-land 
 
 Sometimes, of gloomy groves fhe likes the Ihades, 
 
 And there of virgin nymphs the chorus leads ; 
 
 And fometimes feeks the town, and leaves the plains, 
 
 And loves fociety where virtue reigns. 
 
 The third celeftial pow'raverfe to love 
 Is virgin Veda, dear to mighty Jove; 
 Whom Neptune fought to wed, and Phoebus woo'd; 
 And both with fruitlefs labour long purfu'd j 
 For flic, feverely chafle, rejefted both, 
 And bound her purpofe v ith a folemn oath, 
 •A virpin life inviolate to lead; 
 She fwore, and Jove aflt-ntin;; bow'd his head. 
 But fince her rigid choice the joys deny'd 
 Of nuptial rites, and bleffings of a bride, 
 The bounteous Jove with gifts that want fupply'd. 
 High on the throne flie fits amidft the skies, 
 And firft is fed with fumes of facrifice : 
 For holy rites to Velfa firft are pay'd, 
 And on her altar firft-fruit off'rings laid ; 
 So Jove ordain'd in honour of the maid. 
 
 Thefc are the pow'rs above, and only thefe, 
 "Whom love and Cytherea's art dilpleafe : 
 Of other beings, none in earth or skies 
 Her force rcfifts, or influence denies. 
 With eafe, her charms the thunderercan bind, 
 And captivate with love tb' almighty mind : 
 Ev'n he, whofe dread commands the Gods obey, 
 Submits to her, and own^ fupcrior fway ; 
 Enflav'd to mortal beauties by her pow'r, 
 He oft defcends, his creatures to adore j
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. in 
 
 "While to conceal the theft from Juno's eyes, 
 Some -well-diflcmbled fhapc the God belies. 
 Juno, his wife and fiflcr, both in place 
 And beauty, firft among th' aetherial race j 
 "Whom, all-tranfcending in fuperior worth, 
 "Wife Saturn got, and Cybele brought forth : 
 And Jove, by never-erring counfel fway'd, 
 The partner of his bed and empire made. 
 
 But Jove at length with juft refentment fir'd, 
 The laughing queen hcrfelf with love infpir'd. 
 Swift thro* her veins the fwcet contagion ran, 
 And kindled in her breaft dcCre of mortal man; 
 That Ihc, like ether deities, might prove 
 The pains and pleafures of inferior love, 
 And not infullingly the Gods deride, 
 "VVhofe fons were human by the mother's fide : 
 Thus, Jove ordain'd flie now for man fliould burn, 
 And bring forth mortal offspring in her turn. 
 
 Amongft the fprings which flow from Ida's head, 
 His lowing herds the young Anchifes fed: 
 "Whofe godlike form and face the fmiling queen 
 Beheld, and lov'd to madnefs foon as fcen. 
 To Cyprus flrait the wounded Goddefs flies, -n 
 
 "Where Paphian temples in her honour rife, C 
 
 And altars fmoke with daily facrifice. J 
 
 Soon as arriv'd, flic to her Ihrine repair'd, 
 Where entring quick, the fhining gates fhe barr'd. 
 The ready graces wait, her baths prepare, 
 An.d oint with fragrant oils her flowing hiir; 
 Her flowing hair around her fhouldetj fpreads, 
 And all adown ambrofial odour flieds. 
 Laft, in tranfparent r<^s her limbs they fold, 
 Enrich'd wHh ornaments of pureft gold, 
 Z
 
 7^8 P O E M S U P O N" 
 
 And thus attir'd, her chariot fhe afccnds, 
 And Cyprus left, her flight to Troy flie bend?» 
 
 On Ida flie alights, then fecks the feat 
 Which lov'd Anchifes chofe for his retreat: 
 And ever as flie walk'd thro* lawn or wood, 
 Promifcuous herds of beafts admiring flood. 
 Some humbly follow, while fome fawning meet/ 
 And lick the ground, and crouch beneath her feet. 
 Dogs, licfls, wolves and bears their eyes unite, 
 Ar>d the fwift panther flops to gaze with fix'd delight. 
 For, ev'ry glance /he gives, foft fire imparts, 
 Enkindling fweet defire in favage hearts. 
 Inflam'd with love, all fingte out their mates, 
 And to their fliady dens each pair retreats. 
 
 Mean time the tent fhe fpies fo much defir'd, 
 Where her Anchifes was alone retir'd ; 
 Withdrawn from all his friends, and fellow-fwains. 
 Who fed their flocks beneath, and fought the plains: 
 In pleafing folitude the youth fhe found, 
 Intent upon his lyre's harmonious found. 
 Before his eyes Jove's beauteous daughter ftood, 
 In form and drefs, a huntrefs of the wood; 
 For had he feen the Goddefs undifguis'd. 
 The youth with awe and fear had been furpriz'd. 
 Fix'd he beheld her, and with joy admir'd 
 To fee a nymph fo bright, and fo attir'd. 
 For from her flowing robe a luftre fpread. 
 As if with radiant flame fhe were array'd ; 
 Her hair in part dilclos^d, in part conceai'd, 
 In ringlets fell, or was with jewels held ; 
 With various gold and gems her neck was grac'd, 
 And orient pearls heav'd on her panting brcaft ; ' 
 
 Bright as the moon fhe fhone, with filent light, 
 And cbarm'd his fenfe with wonder and delight.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 179 
 
 Thus while Anchifes gaz'd, thro' ev'ry vein 
 A thrilling joy he felt, and pleafing pain. 
 
 At length he fpake All hail, celeftial fair! 
 
 Who humbly doft to vifit earth repair. 
 
 Who-e'er thou art, dcfcended from above, 
 
 Latona, Cynthia, or the queen of love, 
 
 All hail! all honour ihall to thee be paid ; 
 
 Or art thou * Themis > or the f blue-ey'd maid ? 
 
 Or, art thou faireft of the Graces three, 
 
 Who with the Gods fliare immortality ? 
 
 Or elfe, fome nymph, the guardian of thefe woods, 
 
 Thefc caves, thefe fruitful hills, or cryftal floods? 
 
 Who-e'er thou art, in fome confpicuous field, 
 
 J, to thy honour, will an altar build. 
 
 Where holy X)ff 'rings I'll each hour prepare ; 
 
 O prove but thou propitious to my pray'r. 
 
 Grant me, among the Trojan race, to prove 
 
 A patriot worthy of my country's love. 
 
 JBlefs'd in myfelf, I beg, I next may be 
 
 Blcfs'd in my children and pofterity : 
 
 Happy in health, long let me fee the fun, 
 
 And, lov'd by all, late may my days be done. 
 
 He faid. Jove's beauteous daughter thus reply' 
 
 Delight of human-kind, thy fexes pride ! 
 Konour'd Anchifes, you behold in me 
 No Goddefs blefs'd with immortality ; 
 But mortal I, of mortal mother came, 
 Otreus my father, (you have heard the name) 
 Who rules the fair extent o( Phrygia's lands, 
 And all her towns and fortrelics commands. 
 
 * Themis, the Goddefs of Equity and Ri^ht 
 f Bluc-ey'd maid, Pallas. 
 
 Z 2
 
 iBo POEMSUPON 
 
 ^7hen yet an infant, I to Troy was brought, 
 
 There was I nurs'd, and there your language taught^ 
 
 Then wonder not, if, thus inftrufted young, 
 
 I, like my own, can fpeak the Trojan tongue. 
 
 In me, one of Diana's nymphs behold; 
 
 Why thus arriv'd, I fliall the caufe unfold. 
 
 As, late, our fports we praftis'd on the plain, 
 
 I, and my fellow nymphs of Cynthia's train, 
 
 Dancing in chorus, and with garlands crown*d, 
 
 And by admiring crowds encompafs'd round, 
 
 Lo! hov'ring o'er my head I faw the God 
 
 Who Argus flew, and bears the golden rod: 
 
 Sudden he fciz'd, then, bore me from their fight, 
 
 Cutting thro' liquid air his rapid flight. 
 
 O'er many ftates and peopled towns we pafs'd. 
 
 O'er hills and valleys, and o'er defarts wafte; 
 
 O'er barren moors, and o'er unwholefome fens, 
 
 And woods where beafts inhabit dreadful dens. 
 
 Thro' all which pathlefs way our fpeed was ruch> 
 
 We ftopt not once the face of earth to touch. 
 
 Mean time he told me, while thro' air vK fled, 
 
 That Jove ordain'd I fliould Anchifcs wed, 
 
 And with illuftrious offspring blefs his bed. 
 
 This faid, and pointing to me your abode, 
 
 To heav'n again up-foar'd the fwift-wing'd God. 
 
 Thus, of neceflity, to you I come. 
 
 Unknown, and loft, far from my native home. 
 
 But I conjure you, by the throne of Jove, 
 
 By all that's dear to you, by all you love, 
 
 By your good parents, (for no bad, could e'er 
 
 Produce a fon fo graceful, good and fair;) 
 
 That you no wiles employ to win my heart, 
 
 But let me hence an untouch'd maid depart; 
 
 I
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. i8i 
 
 Inviolate and guiklcfs of your bed, 
 
 Let me be to your houfe and mother led. 
 
 Me to your father and your brothers fhovr, 
 
 And our alliance firft let them allow : 
 
 Let me be known, and my condition own'd, 
 
 And no unequal match I may be found. 
 
 Equality to them my birth may claim, -v 
 
 Worthy a daughter's or a fifter's name, C 
 
 Tho' for your wife, of too inferior fame. j 
 
 Next, let ambafladors to Phrygia hafte, 
 
 To tell my father of my fortunes paf&'d, 
 
 And eafe my mother in that anxious ftatc, 
 
 Of doubts and fears, which cares for me create. 
 
 They in return fhall prefents bring from thence 
 
 Of rich attire, and fums of gold immenfe : 
 
 you in peculiar fhall with gifts be grac'd, 
 
 In price and beauty far above the reft. 
 
 This done, perform the rites of nuptial love, 
 
 Grateful to men below, and Gods above. 
 
 She faid, and from her eyes fhot fubtlc fires, 
 
 Which to his heart infinuate defircs. 
 
 E-efifllefs love invading thus his breaft. 
 
 The panting youth the fmiling queen addrcfs'd. 
 
 Since mortal you, of mortal mother came, 
 And Otreus you report your father's name; 
 And fince th' immortal Hermes from above, 
 To execute the dread commands of Jove, 
 Your wond'rous beauties hither has convcy'd, 
 A nuptial life with me henceforth to lead: 
 Know, now, that neither Gods nor men have pow'r 
 One minute to defer the happy hour. 
 This inflant will I feize upon thy charms. 
 Mix v/ith thy foul, and melt within ;hy arms:
 
 jS2 POEMSUPON 
 
 Tho' Phoebus, arm'd with his unerring dart, 
 Stood ready to transfix my panting heart; 
 Tho' death, tho' hell, in confeqnencc attend. 
 Thou fhalt with me the genial bed afcend. 
 
 He faid, and fudden fnatch'd her beauteous hand; 
 The Goddefs fmil'd, nor did th' attempt "withfland: 
 But fix'd her eyes upon the hero's bed, 
 ■\yhere foft and filken coverlets were fpread, 
 And ovcT all, a counterpane was plac'd, 
 Thick fown with furs of many a favagebcaft, 
 Of bears and lions, heretofore his fpoil; 
 And ftjll rcmain'd the trophies of his toil. 
 
 Now to afcend the bed they both prepare, 
 And he with eager hafie difrubes the fair. 
 
 Her fparkling necklace, firfl, he laid afide; 
 Her bracelets next, and braided hair unty'd: 
 And now, his bufie hand her zone unbrac'd, 
 "Which girt her radiant robe around her wafte; 
 jHer radiant robe at laft afide was thrown, 
 Whofe rofie hue with dazling luftre flione. 
 
 The queen of love the youth thus difarray'd. 
 And on a chair of gold her vcftments laid. 
 Anchifes now (fo Jove and fate ordain'd) 
 The fweet extream of ecftacy attain'd; 
 And mortal he, was like th' immortals blefs'd. 
 Not confcious of the Goddefs he polTefs'd. 
 
 But, whe'n the fwains their flocks and herds had fed, 
 And from the flow'ry field returning, led 
 Their ftieep to fold, and oxen to the fhed ; 
 In foft and pleafing chains of lleep profound, 
 The wary Goddefs her Anchifes bound : 
 Then gently rifing from his fide and bed, 
 In all her bfight attire her limbs array'd.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 
 
 And now, her fair-cro\vn'd head aloft flic rear?, 
 Nor more a mortal, but herfelf appears : 
 Her face refulgent, and majeflick mien, 
 Confefs'd the Goddefs, love's and beauty's queen. 
 
 Then, thus, aloud fhc calls. Anchifes, wake; 
 Thy fond repofe and lethargy forfake: 
 Look on the nymph who late from Phrygia came, 
 Behold me well — fay, if I feem the fame. 
 
 At her firlt call the chains of flecp were broke, 
 And ftaxting from his bed, Anchifes woke : 
 But when he Venu' view'd without difguifc, 
 Her fhining neck beheld, and radiant eyes; 
 Aw'd, and aba(h'd,he turn'd his head afidc, 
 Attempting with his robe his face to hide. 
 Confus'd with wonder, and with fear opprefs'd, 
 In winged words, he thus the queen addrefs'd. 
 
 When firft, O Goddefs, I thy form beheld, 
 Whofe charms fo far humanity excell'd ; 
 To thy celcftial pow'r my vows I paid, 
 And with humility implor'd thy aid : 
 But thou, tor fecret caufe to me unknown, 
 Didft thy divine immortal ftate difown. 
 But now, 1 beg thee by the filial love 
 jDue to thy father, Aegis-bearing Jove, 
 Compafllon on my human ftatc to fliow; 
 Nor let me lead a life infirm below : 
 Defend me from the woes which mortals wait, 
 Nor let me fharc of men the common fate : 
 Since never man with length of days was bleft, 
 Who in delights of love a deity polfefs'd. 
 
 To him, Jove's beauteous daughter thus reply'd; 
 Be bold, Anchifes ; in my Icne confide ; 
 Nor me, nor other God, thou needft to fear, 
 For thou to all the hcav'nly race art dear.
 
 184 P O E M S tJ P O N 
 
 Know, from our loves, thou flialt a fon obtain, 
 "Who over all the realm of Troy fhall reign ; 
 From whom, a race of monarchs fliall defcend, 
 And whofe pofterity fhall know no end. 
 To him thou (halt the name * Aeneas give, 
 As one, for whofe conception I muft grieve, 
 Oft as I think, he to exift began 
 From my conjunftion with a mortal man. 
 
 But Troy, of all the habitable earth, 
 To a fuperior race of men gives birth; 
 Producing heroes of th' aetherial kind, 
 And next refembling Gods in form and mind. 
 
 From thence, gteat Jove to azure skies conveyed, 
 To live with Gods, the lovely Ganymede. 
 "Where, by th' immortals honour'd, (ftrange to fecf ) 
 The youth enjoys a blefs'd eternity. 
 In bowls of gold, he ruddy neftar pours, 
 And Jove regales in his unbended hours. 
 Long did the king, his fire, his abfence moum, 
 Doubtful, by whom, or where the boy was boro : 
 'Till Jove at length, in pity of his grief, 
 Difpatch'd f Argicides to his relief; 
 And more with gifts to pacific his mind, 
 He fent him horfes of a deathlefs kind, 
 Whofe feet outftript in fpecd the rapid vrind. 
 
 * < Aeneas, fignifyingone 
 * who caufeth grief: ' By 
 this pafTage, it fliould fcem 
 as if the Etymologies had 
 err'd, who, as he was the 
 hero of Virgil's EpickPocm, 
 have deriv'd his name from 
 «'v/w, < to extol, or praife;' 
 
 it appearing here exprefly 
 to be deriv'd from avuc 
 * grief: ' or «'va« < to afTcft 
 ' with grief.' 
 
 f The flayer of Argus. 
 Mercury fo called, from 
 having flain Argus.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. iS; 
 
 Charging withal fwift Hermes to relate 
 
 The yoHth's advancement.to a heav'nlj flatc; 
 
 Where, all his hours are pa ft in circling joy, 
 
 Which age can ne'er decay, nor death deftroy. 
 
 Now, when this embaffie the king receives, 
 
 No more for abfent Ganymede he grieves; 
 
 The pleafing.-news his aged .heart:revives, 
 
 And with delight his fwift- heeiy fteeds he drives. 
 But when the golden-thron'd Aurora made 
 
 Tithonus partner of her rofie bed, 
 
 (Tithonus too was of the Trojan line, 
 
 Refembling Gods in face and form divine) 
 
 For him (he ftrait the Thunderer addrefs'd, 
 
 That with perpetual life he might be blcfs'd : 
 
 Jove heard her pray 'r, and granted herrequel^. 
 
 But ah! how rafli was fhe, how ind^fcreet! 
 
 The moft material blefling to omit; 
 
 Neglefting, or not thinking to provide, 
 
 That length of days might be with ftrength fupply'd; 
 
 And to her lover's •endlefs life, engage 
 
 Anendlefe you<h, incapable of age. 
 
 But hear what fate befcl this heav'nly fair. 
 
 In gold enthron'd, the brighteft child of air, 
 
 Tithonus, while of pleafmg youth pofTefs'd, 
 
 Is by Aurora with delight care fs'd; 
 
 Dear to her arms, he in her cour-t refidcs. 
 
 Beyond the verge of earth, and ocean's utmoft tides. 
 
 But, when he faw grey Jiairs -begin to fpread, 
 Deform his beard, and ^fadorn liis head, 
 The Goddefs cold in her embraces grew, 
 His arms declin'd, and from his bed withdrew ; 
 Yet ftill a kind of nurfing care flie Ihow'd, 
 And foodambrofial, and rich cloaths beftoif'd; 
 A A
 
 ,86 P O E M S U P.O N 
 
 But when of age he felt the fad extream, 
 
 And ev'ry nerve was fhrunk, and limb was lame, 
 
 Lock'd in a room hex ufelefs fpoufe (he left, 
 
 Of youth, of vigour, and of voice bereft.* 
 
 On terms like thefe, I never can defire 
 
 Thou fhouldft to immortality afpire. 
 
 Couldft thou indeed, as now thou art, remain, 
 Thy ftrength, thy beauty, and thy youth retain, 
 Couldft thou forever thus my husband prove, 
 I might live happy in thy endlefs love ; 
 2sor mould I e'er have caufe to dread the day, 
 'S^'hen I muft mourn thy lofs and life's decay. 
 But thou, alas! too Ibon and fure murt bend 
 Beneath the woes which painful age attend; 
 Inexorable age! whofe wretched ftate 
 All mortals dread, and all immortals hate. 
 
 Now, know, I alfo muft my portion fliare, 
 And for thy fake reproach and fliamc muft bear. 
 For I, who heretofore in chains of love 
 Could captivate the minds of Gods above, 
 And force 'em, by my all-fubduing charms: 
 To figh and languifli in a woman's arms, 
 Muft now no more that pow'r fuperior boaft, 
 Kor tax with weaknefs the celeftial hoft ; 
 Since I myfelf, this dear amends have made. 
 And am at laft by my own arts betray'd. 
 
 Erring like them, with appetite deprav'd. 
 This hour, by thee, I have a fon concciv'd; 
 Whom hid beneath my zone, I muft conceal, 
 'Till time his being and my fliame reveal. 
 
 * Tithonus was feign'd, at length, to have been turo'e 
 into a gralhopperk
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 
 Him fhall the nymphs who thefc fair woods adorn 
 In their deep bofoms nurfe, as foon as born: 
 They no|y)f mortal nor immortal feed 
 Are faid Wfpring, yet on Ambrofia feed, 
 And • long they live; and oft in chorus join 
 With Gods and GoddelFes in dance divine. 
 
 • Of wood-nymphs there 
 ■were the Dryades and the 
 Hamadryades ; the Dryades 
 prefidcd over woods and 
 groves ; the Hamadryades 
 each over her particular 
 tree. None of them were 
 accounted immortal, but ex- 
 treamly long-liv'd. Aufo- 
 nius, from Hcfiod, com- 
 putes the compleat life of 
 a man at 96 years; a crow, 
 he fays, lives nine times as 
 long; a deer four times as 
 long as a crow ; a raven 
 three times as long as a deer ; 
 the phoenix ten times as 
 long as the raven; andthefe 
 Hamadryades live ten times 
 as long as a phoenix. But the 
 moft receivM opinion was, 
 that they liv'd juft as long as 
 their trees. Therefore this 
 from Aufonius feenis rather 
 to relate to the Dryades, and 
 the duration of a whole 
 wood; for there are frequent 
 inftances where they were 
 indifferently call'd Dryades 
 and Hamadryades, by the 
 ancient poets. They were 
 very fenfible of good offices, 
 and grateful to them who at 
 A A 
 
 any time prcferved theif 
 trees. The fcholiaft, upon 
 a paiFage mentioning thefc 
 nymphs in Apoilon. Argo- 
 naut. 1. 2. relates the fol- 
 lowing (lory cited from Cha- 
 ron Lampfacenus. A young 
 man call'd Raecus obferv- 
 ing a fair oak almoft fallen 
 to the earth, order'd it to be 
 fupported, and took fuclj 
 effeftual care that he re-efta- 
 blilhed it again to flourifh 
 in its place. The nymph of 
 the tree appeared to him, and 
 in return bid him ask what 
 he pleas'd. The youth rea- 
 dily demanded of her the laft 
 favour, which (he as rea- 
 dily promis'd; and accord- 
 ing to agreement, fent a bee 
 to fummon him at the time 
 when he might be happy : 
 but the young man happen- 
 ing to be gaming at dice 
 when the bee came, was fo 
 offended with its buzzing 
 that he gave it ill words, 
 and chid it from him : this 
 reception of her ambafTador 
 fo enraged the nymph, that 
 in revenge /he rendcr'd him 
 impotent, This ftory is alfo
 
 its' P d E M S U P O N 
 
 Thefe tne * Sileni court; thefe Hermes love:. 
 And their embraces fecks in ihady groves. 
 Their origin and birth thefe nymphs deduce 
 From common parent earth's prolifick juice : 
 With lofty firs which grace the mountain's brow, 
 Or ample fprcading oaks at once they grow ; 
 All have their trees allotted to their care, 
 iVhofe growth, duration and decreafe they fliarc. 
 But holy are thefe groves by mortals held. 
 And therefore by the axe are never fcll'd. 
 But when the fate of fome fair tree draws nigh", 
 It firft appears to droop, and then grows dry j 
 The bark to crack and peridi next is feen, 
 And laft the boughs it fheds, no longer green: 
 And thus the nymphs expire by like degrees, 
 And live and die coe^'al with their trees. 
 
 Thefe gentfe nymphs, by my perfuafion won. 
 Shall in their fweet reccfTes nurfe my fon: 
 And when his cheeks with youth's firfl blufhes glow. 
 To thee the facred maids the boy ihall fliow. 
 
 More to inftruft thee, when five years fhall end, 
 X will again to vifit thee defcend. 
 Bringing thy beauteous fon to charm thy fight, 
 ^Vhofe godlike form Oiall fill thee with delight * 
 Him will I leave thenceforward to thy care, 
 And will that with him thou to Troy repair: 
 There, if enquiry fhall be made, tbknow 
 To whom thou doft fo bright an off-fpring owcj- 
 
 cited in part by Nat. Com. 
 
 See Ovid. Metam. 1. 8. of 
 
 the fate of Erifichthon, for Sileni, as' Pa ufanias reports 
 
 cutting down one of thefe in Attic, p. 41. 
 
 * The Satyrs, when they, 
 were in years, were called 
 
 animated trees.
 
 SEVERAL OCCASIONS. it$ 
 
 it fure, thou nothing of the truth dcteft, 
 
 But ready anfwcr make as I direft. 
 
 Say of a Sylvan nymph the fair youth came, 
 
 And Calycopis call his mother's name. 
 
 For fhouldft thou boaft the truth, and madly own 
 
 That thou in blifs hadft Cytherea known, 
 
 Jove would his anger pour upon thy head, 
 
 And with avenging thunder ftrikc thee dead. 
 
 Now all is told thee, and juft caution giv'n. 
 
 Be fccret thou, and dread the wrath of Heav'n. 
 
 She faid, and fuddcn foar'd above hit fight, 
 Cutting thro' liquid air her heav'nward flight. 
 
 All hail, bright Cyprian Queen ! thee firft I praife ;^ 
 Then, to fomc other pow'r tranifet my lay«.
 
 A 
 
 TABLE of the POEMS. 
 
 IpPisTLE to the Right Honourable Charles Lord 
 
 L« Halifax, &c. p. 3 
 The Mourning Mufeof Alexis, a Pafloral, lamenting 
 
 the Death of Queen Marj. ; 
 
 To the King, on the taking of Namure. 12 
 The Birth of the Mufe. To the Right Honourable 
 
 Charles Lord Halifax. i3 
 
 On Mrs. Arabella Hunt finging. c6 
 Priam's Lamentation and Petition to Achilles for the 
 
 Body of his Son Heftor. 29 
 The Lamentations of Hecuba, Andromache and Helen 
 
 over the dead Body of Heftor. 33 
 
 Paraphrafe upon Horace, Ode 19. Lib, 1. 39 
 
 Stanzas in Imitation of Horace, Lib. 2. Ode 14. 40 
 
 In Imitation of Horace, Ode p. Lib. i. ^2 
 
 A Song. ^5- 
 
 The Reconciliation. ib, 
 
 Abfence. 47 
 
 A Song. ib. 
 
 Song in Dialogue for two Women. ib. 
 
 A Song. 48 
 
 The Petition. 49 
 
 Song. , ib. 
 
 Song. ib. 
 Occafion'd on a Lady's having writ Verfcs in Com- 
 mendation of a Poem which was written in Praifc 
 
 of another Lady. jo 
 An Epigram written after the Death of Mrs. Arabella 
 
 Hunt, under her Pifture drawn playing on a Lute. ib. 
 
 Song. s I 
 A Hymn to Harmony, in Honour of St. Cecilia's 
 
 Day, 1701. ib. 
 Verfcs to the Memory of Grace Lady Gethin, occa- 
 fioned by reading her Book intitkd • Reliquiae 
 
 * Gcthinianae.' ;<j
 
 TABLE of the POEMS. 
 Epitaph on Robert Huntington of Stanton Harcourt, 
 
 Efq; and Robert his Son. p. ;t 
 
 To Mr. Dryden on his Tranflation of Pcrfius. ib. 
 
 The Eleventh Satire of Juvenal. 60 
 
 Prologue to Qiaecn Mary, upon her Majcfty's coming 
 to fee the Old Batchelor, after having fecn the 
 Double-Dei;lcr. yS 
 
 Epilogue at the opening of the Queen's Theatre in 
 
 the Hay -Market, with an Italian Paftoral. 77 
 
 Prologue to Pyrrhus King of Epirus. 79 
 
 Epilogue to Oroonoko. 8o 
 
 Prologue to the Husband his own Cuckold. 81 
 
 Prologue to the Court, on the Queen's Birth-day, 
 
 1704- 81 
 
 The Tears of Amaryllis for Amyntas. A Paftoral, la- 
 menting the Death of the late Lord Marquis of 
 Blanford. 8 J 
 
 To Cynthia, weeping and not fpcaking. 91 
 
 Amoret. 9J 
 
 Lesbia. 94 
 
 Doris. ib. 
 
 To Sleep. Elegy. 97 
 
 To Sir Godfrey Kneller, occafion'd by L y 1 
 
 Pifture. 99 
 
 To a Candle. Elegy. loi 
 
 Ovid's Third Book of the Art of Love. 102 
 
 Of Pleafing, an Epirtle to Sir Richard Temple. 135" 
 
 A Pindarique Ode, humbly ofTer'd to the Queen, on 
 the viftorious Progrefs of her Majefty's Arms, un- 
 der the Conduft of the Duke of Marlborough. To 
 which is prefix'd a Difcourfe on the Pindarique 
 Ode. 141 
 
 To the Right Honourable the Earl of Godolphin, 
 Lord High Treafurer of Great Britain. Pindarique 
 Ode. 1J7 
 
 An impofllble Thing. A Tale. 163 
 
 The Peafant in Search of his Heifer. A Tale, after 
 
 M. De la Fontaine. 1^9 
 
 Homer's Hymn to Venus: Tranflated into Engliih 
 Verfc. 171 
 
 THE END.
 
 This book is DUE on the last 
 date stamped below 
 
 JM 8 - t952 
 FEB 1 saaif 
 
 MAR 2 3 ^^ 

 
 3 1158 00488 9811