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SECANDER.

And oft as Springrenew'dtheplainswithflow'rs, Far fly the fwains, like us, in deep defpair;
Breath'd his foft gales,and led the fragrant hours, And leave to ruffian bands their fleecy care.
With fure return the fought the sylvan scene,
The breezy mountains, and the forefts
Her maids around her mov'd, a duteous band!
Each bore a crook all-rural in her hand:
Some fimple lay of flocks and herds they fung;
With joy the mountain and the foreft rung.

Be ev'ry youth like royal Abbas mov'd,
And ev'ry Georgian maid like Abralov'd!'
And oft the royal lover left the care
And thorns of state, attendant on the Fair;
Oft to the fhades and low-roof'd cots retir'd,
Or fought the vale where first his heart was fir'd:
A ruffet mantle, like a fwain, he wore;
And thought of crowns and bufy courtsnomore.
'Be ev'ry youth like royal Abbas mov'd,
And ev'ry Georgian maid like Abra lov'd!'
Bleft was the life that royal Abbas led:
Sweet was his love, and innocent his bed.
What if in wealth the noble maid excel;
The fimple fhepherd-girl can love as well.
Let thofe who rule on Perfia's jewell'd throne
Be fam❜d for love, and gentlest love alone;
Or wreathe, like Abbas, full of fair renown,
The lover's myrtle with the warrior's crown.
O happy days!' the maids around her fay;
"O hafte, profufe of bleffings, hafte away!

Be ev'ry youth like royal Abbas mov'd,
And ev'ry Georgian maid like Abra lov'd!'

ECLOGUE IV

Agib and Secander; or, the Fugitives.

Scene, a Mountain, in Circassia.-Time, Midnight.

In vain, unheard, thou call it thy Perfian lord!
Unhappy land! whofe bleffingstemptthesword;
In vain thou court'ft him, helpless, to thine aid,
To fhield the thepherd, and protect the maid!
Far off, in thoughtlefs indolence refign'd,
Midft fair Sultanas lost in idle joy,
Soft dreams of love and pleasure footh his mind:

No wars alarm him, and no fears annoy.

AGIB.

Have lent the monarch oft a cool retreat.
Yet thefe green hills, in fummer's fultry heat,
And once by maids and hepherds lov'd in vain!
Sweet to the fight is Zabra's flow'ry plain,
By Sargis' banks, or Irwan's fhady grove;
No more the virgins fhall delight to rove
On Tarkie's mountain catch the cooling gale,
Or breathe the fweets of Aly's flow'ry vale;
Fair fcenes! but ah! no more with peace poffeft,
No more the fhepherds' whit'ning tents appear,
With eafe alluring, and with plenty bleft.
Nor the kind products of a bounteous year;
No more the date, with fnowy bloffoms crown'd;
But Ruin spreads her baleful fires around.

SECANDER.

In vain Circaffia boasts her spicy groves,
In vain fhe boafts her fairest of the fair,
For ever fam'd for pure and happy loves:
Their eyes blue languish, and their golden hair,
Thofe eyes in tears their fruitless grief muft fend;
Thofe hairs the Tartar's cruel hand fhall rend.

prepare,

AGIB.

your

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fair:

IN fair Circaffia, where, to love inclin`d, Each fwain was bleft, for ev'ry maid was kind; Ye Georgian fwains, that piteous learn from At that still hour when awful midnight reigns, Circaffia's ruin, and the waffe of war; And none but wretches haunt thetwilightplains, Some weightier arms than crooks and staffs What time the moon had hung her lamp on high; And pafs'd in radiance thro' the cloudless sky; To fhield your harvest, and defend Sad o'er the dews two brother fhepherds fled, The Turk and Tartar like defigns purfue, Where 'wildering fear and defp rate forrow led: Fix'd to destroy, and stedfaft to undo. Faft as they prefs'd their flight, behind them lay Wild as his land, in native deferts bred, Wide ravag'd plains, and valleys stole away. By luft incited, or by malice led, Along the mountain's bending fide they ran; The villain Arab, as he prowls for prey, Till, faint and weak, Secander thus began: Oft marks with blood and wafting flames the way; Yet none fo cruel as the Tartar foe, To death inur'd, and nurs'd in scenes of woe.

SECANDER.

Oh ftay thee, Agib; for my feet deny,
No longer friendly to my life, to fly.
Friend of my heart, oh turn thee, and furvey,
Trace our fad flight thro' all its length of way!
And first review that long-extended plain,
And yon wide groves, already pafs'd with pain!
Yon ragged cliff, whofe dang 'rous path we tried!
And, laft, this lofty mountain's weary fide!

AGIB.

Weak as thou art, yet hapless muftthouknow
The toils of flight, or fome feverer woe!
Still as I hafte, the Tartar fhouts behind,

And fhrieks and forrows loadthefadd'ningwind;

In rage of heart, with ruin in his hand,
He blafts our harvests, and deforms our land.
Yon citron grove, whence firft in fear we came,
Drops its fair honours to the conquering flame:

A thriller fhriek, and nearer fires appear'd;
He faid; when loud along the vale was heard
The affrighted fhepherds, thro' the dewsofnight,
Wideo'erthemoon-lighthillsrenew'dtheirflight.

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With his unhallow'd touch. So (poets fing).
Grimalkin, to domestic vermin fworn
An everlasting foe, with watchful eye
Lies nightly brooding o'er a chinky gap,
Protending her fell claws, to thoughtless mice
Sure ruin. So her difembowell'd web
Arachne in a hall or kitchen spreads,
Obvious to vagrant flies: fhe fecret stands
Within her woven cell; the humming prey
Regardless of their fate, rush on the toils
Inextricable, nor will aught avail
Their arts, or arms, or shapes of lovely hue;
The wafp infidious, and the buzzing drone,
And butterfly, proud of expanded wings
Diftinct with gold, entangled in her snares,
Ufelefs refistance make: with eager ftrides,
She tow'ring flies to her expected spoils;
Then with envenom'd jaws the vital blood
Drinks of reluctant foes, and to her cave
Their bulky carcafes triumphant drags.

To Juniper's Magpye, or Town Hall,* repairs; | This caitiff eyes your steps aloof; and oft
Where, mindful of the nymph whofe wanton eye Lies perdue in a nook or gloomy cave,
Transfix'd his foul, and kindled amorous flames, Prompt to enchant fome inadvertent wretch
Chloe or Phillis, he each circling glass
Witheth her health, and joy, and equal love.
Meanwhile he fmokes, and laughs at merry tale,
Or pun ambiguous, or conundrum quaint.
But I, whom griping penury furrounds,
And hunger, fure attendant upon want,
With fcanty oflals, and small acid tiff,
(Wretched repaft!) my meagre corfe fuftain:
Then folitary walk, or doze at home
In garret vile, and with a warming puff
Regale chill'd fingers; or, from tube as black
As winter chimney, or well-polish'd jet,
Exhale mundungus, ill perfuming fcent;
Not blacker tube, nor of a fhorter fize,
Smokes Cambro-Briton (vers'd in pedigree,
Sprang from Cadwallader and Arthur, kings
Full famous in romantic tale) when he
O'er many a craggy hill and barren cliff,
Upon a cargo of fam'd Ceftrian cheese,
High overshadowing rides, with a defign
To vend his wares, or at th' Arvonian mart,
Or Maridunum, or the ancient town
Yclep'd Brechinia, or where Vaga's stream
Encircles Ariconium, fruitful foil!
Whence flow nectareous wines, that well may vie
With Maffic, Setin, or renown'd Falern.
Thus, while my joyless minutes tedious flow,
With looks demure, and filent pace, a Dun,
Horrible inonfter! hated by Gods and men,
To my aerial citadel afcends :

With vocal heel thrice thund'ring at my gate,
With hideous accent thrice he calls; I know
The voice ill-boding, and the folemn found.
What fhould I do? or whither turn? Amaz'd,
Confounded, to the dark recefs I fly
Of wood-hole; ftraight my briftling hairs erect
Thro' fudden fear; a chilly fweat bedews
My fhudd'ring limbs, and (wonderful to tell!)
My tongue forgets her faculty of speech;
So horrible he feems! His faded brow
Entrench'd with many a frown, and conic beafd,
And fpreading band, admir'd by modern faints,
Difaftrous acts forebode; in his right hand
Long fcrolls of paper folemnly he waves,
With characters and figures dire infcrib'd,
Grievous to mortal eyes (ye gods, avert
Such plagues from righteous men!). Behind him
Another monster, not unlike himself, [ftalks
Sullen of afpect, by the vulgar call'd
A Catchpole, whofe polluted hands the gods
With force incredible, and magic charms,
Erit have endued; if he his ample palm
Should haply on ill-fated fhoulder lay
Of debtor, ftraight his body, to the touch
Obfequious (as whilom knights were wont),
To fome enchanted caftle is convey'd,
Where gates impregnable, and coercive chains,
In durance strict detain him; till, in form
Of money, Pallas fets the captive free.
Beware ye debtors! when ye walk beware,
Be circumspect; oft with infidious ken

So pafs my days. But when nocturnal shades
This world envelop, and th' inclement air
Perfuades men to repel benumbing frofts
With pleafant wines,and crackling blazeof wood;
Me, lonely fitting, nor the glimmering light
Of make-weight candle, nor the joyous talk
Of loving friends, delights; diftrefs'd, forlorn,
Amidst the horrors of the tedious night,
Darkling I figh, and feed with difmal thoughts
My anxious mind; or fometimes mournful verse
Indite, and fing of groves and myrtle shades,
Or defp'rate lady near a purling stream,
Or lover pendant on a willow-tree.
Meanwhile I labour with eternal drought,
And reftlefs with, and rave; my parched throat
Finds no relief, nor heavy eyes repose:
But if a flumber haply does invade
My weary limbs, my fancy 's ftill awake,
Thoughtful of drink, and eager, in a dream,
Tipples imaginary pots of ale,

In vain: awake, I find the settled thirst
Still gnawing, and the pleasant phantom curse.
Thus do I live, from pleasure quite debarr'd,
Nor tafte the fruits that the fun's genial rays
Mature-john-apple, nor the downy peach,
Nor walnut in rough furrow'd coat fecure,
Nor medlar fruit delicious in decay.
Afflictions great! yet greater ftill remain:
My galligafkins, that have long withstood
The winter's fury, and encroaching frofts,
By time fubdued (what will not time fubdue?)
A horrid chafm difclofe, with orifice
Wide, discontinuous; at which the winds,
Eurus and Aufter, and the dreadful force
Of Boreas, that congeals the Cronian waves,
Tumultuous enter with dire chilling blasts,
Portending agues. Thus a well-fraught thip,
Long fail'd fecure, or thro' th' Ægean deep,
Or the Ionian, till cruifing near

The Lilybean fhore, with hideous crush
Jon Scylla or Charybdis (dang'rous rocks)

*Two noted alehouses in Oxford, 1700.

Which madnefs titles Happiness; While the gay wretch to revels bears The pale remains of fighs and tears; And feeks in crowds, like her undone, What only can be found in one.

She strikes rebounding; whence the shatter'd oak The troubled mind's fantastic dress,
So fierce a fhock unable to withstand,
Admits the fea; in at the gaping fide
The crowding waves ruth with impetuous rage,
Refiftlefs, overwhelming! Horrors seize
The mariners; death in their eyes appears;
They ftare, they rave, they pump, they fwear,
they pray;

(Vain efforts!) ftill the batt'ring waves rufh in,
Implacable; till, delug'd by the foam,
The fhip finks found'ring in the vait abyfs.

$ico. An Epifle to a Lady. NUGENT. CLARINDA, dearly lov'd, attend

The counfels of a faithful friend; Who, with the warmeft withes fraught, Feels all, at leaft, that friendship ought! But fince, by ruling Heaven's defign, Another's fate fhall influence thine; Oh may thefe lines for him prepare, A blifs, which I would die to share! Man may for wealth or glory roam, But woman must be bleft at home; To this fhould all her ftudies tend, This her great object and her end. Diftafte unmingled pleasures bring, And use can blunt Affliction's fting; Hence perfect blifs no mortals know, And few are plung'd in utter woe: While Nature, arm'd against Despair, Gives pow'r to mend, or ftrength to bear; And half the thought content may gain, Which spleen employs to purchase pain.

Trace not the fair domestic plan From what you would, but what you can! Nor, peevish, fpurn the fcanty ftore, Because you think you merit more! Blifs ever differs in degree, Thy share alone is meant for thee; And thou fhouldst think, however small, That share enough, for 'tis thy all: Vain fcorn will aggravate distress, And only make that little less.

Admit whatever trifles come;
Units compofe the largest fum:
Oh tell them o'er, and fay how vain
Are those who form Ambition's train;
Which fwell the monarch's gorgeous itate,
And bribe to ill the guilty great!

But thou, more bieft, more wife than thefe,
Shalt build up happiness on cafe.
Hail, fweet Content! where joy ferene
Gilds the mild foul's unruffled fcene;
And, with blithe Fancy's pencil wrought,
Spreads the white web of flowing thought,
Shines lovely in the cheerful face,
And clothes each charm with native grace;
Effution pure of bliss fincere,
A veftment for a god to wear.
Far other ornaments compofe
The garb that shrouds diffembled woes,
Piec'd out with motley dyes and forts,
Freaks, whimsies, feftivals, and fports:

But chief, my gentle friend! remove
Far from thy couch feducing Love:
Oh fhun the falfe magician's art
Nor truft thy yet unguarded heart!
Charm'd by his fpells fair Honour flies,
And thoufand treach'rous phantoms rife;
Where Guilt in Beauty's ray beguiles,
And Ruin lurks in Friendship's fmiles.
Lo! where th' enchanting captive dreams
Of warbling groves and purling ftreams;
Of painted meads, of flow'rs that fhed
Their odours round her fragrant bed.
Quick fhifts the fcene, the charm is loft,
She wakes upon a defert coaft;
No friendly hand to lend its aid,
No guardian bow'r to spread its fhade;
Expos'd to ev'ry chilling blaft,
She treads th' inhofpitable wafte;
And down the drear decline of life
Sinks, a forlorn, difhono ur'd wife.
Neglect not thou the voice of Fame,
But, clear from crime, be free from blame!
Tho' all were innocence within,
Tis guilt to wear the garb of fin ;
Virtue rejects the foul disguife:
None merit praife who praife defpife.
Slight not, in fupercilious ftrain,
Long practis'd modes, as low or vain!
The world will vindicate their cause,
And claim blind faith in Cuftom's laws.
Safer with multitudes to stray,
Than tread alone a fairer way:
To mingle with the erring throng,
Than boldly fpeak ten millions wrong.
Beware of the relentless train

Who forms adore, whom forms maintain!
Left prudes demure, or coxcombs loud,
Accufe thee to the partial crowd;
Foes who the laws of honour flight,
A judge who meafures guilt by fpite.
Behold the sage Aurelia stand,
Difgrace and fame at her command;
As if Heaven's delegate defign'd,
Sole arbiter of all her kind.
Whether the try fome favour'd piece
By rules devis'd in ancient Greece;
Or whether, modern in her flight,
She tells what Paris thinks polite:
For much, her talents to advance,
She ftudied Greece, and travell'd France;
There learn'd the happy art to please
With all the charms of labour'd eafe;
Thro' looks and nods, with meaning fraught,
To teach what he was never taught.
By her each latent fpring is feen;
The workings foul of secret spleen;
The guilt that fkulks in fair pretence;
Or folly veil'd in fpecious fenfe.

And

And much her righteous fpirit grieves, When worthleffnefs the world deceives; Whether the erring crowd commends Some patriot fway'd by private ends; Or husband trust a faithlefs wife, Secure, in ignorance, from ftrife. Averse the brings their deeds to view, But justice claims the rig'rous due; Humanely anxious to produce At least fome poffible excufe. Oh ne'er may virtue's dire difgrace Prepare a triumph for the bafe!

Mere forms the fool implicit fway, Which witlings with contempt furvey; Blind folly no defect can fee, Half wildom views but one degree. The wife remoter uses reach, Which judgment and experience teach. Whoever would be pleas'd and please, Muft do what others do with eafe. Great precept, undefin'd by rule, And only learn'd in Custom's school; To no peculiar form confin'd, It spreads thro' all the human kind; Beauty, and wit, and worth fupplies, Yet graceful in the good and wife. Rich with this gift, and none befide, In Fashion's ftream how many glide ! Secure from ev'ry mental woe, From treacherous friend or open foe; From focial fympathy, that fhares The public lofs or private cares; Whether the barb'rous foe invade, Or Merit pine in Fortune's fhade, Hence gentle Anna, ever gay, The fame to-morrow as to-day, Save where, perchance, when others weer, Her cheek the decent forrow steep; Save when, perhaps, a melting tale O'er ev'ry tender breast prevail : The good, the bad, the great, the small, She likes, fhe loves, the honours all. And yet, if fland'rous malice blame, Patient the yields a fifter's fame. Alike if fative or if praise, She Lys whate'er the circle fays; Implicit does whate'er they do, Without one point in wifh or view, Sure test of others, faithful glafs, Thro' which the various phantoms pass, Wide blank, unfeeling when alone; No care, no joy, no thought her own.

Not thus fucceeds the peerlefs dame, Who looks and talks, and acts for fame; Intent fo wide her cares extend, To make the universe her friend. Now with the gay in frolics fhines, Now reafons deep with deep divines: With courtiers now extols the great, With patriots fighs o'er Britain's fate: Now breathes with zealots holy fires, Now melts in less refin'd defires: Doom'd to exceed in each degree, Too wife, too weak, too proud, too free;

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Aloft in awful state

The godlike hero fate

On his imperial throne:

His valiant peers were plac'd around;

Their brows with rofes and with myrtle bound; So fhould defert in arms be crown'd,

The lovely Thais by his fide

Sat, like a blooming eastern bride,
In flow'r of youth and beauty's pride.
Happy, happy, happy, pair;
None but the brave,
None but the brave,

None but the brave deferves the fair,
Timotheus, plac'd on high

Amid the tuneful choir,

With flying fingers touch'd the lyre:
The trembling notes afcend the iky,
And heavenly joys inspire.

The fong began from Jove:
Who left his blifsful feats above,
Such is the pow'r of mighty love!
A dragon's fiery form belied the god:
Sublime on radiant fpheres he rode,

When he to fair Olympia prefs'd, And ftamp'd an image of himself, a fovereign of the world.

The lift ning crowd admire the lofty found;
A prefent deity, the vaulted roofs rebound;
With ravith'd ears
The monarch hears,
Affumes the god,

Affects to nod,

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His glowing cheeks, his ardent eyes;
And, while he heaven and earth defied,
Chang'd his hand, and check'd his pride.
He chose a mournful mufe,
Soft pity to infuse:

He fung Darius great and good,
By too fevere a fate,
Fall'n, fall'n, fall'n, fall'n,
Fall'n from his high estate,
And welt'ring in his blood;
Deserted at his utmost need
By thofe his former bounty fed,
On the bare earth expos'd he lies,
With not a friend to close his eyes.

With downcaft look the joyless victor fate,
Revolving in his alter'd foul
The various turns of fate below;
And now and then a figh he stole;
And tears began to flow.
The mighty mafter fmil'd, to fee
That love was in the next degree:
'Twas but a kindred found to move;
For pity melts the mind to love.

Softly fweet, in Lydian measures,
Soon he footh'd his foul to pleasures.
War he fung is toil and trouble;
Honour but an empty bubble;

Never ending, ftill beginning,
Fighting ftill, and ftill deftroying:

If the world be worth thy winning,
Think, oh think it worth enjoying!
Lovely Thais fits befide thee,

Take the good the gods provide thee, The many rend the skies with loud applaufe; So love was crown'd, but mufic won the caufe. The prince, unable to conceal his pain, Gaz'd on the fair

Who caus'd his care,

And figh'd and look'd, figh'd and look'd, Sigh'd and look'd, and figh'd again: At length, with love and wine at once opprefs'd, The vanquish'd victor funk upon her breast. Now ftrike the golden lyre again; And louder, yet, and yet a louder strain. Break his bands of fleep afunder, And roufe him, like a rattling peal of thunder. Hark, hark, the horrid found Has rais'd up his head, As awak'd from the dead, And amaz'd, he ftares around!

Revenge, revenge, Timotheus cries,
See the furies arife,

See the fnakes that they rear,
How they hifs in the air,

And the fparkles that flash from their eyes!
Behold a ghaftly band,
Each a torch in his hand,

[flain,

Thefe are Grecian ghofts, that in battle were
And unburied remain
Inglorious on the plain;
Give the vengeance due
To the valiant crew:

Behold how they tofs their torches on high,

How they point to the Perfian abodes, And glitt'ring temples of their hoftile gods! The Princes applaud, with a furious joy; And the King feiz'd a flambeau with zeal, to Thais led the way, [destroy;

To light him to his prey,

And, like another Helen, fir'd another Troy.
Thus, long ago,

Ere heaving bellows learnt to blow,
While organs yet were mute;
Timotheus to his breathing flute

And founding lyre

[fire,

Could fwell the foul to rage, or kindle foft de
At laft divine Cecilia came,
Inventrefs of the vocal frame;
The sweet enthusiast, from her facred store,
Enlarg'd the former narrow bounds,
And added length to folemn founds,
With nature's mother-wit, and arts unknown
Let old Timotheus yield the prize, [before.
Or both divide the crown;

He rais'd a mortal to the skies,
She drew an angel down.

§ 102. An Epifle from Mr. Phillips to the Earl of
Dorfet. Copenhagen, March 9, 1709.
ROM frozen climes, and endless tracts of now,
From ftreams that northern winds forbid to

FRO

flow.

What present shall the Mufe to Dorset bring,
Or how, fo near the Pole, attempt to fing?
The hoary winter here conceals from fight
All pleafing objects that to verfe invite.
The flow'ry plains, and filver ftreaming floods.
The hills and dales, and the delightful woods,
By fnow difguis'd, in bright confufion lie,
And with one dazzling wafte fatigue the eye.
Nogentle breathing breeze prepares the spring,
No birds within the defert region fing.
The fhips, unmov'd, the boilt rous winds defy,
The vaft Leviathan wants room to play,
While rattling chariots o'er the ocean fly.
And fpout his waters in the face of day.
The ftarving wolves along the main fea prowl
And to the moon in icy valleys howl.
For many a fhining league the level main,
Here fpreads itself into a glaffy plain;
There folid billows, of enormous fize,.
Alps of green ice, in wild diforder rife.
And yet but lately have I feen, e'en here,
The winter in a lovely dress appear.

Ere

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