OPE, to whofe reed beneath the beechen fhade,

POPE,

The Nymphs of Thames a pleas'd attention paid;

While

a This noble author was born in the year 1709. He was the eldest fon of Sir Thomas Lyttelton, of Hagley in Worcestershire, and received his education at Eton, where he was fo much diftinguished, that

VOL. II.

A/

his

THE

PROGRESS of LOVE.

IN FOUR ECLOGUES. By GEORGE LORD LYTTELTON*.

While yet thy Mufe, content with humbler praife,
Warbled in Windfor's grove her fylvan lays ;
Though now fublimely borne on Homer's wing,
Of glorious wars, and godlike chiefs fhe fing:
Wilt thou with me re-vifit once again
The cryftal fountain, and the flow'ry plain?"
Wilt thou, indulgent, hear my verfe relate
The various changes of a lover's ftate;
And while each turn of paffion I pursue,
Ak thy own heart if what I tell be true?

To the green margin of a lonely wood,
Whose pendent shades o'erlook'd a filver flood,
Young Damon came, unknowing where he ftray'd,

Full of the image of his beauteous maid:

His flock far off, unfed, untended lay,
To every favage a defencelefs prey;

No fenfe of int'reft could their mafter move,
And every care feem'd trifling now but Love.

his exercifes were recommended as models to his fchool-fellows. From Eton he went to Chrift Church, Oxford, but ftaid there only a fhort time. He then travelled through France and Italy, and, foon after his return to England, in 1735, obtained a feat in Parliament, where he became a violent oppofer of Sir Robert Walpole's administration. In the year 1741, he married Mifs Lucy Fortefcue, the lady to whom feveral of the following Poems are addreffed; and in 1744, was made one of the Lords of the Treafury. He frequently after this period was in place, and fupported the meafures of the Court. In 1756, he was created a Peer; and died at Hagley, August 22, 1773, aged 64 years.

Awhile in penfive filence he remain❜d,

But though his voice was mute, his looks complain'd;
At length the thoughts within his bofom pent,
Forc'd his unwilling tongue to give them vent.

Ye Nymphs, he cry'd, ye Dryads, who so long
Have favour'd Damon, and infpir'd his fong;
For whom, retir'd, I fhun the gay reforts
Of fportful cities, and of pompous courts;
In vain I bid the reftlefs world adieu,
To feek tranquillity and peace with you.
Though wild Ambition and deftructive Rage
No factions here can form, no wars can wage;
Though Envy frowns not on your humble fhades,
Nor Calumny your innocence invades,

Yet cruel Love, that troubler of the breast,

Too often violates boasted reft;

your

With inbred ftorms difturbs. your

calm retreat,

And taints with bitterness each rural fweet.

Ah luckless day! when firft with fond furprize

On Delia's face I fix'd my eager eyes;

Then in wild tumults all my foul was toft,

Then reafon, liberty, at once were loft :

And every wish, and thought, and care was gone,
But what my heart employ'd on her alone.
Then too fhe fmil'd: can smiles our peace deftroy,
Those lovely children of Content and Joy?
How can foft pleasure and tormenting woe,
From the fame spring at the fame moment flow ?