With wine from his own country brought and made
From the fame vines, beneath whofe fruitful fhade
He and his wanton kids have often play'd.
But you, perhaps, expect a modifh feast,
With amorous fongs and 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 action ftir,
And jaded luft fprings forward with this fpur.
Virtue would fhrink to hear this lewdnefs told,
Which husbands now do with their wives behold;
A needful help, to make them both approve
The dry embraces of long wedded love.
In nuptial cinders this revives the fire,
And turns their mutual loathing to defire.
But the, who by her fex's charter muft
Have double pleasure paid, feels double luft;
Apace the warms with an immoderate heat,
Strongly her bofom heaves, and pulfes beat;
With glowing cheeks and trembling lips the lies,
With arms expanded, and with naked thighs,
Sucking in paffion both at ears and eyes.
But this becomes not me nor my estate;
Thefe are the vicious follies of the great.
Let him who does on ivory tables dine,
Whose marble floors with drunken fpawlings shine;
Let him lafcivious fongs and dances have,
Which, or to fee, or hear, the lewdeft flave,

}

}

The

;

The vileft prostitute in all the stews,
With bashful indignation would refuse.
But fortune, there, extenuates the crime
What 's vice in me, is only mirth in him:
'The fruits which murder, cards, or dice afford,
A vestal ravish'd, or a matron whor'd,
Are laudable diverfions 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,
Though which exceeds the other none can tell,
It matters not with what ill tone they 're fung,
Verfe fo fublimely 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 uneafy paffion ftill.

}

}

What though thy wife do with the morning light
(When thou in vain haft toil'd and drudg'd alt night)
Steal from thy bed and house, abroad to roam,
And, having quench'd her flame, come breathless home
Fleck'd in her face, and with disorder'd hair,
Her garments ruffled, and her bofom bare;
With ears ftill tingling, and her eyes on fire,
Half drown'd in fin, ftill burning in defire:
Whilft you are forc'd to wink, and seem content
Swelling with paffion, which you dare not vent;

}

Nay, if you would be free from night-alarms,
You must seem fond, and doating on her charms,
Take her (the last of twenty) to your arms.
Let this, and every other anxious thought,
At th' entrance of my threshold be forgot;
All thy domeftic griefs at home be left,
The wife's adultery, with the fervants' theft;
And (the most racking thought which can intrude)
Forget falfe friends and their ingratitude.
Let us our peaceful mirth at home begin,
While Megalenfian fhows are in the Circus feen:
There (to the bane of horses) in high state
The Prætor fits on a triumphal feat;
Vainly with enfigns 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 numerous crowd,
To fay all Rome) will in the Circus sweat;
Echos already do their shouts
repeat:
Methinks I hear the cry---" Away, away,
"The green have won the honour of the day."
Oh, fhould thefe fports be but one year forborn,
Rome would in tears her lov'd diverfion mourn;
For that would now a caufe of forrow yield,
Great as the lofs of Cannæ fatal field.
Such fhows as thefe were not for us defign'd,
But vigorous youth to active sports inclin'd
On beds of rofes laid, let us repose,

While round our heads refreshing ointment flows;

Our

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 now the common cenfure fear :
On feftivals it is allow'd no crime

To bathe and eat before the ufual time;
But that continued, would a loathing give,
Nor could you thus a week together live:
For frequent ufe would the delight exclude :
Pleasure's a toil when conftantly pursued.

Upon her Majefty's coming to see the OLD BATCHE

LOR, after having feen the DOUBLE-DEALER.

BY this repeated act of grace, we fee

Wit is again the care of Majefty;

And while thus honour'd our proud stage appears,
We feem to rival ancient theatres.

Thus flourish'd wit in our forefathers' age,
And thus the Roman and Athenian stage.
Whofe wit is beft, we'll not prefume to tell;
But this we know, our audience will excell:
For never was in Rome, nor Athens, feen

So fair a circle, and fo bright a Queen.
G

Long

Long has the Mufes' land been overcast,

And many rough and ftormy winters paft;
Hid from the world, and thrown in fhades of night,
Of heat depriv'd, and almost void of light:
While Wit, a hardy plant, of nature bold,
Has ftruggled ftrongly with the killing cold:
So does it ftill through oppofition grow,
As if its root was warmer kept by fnow:

But when fhot forth, then draws the danger near,
On every fide the gathering winds appear,
And blasts destroy that fruit, which frofts would fpare.
But now, new vigour and new life it knows,
And warmth that from this royal prefence flows.

O would she shine with rays more frequent here!
How gay would then this drooping land appear !
Then, like the fun, with pleasure she might view
The fmiling earth, cloath'd by her beams anew.
O'er all the meads, fhould various flowers be seen
Mix'd with the laurel's never-fading green,
The new creation of a gracious Queen.

}