Watch o'er their steps, and guide them as they go;
And none fhall wander from the obvious path:
For who can err, when God directs the way?
The rampant lion shall not wander there,
Nor fiery tiger, roaring for his prey;
Nor prowling wolf, that howls along the plain,
With the keen pangs of 1aging hunger ftung;
Nor furly bear in Nebo's mountains bred,
Or Carmel's foreft ranging merciless,
Such as came furious from the neighb'ring groves
Of ancient Bethel with voracious fpeed,
Grinning deftruction as they roam'd along,
And flew the mockers of the good old seer,
But free and unmolested shall they walk
Whom heav'n protects, and God vouchfafes to guide.
The ranfom'd captives, weary of the yoke,
The heavy yoke of long oppreffive thrall,
Shall chearfully return to happier climes ;
In melody break forth the gladden'd heart,
That speaks deliverance, and the voice of joy,
Judah fhall witness to the grateful fong;
And faithful Zion echo back the found.
No figns of woe fhall hang upon the cheek,
No fhuddering fear, nor horrible despair;
But grief, with all its melancholy train
Of huge difmay, fhall fly from every face.
Gladness fhall crown the head, peace fill the heart,
And endless rapture dwell on every brow.
And now our fears remov'd, with loud applause
Jointly we crown'd his conduct, and his cause.
Transporting pleasure rais'd each drooping tongue,
The peasants fhouted, and the poets fung.
The poets fung, though Addifon alone
Adorns thy laurels, and maintains his own ;
* Woodstock, in the county of Oxford, was once a royal palace, where several of our kings, and particularly Henry the 1Id, refided. It was granted by the crown, in 1704, to John Duke of Marlborough, as a reward for his fervices, after the successful campaign of that year.
b William Harrifon was fellow of New College, Oxford, and died young, 14th February, 1712-13. He was patronized by Swift, whose intereft procured for him the post of secretary to Lord Raby, then ambaffador at The Hague. He continued the Tatler after it was given up by Sir Richard Steele, and wrote feveral fmall poems.
See The Campaign; a poem, addreffed to the Duke of Marlborough.
In him alone, great MARLBOROUGH, is feen
Thy graceful motion, and thy godlike mien :
Each action he exalts with rage divine,
And the full Danube flows in every line.
But we in vain to that fublime afpire:
So heatless glow-worms emulate the fire,
Shine without warmth: another song prepare,
My Mufe; the country is the Muse's care;
Thither thy much-lov'd MARLBOROUGH pursue
With eager verfe, and keep thy theme in view.
But oh! what joyful numbers can disclose
The various raptures his approach bestows;
How vales refound, how crowds collected fhare
The radiant glories of the matchless pair?
The gen'rous youths, within whose bosoms glow
Some fecret unripe longings for a foe,
Surveying here the favourite of Fame,
Conceive new hopes, and nurfe the growing flame:
While fofter maids confefs a pleafing pain,
And fighing with he had been born a swain.
So when the pow'rs appeas'd bade discord cease,
And Greece obtain❜d from jarring gods a peace,
The god of war, and beauteous queen of love,
To Cyprian fhades their peaceful chariot drove :
Shepherds and nymphs attending form'd the train,
And mirth unusual revell'd on the plain.
And should the Gods once more their heaven forego,
To range on earth, and bless mankind below,
O'er all the globe no region would be found,
With nobler foil, or brighter beauty crown'd.
Phoebus for this would change his Delphic grove,
Juno her Samos, and his Ida Jove.
Olympic games no longer fhould delight,
But neighb'ring plains afford a nobler sight,
Where England's great Æneas standing by,
Impatient youths on winged courfers fly :
Urg'd by his presence they outstrip the wind
Involv'd in smoke, and leave the Muse behind.
But fee! once more returns the rival train,
And now they stretch, now bending loofe the rein,
And fears and hopes beat high in every vein,
'Till one (long fince fuccefsful in the field)
Exerts that strength he firft with art conceal'd;
Then swift as lightning darted through the skies,
Springs forward to the goal, and bears away the prize.
By arts like these all other palms are won,
They end with glory, who with caution run.
We neither write, nor act, what long can last,
When the first heat fees all our vigour past;
But, jaded, both their fhort-liv'd mettle lofe,
The furious ftatefman, and the fiery Mufe.
The contest ended, night with gloomy face
O'erspreads the heaven; and now with equal pace
The victor, and the vanquifh'd, quit the place:
Sleep's friendly office is to all the fame,
His conqueft he forgets, and they their fhame.
Next morning, ere the fun with fickly ray
O'er doubtful fhades maintains the dawning day,
The fprightly horn proclaims fome danger near,
And hounds, harmonious to the sportsman's ear,
With deep-mouth'd notes rouse up the trembling deer.
Startled he leaps afide, and, lift'ning round,
This way and that explores the hoftile found,
Arm'd for that fight, which he declines with fhame,
Too fond of life, too negligent of fame;
For Nature, to display her various art,
Had fortify'd his head, but not his heart;
Thofe fpears, which useless on his front appear'd,
any elfe had been ador'd and fear'd;
But honours difproportion'd are a load,
Grandeur a fpecious curfe, when ill bestow'd.
Thus void of hope, and panting with furprize,
In vain he'd combat, and as vainly flies.
Of paths myfterious whether to pursue
The fcented track informs the lab'ring crew:
With speed redoubled, they the hint embrace,
Whilft animating mufic warms the chace :
Flush'd are their hopes, and with one gen'ral cry
They echo thro' the woods, and found their conquest nigh.
Not fo the prey; he now for fafety bends
From enemies profess'd, to faithless friends,
Who to the wretched own no shelter due,
But fly more swiftly than his foes purfue.
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