Before the Seas, and this Terrestrial Ball, And Heav'n's high Canopy, that covers all, One was the Face of Nature, if a Face;

Rather a rude and indigefted Mafs .

A lifeless Lump, unfashion'd, and unfram'd,
Of jarring Seeds, and justly Chaos nam'd.
No Sun was lighted up, the World to view;
No Moon did yet her blunted Horns renew :
Nor yet was Earth suspended in the Sky;
Nor, pois'd, did on her own Foundations lie:
Nor Seas about the Shores their Arms had thrown;
But Earth, and Air, and Water, were in one.
Thus Air was void of Light, and Earth unstable,.
And Water's dark Abyss unnavigable.

No certain Form on any was impreft;

All were confus'd, and each disturb'd the reft.
For hot and cold were in one Body fixt :

And foft with hard, and light with heavy mixt.
But God, or Nature, while they thus contend,

To these inteftine Difcords put an end.

Then Earth from Air, and Seas from Earth were driv'n,

And groffer Air funk from Etherial Heav'n.

Thus difembroil'd, they take their proper place;
The next of kin contiguously embrace;

And foes are funder'd by a larger space.
The force of Fire afcended firft on high,
And took its dwelling in the vaulted Sky.
Then Air fucceeds, in Lightnefs next to Fire;
Whofe Atoms from unactive Earth retire.

Earth finks beneath, and draws a num'rous throng
Of pond'rous, thick, unwieldy Seeds along.

About her Coats unruly Waters roar,
And, rifing on a ridge, infult the Shore.

Thus when the God, whatever God was he,
Had form'd the whole, and made the parts agree,
That no unequal Portions might be found,
He moulded Earth into a spacious Round:
Then, with a breath, he gave the Winds to blow;
And bad the congregated Waters flow.

He adds the running Springs, and ftanding Lakes;
And bounding Banks for winding Rivers makes.
Some part in Earth are swallow'd up, the most
In ample Oceans, difembogu'd, are loft.
He fhades the Woods, the Vallies he restrains
With Rocky Mountains, and extends the Plains.
And as five Zones th' Ætherial Regions bind,
Five, Correfpondent, are to Earth affign'd:
The Sun with Rays, directly darting down,
Fires all beneath, and fries the middle Zone :
The two beneath the diftant Poles complain
Of endless Winter, and perpetual Rain.
Betwixt th' extremes, two happier Climates hold
The Temper that partakes of Hot and Cold.
The Fields of liquid Air, inclofing all,
Surround the Compafs of this Earthly Ball:
The lighter Parts lie next the Fires above;
The groffer near the watry Surface move:
Thick Clouds are spread, and Storms engender there,
And Thunder's Voice, which wretched Mortals fear,
And Winds that on their Wings cold Winter bear.
Nor were those bluftring Brethren left at large,
On Seas, and Shores, their fury to discharge:
Bound as they are, and circumfcrib'd in place,
They rend the World, refiftlefs, where they pass ;
And mighty marks of mifchief leave behind;
Such is the Rage of their tempeftuous kind.

Firft Eurus to the rifing Morn is fent,
(The Regions of the balmy Continent)
And Eastern Realms, where early Perfians run,
To greet the bleft appearance of the Sun.
Westward the wanton Zephyr wings his flight,
Pleas'd with the remnants of departing Light:
Fierce Boreas, with his Offspring, iffues forth
T' invade th' frozen Waggon of the North.
While frowning Aufter feeks the Southern Sphere,
And rots, with endless Rain, th' unwholfom Year.
High o'er the Clouds, and empty Realms of Wind
The God a clearer fpace for Heav'n defign'd;
Where Fields of Light, and liquid Æther flow,
Purg'd from the pond'rous dregs of Earth below.
Scarce had the Pow'r diftinguifh'd thefe, when straight
The Stars, no longer overlaid with weight,
Exert their Heads, from underneath the Mafs,
And upward shoot, and kindle as they pass,

Then, ev'ry Void of Nature, to supply,

And with diffufive Light adorn their heav'nly place.

}

With forms of Gods he fills the vacant Sky:

New Herds of Beasts he fends, the Plains to fhare ;

New Colonies of Birds, to people Air;

}

And to their Oozy Beds the finny Fish repair.
A Creature of a more exalted Kind

Was wanting yet, and then was Man defign'd:
Conscious of Thought, of more capacious Breast,›
For Empire form'd, and fit to rule the reft:
Whether with particles of heav'nly Fire
The God of Nature did his Soul infpire ;
Or Earth, but new divided from the Sky,
And pliant ftill, retain'd th' Ætherial Energy :
Which wife Prometheus temper'd into pafte,

And, mixt with living Streams, the Godlike Image caif.

H-5

Thus,

Thus, while the mute Creation downward bend
Their Sight, and to their Earthly Mother tend,
Man looks aloft, and with erected Eyes
Beholds his own hereditary Skies.

From fuch rude Principles our Form began ;
And Earth was Metamorphos'd into Man.

The GOLDEN AGE.

The Golden Age was firft; when Man, yet New,
No Rule but uncorrupted Reafon knew ;
And, with a Native bent, did Good pursue.
Unforc'd by Punishment, ur-aw'd by Fear,
His Words were fimple, and his Soul fincere :
Needlefs was written Law, where none oppreft;
The Law of Man was written in his Breast:
No fuppliant Crowds before the Judge appear'd;
No Court erected yet, nor Cause was heard;
But all was fafe, for Confcience was their Guard.
The Mountain-Trees in diftant profpect please,
yet the Pine defcended to the Seas;

Ere

}

Ere Sails were spread, new Oceans to explore;
And happy Mortals, unconcern'd for more,
Confin'd their Wishes to their Native Shore.
No Walls were yet, nor Fence, nor Mote, nor Mound;
Nor Drum was heard, nor Trumpet's angry found:
Nor Swords were forg'd; but, void of Care and Crime,
The foft Creation flept away their time.
The teeming Earth, yet guiltless of the Plough,
And unprovok'd, did fruitful Stores allow :
Content with Food, which Nature freely bred,
On Wildings and on Strawberries they fed;
Cornels and Bramble-berries

gave

the reft,

And falling Acorns furnish'd out a Feaft.

The

The Flow'rs unfown in Fields and Meadows reign'd;.
And Western Winds immortal Spring maintain'd.
In following Years the bearded Corn enfu'd
From Earth unask'd, nor was that Earth renew'd.
From Veins of Vallies Milk and Nectar broke;
And Honey sweating through the pores of Oak..

The SILVER AGE..

But when good Saturn, banifh'd from above, Was driv'n to Hell, the World was under Jove. Succeeding times a Silver Age behold, Excelling Brafs, but more excell'd by Gold. Then Summer, Autumn, Winter did appear; And Spring was but a Seafon of the Year. The Sun his Annual Courfe obliquely made, Good days contracted, and enlarg'd the bad. Then Air with fultry heats began to glow; The wings of Winds were clog'd with Ice and Snow ; And shivering Mortals, into Houfes driv'n, Sought shelter from th' inclemency of Heav'n. Thofe Houfes, then, were Caves, or homely Sheds, With twining Oziers fenc'd; and Mofs their Beds. Then Ploughs, for Seed, the fruitful Furrows broke, And Oxen labour'd first beneath the Yoke.

The BRAZEN AGE..

To this came next in course the Brazen Age :: A Warlike Offspring, prompt to Bloody Rage, Not Impious yet