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Then his pale image feem'd t' invade his room, Gaz'd him to stone, and warn'd him to the tomb While thunders roll, and nimbly lightnings play, And the storm wings his fpotted foul away.

A blaft more bounteous ne'er did heaven command

To fcatter bleffings o'er the British land.
Not that more kind, which dafh'd the pride of
Spain,

And whirl'd her crush'd Armada round the main;
Not those more kind, which guide our fleating

towers,

Waft gums and gold, and made far India ours:
That only kinder, which to Britain's fhore
Did mitres, crowns, and Stuart s race restore,
Renew'd the church, revers'd the kingdom's
doom,

And brought with Charles an Anna yet to come.

O Clarke, to whom a Stuart trusts her reign O'er Albion's fletts, and delegates the main; Dear, as the faith thy loyal heart hath sworn, Tranfmit this piece to ages yet unborn. This fight fhall damp the raging ruffian s breast, The poifon fpili, and half-drawn fword arreft: To foft compaffion ftubborn traitors bend And, one destroy'd, a thousand kings defend.

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How every nerve the greyhound's ftretch displays,
The hare preventing in her airy maze;
The lucklefs prey how treacherous tumblers gain,
nd dauntlets wolf-dogs thake the lion's mane;
Q'er all, the blood-hound boasts superior skill,
To fcent, to view, to turn, and boldly kill!
His fellows' vain alarms rejects with scorn,
True to the mafter's voice, and learned horn,
His noftrills oft, if ancient fame kog true,
Trace the fly felon through the rainted dew;
Once fnuff'd, he follows with unalter'd aim,
Nor odours fure him from the chofen game;
Deep-mouth'd he thunders, and inflam'd he views,
Springs on relentless and to death pursues.

Some hounds of manners vile (nor lefs we find
Of fops in hounds, than in the reasoning kind)
Puff d with conceit run gladding o'er the plain,
And from the fcent divert the wifer train;
For the foe's footsteps fondly fnuff their own,
And mar the mufic with their fenfelefs tone;
Start at the startling prey, or rustling wind,
And, hot at first, inglorious lag behind.
A fauntering tribe may fuch my foes difgrace!
Give me, ye gods, to breed the nobler race.
Nor grieve thou to attend, while truths unknown
I fing, and make Athenian arts our own.

D. ft thou in hounds afpire to deathlefs fame? Learn well their lineage and their ancient stem. Each tribe with joy old rustic heralds trace, And fing the chofen worthies of their race; How his fire's features in the fon were spy'd, When Die was made the vigorous Ringwood's bride.

Lefs fure thick lips the fate of Austria doom, Or eagle noses rul'd almighty Rome.

Good fhape to various kinds old bards confine, Some praife the Greek, and fome the Roman line; And dogs to beauty make as differing claims, lbion's nymphs, and India's jetty dames, Immenfe to name their lands, to mark thei bounds,

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And paint the thousand families of hounds: First count the fands, the drops where oceans flow, Or Gauls by Marlborough sent to fhades below. The task be mine, to teach Brit nuia's fwains, My much-lov d country, and my native plains.

Such be the dog, I charge, thou mean'ft to train, His back is crooked, and his belly plain, Of fillet stretch'd, and huge of haunch behind, A tapering tail, that nimbly cuts the wind; Trufs thigh'd, ftraight-ham'd, and fox-like form'è his paw,

Large-leg d, dry-fol'd, and of protended claw. His flat, wide noftrils fnuff the favory steam,

nd from his eyes he fhoots pernicious gleam; Middling his head, and prone to earth his view, With ears and cheft that dafh the morning dew: He beft to frem the flood, to leap the bound, And charm the Dryads with his voice profound; To pay large tribute to his weary Ird, And crown the fylvan hero's plenteous board.

The matron bitch whose womb fball best produce The hopes and fortunes of th illuftrious house, Deriv'd from noble, but from foreign feed, For various nature loa.hs incestuous breed,

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Is like the fire throughout. Nor yet difplease
Large flanks, and ribs, to give the teemer ease.
In Spring fet loose thy pairs. Then all things

prove

The ftings of pleafure, and the pangs of love :
Ethereal Jove then glads, with genial fhowers,
Earth's mighty womb, and ftrews her lap with
flowers.

Hence juices mount, and buds, embolden'd, try
More kindly breezes, and a fofter sky:
Kind Venus revels. Hark! on every bough
In lulling trains the feather'd warblers woo.
Fell tigers foften in th' infectious flames,

And lions, fawning, court their brinded dames :
Great Love pervades the deep; to please his mate,
The whale, in gambols, moves his monstrous
weight,

Heav'd by his wayward mirth, old O ean roars, And featter'd navies bulge on distant shores.

All Nature fmiles; come now, nor fear, my
love,

To tate the odours of the woodbine grove,
To pals the evening glooms in harmless play,
And, fweetly fwearing, languish life away.
An altar, bound with recent flowers I rear
To thee, beft feafon of the various year;
All bail! fuch days in beauteous order ran,
So fwift, fo fweet, when firft the world began,
In Eden's bowers, when nian's great fire affign'd
The names and natures of the brutal Lind.
The lamb and lion friendly walk'd their round,
And hares, undaunted, lick'd the fondling hound;
Wondrous to tell! but when, with lucklefs hand,
Our daring mother broke the fole command,
Then want and envy brought their meagre train,
Then wrath came down, and death had leave to
reign:

Hence foxes earth'd, and wolves abhor'd the day,
And hungry churls enfnar'd the nightly prey;
Rude arts at firft; but witty want refin'd
The huntfman's wiles, and famine form'd the

mind.

Bold Nimrod firft the lion's trophies wore, The panther bound, and lanc'd the bristling boar; He taught to turn the hare, to bay the deer, And wheel the courfer in his mid career: Ah had he there reftrain'd his tyrant hand! let me, ye powers, an humbler wreath demand. No pomps lafk, which crowns and fceptres yield, Nor dangerous laurels in the dufty field; Fat by the forest, and the limpid spring, Give me the warfare of the woods to fing, To breed my whelps, and healthful press the game, A mean, inglorious, but a guiltless name.

And now thy female bears in ample womb The bane of hares, and triumphs yet to come. No fport, I ween, nor blast of sprightly horn, Should tempt me then to hurt the whelps unborn. Unlock'd, in covers let her freely run, To range thy courts, and bask before the fun; Near thy full table let the favourite ftand, Strok'd by thy fon's, or blooming daughter's hand. Carefs, indulge, by arts the matron bribe, Timprove her breed, and teem a vigorous tribe.

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THE FATAL CURIOSITY.

Μ'

UCH had I heard of fair Francelia's name, he lavish praises of the babler, Fare: I thought them fuch, and went prepar'd to pry, And trace the charmer, with a critic's eye. Refoly'd to find fome fault, before unfpy'd, And disappointed, if but fatisfy'd.

Love pi rc'd the vaffal heart that durft rebel, And, where a judge was meant, a victim fel!: On thofe dear eyes, with fweet perdition gay, Igaz'd, at once, my pride and foul away All o'er I felt the lufcious poifon run, And, in a look, the hafty conqueft won.

Thus the fond moth around the taper plays, And fports and flutters near the treacherous blaze; Ravish'd with joy, he wings his eager flight, Nor dreams of ruin in fo clear a light; He tempts his fate, and courts a glorious doom, A bright deftruction, and a fhining tomb.

ΤΟ

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TO A LADY;

WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE PHOENIX.

LAVISH of wit, and bold appear the lines.

Where Claudian's genius in the Phonix
fhines:

A thousand ways each brilliant point is turn'd,
And the gay poem, like its theme, adorn'd:
A tale more frange ne'er grac'd the poet's art,
Nor e'er did fiction play fo wild a part.

Each fabled charm in matchlefs Celia meets,
The heavenly colours, and ambrofial fweets;
Her virgin bofom chafer fires fupplies,
And beams more piercing guard her kindred eyes.
O'erflowing wit th' imagin'd wonder drew,
But fertile fancy ne'er can reach the true.

Now buds your youth, your cheeks their bloom
difclofe,

Th' untainted lily, and unfolding rofe;
Eafe in your mien, and fweetnefs in your face,
You fpeak a Syren, and you move a Grace;
Nor time fhall urge thefe beauties to decay,
While virtue gives, what years fhall fteal away:
The fair, whofe youth can boaft the worth of age,
In age fhall with the charms of youth engage;
In every change ftill lovely, ftill the fame,
A fairer Phoenix in a purer flame.

A DESCRIPTION OF THE PHOENIX.

FROM CLAUDIAN.

Nutmoft ocean lies a lovely ifle,

His life in fruitful death renews his date.
And kind deftruction but prolongs his fate:
Jiv'n in the grave new ftrength his limbs receive,
And on the funeral pile begin to live.
For when a thousand times the fummer fun
His bending race has on the zodiac run,
And when as oft the vernal figns have roll'd,
As oft the wintery brought the numbing cold;
Then drops the bird, worn out with aged cares,
And bends beneath the mighty load of years

So falls the ftately pine, that proudly grew,
The fhade and glery of the mountain's brow.
When pierc'd by blafts, and spouting clouds o'er-
Spread,

It, flowly finking, nods its tottering head,
Part dies by winds, and part by fickly rains,
And wafting age deftroys the poor remains.

Then, as the filver emprefs of the night,
O'er-clouded, glimmers in a fainter light,
So, froz'n with age, and fhut from light's fupplies
In lazy rounds fcarce roll his feeble cycs,
And thofe fleet wings, for ftrength and speed re-
nown'd,

Scarce rear th' inactive lumber from the ground

Myfterious arts a fecond time create
The bird, prophetic of approaching fate.
Pil'd on a heap Sabean herbs he lays,
Farch'd by his fire the fun's intensest rays;
The pile defign'd to form his funeral feene
He wraps in colours of a fragrant green,
And bids his fpicy heap at once become
A grave deftructive, and a teeming womb.
On the rich bed the dying wonder lies,
Imploring Phoebus with perfuafive cries,

Where fpring flill blooms, and greens for ever To dart upon him in collected rays,

fmile,

Which fees the fun put on his first array,
And hears his panting fteeds bring on the day;
When, from the deep, they rufh with rapid force,
And whirl aloft. to run their glorious courfe;
When first appear the ruddy streaks of light,
And glimmering beams difpel the parting night.
In thefe foft fhades, unpreft by human feet,
The happy Phoenix keeps his balmy feat,
Far from the world disjoin'd; he reigns alone,
Alike the empire, and its king unknown.

A god-like bird, whofe endless round of years
Out-lafts the ftars, and tires the circling fpheres;
Not us'd like vulgar birds to eat his fill,
Or drink the crystal of the murmuring rill;
But fed with warmth from Titan's purer ray,
And flak'd by fireams which eaftern Teas convey;
Still he renews his life in thefe abodes,
Contemns the power of fate, and mates the gods.
His fiery eyes fhoot forth a glittering ray,
And round his head ten thousand glories play;
High on his creft, a ftar celeftial bright
Divides the darknefs with its piercing light;
His legs are ftain'd with purple's lively dye,
His azure wings the fleeting winds out-fly;
Soft plumes of chearful blue his limbs infold,
Enrich'd with fpangles, and bedropt with gold.
Begot by none himself, begetting none,
Sire of himself he is, and of himself the fon;

And new-create him in a deadly blaze.

The god beholds the fuppliant from afar, And flops the progrefs of his heaven'y car. "O thou, fays he, whom harmlefs fires fhall burn,

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Thy age the flame to fecond youth fhail turn, "An infant's cradle is thy funeral un.

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Thou, on whom heaven hath fix'd th' ambig
ous doom

"To live by ruin, and by death to bloom,
"Thy life, thy ftrength, thy lovely form renes,
"And with fiefh_beauties doubly charm the
view."

Thus fpeaking, 'miift the aromatic bed
A golden beam he toffes from his head;
Swift as defire, the fhining ruin flies,
And raight devours the willing facrifice,
Who haftes to perifh in the fertile fire,
Sink into ftrength, and into life expire.

In flames the circling odours mount on high,
Perfume the air, and glitter in the sky,
The moon and fears, amaz'd, retard their fight,
And nature ftartles at the doubtful fight;
For, whalf the pregnant urn with fury glows,
The goddess labours with a mother's throes,
Yet joys to cherifh, in the friendly flames,
The nobleft product of the iki! the claims.

Th' enlivening duft its head begins to rear,
And on the afhes fprouting plumes appear.

In

In the dead bird reviving vigour reigns,
And life returning revels in his veins:

A new-born Phoenix ftarting from the flame,
Obtain at once a fon's, and father's name;
And the great change of double life difplays,
In the fhort moment of one tranfient blaze.

On his new pinions to the Nile he bends,
And to the gods his parent urn commends,
To Egypt bearing, with majestic pride,
The balmy neft, where first he liv'd and dy'd.
Birds of all kinds admire th' unusual fight,
And grace the triumph of his infant flight;
In crowds unnumber'd round their chief they fly,
Oppress the air, and cloud the fpacious sky;
Nor dares the fierceft of the winged race
Obftruct his journey through th' ethereal space;
The hawk and eagle useless wars forbear,
Forego their courage, and confent to fear;
The feather'd nations humble homage bring.
And bless the gaudy flight of their ambrofialking.
Lefs glittering pomp does Parthia's monarch
yield,

Commanding legions to the dufty field;
Though fparkling jewels on his helm abound,
And royal gold his awful head furround;
Though rich embroidery paint his purple vest,
And his steed bound in coftly trappings dreft,
Play'd in the battle's dreadful van to ride,
In graceful grandeur, and imperial pride.

Fam'd for the worship of the fun, there stands
A facred fane in Egypt's fruitful lands,
Hewn from the Theban mountain's rocky womb
An hundred columns rear the marble dome;
Hither, 'tis faid, he brings the precious load,
A grateful offering to the beamy god:
Upon whofe altar's confecrated blaze
The feeds and relicks of himfelf he lays,
Whence flaming incenfe makes the temple shine,
And the glad altars breathe per'umes divine.
The wafted fell to far Pelufium flies,
To chear old Ocean, and enrich the skies,
With nectar's fweets to make the nations fmile,
And fcent the feven-fold channels of the Nile.
Thrice happy Phoenix! heaven's peculiar care
Has made thyself thyfelf's furviving heir;
By death thy deathlefs vigour is fupply'd,
Which finks to ruin all the world befide;
Thy age, not thee, affifting Phœbus burnз,
And vital flames light up thy funeral urns.
Whate'er events have been, thy eyes furvey,
And thou art fixt, while ages roll away;
Thou faw'ft when raging Ocean burft his bed,

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Our fhepherds envy, and our virgins love,
His charming nymph, his fofter fair obtains,
The bright Diana of our flowery plains;
He, 'midit the graceful, of fuperior grace,
And the the lovelieft of the lovelieft race

Thy fruitful influence, guardian Juno, shed,
Raife thence, their future joy, a fmiling heir,
And crown the pleasures of the genial bed:

Brave as the father, as the mother fair.
Well may'st thou fhower thy choiceft gifts on
thofe,

Who boldly rival thy most hated foes;
The vigorous bridegroom with Alci us vies,
And the fair bride has Cytherea's eyes.

TO A LADY;

WITH A PRESENT OF FLOWERS.
HE fragant painting of our flowery fields,
The choiceft ftores that youthful fummer
yields,

T

Strephon to fair Elifa hath convey'd,
The sweetest garland to the sweetest maid.
O cheer the flowers, my fair, and let them reft
On the Elysium of thy fnowy breast,
And there regale the fmell, and charm the view,
With richer odours, and a lovelier hue.
Learn hence, nor fear a flatterer in the flower,
Thy form divine, and beauty's matchless power:
Faint, near thy cheeks, the bright carnation glows,
And thy ripe lips out-blufh the opening rofe:
The lily's fnow betrays lefs pure a light,
Loft in thy bofom's more unsullied white;
And wreaths of jafmine fhed perfumes, beneath
Th' ambrofial incenfe of thy balmy breath.

Ten thousand beautics grace the rival pair,
How fair the chaplet, and the nymph how fair!
But ah too foon thefe flecting charms decay,
The fading luftre of one haftening day.
This night fhall fee the gaudy wreath decline,
The roles wither, and the lilies pine.

The garlands fate to thine fhall be apply'd,
And what advance thy form, fhall check thy
pride:

Be wife, my fair, the prefent hour improve,
Let joy be now, and now a waste of love;
Each drooping bloom fhall plead thy just excufe,

O'er-top'd the mountains, and the earth oer-And that which fhew'd thy beauty, fhew its ufe.

fpread;

When the rash youth inflam'd the high abodes,
Scorch'd up the fkies, and fear'd the deathless gods.
When nature ceafes, thou fhalt ftill remain,
Nor fecond Chaos bound thy endless reign;
Fate's tyrant laws thy happier lot fhall brave,
Baffle deftruction, and elude the grave.
VOL. V.

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For Cupid taught the artift hand its grace,
And Venus wanton'd in the mimic face.

Nov he laments a look fo falfely fair,
And almoft damns what yet resembles her;
Now he devours it, with his longing eyes;
Now iated, from the lovely phantom flies,
Yet burns to look again, yet looks again, and
dies.

Her ivory neck his lips prefume to kiss,
And his old hand the fwelling bofom prefs;
The fwain drinks in deep draughts of vain defire,
Melts without heat, and burns in fancy'd fire.

Strange power of paint! thou nice creator art!
What love infpires, ma life itfelf impart.
Struck with like wounds of old, Pygmalion pray'd,
And hugg d to life his artificial maid;

Clafp,new Pygmalion, clafp the feeming charms, Perhaps ev'n now th' enlivening image warms, Deftin'd to crown thy joys, and revel in thy

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HEIR ancient friends, as now they nearer
drew,

Prepar'd for fight, the wondering foldiers knew ;
Brother, with brother in unnatural ftrife,
And the fon arm'd against the father's life:
Curft civil war! then confcience firft was felt,
And the tough veteran's heart began to melt.
Fix'd in dumb forrow all at once they stand,
Then wave, a pledge of peace, the guiltlef hand;
To vent ten thousand ftruggling paflions move,
The ftings of nature, and the pangs of love.
All order broken, wide their arms they throw,
And run, with transport, to the longing foe:
Here the long-lift acquaintance neighbours claim,
There an old friend recalls his comrade's nae,
Youths, who in arts beneath one tutor grew,
Rome rent in twain, and kindred hosts they view.
Tears wet their impious arms, a fond relief,
And kifles broke by fobs, the words of grief;
Though yet no blood was fpilt, each anxious mind
With horror thinks on what his rage defign'd.
Ah! generous youths, why thus, with fruitless pain,
Beat ye thole breafts? why gufh thofe cycs in vain?
Why blame ye heaven, and charge your guilt on

fate?

Why dread the tyrant, whom yourselves make great?

Bide he the trumpet found? the trumpet flight. Bids he the ftandards move? refufe the fight.

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Your generals, left by you, will love again
A fon and father, when they're private men.
Kind Concord, heavenly born. whose blissful
reign

Holds this vaft globe in one surrounding chain,
Whofe laws the jarring elements control,
And knit each atom clofe from pole to pole;
Soul of the world! and love's eternal spring!
This lucky hour, thy aid fair goddess bring!
This lucky hour, ere aggravated crimes
Heap guilt on guilt, and doubly stain the times.
No veil hencefort, for fin, for pardon none;
They know their duty, now their friends are
known.

Vam wish! from blood short nuft the refpite be, New crimes, by love inhanc'd, this night fhall fee:

Such is the will of fate, and fuch the hard decree.
'Twas peace. From either camp, now void of
fear,

The foldiers mingling chearful feafts prepare:
On the green fod the friendly bowls were crown'd,
And hafty banquets pil'd upon the ground:
Around the fire they talk; one fhews his fears,
One tells what chance first led him to the wars;
Their ftories o'er the tedious night prevail,
And the mute circles liften to the tale;
They own they fought, but fwear they ne'et
could hate,

Deny their guilt, and lay the blame on fate;
Their love revives, to make them guiltier grow,
A fhort-liv'd b.effing, but to heighten woe.

When to Petreius firft the news was told, The jealous gener I thought his legions fold, Swift with the guards, his head-ftrong fury drew From out his camp he drives the hoftile crew; Cuts clafping friends afunder with his fword, And frains with blood each hofpitable board. Then thus his wrath breaks out. • Oh: log

to fame!

Oh! falfe to Pompey and the Roman name!
Can ye not conquer, ye degenerate bands?
Oh die at leaft; 'tis all that Rome demands.
What! while ye own, while ye can wield the
1word,

‹ A rebel standard, and ufurping lord?
• Shall he be fued to take you into place
Amongft his flaves, and grant you equal grace!
What? fhall my life be begg'd?" ingloriou

thought!

And life abhorr'd, on fuch conditions bought!
The toils we bear, my friends, are not for life,
Too mean a prize in fuch a dreadful ftrife;
But peace would lead to fervitude and shame,
A fair amufement, and a specious name.
Never had man explor'd the iron ore,
Mark'd out the trench, or rais'd the lofty tower.
Ne'er had the fteed in harness fought the pla
Or fleets encounter'd on th' unstable main;
Were life, were breath, with f. me to be compar
Or peace to glorious liberty preferr'd.
By guilty oaths the hoftile army bound,
Holas tait its impious faith, adftands is ground
Are you perfidious, who efpoule the laws,
And traitors only in a righteous cause?

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