Through me, though fore against my will, ruders every art intill. y thoufands I am fold and bought, Who neither get nor lofe a groat; or none, alas! by me can gain, ut those who give me greate pain. all man prefume to be my master, /ho's but my caterer and ta er? et, though I always have my will, 'm but a meer depender ftill; n humble hanger en at best, f whom all people make a jeft. In me detractors feek to find wo vices of a different kind :

m too profufe, fome cenfurers cry; nd all I get, I let it fly:

hile others give me many a curfe,
ecaufe too close I hold my purse.
ut this I know, in either cafe
hey dare not charge me to my face.
is true indeed, fometimes I fave,
Letimes run out of all I have;
it, when the year is at an end,
omputing what I get and spend,
y goings-out, and comings-in,
cannot find I lofe or win;

nd therefore all that know me fay,
uftly keep the middle-way.
I'm always by my betters led;
aft get up, and first a-bed;'
ough, if I rife before my time,
he learn'd in fciences fublime
nfult the ftars, and thence foretel
od luck to thofe with whom I dwell,

V. On a HORN.

HE joy of man, the pride of brutes, Domeftic fubject for difputes, plenty thou the emblem fair, dorn'd by nymphs with all their care! faw thee rais'd to high renown, pporting half the British crown; d often have I feen thee grace he chafte Diana's infant face; nd whenfoe'er you please to shine, fs ufeful is her light than thine: by numerous fingers know their way, nd oft' in Celia's treffes play. To place thee in another view,

ti fhew the world ftrange things and true; That lords and dames of high degree ay juttly claim their birth from the. 2 foul of man with fpleen you vex ; fpleen you cure the female fex. hee for a gift the courtier fends ith pleafure to his fpecial friends : I gives, and, with a generous pride, ontrives all means the gift to hide : or oft can the receiver know, Whether he has the gift or no, n airy wings you take your flight, nd ry unfeen both day and night; Vor. V.

Conceal your form with various tricks;
And few know how or where you fix:"
Yet fome, who ne'er bestow'd thee, boast
That they to others give thee moft.
Mean time, the wife a question start,
If thou a real being art;

Or but a creature of the brain,,
That gives imaginary pain.

But the fly giver better knows thee,
Who feels true joys when he bestows thee,

VI. On a CORKSCREW, HOUGH I, alas! a prifoner be,

THO

My trade is prisoners to set free.
No flave his lord's commands obeys.
With fuch infinuating ways.

My genius piercing, sharp, and bright,
Wherein the men of wit delight.
The clergy keep me for their ease,
And turn and wind me as they please.
A new and wondrous art I show
Of raising spirits from below;
In fearlet fome, and fome in white;
They rife, walk round, yet never fright.
In at each mouth and fpirits pass,
Distinaly feen as through a glafs;
O'er head and boy make a rout,
And drive at last all secrets out:
And ftill, the more I tow my art,
The more they open every heart.

A greater chemift none than I, Who from materials hard and dry Have taught men to extract with skill More precious juice than from a ftill. Although I'm often out of cafe, I'm not asham'd to frow my fice. Though at the tables of the great I near the fide-board take my feat; Yet the plain 'fquire, when dinner 's done, Is never pleas'd till I make one: He kindly bids me near him ftand, And often takes me by the hand. I twice a day a hunting go, Nor ever fail to feixe my fee; And, when I have him by the pole, I drag him upwards from his hole; Though fome are of so stubborn kind, I'm forc'd to leave a limb behind.

I hourly wait fome tatal end; For I can break, but scorn to bend.

How will it mortify thy pride,
To turn the true impartial fide!
How will your eyes contain their tears,
When all the fad reverse appears!

This cave within its womb confines
The laft refult of all defigns:
Here lie depofited the spoils
Of bufy mortals' endlefs toils:
Here, with an eafy fearch, we find
The foul corruptions of mankind.
The wretched purchafe here berold
Of traitors who their country fold.

This gulph infatiable imbibes

The lawyer's fees, the ftatefman's bribes.
Here, in their proper shape and mien,
Fraud, perjury, and guilt, are feen.
Neceflity, the tyrant's law,

All human race must hither draw;
All prompted by the fame defire,
The vigorous youth, and aged fire.
Behold, the coward and the brave,
The haughty prince, the humble flave,
Phyfician, lawyer, and divine,
All make oblations at this thrine.
Some enter boldly, fome by ftealth,
And leave behind their fruitlefs wealth.
For while the bafhful fylvan maid,
As half afham'd, and half afraid,
Approaching finds it hard to part
With that which dwelt fo near her heart;
The courtly 'dame, unmov'd by fear,
Profufely pours her offerings here.

A treasure here of learning lurks,
Huge heaps of never-dying works;
Labours of many an ancient fage,
And millions of the prefent age.

In at this gulph all offerings pafs,
And lie an undiftinguish'd mass.
Deucalion, to restore mankind,
Was bid to throw the ftones behind;
So thofe who here their gifts convey
Are forc'd to look another way;
For few, a chofen few, inuft know
The mysteries that lie below.

Sad charnel-houfe! a difmal dome, For which all mortals leave their home! The young, the beautiful, and brave, Here bury'd in one common grave! Where each fupply of dead renews Unwholeforte damps, effenfive dews; And lo! the writing on the walls Points out where each new victim falls The food of worms and beasts obscene, Who round the vault luxuriant reign.

See where thofe mangled corpfes lie,
Condemi'd by female hands to die!
A comely dame, once clad in white,
Lies there confign'd to endless night;
By cruel hands her blood was fpilt,
And yet her wealth was all her guilt.
And here fix virgins in a tomb,
All-beauteous offspring of one womb,
Oft' in the train of Venus feen,
As fair and lovely as their queen:
In royal garments each was dreft,
Each with a gold and purple veit:

;

I faw them of their garments fiript;
Their throats were cut, their bellies ript;
Twice were they bury'd, twice were born,
Twice from their sepulchres were torn;
But now difmember'd here are caft,
And find a refting-place at laft.

Here oft the curious traveller finds
The combat of opfoling coinds;
And feeks to learn the fecret caufe,
Which alien feems from nature's laws,
Why at this cave's tremendous mouth
He feels at once both north and fouth;
Whether the winds, in caverns pent,
Through clefts oppugnant force a vent;
Or whether, opening all his flores,
Fierce okus in tempeft roars.

Yet, from this mirgled mafs of things, In time a new creation fprings. Thefe crude materials once shall rife To fill the earth, and air, and skies; In various forms appear again, Of vegetables, brutes, and men. So Jove pronounc'd among the gods, Clympus trembling as he nods.

VIII.

LOUISA* TO STREPHON.

A Her who without thy pity dies?

H! Strephon, how can you defpife

To Strephon I have ftill been true,
And of as noble blood as you;
Fair iffue of the genial bed,
A virgin in thy bofom bred;
Embrac'd thee clofer than a wife;
When thee I leave, I leave my life.
Why fhould my fhepherd take amifs,
That oft' I wake thee with a kifs?
Yet you of every kifs complain;
Ah! is not love a pleafing pain?
A pain which every happy night
You cure with eafe and with delight;
With pleafure, as the poet fings,
Too great for mortals lefs than kings.
Chloe, when on thy breaft I lie,
Obferves me with revengeful eye :
'If Chloe o'er thy heart prevails,
She'll tear me with her defperate nails,
And with relentlefs hands defiroy
The tender pledges.of our joy.
Nor have I bred a fpurious race;
They all were born from thy embrace.
Confider, Strephon, what you do;
For, fhould I die for love of you,
In haunt thy dreams, a bloodlefs ghoft;
And all my kin (a numerous hoft,
Who down direct our lineage bring
From victors o'er the Memphian king;
Renown'd in feges and campaigns,
Who never fled the the bloody plains,
Who in tempeftuous feas can fport,
And feorn the pleasures of a écurt,

* This Riddle is folved by an Ámagrasi,

From whom great Sylla found his doom,
Who feourg'd to death that scourge of Rome)
Shall on thee take a vengeance dire ;
Thou, like Alcides, fhalt expire,
When his envenom'd shirt he wore,
And fkin and flesh in pieces tore.
Nor lefs that fhirt, my rival's gift,
Cut from the piece that made her fift,
Shall in thy dearest blood be dy'd,
And make thee tear thy tainted hide.

I

"M up

XI. On a CIRCLE.

and down, and round about, Yet all the world can't find me out;

Though hundreds have employ'd their leifure,
They never yet could find my measure.
I'm found almoft in every garden,

Nay in the compafs of a farthing.

There's neither chariot, coach, nor mill,
Can move an inch, except I will.

IX.

Det lowers I bear of every kind;
And fuch is my prolific power,
They bloom in lefs than half an hour;
Yet itanders-by may plainly fee
They get no nourishment from me.
My head with giddineis goes round,
And yet I firmly ftand my ground:
All over naked I am feen,
And painted like an Indian queen,
No couple-beggar in the land

EPRIVD of root, and branch, and rind,

E'er join'd fuch numbers hand in hand;
I join them fairly with a ring;
Nor can our parfon blame the thing:
And, though no marriage words are spoke,
They part not till the ring is broke;
Yet hypocrite fanaticks cry,
I'm but an idol rais'd on high

And once a weaver in our town,

A damn'd Cromwellian, knock'd me down.
I lay a prifoner twenty years,
And then the jovial cavaliers
To their old poft reftor'd all three,

I mean the church, the king, and me.

X. On the Moon.

WITH borrow'd filver shine,
What you fee is none of mine.

First I thew you but a quarter,
Like the bow that guards the Tartar;
Then the half, andthen the whole,
Ever dancing round the pole.
And what will raife your admiration,
I am not one of God's creation,
But fprung (and I this truth maintain)
Like Pallas from my father's brain.
And, after all, I chiefly owe
My beauty to the fhades below.
Molt wondrous forms you fee me wear,
A man, a woman, lion, bear,
A fifh, a fowl, a cloud, a field,
All figures heaven or earth can yield;
Like Daphne fometimes in a tree :
Yet am not one of all you fee.

XII. O INK.

I AM jet black, as you may fee,

The fon of pitch, and gloomy night:

Yet all that know me will agree,
I'm dead except I live in light.
Sometimes in panegyricx high,
Like lofty Pindar, I can foar;
And raise a virgin to the iky,
Or fink her to a pocky whore.
My blood this day is very sweet,
To-morrow of a bitter juice;
Like milk, 'tis cry'd about the street,
And fo apply'd to different use.
Moft wondrous is my magic power:
For with one colour I can paint;
I'll make the devil a faint this hour,
Next make a devil of a faint.
Through diftant regions I can fly,
Provide me but with paper wings;
And fairly thew a reafon, why

There fhould be quarrels among kings. And, after all, you'll think it odd,

When learned doctors will difpute, That I fhould point the word of God, And fhew where they can boft confute. Let lawyers bawl and frain their throats: 'I is I that muit the lands convey, And firip the clients to their coats, Nay, give their very fouls away.

A

XIII. On the Fave SENSES.

LL of us in one you'll find,

Brethren of a wondrous kind;
Yet among us all no brother
Knows one tittle of the other.
We in frequent councils are,
And our marks of things declare,
Where, to us unknown, a clerk
Sits, and takes then in the dark.
He's the register of all

In our ken, both great and fmall;
By us forms his laws and rules:
He's our mafter, we his tools;
Yet we can with greatest eafe
Turn and wind him where we please.

Let the happy fwain rejoice,
And I join my helping voice:
Both are welcome, grief or joy,
I with either fport and toy.
Though a lady, I am flout,
Drums and trumpets bring me out
Then I claff, and roar, and rattle,
Join in all the din of battle.
Jove, with all his loudeft thunder,
When I'm vext, can't keep me under;
Yet fo tender is my ear,

That the lowest voice I fear.

Much I dread the courtier's fate,

When his merit 's out of date;

For I hate a filent breath,
And a whisper is my death.

XIV.

FONTINELLA TO FLORINDA.

W Florinda, dart their heavenly beams,

THEN on my bofom thy bright eyes,

I feel not the leatt love-furprize,

Yet endless tears flow down in ftreams: There's nought fo beautiful in thee, But you may find the fame in me.

The lilies of thy fkin compare ;

In me you fee them full as white,.
The rofes of your cheeks, I dare

Affirm, can't glow to more delight,
Then fince I fhew as fine a face,
Can you refuse a soft embrace?

Ah! lovely nymph, thou 'rt in thy prime!
And foam I whilft thou art here;
But foon will come the fatal time,

When all we fee fhall disappear.
'Tis mine to make a juft refiexion,
And yours to follow my direction.
Then catch admirers while you may;
Treat not your lovers with difdain;
For time with beauty flies away,

And there is no return again.
To you the fad account I bring,
Life's autumn has no fecond fpring,

XVI On a SHADOW IN A GLASS.
Y fomething form'd, I nothing am,

In no place have I ever been,
Yet every where I may be feen;
In all things falfe, yet always true,
I'm ftill the fame-but ever new,
Lifelefs, life's perfect form 1 wear,
Can fhew a nofe, eye, tongue, or ear,`
Yet neither fmell, fee, tafte, or hear.
All trapes and features I can boat,
No flesh, no bones, no blood-no ghoft;
All colours, without paint, put oũ,
And change like the cameleon,
Swittly I come, and enter there,
Where not a chink lets in the air;
Like thought, I'm in a moment gone,
Nor can i ever be alone;

All things on earth I imitate,
Fafter than nature can create;
Sometimes imperial robes I wear,
Anon in beggar's rags appear;
A giant now, and firait an eli,
I'm every one, but ne'er myself;
Ne'er fad I mourn, ne'er glad rejoice ;
I move my lips, but want a voice;
I ne'er was born, nor e'er can die ;
Then prythee tell me what am L

NEVE

XV. On an ECHO.

TEVER fleeping, ftill awake, Pleafing moft when most I speak; The delight of old and young, Though I fpeak without a tongue, Nought but one thing can confound me, Many voices joining round me; Then I fret, and rave, and gabble, Like the labourers of Babel. Now I am a dog, or cow;

1 can bark, or I can low;

I can bleat, or I can fing
Like the warblers of the spring.
Let the love-fick bard complain,
And I mourn the cruel pain;

XVII.

M and as I pleafe they're great and fmill;

OST things by me do rife sad fall,

Invading foes, without refiftance,
With eafe I make to keep their distance;
Again, as I'm difpos'd, the foe
Will come, though not a foot they go.

Both mountains, woods, and hills, and rocks,
And gaming goats, and fleecy flocks,
And lowing herds, and piping fwains,
Come dancing to me o'er the plains.
The greatest whale that fwims the fea
Does inftantly my power obey.
In vain from me the failor fiies;
The quickest fhip I can furprize,

And turn it as I have a mind,
And move it against tide and wind.
Nay, bring me here the tallest man,
Ifqueeze him to a little fpan:
Gr bring a tender child and pliant,
You'll ice me itretch him to a giant;
Nor fall they in the leaft complain,
Because my magick gives no pain,

Though candour and truth in my afpe&t I bear,
Yet many poor creatures I help to enfnare.
Though fo much of Heaven appears in my make,
The fouleft impreffions I eafly take.

My parent and I produce one another,
The mother the daughter, the daughter the mother.

XXII. On a CANNON.

EGOTTEN, and born, and dying with noife,"

Like the fiction of poets concerning the wind,
I'm chiefly unruly when frongest confin'd.
For filver and gold I don't trouble my head,
But all I delight in is pieces of lead;
Except when I trade with a ship or a town,
Why then I make pieces of iron go down.
One property more I would have you remark,
No lady was ever more fond of a fpark;
The moment I get one, my foul's all a-fire,
And I roar out my joy, and in transport expire.

bell,

Where many for a paffage venture,
Yet very few are found to enter;
Although 'tis open night and day,
They for that reafon fhun this way:
Both dukes and lords abhor its wood,
They can't come near it for their blood,
What other way they take to go,
Another time I'll let you know.
Yet commoners with greatest cafe
Can find an entrance when they please,
The pooreft hither march in ftate
(Or they can never pafs the gate),
Like Roman Generals triumphant,
And then they take a turn and jump on 't,
If graveft parfons here advance,
They cannot pafs before they dance;
There's not a foul that does refort here,
But ftrips himself to pay the porter.

XX. On the VOWELS,

are little airy creatures,

Wall of different voice and features;

One of us in glafs is fet,
One of us you'll find in jet,
T'other you may fee in tin,
And the fourth a box within;
If the fifth you should pursue,
It can never fly from you,

XXI. On SNOW.

XXIII. On a PAIR OF DICE.

Warbiters of lofs and gain;

are little brethren twain,

Many to our counters run,
Some are made, and fome undone :
But men find it to their coft,
Few are made, but numbers loft,
Though we play them tricks for ever,
Yet they always hope our favour,

TO

XXIV. On a CANDLE.

LADY CARTERET

Fall inhabitants on earth,

To Milan alone I owe my birth; And yet the Cow, the Sheep, the Bee, Are all my parents more than he. I, a virtue ftrange and rare, Make the faire ft look more fair ; And myfelf, which yet is rarer, Growing old, grow ftill the fairer, Like fots, alone I'm dull enough, When dos'd with fioak, and fmear'd with fnuff; But, in the midft of mirth and wine, I with double luftre fine, Emblem of the Fair am I, Polish'd neck, and radiant eye; In my eye my greatest grace, Emblem of the Cyclops' race; Metals like them fubdue, Slave like them to Vulcan too. Emblem of a monarch old, Wife, and glorious to behold;

Wafted he appears, and pale,

Watching for the public weal:
Emblem of the bashful dame,

That in fearet feeds her flame,