When wine and folly came in feason,
Damon ne'er frove to iave his reafon ;
Obnoxious to the mad uproar :
A fpy upon a hoftile fhore !
'Twas this his company endear'd:
Mirth never came till he appear'd:

His lodgings-every drawer could show them;
The flave was kick'd, who did not know them,
Thus Damon, studious of his cafe,
And pleafing all, whom mirth could pleafe;
Defy'd the world, like idle Colley,
To fhew a fofter word than folly.
Since wifdom's gorgon-fhield was known
To ftare the gazer into stone ;
He chofe to truft in folly's charm,
To keep his breast alive and warm,

At length grave learning's fober train
Remark'd the trifler with difdain;
The fons of tafte contemn'd his ways,
And rank'd him with the brutes that graze;
While they to nobler heights afpir'd,
And grew belov'd, esteem'd, admir'd.

Hence with our youth, not void of spirit,
His old companions loft their merit :
And every kind well-natur'd fot
Seem'd a dull play, without a plot;
Where every yawning guest agrees,
The willing creature ftrives to please:
But temper never could amufe;
It barely led us to excufe;
'Twas true, converfing they aver'd,
All they had feen, or felt or heard:
Talents of weight! for wights like these,
The law might chufe for witneffes :
But fure th' attesting dry narration
I fuits a judge of converfation,
A:

What were their freedoms? mere excufes
To vent ill-manners, blows, and bruifes.
Yet freedom, gallant freedom! hailing,
At form, at form, inceffant railing,
Would they examine each offence,
Its latent caufe, its known pretence,
Punctilio ne'er was known to breed them,
30 fure as fond prolific freedom.
Their courage! but a loaded gun;
Machine the wife would wish to fhun ;'
Its guard unfafe, its lock an ill one,
Where accident might fire and kill one.

In fhort, difgufted out of measure,
Through much contempt, and flender pleasure,
His fenfe of dignity returns;
His native pride his bofom burns;
He feeks refpect-but how to gain it?
Wit, focial mirth, could ne'er obtain it;
And laughter, where it reigns uncheck d,
Difcards and diffipates refpect.
The man who bravely bows, enjoy it;
But fkaking hands, at once, defroys it.
Precarious plant, which, fresh and gay,
Shrinks at the touch, and fades away!

Come then, referve! yet from thy train
Banish contempt, and curst disdain.
Teach me, he cry'd thy magic art,
To at the decent diftant part:
Boisterous arth.

To husband well my complaifance, Nor let ev'n wit too far advance; But chufe caim reafon for my theme, In these her royal realms fupreme; And o'er her charms, with caution shown, Be ftill a graceful umbrage thrown; And each abrupter period crown'd, With nods, and winks, and fmiles profound, Till, refcued from the crowd beneath, No more with pain to move or breathe, I rife with head elate, to fhare Salubrious draughts of purer air. Refpect is won by grave pretence And filence, furer ev'n than fenfe'Tis hence the facred grandeur fprings Of Eaftern-and of other kings Or whence this awe to virtue-due, While virtue's diftant as Peru? The fheathlefs fword the guard displays, Which round emits its dazzling rays: The ftately fort, the turrets tall, Portcullis'd gate, and battled wall, Lefs fcreens the body, than controls, And wards contempt from royal fouls.

The crowns they wear but checks the eye,
Before it fondly pierce too nigh;
That dazzled crouds may be employ'd
Around the furface of-the void.
O! 'tis the statesman's craft profound
To scatter his aniufements round!
To tempt us from the confcious breast,
Where full-fledg'd crimes enjoy their neft.
Nor awes us every worth reveal'd
So deeply, as each vice conceal'd.

The lordly log, difpatch'd of yore,
That the frog people might adore,
With guards to keep them at a distance,
Had reign'd, nor wanted wit's affiftance:
Nay-had addreffes from his nation,
In praife of log-administration.

T

PART THE THIRD.

HE. buoyant fires of youth were o'er,
And fame and finery pleas'd no more;
Productive of that general stare,
Which cool reflection ill can bear!
And, crowds commencing mere vexation,
Retirement fent its invitation.

Romantic scenes of pendant hills,
And verdant vales, and falling rills,
And moffy banks, the fields adorn,
Where Lamon, fimple fwain, was born,

The Dryads rear'd a fhady grove;
Where fuch as think, and fuch as love,
May fafely figh their fummer's day :
Or mufe their filent hours away.

The Oreads lik'd the climate well;
And taught the level plain to fwell.
In verdant mounds, from whence the eye
Might all their larger works defcry.

The Naiads pour'd their urns around, From nodding rocks o'er vales profound. They form'd their ftreams to p cafe the view, And bade them wind, as ferpents do: And having fhewn them where to stray, Threw little pebbles in their way

Thefe Fancy, all fagacious maid,
Had at their feveral tasks furvev'd;

She faw and fmil'd; and oft would lead
Our Damon's foot o'er hil and mead;
There, with defcriptive finger, trace
The genuine beauties of the place';
And when the all its charms had shewn,
Prefcribe improvements of her own.

"See yonder hill, fo green, fo round,
Its brow with ambient beeches crown'd!
'Twould well become thy gentle caré
To raise a dome to Venus there :

Pleas'd would the nymph thy zeal furvey;
And Venus, on their arms, repay,
'Twas fuch a fhade, and such a nook,
In fuch a vale, near fuch a brook;
From :uch a rocky fr gment (pringing;
That fam'd Apolo chote, to fing in.
1 here let an altar wrought with art
Engage thy tuneful pa ron's heart.
How charming there to mufe and warble
Beneath his buft of reathing marble!
With laurel wreath and mimic lyre,
That crown a poet's vast defire.
Then, near it, fcoop the vaulted cell

Where mufic's charming maids may dwell;
Prone to indulge thy tender paffion,
And make thee many an affignation.
Deep in the rove's obfcure retreat
Be plac'd Minerva's facred feat
There let her aw ul turrets rise,"
(For wifdom flies from vulgar eyes :)
There her calm dictates halt thou hear
Diftinctly strike thy liftening ear:
And who would fhun the pleasing labour,
To have Minerva for his neighbour ?"

In short, fo, charm'd cach wild fuggeftion,
Its truth was little call'd in queftion:
And Damon dreamt he faw the fawns,
And Nymphs, diftinctly, skim the lawns;
Now trac'd amid the trees, and then
Loft in the circling fhades again
Vith leer oblique their lover viewing-
And Cupid-panting-and parsuing-
Fancy, enchanting fair, he cry'd,
Be thou my goddefs! thou my guidel
For thy bright vifions I defpife
What foes may think, or friends advise,
1 he feign'd concern, when folks furvey
Expence, time, study, caft away:
The real fpleen, with which they fée :
I pleafe myfelf, and follow thee."

Thus glow'd his breaft by fancy warm'd';' And thus the fairy landkip charm'd. But molt he hop'd his conftant care. Might win the favour of the fair; And, wandering late through yonder glade, He thus the fof: defign betray'd. *The Mufos,

VOL V.I.

grove,

"Ye doves! for whom I rear'd the With melting lays falute my lovel My Delia with your notes detain, Or I have rear'd the grove in vain.! Ye flowers which early fpring fupplies, Difplay at once your brightest dyes! That the your opening charms may fee; Or what were elfe your charms to me? Kind Zephyr brush cach fragrant flower, And fhed its odours round my bower; Or ne'er again, O gentle wind! Shall I, in thee refreshment find. Ye ftreams, if e er your banks lov'd, If e'er your native founds improv'd, May each foft murmur foothe my fair; Or, oh, twill deepen my defpair } Be fure, 'ye willows you be feen Array'd in liveliett robes of green; Or I will tear your flighted boughs, And let them fade around my brows. And thou, my grot! whole lonely bounds The melancholy pine furrounds! May the admire the peaceful gloom, Or thou shalt prove her lover's tomb." And now the lofty domes were rear`d; ́Loud laugh'd the 'fquires, the rabble star'd.

66

See, neighbours, what our Damon's doing? I think fome folks are fond of ruin!

I faw his theep at random stray-
But he has thrown his crook away-
And build fuch huts, as in foul weather,
Are fit for fheep nor fhepherd neither."

Whence came the fober fwain misled?
Why, Phoebus put it in his head.'
Phoebus befriends him, we are told;
And Phœbus coins bright tons of gold.
Twere prudent not to be fo vain on't,
I think he'll never touch a grain on't.
And if, from Phoebus, and his Mufe,
Mere earthly aziness enfues;

'Tis plain, for aught that I can fay,
The Devil infpires, as well as they.
So they-while fools of groffer kind,
Lefs weeting what our bard defign'd,
Impute his fchemes to real evil;
That in these haunts he met the Devil.

He own'd, though their advice was vain,
It fuited wights who trod the plain:
For dulnels-though he might abhor it→→→
In them he made allowance for it.
Nor wonder'd, if, beholding mottos,

And urns, and domes, and cells, and grottos,
Folks, little dreaming of the Muses,
Were plagu'd to gueís their proper ues.

But did the Mufes haunt his cell?
Or in his dome did Venus dwell?
Did Palls in his counfels fhare?
The Delian God reward his prayer?
Or did his zeal engage the fair?
When all the structures fhone compleat;
Not much convenient, wondrous neat;
Adorn d with gilding, painting planting,
And the fair guefts alone were wanting;
Ah, me! 'twas Damon's own confellion)
Came poverty and took poffeffion.

}

PART

PART THE FOURTH.

WHY droops my Damon, whilst he roves

hrough ornamented meads and groves?
Near columns, obelifks, and fpires,
Which every critic eye admires ?
Tis poverty, detefted maid,
Sole tenant of their ample fhade!
'Tis fhe, that robs him of his eafe ;
And bids their very charms difpleafe.
But now, by fancy, long controul'd,
And with the fons of tafte enroll'd,
He deem'd it fhameful to commense
First minifter to common fenfe :
Far more elated to pursue
The lowest task of dear vertù.

And row behold his loty foul,
That whilom flew from pole to pole,
Settle on fome elaborate flower;
And, like a bee, the fwee s devour!
Now, of a rofe enamour'd, prove
The wild folicitudes of love!
Now, in a lily's cup enfhrin'd,
Forego the commerce of mankind!
As in these toils he wore away
The calm remainder of his day;
Conducting fun, and fhade, and fhower,
Asmoft might glad the new-born flower,
So fate ordain'd before his eye-
Starts up the long-fought butterfly!
While, fluttering round, her plumes unfold
Celestial crimson, dropt with gold.

Adieu, ye bands of flowrets fair!
The living beauty claims his care,
For this he ftrips-nor bolt, nor chain,
Could Damon's warm pursuit reftrain.

See him o'er hill, morafs, or mound,
Where'er the fpeckled game is found,
Though bent with age, with zeal pursue;
And totter towards the prey in view.

Nor rock, nor ftream, his steps retard,
Intent upon the bleft reward!
One vaffal fly repays the chace!
A wing, a film, reward the race!
Rewards him, though difeafe attend,
And in a fatal furfeit end.

So fierce Camilla skimm'd the plain,
Smit with the purple's pleafing ftain,
She ey'd intent the glittering ftranger,
And knew, alas! nor fear, nor danger :
Till deep within her panting heart,
Malicious fate impell'd the dart!

How ftudious he what favourite food
Regale dame nature's tiny brood?
What junkets fat the filmy poeple!'
And what liqueurs they chufe to tipple!

Behold him, at fome crife, prefcribe, And raise with drugs the fickening tribe! Or haply, when their spirits fau'ter, Sprinkling thy Lord of Cloyne's tar-water.

When nature's brood of infects dies, See how he pimps for amorous flies! See him the timely fuccour lend her, And helps the wanton to engender!

Or fee him guard their pregnant hour
Exert his foft obftretic power:
And, lending each his lenient hand,
With new-born grubs enrich the land!

*O Wilks! what poet's loftieft lays Can match thy labours, and thy praise, Immortal fage ! by fate decreed

To guard the moth's illuftrious breed;
Till fluttering fwarms on fwarms arife,
And all our wardrobes teem with flies !

And must we praife this tafte for toys? Admire it then in girls and boys, Ye youths of fifteen years, or more, Refign your moths-the feafon's o'er. 'Tis time more focial joys to prove, 'Twere now your nobler task-to love. Let * * * 's eyes more deeply warm; Nor flighting nature's faireft form, The bias of your fouls determine Towards the mean love of nature's vermin,

*

But, ah! how wonderous few have known, To give each stage of life its own!

'Tis the pretexta's utmoft bound,
With radiant purple edg'd around,
To please the child; whofe glowing dyes
Too long delight maturer eyes,
And few, but with regret, affume
The plain wrought labours of the loom.
Ah! let not me by fancy fteer,
When life's autumnal clouds appear ;
Nor ev'n in learning's long delays
Confume my faireft, fruitless days;
Like him, who should in armour spend
The fums that armour fhould defend.

while, in pleasure's myrtle-bower, We share her fmiles, and bless her power; But find at last, we vainly itrive To fix the worst coquette alive.

O you! that with affiduous flame
Have long purfued the faithless dame;
Forfake her foft abodes a while,

And dare her frown, and flight her smile.
Nor fcorn, whatever wits may fay,
The foot-path road, the king's high-way.
No more the fcrupulous charmer teize.
But feek the roofs of honest ease;

he rival fair, no more pursued,
'Shall there with forward pace intrude;
Shall there her every art effay,
To win you to her fighted fway;
And grant your fcorn a glance more fair
Than e'er fhe gave your fondet prayer.

But would you happiness pursue? Partake both eafe and pleasure too! Would you, through all your days, difpenfe The joys of reason, and of fenfe? Or give to life the most you can, Let focial virtue shape the plan. For does not to the virtuous deed A train of pleafing fweets fucceed?

Or,

Alluding to moths and butterflies delineated by Benjamin Wilks. See his very expensive propefals.

like the fweets of wild defire,

Did focial pleasures ever tire?

Yet midit the groupe be fome preferr'd,
Be fome abhorr d-for Damon err'd:
And fuch there are-of fair addrefs-
As 't were unfocial to caress.

O learn by reafon's equal rule
To thun the praife of knave, or fool!
Then, though you deem it better still
To gain fome ruftic 'fquires good will;
And fouls, however mean or vile,
Like features, brighten by a fmile;
Yet reafon holds it for a crime,

The trivial breaft fhould share thy time:
And virtue, with reluctant eyes,
Beholds this human facrifice!

Through deep referve, and air ere&,
Miftaken Damon won refpect;
But could the ipecious homage pass,
With any creature, but an ass?
If confcious, they who fear'd the skin,
Would fcorn the fluggifh brute within.
What awe-itruck flaves the towers enclose,
Where Perfian monarchs eat and doze !.
What proftrate reverence all agree,
To pay a prince they never fee!
Mere vaffals of a royal throne !
The fophi's virtues must be fhewn,
To make the reverence his own,

As for Thalia-wouldst thou make her.
Thy bride without a portion ?take her,
She will with duteous care attend,'
And all thy duteous hours befriend;
Will fwell thy joys, will fhare thy pain;
With thee rejoice, with thee complain;
Wil! fmooth thy pillow, pleat thy bowers;
And bind thy aching head with flowers,
But be this previous maxim known,
If thou canft feed on love alone;
If, bleft with her, thou canft sustain
Contempt, and poverty, and pain;
It fo-then rifle all her graces--
And fruitful be your fond embraces

Too foon, by caitiff-fpleen,infpir'd,
Sage Damon to his groves retir'd.
The path difclaim d by fober realon;
Retirement claims a later feafon ;
Ere active youth and warm defires
Have quite withdrawn their lingering fires.
With the warm bofom, ill agree,
Or limpid fiream, or shady tree.
Love lurks within the rofy bower,
And claims the fpeculative hour;
Ambition finds his calm retreat,
And bids his pulfe too fiercely beat!
Ev'n focial friendship duns his ear,
And cites him to the public fphere,
Does he refift their genuine force?
His

temper takes fome froward courfe; Till paffion, mifdirected, fighs For weeds, or fhells, or grubs, or flies!

Far happiest he, whofe early days Spent in the focial paths of praise, Leave, fairly printed on his mind, A train of virtuous deeds behind:

From this rich fund, the memory draws. The lafting meed of felf-applaufe.

Such fair ideas lend their aid To people their fequefter'd fhade. Such are the naiads, nymphs," and fauns, That haunt his floods, or chear his lawns. If, where his devious ramble ftrays, He virtue's radiant form furveys; She feems no longer noly to wear The rigid mien, the frown fevere * To fhew him her remote abode ; To point the rocky arduous road: But from each flower, his fields allow, She twines a garland for his brow.

This monitory lay, the ftrains belong;
Nor think fogie mifer vents his fapient faw,
Or fome dull cit, unfeeling of the charms
That tempt profufion, fings; while friendly zeal,
To guard from fatal ills the tribe he loves,
Infpires the meaneft of the Mufes' train !
Like
you I loath the groveling progeny,
Whofe wily arts, by creeping time matur'd,
Advance them high on power's tyrannic throne:
To lord it there in gorgeous ufeleffacfs,
And fpurn fuccefolefs worth that pines below!
See the rich churl, amid the focial fons
Of wine and wit. regaling! hark he join
In the free jeft delighted, seems to shew
A meliorated heart! he laughs! he fings!
Songs of gay import, madrigals of glee,
And drunken anthems fet agape the board.
Like Demea, in the pay, benign and mild.
And pouring forth benevolence of foul,
Till Micio wonders: or, in Shakespear's line,
Obftreperous Silence; drowning Shallow's voice,
And fartling Faff, and his mad compeers.

He own's 'tis prudence, ever and anon,
To fmooth his careful brow! to let his purfe
Ope to a fixpenc's diameter!

He likes our ways; he own the ways of wit
Are ways of pleafaunce, and defer ve regard.
1 rue we are dainty good fociety,
But what are thou? alas! confider well,
Thou bane of focial pleasure, know thyself.
Thy fell approach, like fome invasive damp
Breath'd through the pores of earth from Stygian

The trembling tears that charge thy melting eyes
Say thou are honeft, and of gentle kind,
But all is falfe! an intermitting figh
Condemns each hour, each moment giv'n to
fmiles,

And deems thefe only loft, thou doft not lofe.
Ev'n for a demi groat, this open'd f›u!,
This boon companion, this clafic breaft
Revibrates quick; and fends the tuneful tongue
To lavish mufic on the rugged walls

Of fome dark dungeon Hence thou caitiff, fly'
Touch not my glafs, nor drain my facred bowl,
Monster ingrate! beneath one common sky
Why fhouldft thou breathe? beneath one common
roof

Thou ne'er fhalt harbour; nor my little boat
Receive a foul with crimes to prefs it down.
Go to thy bags, thou recreant! hourly go
And, gazing there bid them be wit, be mirth,
Be converfation. Not a face that smiles
Admit thy presence! not a foul that glows
With focial purport. bid or ev'n or morn
Inveft thee happy! but when life declines,
May thy fure heirs ftand tittering round thy bed,
And, ushering in their favourites, burst thy locks,
And fill their lamps' with gold; till want and

care

With joy depart, and cry, "We afk no more.

Ah never never may th' harmonious wind
Endure the worldly! poets ever void
Of guilé, diftruflefs, fcorn the treafur'd gold,
And spurn the miter, fpurn his deity.
Balanc'd with friendthip, in the poet's eye
The rival fale of intereft kicks the beam,

Than lightning swifter. From his cavern'd ftore
The fordid foul, with felf-applaufe, remarks
The kind propenfity, remarks and fmiles,
And hies with impious hafte to spread the fnare.
Him we deride, and in our comic fcenes
Contemn the niggard form Moliere has drawn.
We loath with juttice; but alas the pain
To bow the knee before this calf of gold;
Implore his envious aid, and meet his frown!

But 'tis not Gomez, 'tis no he whofe heart
Is crufted o'er with drofs, whofe callous mind
Is fenfelefs as his gold, the flighted Mule
Intenfely loaths. "Tis fure no qual task
To pardon him who lavifhes his wealth
On racer, fox-hound, hawk or spaniel, all
But human merit; who with gold effays
Al, but the nobleft pleafure, to remove
The want of genius, and its fmiles enjoy.

But you, ye titled youths, whofe nobler zeal
Would burnish o'er your coronets with fame;
Who liften pleas'd when poet tunes his lay;
Permit him not, in diftant folitudes,
To pine, to languish out the fleeting hours
Of active youth then virtue pants for praise
That featon unadorn d, the careless bard
Quits your worn threshold, and like honest Gay
Contemrs the niggard boon ye time fo ill.
Your favours then, like trophies given the temb,
Thenfranchis'd fpirit foaring not perceives,

Or fcorns perceiv'd; and execrates the fmile Which bade his vigorous bloom, to treacherous hopes

And fervile cares a prey, expire in vain !—

Two lawless powers, engag'd by mutual hate In endless war, beneath their flags enroll The vaffal world. This avarice is nam'd, That luxury, 'tis true their partial friends Align them fofter names; ufurpers both; That fhare by dint of arms the legal throne Of juft economy; yet both betray'd By fraudful miniers The niggard chief, Listening to want all faithlefs, and prepar'd o join each moment in his rival's train, His conduct models by the needlefs fears The flave infpires; while luxury a chief Of amplest faith, to plenty's rule refigns His whole campaign. 'Tis plenty's flattering founds

Engrofs his ear; 'tis plenty's fmiling form Moves fill before his eyes. Difcretion frives, But ftrives in vain, to b nifh from the throne 'The perjur'd minion. He, fecure of trust, With latent malice to the hoftile camp Day, night, and hour, his monarch's wealth con veys.

Ye towering minds, ye fublimated fouls! Who, careless of your fortunes, feal and fign, Set, let, contract acquit, with cafier mien

han fops take fnuff whofe conomic care Your green filk purfe engrottes eafy, pleas'd, fo fee gold fparkle through the fubtle folds; Lovely, as when th' Hefperian fruitage fmil'd Amid the verdurous grove! who fondly hope Spontaneous harvefts! harvefts all the year! Who fcatter wealth, as though the radiant crop Glitter'd on every bough; and every bough Like that the Trojan gather'd, once avuls'd Were by a fplendid fucceffor fupply'd Inftant, fpontaneous! ilen to my lays. For 'tis not fools, whate'er proverbial phrafe Have long decreed, that quit with greatest ease The treafur'd gold. Of words indeed profufe, Of gold tenacious, their torpefcent foul Clenches their coin, and what electral fire Shall folve the frofty gripe, and bid it flow? 'Tis genius, fancy, that to wild expence Of health of treafure! ftimulates the foul: Thefe, with officious care, and fatal art, mprove the vinous flavour; these the file Of Cloe foften; these the glare of dress Illume; the glittering chariot gild anew, And add flrange wildom to the furs of power.