"Gratior & pulchro veniens in corpore virtus." VIRG.
-Ad cœlum ardentia lumina tollens, «Lumina; nam teneras arcebant vincula palmas."
ROM lofty themes, from thoughts that foar'd on
And open'd wondrous fcenes above the sky,
My Mufe defcend: Indulge my fond defire;
With fofter thoughts my melting foul inspire,
And smooth my numbers to a female's praise :
A partial world will liften to my lays,
While Anna reigns, and fets a female name
Unrival'd in the glorious lifts of fame.
Hear, ye fair daughters of this happy land, Whose radiant eyes the vanquish'd world command, 19 Virtue is Beauty: But when charms of mind
With elegance of outward form are join'd;
When youth makes such bright objects still more bright, And fortune sets them in the strongest light;
"Tis all of heaven that we below may
And all, but Adoration, is your due.
Fam'd female virtue did this ifle adorn,
Ere Ormond, or her glorious Queen, was born:
When now Maria's powerful arms prevail'd,
And haughty Dudley's bold ambition fail'd,
The beauteous daughter of great Suffolk's race,
In blooming youth adorn'd with every grace;
Who gain'd a crown by treason not her own,
And innocently fill'd another's throne;
Hurl'd from the fummit of imperial state,
With equal mind sustain'd the stroke of fate.
But how will Guilford, her far dearer part,
With manly reason fortify his heart?
At once the longs, and is afraid, to know:
Now fwift fhe moves, and now advances flow,
To find her lord; and, finding, paffes by,
Silent with fear, nor dares fhe meet his eye;
Left that, unask'd, in speechless grief, disclose
The mournful fecret of his inward woes.
Thus, after fickness, doubtful of her face,
The melancholy virgin fhuns the glass.
At length, with troubled thought, but look ferene,
And forrow foften'd by her heavenly mien,
She clafps her lord, brave, beautiful, and young,
While tender accents melt upon her tongue;
Gentle, and sweet, as vernal Zephyr blows,
Fanning the lily, or the blooming rose.
"Grieve not, my lord; a crown indeed is loft; "What far outshines a crown, we still may boast; "A mind compos'd; a mind that can disdain "A fruitlefs forrow for a lofs fo vain. <c Nothing is lofs that virtue can improve "To wealth eternal; and return above;
"Above, where no distinction shall be known
" "Twixt him whom storms have shaken from a throne, 50
"And him, who, basking in the smiles of fate,
"Shone forth in all the fplendor of the great:
"Nor can I find the difference here below;
"I lately was a Queen; I ftill am fo,
"While Guilford's Wife: Thee rather I obey,
"Than o'er mankind extend imperial fway.
"When we lie down in fome obfcure retreat,
<< Incens'd Maria may her rage forget;
" And I to death my duty will improve,
"And what you mifs in empire, add in love—
"Your God-like foul is open'd in your look,
"And I have faintly your great meaning spoke.
"For this alone I'm pleas'd I wore the crown,
"To find with what content we lay it down.
"Heroes may win, but 'tis a heavenly race
"Can quit a throne with a becoming grace."
Thus fpoke the fairest of her sex, and cheer'd
Her drooping lord; whose boding bofom fear'd
A darker cloud of ills would burst, and shed
Severer vengeance on her guiltless head :
roo juft, alas, the terrors which he felt!
For, lo! a guard!—Forgive him, if he melt-
How fharp her pangs, when fever'd from his fide,
The moft fincerely lov'd, and loving bride,
n space confin'd, the Muse forbears to tell;
Deep was her anguish, but she bore it well.
VOL. I.
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