Not much unlike, when thou in arms wer't seen,
Eager for glory on the' embattled green,
When Stanhope led thee through the heats of Spain
To die in purple Almanara's plain.
The rescued empire, and the Gaul subdued,
In Anna's reign, our ancient fame renew'd;
What Britons could, when justly rous'd to war,
Let Blenheim speak, and witness Gibraltar.
WHEN Fortune seems to smile, 'tis then I fear
Some lurking ill, and hidden mischief near:
Us'd to her frowns, I stand upon my guard,
And, arm'd in virtue, keep my soul prepar❜d.
Fickle and false to others she may be,
I can complain but of her constancy.
-Virtutem à me,
Fortunam ex aliis
WRITTEN IN A LEAF OF THE AUTHOR'S POEMS, PRE
The Muse's last dying Song.
A MUSE expiring, who, with earliest voice, Made kings and queens, and beauty's charms, her choice;
Now on her death-bed, this last homage pays, queen! to thee: accept her dying lays.
So, at the' approach of death, the cygnet tries
To warble one note more-and singing dies.
Hail, mighty queen! whose powerful smile alone
Commands subjection, and secures the throne :
Contending parties, and plebeian rage,
Had puzzled loyalty for half an age;
Conquering our hearts, you end the long dispute,
All, who have eyes, confess you absolute.
To Tory doctrines, even Whigs resign,
And in your person own a right divine.
Thus sang the muse, in her last moments fir'd
With Carolina's praise-and then expir'd.
THE God of day descending from above,
Mixt with the sea, and got the queen of Love,
Beauty, that fires the world, 'twas fit should rise
From him alone who lights the stars and skies.
In Cyprus, long, by men and gods obey'd,
The lovers toil she gratefully repaid,
Promiscuous blessings to her slaves assign'd,
And taught the world that Beauty should be kind.
Learn by this pattern, all ye fair, to charm,
Bright be your beams, but without scorching warm.
Helen was next from Greece to Phrygia brought,
With much expense of blood and empire sought:
Beauty and Love the noblest cause afford,
That can try valour, or employ the sword.
Not men alone incited by her charms,
But Heaven's concern'd, and all the gods take arms.
The happy Trojan gloriously possest,
Enjoys the dame, and leaves to Fate the rest.
Your cold reflections, moralists, forbear,
His title's best who best can please the fair.
And now the gods, in pity to the cares,
The fierce desires, distractions, and despairs
Of tortur❜d men, while Beauty was confin'd,
Resolv'd to multiply the charming kind.
Greece was the land where this bright race begun, And saw a thousand rivals to the Sun.
Hence follow'd arts, while each employ'd his care In new productions to delight the fair:
To bright Aspasia Socrates retir'd,
His wisdom grew but as his love inspir'd;
Those rocks and oaks, which such emotions felt,
Were cruel maids whom Orpheus taught to melt;
Music, and songs, and every way to move
The ravish'd heart, were seeds and plants of love.
The gods, entic'd by so divine a birth,
Descend from Heaven to this new heaven on Earth;
Thy wit, O Mercury, 's no defence from Love;
Nor Mars, thy target; nor thy thunder, Jove.
The mad immortals in a thousand shapes,
Range the wide globe; some yield, some suffer
Invaded, or deceiv'd, not one escapes.
[rapes,
The wife, though a bright goddess, thus gives place
To mortal concubines of fresh embrace;
By such examples were we taught to see
The life and soul of Love, is sweet variety.
In those first times, ere charming womankind Reform'd their pleasures, polishing the mind, Rude were their revels, and obscene their joys, The broils of drunkards, and the lust of boys; Phœbus laments for Hyacinthus dead, And Juno, jealous, storms at Ganymed. Return, my Muse, and close that odious scene, Nor stain thy verse with images unclean ; Of Beauty sing, her shining progress view, From clime to clime the dazzling light pursue, Tell how the goddess spread, and how in empire grew.
Let others govern, or defend the state,
Plead at the bar, or manage a debate,
In lofty arts and sciences excel,
Or in proud domes employ their boasted skill,
To marble and to brass such features give,
The metal and the stone may seem to live;
Describe the stars, and planetary way,
And trace the footsteps of Eternal Day :
Be this, my Muse, thy pleasure and thy care,
A slave to Beauty, to record the fair.
Still wand'ring in love's sweet delicious maze,
To sing the triumphs of some heavenly face,
Of lovely dames, who with a smile or frown
Subdue the proud, the suppliant lover crown.
From Venus down to Myra bring thy song,
To thee alone such tender tasks belong.
From Greece to Afric, Beauty takes her flight, And ripens with her near approach to light : Frown not, ye fair, to hear of swarthy dames, With radiant eyes, that take unerring aims; Beauty to no complexion is confin'd,
Is of all colours, and by none defin'd;
Jewels that shine, in gold or silver set,
As precious and as sparkling are in jet.
Here Cleopatra, with a liberal heart,
Bounteous of love, improv'd the joy with art,
The first who gave recruited slaves to know
That the rich pearl was of more use than show,
Who with high meats, or a luxurious draught,
Kept love for ever flowing, and full fraught.
Julius and Anthony, those lords of all,
Each in his turn present the conquer'd ball;
Those dreadful eagles that had fac'd the light
From pole to pole, fall dazzled at her sight:
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