A Lute the held; and on her Head was feen
A Wreath of Rofes red, and Myrtles green:
Her Turtles fann'd the buxom Air above;
And, by his Mother, ftood an Infant-Love:
With Wings unfledg'd; his Eyes were banded
His Hands a Bow, his Back a Quiver bore, [Store. Supply'd with Arrows bright and keen, a deadly
But in the Dome of mighty Mars the Red, With diff'rent Figures all the Sides were spread; This Temple, lefs in Form, with equal Grace Was imitative of the firft in Thrace: For that cold Region was the lov'd Abode, And Sov'reign Manfion of the Warrior-God. The Landscape was a Foreft wide and bare; Where neither Beast, nor Human Kind repair; The Fowl, that scent afar, the Borders fly, And fhun the bitter Blaft, and wheel about the Sky. A Cake of Scurf lies baking on the Ground, And prickly Stubs, instead of Trees are found; Or Woods with Knots and Knares deform'd and Headless the most, and hideous to behold; (old;
A ratling Tempest through the Branches went,
That stripp'd'em bare, and one fole way they bent.
Heav'n froze above, fevere, the Clouds congeal,
And thro' the Crystal Vault appear'd the standing
Hail.
Such was the Face without, a Mountain stood
Threatning from high, and overlook'd the Wood;
Beneath the lowring Brow, and on a Bent,
The Temple stood of Mars Armipotent:
The Frame of burnish'd Steel, that caft a Glare
From far, and feem'd to thaw the freezing Air.
A ftreight, long Entry, to the Temple led,
Blind with high Walls; and Horror over Head:
Thence iffu'd fuch a Blaft, and hollow Rore,
As threaten'd from the Hinge to heave the Door;
In,through thatDoor,a NorthernLight there fhone;
'Twas all it had, for Windows there were none.
The Gate was Adamant; Eternal Frame!
Which hew'd by Mars himself, from Indian
Quarries came,
The Labour of a God; and all along
Tough Iron Plates were clench'd to make it strong,
A Tun about was ev'ry Pillar there;
A polifh'd Mirrour fhone not half fo clear.
There faw I how the fecret Fellon wrought, ?
And Treafon lab'ring in the Traitor's Thought;
And Midwife Time the ripen'd Plot to Murder
brought.
There, the Red Anger dar'd the Pallid Fear;
Next flood Hypocrifie, with holy Lear:
Soft, fmiling, and demurely looking down,
But hid the Dagger underneath the Gown:
Th' affaffinating Wife, the Houfhold Fiend;
And far the blackeft there, the Traitor-Friend.
On t'other Side there ftood Destruction bare;
Unpunish'd Rapine, and a Waste of War.
Contest, with sharpen'd Knives, inCloysters drawn,
And all with Blood befpread the holy Lawn.
Loud Menaces were heard, and foul Difgrace,
And bawling Infamy, in Language bafe;
[Place.
Till Senfe was lost in Sound, and Silence fled the
The Slayer of Himself yet faw I there,
The Gore congeal'd was clotter'd in his Hair:
With Eyes half clos'd, and gaping Mouth he lay,
And grim, as when he breath'd his fullen Soul away.
In midst of all the Dome, Misfortune fate,
And gloomy Difcontent, and fell Debate:
And Madness laughing in his ireful Mood;
And arm'd Complaint on Theft; and Cries of Blood.
There was the murder'd Corps, in Covert laid,
And Violent Death in thousand Shapes difplay'd:.
The City to the Soldier's Rage refign'd:
Succefsless Wars, and Poverty behind:
Ships burnt in Fight, or forc'd on Rocky Shores,
And the rash Hunter strangled by the Boars:
The new-born Babe by Nurses overlaid;
[made.
And the Cook caught within the Raging Fire he
All Ills of Mars his Nature, Flame and Steel:
The gasping Charioteer, beneath the Wheel
Of his own Car; the ruin'd House that falls
And intercepts her Lord betwixt the Walls:
The whole Divifion that to Mars pertains,
All Trades of Death that deal in Steel for Gains,
Were there: The Butcher, Armourer, and Smith,
Who forges fharpen'd Fauchions, or the Scythe.
The fcarlet Conqueft on a Tow'r was plac'd,
With Shouts, and Soldiers Acclamations grac'd:
A pointed Sword hung threatning o'er his Head,
Sustain❜d but by a flender Twine of Thread.
There faw I Mars his Ides, the Capitol,
The Seer in vain foretelling Cafar's Fall,
The laft Triumvirs, and the Wars they move,
And Antony, who loft the World for Love.
These, and a thousand more, the Fane adorn;
Their Fates were painted ere the Men were born,
All copied from the Heav'ns, and ruling Force
Of the Red Star, in his revolving Course.
The Form of Mars high on a Chariot stood,
All fheath'd in Arms, and gruffly look'd the God:
Two Geomantick Figures were display'd
Above his Head, a * Warrior and a Maid,
One when Direct, and one when Retrogade,
Tir'd with Deformities of Death, 1 hafte
To the third Temple of Diana chaste ;
A Sylvan Scene with various Greens was drawn, Shades on the Sides, and on the midst a Lawn: The Silver Cinthia, with her Nymphs around, Purfu'd the flying Deer, the Woods with Horns refound:
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