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If Julia's chafteft name he can forget,
And raife her, brethren of a baftard fet;
If indolently he permits, from far,
Bold Cato to revive the fainting war;
If he can give away the fruits of blood,
And fight to make a ftrumpet's title good.
To him, difdaining or to feign a tear,
Or fpread her artfully dishevel'd hair,
In comely forrow's decent garb array'd,
And trufting to her beauty's certain aid,
In words like thefe began the Pharian maid.
If loyal birth and the Lagæan name,
Thy favouring pity, greatest Cæfar, claim,
Redress my wrongs, thus humbly I 'mplore,
And to her state an injur'd queen reftore.
Here shed thy jufter influence, and rise
A star aufpicious to Ægyptian skies.
Nor is it strange for Pharos to behold

A woman's temples bound with regal gold:
No laws our fofter fex's powers reftrain,
But undiftinguifh'd equally we reign..
Vouchsafe my royal father's will to read,
And learn what dying Ptolemy decreed:
My juft pretenfions ftand recorded there,
My brother's empire and his bed to share.
Nor would' the gentle boy his love refufe,
Did curs'd Pothinus leave him free to choofe;
But now in vaffalage he holds his crown,

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And acts by power and paffions not his own..
Nor is my foul on empire fondly fet,

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But could with eafe my royal rights forget;

So thou the throne from vile dishonour fave,
Reftore the mafter, and depose the slave.

What fcorn, what pride, his haughty bofom fwell,
Since, at his bidding, Roman Pompey fell!
(Ev'n now, which oh! ye righteous gods, avert,
His fword is level'd at thy noble heart)

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Thou and mankind are wrong'd, when he fhall dare, Or in thy prize, or in thy crime to fhare.

In vain her words the warrior's ears affail'd, Had not her face beyond her tongue prevail'd; From thence refiftlefs eloquence she draws, And with the sweet perfuafion gains her caufe. His ftubborn heart diffolves in loofe delight, And grants her fuit, for one lafcivious night.

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Ægypt and Cæfar, now, in peace agreed,
Riot and feasting to the war fucceed:

The wanton queen difplays her wealthy ftore,
Excess unknown to frugal Rome before.

Rich, as fome fane by lavish zealots rear'd,

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For the proud banquet, stood the hall prepar'd:
Thick golden plates the latent beams infold,
And the high roof was fretted o'er with gold:
Of folid marble all, the walls were made,
And onyx ev'n the meaner floor inlay'd ;
While porphyry and agat, round the court,
In maffy columns, rose a proud support.
Of folid ebony each poft was wrought,
From fwarthy Meroë profufely brought :
With ivory was the entrance crufted o'er,
And polish'd tortoise hid each shining door;

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While on the cloudy fpots enchas'd was feen
The lively emerald's never-fading green.
Within, the royal beds and couches fhone,
Beamy and bright with many a coftly ftone,
In glowing purple rich the coverings lie;
Twice had they drunk the nobleft Tyrian dye :
Others, as Pharian artifts have the skill

To mix the party-colour'd web at will,

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With winding trails of various filks were made, 185
Where branching gold fet off the rich brocade,
Around, of every age, and choicer form,

Huge crouds, whole nations of attendants fwarm:
Some wait in yellow rings of golden hair,

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The vanquish'd Rhine fhew'd Cæfar none fo fair: 190
Others were feen with fwarthy woolly heads,
Black as eternal night's unchanging fhades.
Here fquealing eunuchs, a difmember'd train,
Lament the lofs of genial joys in vain :
There nature's nobleft work, a youthful band,
In the full pride of blooming manhood stand.
All duteous on the Pharian princes wait,
The princes round the board recline in ftate,
With mighty Cæfar, more than princes great.
On ivory feet the citron board was wrought,
Richer than thofe with captive Juba brought.
With every wile ambitious beauty tries
To fix the daring Roman's heart her prize.
Her brother's meaner bed and crown fhe fcorns,
And with fierce hopes for nobler empire burns;
Collects the mifchiefs of her wanton eyes,
And her faint cheeks with deeper rofes dyes;

Ff4

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Amid

Amidst the braidings of her flowing hair,

The fpoils of orient rocks and fhells appear;
Like midnight stars, ten thousand diamonds deck 210
The comely rifing of her graceful neck:

Of wondrous work, a thin transparent lawn
O'er each foft breaft in decency was drawn ;
Where ftill by turns the parting threads withdrew,
And all the panting bofom rose to view.

Her robe, her every part, her air, confess
The power of female fkill exhaufted in her dress.
Fantaftic madness of unthinking pride,

To boaft that wealth, which prudence strives to hide !
In Civil Wars fuch treasures to display,
And tempt a foldier with the hopes of prey!
Had Cæfar not been Cæfar, impious, bold,
And ready to lay waste the world for gold,
But juft as all our frugal names of old;
This wealth could Curius or Fabricius know,
Or ruder Cincinnatus from the plow,
As Cæfar, they had seiz'd the mighty spoil,
And to inrich their Tiber robb'd the Nile.
Now, by a train of flaves, the various feaft
In maffy gold magnificent was plac'd :
Whatever earth, or air, or feas afford,

In vaft profufion crowns the labouring board.

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For dainties, Egypt every land explores,
Nor fpares thofe very gods her zeal adores.

The Nile's fweet wave capacious crystals pour,
And gems of price the grapes delicious ftore
No growth of Mareotis' marfhy fields,
But fuch as Meroë maturer yields;

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Whore

Where the warm fun the racy juice refines,
And mellows into age the infant wines.

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With wreaths of Nard the guests their temples bind,
And blooming rofes of immortal kind;

Their dropping locks with oily odours flow,
Recent from near Arabia, where they grow:

The vigorous fpices breathe their strong perfume,
And the rich vapour fills the fpacious room.

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Here Cæfar Pompey's poverty disdain`d,

And learn'd to waste that world his arms had gain'd.
He faw th' Ægyptian wealth with greedy eyes,
And with'd fome fair pretence to feize the prize. 250
Sated at length with the prodigious feast,

Their weary appetites from riot ceas'd;
When Cæfar, curious of fome new delight,
In converfation fought to wear the night:
Then gently thus addreft the good old priest,
Reclining decent in his linen vest.

O wife Achoreus! venerable feer!

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Whofe age befpeaks thee heaven's peculiar care,
Say from what origin thy nation sprung,

What boundaries to Egypt's land belong?

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What are thy people's customs, and their modes,

What rites they teach, what forms they give their gods? Each ancient facred myftery explain,

Which monumental fculptures yet retain.

Divinity difdains to be confin'd,

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Fain would be known, and reverenc'd by mankind.

'Tis faid, thy holy predeceffors thought

Cecropian Plato worthy to be taught:

And

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