That all the trials of her fate were past,
And Love's decifive plaudit feal'd the laft.
Her airy guard prepares the fofteft down
From Peace's wing, to line the nuptial crown:
Her fmiles accelerate the bridal morn,

And clear her votary's path from every thorn.
On the quick match the prude's keen cenfures fall,
Blind to the heavenly power who guided all;
But mild Serena fcorn'd the prudish play
To wound warm love with frivolous delay;
Nature's chafte child, not affectation's flave,
The heart fhe meant to give, fhe frankly gave.
Thro' her glad Sire no gouty humours run,
Jocund he glories in his deftin'd fon.
Penelope herself, no longer feen

In the foul femblance of tormenting Spleen,
Buys for her niece the robes of nuptial ftate,

Nor fcolds the Mercer once thro' all the long debate.
For quick difpatch, the honeft man of law
Toils half the night the legal ties to draw;
At length th' enraptured Youth, all forms compleat,
Bears his fweet Bride to his paternal seat ;
On a fair lawn the cheerful mansion stood,
And high behind it rofe a circling wood.

As the bleft lord of this extenfive reign
Led his dear partner thro' her new domain,
With fond surprise, Serena foon defcried
A temple rais'd to her æthereal guide.
Its ornaments fhe view'd with tender awe,

Their fashion fuch as fhe in vifion faw;

For the kind youth, her grateful fmile to gain,
Had, from her clear defcription, deck'd the fane.
Joyful he cried, to his angelic wife,

"Be this kind power the worship of our life!"
He fpoke; and led her to the inmost shrine;
- Here, link'd in rofy bands, two votaries fhine;
The pencil had imparted life to each,

With energy that feem'd beyond its reach.

Firft ftood connubial Love, a manly youth, Whose bright eye spoke the ardent vows of truth; Friendship, sweet smiling, fill'd the second place, In all the fofter charms of virgin grace. Their meeting arms a mystic tablet raise, Deck'd with thefe lines, the moral of my lays : "Virtue's an ingot of Peruvian gold, "Senfe the bright ore, Potofi's mines unfold; "But Temper's image muft their use create, "And give these precious metals sterling weight.”

HAYLEY.

SECT. XXXIV.

ON MUSIC.

FROM harmony, from heavenly harmony,

This univerfal frame began :

From harmony to harmony

Thro' all the compass of the notes it ran;

The diapafon clofing full in man.

And man may juftly tuneful notes admire; His foul is mufic, and his breast a lyre:

A lyre,

A lyre, which, while its various notes agree,
Enjoys the fweets of its own harmony.

In us rough hatred with soft love is join'd,
And sprightly hope with grov'ling fear combin'd,
To form the parts of our harmonious mind.

What ravishes the foul, what charms the ear,
Is mufic, tho' a various dress it wear.

Beauty is mufic too, tho' in disguise; Too fine to touch the ear, it ftrikes the eyes, And thro' them, to the foul the filent ftroke conveys. 'Tis mufic heavenly, fuch as in a sphere, We only can admire, but cannot hear.

Mufic has charms to footh a favage breast,
To foften rocks and bend the knotted oak :
I've read that things inanimate have mov'd,
And as with living fouls have been inform'd
By magic numbers and perfuafive found.

DRYDEN AND CONGREVE.

A

ON LEARNING.

Little learning is a dangerous thing;

Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring,

Here fhallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
But drinking largely fobers us again.

D 5

POPE

SE C T..

་

SECT XXXVI.

ON LONDON.

LONDON! the needy villain's genʼral home,

The common-fhore of Paris, and of Rome;
With eager thirst, by folly or by fate,!
Sucks in the dregs of each corrupted state.
Forgive my transports on a theme like this,
I cannot bear a French metropolis.

Illuftrious Edward! from the realms of day,
The land of heroes and of faints furvey;
Nor hope the British lineaments to trace,
The ruftic grandeur, or the furly grace,
But loft in thoughtless eafe, and empty fhow,
Behold the warrior dwindled to a beau;
Senfe, freedom, piety, refin'd away,

Of France the mimick, and of Spain the prey.
All that at home no more can beg or steal,
Or like a gibbet better than a wheel;

Hifs'd from the stage, or hooted from the court,
Their air, their drefs, their politicks import ;
Obfequious, artful, voluble and gay,

On Britain's fond credulity they prey.'

No gainful trade their industry can 'scape,

They fing, they dance, clean fhoes, or cure a clap:
All fciences a fafting Monfieur knows,

And bid him go to hell, to hell he goes.
Ah! what avails it, that, from flav'ry far,
I drew the breath of life in English air;

Was

Was early taught a Briton's right to prize,
And lifp the tale of Henry's victories;
If the gull'd conqueror receives the chain,
And flattery fubdues when arms are vain?
Studious to please, and ready to fubmit,
The fupple Gaul was born a parafite :
Still to his int'reft true, where-e'er he goes,
Wit, brav'ry, worth, his lavish tongue bestows;
In ev'ry face a thousand graces fhine;
From ev'ry tongue flows harmony divine.
These arts in vain our rugged natives try,
Strain out with fault'ring diffidence a lie,
And gain a kick for aukward flattery.

What man would leave, unbrib'd, Hibernia's land,
Or change the rocks of Scotland for the Strand?
There none are fwept by sudden fate away,
But all whom hunger spares, with age decay :
Here malice, rapine, accident, conspire,
And-now a rabble rages, now a fire ;
Their ambush here relentless ruffians lay,
And here the fell attorney prowls for prey;
Here falling houses thunder on your head,
And here a female atheift talks you dead.

By numbers here from fhame or cenfure free,

All crimes are fafe, but hated poverty.

This, only this, the rigid law pursues,

This, only this, provokes the fnarling mufe.
The fober trader, at a tatter'd cloak

Wakes from his dream, and labours for a joke ;