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"Whofe charms as far all other nymphs outhine,

"As other gardens are excell'd by thine!"
Then kifs'd the fair: (his kiffes warmer grow
Than fuch as women on their fex bestow ;)
Then plac'd befide her on the flowery ground,
Beheld the trees with autumn's bounty crown'd.
An elm was near, to whofe embraces led,
The curling vine her twelling clusters spread;
He view'd her twining branches with delight,
And prais'd the beauty of the pleasing fight.
Yet his tall elm, but for his vine (he faid)
Had ftood neglected, and a barren fhade;
And this fair vine, but that her arms furround
Her marry'd elm, had crept along the ground.
Ah, beauteous maid! let this example move
Your mind, averfe from all the joys of love.
Deign to be lov'd, and every heart fubdue!
What nymph could e'er attract fuch crowds as
you?

Not the whofe beauty urg'd the Centaur's arms,
Ulyffes' queen, nor Helen's fatal charms.

Ev'n now, when filent fcorn is all they gain, A thousand court you, though they court in vain,

A thousand fylvan demigods and gods,

That haunt our mountains, and our Alban woods.
But if you'll profper, mark what I advise,
Whom age and long experience render wife,
And one whofe tender care is far above
All that these lovers ever felt of love.
(Far more than e'er can by yourself be guefs'd)
Fix on Vertumnus, and reject the rest.

For his firm faith I dare engage my own;
Scarce to himfelf, himfelf is better known.
To diftant lands Vertumnus never roves;
Like you, contented with his native groves;
6

Nor at firft fight, like moft, admires the fair;
For you he lives; and you alone shall share
His laft afion, as his early care.
Befides, he's lovely far above the rest,
With youth immortal, and with beauty blest.
Add, that he varies every fhape with ease,
And tries all forms that may Pomona please.
But what fhould most excite a mutual flame,
Your rural cares and pleasures are the same.
To him your orchard's early fruit are due,
(A pleasant offering when 'tis made by you)
He values thefe; but yet (alas!) complains,
That ftill the best and dearest gift remains.
Not the fair fruit that on yon branches glows
With that ripe red th' autumnal fun beftows;
Nor tafteful herbs that in thefe gardens rife,
Which the kind foil with milky fap fupplies;
You, only you, can move the god's defire:
Oh, crown fo conftant and fo pure a fire!
Let foft compaffion touch your gentle mind;
Think, 'tis Vertumnus begs you to be kind:
So may no froft, when early buds appear,
Deftroy the promife of the youthful year;
Nor winds, when first your florid orchard blows,
Shake the light bloffoms from their blafted boughs!
This when the various god had urg'd in vain,
He ftrait affum'd his native form again,
Such, and fo bright an aspect now he bears,
As when through clouds th' emerging fun appears,
And thence exerting his refulgent ray,
Difpels the darkness and reveals the day.
Force he prepar'd, but check'd the rash design;
For when, appearing in a form divinc.
The nymph furveys him, and beholds the grace
Of charming features, and a youthful face!
In her foft breaft confenting paffions move,
And the warm maid confefs'd a mutual love.
Fij

IMITATIONS OF ENGLISH POETS.

DONE BY THE AUTHOR IN HIS YOUTH.

WOMEN

1-CHAUCER.

OMEN ben full of ragerie,

Yet fwinken nat fans fecrefie.

Thilke moral fhall ye underftond,

From Schoole-boy's Tale of fayre Ireland: Which to the Fennes hath him betake, To filch the gray ducke fro the lake. Right then, there paffen by the way His aunt, and eke her daughters tway. Ducke in his trowfes hath he hent, Not to be fpied of ladies gent. "But ho! our nephew, (crieth one) "Ho! quoth another, Cozen John;" And ftoppen, and lough, and callen out,This filly clerk full low doth lout: They afken that, and talken this, "Lo here is Coz, and here is Mifs." But, as he glozeth with speeches foote, The ducke fore tickleth his crfe roote: Fore-piece and buttons all-to-breft, Forth thruft a white neck, and red creft. Te-he, cry'd ladies; Clerke nought fpake: Mifs ftar'd; and gray Ducke cryeth quake. "O moder, moder, (quoth the daughter "Be thilke fame thing maids longen a'ter? "Bette is to pine on coals and chalke, "Then truft on mon, whofe yerde can talke."

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And here a failor's jacket hangs to dry.
At every door are fun burnt matrons feen,
Mending old nets to catch the fcaly fry,
Now finging fhrill, and fcolding eft between;
Scolds anfwer foul-mouth'd fcolds; bad neighbour-
hood I ween.

111.

The snappifh cur (the passengers annoy)
Clofe at my heel with yelping treble flies;
The whimp'ring girl, and hoarfer-fcreaming boy,
Join to the yelping treble, fhrilling crics;
The icoiding quean to louder notes doth rife,
And her, full pipes thofe fhrilling cries confound;
To her full pipes the grunting hog replics:
The grunting hogs alarm the neighbours round,
And curs, girls, boys, and fcolds, in the deep balc
are drown'd.

IV.

Hard by a fty, beneath a roof of thatch,
Dwelt Obloquy, who in her early days
Baskets of fish at Billingsgate did watch,
Cod, whiting, oyfter, mackrel, fprat, or plaice:
There learn'd the fpeech from tongues that never
ceafe.

Slander befide her, like a magpie, chatters,
With Envy, (fpitting cat) dread foe to peace;
Like a curs'd cur, Malice, before her clatters,
And, vexing every wight, tears clothes and all te

tatters.

V.

Her dugs were mark'd by every collier's hand,
Her mouth was black as bull dog's at the ftall:
She fera ched, bit, and fpar'd ne lace ne hand,
And bitch and rogue her anfwer was to all;
Nay, e'en the parts of fhame by name would call:
Yea, when the paffed by or lane or nook,
Would greet the man who turn'd him to the
wall,

And by his hand obfcene the porter took,
Nor ever did afkance like modeft virgin look.

VI.

Such place hath Deptford, navy-building town,
Woolwich and Wapping, fmelling strong of pitch ;
Such Lambeth, envy of each band and gown;
And Twickenham fuch, which fairer fenes enrich,
Grots, ftatues, urns, and Jo-n's dog and bitch.
Ne village is without, on either fide,
All up the filver Thames, or all adown;

Ne Richmond's felf, from whofe tall front are ey'd | Vales, fpires, meandering streams, and Windfor's towery pride.

III-WALLER.

OF A LADY SINGING TO HER LUTE.

FAIR charmer, ceafe, nor make your voice's prize
A heart refign'd the conqueft of your eyes:
Well might, alas! that threaten'd vessel fail,
Which winds and lightning both at once affail.
We were too bleft with thefe enchanting lays,
Which must be heavenly when an angel plays:
But killing charms your lover's death contrive,
Left heavenly music should be heard alive.
Orpheus could charm the trees; but thus a tree,
Taught by your hand, can charm no less than he :
A poet made the filent wood pursue,
This vocal wood had drawn the poet too.

On a FAN of the Author's defign, in which was painted theory of CEPHALUS and PROCRIS, with the motto, AURA VENI

COME, gentle air! th' Æolian fhepherd faid,
While Procris panted in the facred fhade;
Come, gentle air, the fairer Delia cries,
While at her feet her fwain expiring lies.
Lo, the glad gales o'er all her beauties ftray,
Breathe on her lips, and in her bofom play!
In Delia's hand this toy is fatal found,

Nor could that fabled dart more furely wound;
Both gifts deftructive to the givers prove;
Alike both lovers fall by thofe they love.
Yet guildefs too this bright deftroyer lives, [gives;
At random wounds, nor knows the wound the
She views the ftory with attentive eyes,
And pities Procris, while her lover dies.

IV. COWLEY.

THE GARDEN.

PAIN would my mufe the flowery treasure sing,
And humble glories of the youthful fpring:
Where opening rofes breathing fweets diffuse,
And foft carnations fhower their balmy dews;
Where lilies fmile in virgin robes of white,
The thin undrefs of fuperficial light,
And vary'd tulips fhow fo dazzling gay,
Blufhing in bright diverfities of day.
Each painted flowret in the lake below
Surveys its beauties, whence its beauties grow;
And pale Narciffus on the bank, in vain
Transform'd, gazes on himself again.
Here aged trees cathedral walks compose,
And mount the hill in venerable rows;
There the green infants in their beds are laid,
The garden's hope, and its expected fhade.
Here orange trees with blooms and pendants shine,
And vernal honours to their autumn join ;

Exceed their promife in their ripen'd store,
Yet in the rifing bloffom promise more.
There in bright drops the cryftal fountains play,
By laurels fhielded from the piercing day :
Where Daphne, now a tree, as once a maid,
Still from Apollo vindicates her fhade,
Still turns her beauties from th' invading beam,
Nor feeks in vain for fuccour to the stream;
The ftream at once preferves her virgin leaves,
At once a fhelter from her boughs receives,
Where fummer's beauty midst of winter stays,
And winter's coolness spite of fummer's rays.

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ARTEMISIA.

THOUGH Artemifia talks, by fits,
Of councils, claffics, fathers, wits;

Reads Malbranche, Boyle, and Locke;
Yet in fome things methinks the fails,
"Twere well if the would pare her nails,
And wear a cleaner fmock.

Haughty and huge as High-Dutch bride, Such naftiness, and fo much pride,

Are oddly join'd by fate :

On her large fquab you find her fpread, Like a fat corpfe upon a bed,

That lies and flinks in state.

She wears no colours (fign of grace) On any part except her face;

All white and black befide: Dauntless her look, her gefture proud, Her voice theatrically loud,

And mafculine her ftride.

So have I feen, in black and white A prating thing, a magpye hight,

VII.-DR. SWIFT.

THE HAPPY LIFE OP A COUNTRY PARSON.

PARSON, thefe things in thy poffeffing,
Are better than the bishop's bleffing.
A wife that makes conferves; a feed
That carries double when there's need:
OЯober store, and beft Virginia,
Tythe pig, and mortuary guinea:
Gazettes fent gratis down, and frank'd,
For which thy patron's weekly thank'd;
A large concordance, bound long fince;
Sermons to Charles the Firft, when prince:
A chronicle of ancient ftanding;
A Chryfoftom to fmooth thy band in.
The Polyglott-three parts,-my text,
Howbeit, likewife-now to my next.
Lo here the Septuagint,-and Paul,
To fum the whole.-the clofe of all.

He that has thefe, may pafs his life,
Drink with the 'iquire, and kifs his wife;
On Sundays preach, and eat his fill;
And faft on Fridays-if he will;
Toast church and queen, explain the news,
Talk with church wardens about pews;
Pray, heartily for fome new gift,
And shake his head at Doctor Swift.

ESSAY ON MAN,

IN FOUR EPISTLES.

TO H. ST. JOHN, LORD BOLINGBROKE.

THE DESIGN.

HAVING proposed to write fome pieces on human life and manners, such as (to ufe my Lord Bacon's expreffion)" come home to men's business and bofoms," I thought it more fatisfactory to begin with confidering man in the abstract, his nature, and his state; fince, to prove any moral duty, to enforce any moral precept, or to examine the perfection or imperfection of any creature whatsoever, it is necessary firft to know what condition and relation it is placed in, and what is the proper end and purpose of its being.

The science of human nature is, like all other fciences, reduced to a few clear points: There are not many certain truths in this world. It is therefore in the anatomy of the mind as in that of the body more good will accrue to mankind by attending to the large, open, and perceptible parts, than by studying too much such finer nerves and veffels, the conformations and ufes of which will for ever escape our obfervation. The disputes are all upon thefe laft; and I will venture to say, they have lefs fharpened the wits than the hearts of men against each other, and have diminished the practice, more than advanced the theory of morality. If I could flatter myself that this essay has any merit, it is in steering betwixt the extremes of doctrines seemingly opposite, in paffing over terms utterly unintelligible, and in forming a temperate, yet not inconsistent, and a short, yet not imperfect, fyftem of ethics.

This I might have done in profe; but I chose verse, and even rhyme, for two reafons. The one will appear obvious; that principles, maxims, or precepts, fo written, both strike the reader more Arongly at first, and are more easily retained by him afterwards: The other may seem odd, but it is true; I found I could exprefs them more shortly this way than in prose itself; and nothing is more certain, than that much of the force as well as grace of arguments or inftructions, depends on their conciseness. I was unable to treat this part of my fubje& more in detail, without becoming dry and tedious; or, more poetically, without facrificing perfpicuity to ornament, without wandering from the precifion, or breaking the chain of reafoning: If any man can unite all thefe without diminution of any of them, I freely confefs he will compass a thing above my capacity.

What is now published, is only to be confidered as a general map of man, marking out no more than the greater parts, their extent, their limits, and their connection, but leaving the particular to be more fully delineated in the charts which are to follow. Confequently these epiftles in their progress (if I have health and leisure to make any progress), will be lefs dry, and more fufceptible of poetical ornament. I am here only opening the fountains, and clearing the paffage. To deduce the rivers, to follow them in their courfe, and to obferve their effects, may be a task more agreeFilij

ble.

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