The gen'ral fav'rite, as the gen'ral friend;
Such age there is, and who could wifh its end?
Yet ev'n on this her load Misfortune flings,
To prefs the weary minutes flagging wings:
New forrow rifes as the day returns,
A fifter fickens, or a daughter mourns.
Now kindred Merit fills the fable bier,
Now lacerated friendship claims a tear.
Year chases year, decay purfues decay,
Still drops fome joy from with'ring life away;
New forms arife, and diff'rent views engage,
Superfluous lags the vet'ran on the stage,
'Till pitying Nature figns the laft release,
And bids afflicted worth retire to peace.
But few there are whom hours like thefe await,
Who fet unclouded in the gulphs of Fate.
From Lydia's monarch fhould the fearch defcend,
By Solon caution'd to regard his end,
In life's last scene what prodigies furprise,
Fears of the brave, and follies of the wife?
From Marlb'rough's eyes the streams of dotage flow, And Swift expires a driv❜ler and a show.
The teeming mother, anxious for her race, Begs for each birth the fortune of a face:
Yet Vane could tell what ills from beauty spring;
And Sedley curs'd the form that pleas'd a king.
Ye nymphs of rofy lips and radiant eyes,
Whom Pleasure keeps too busy to be wife,
Whom Joys with foft varieties invite,
By day the frolic, and the dance by night,
Who frown with vanity, who fmile with art,
And ask the latent fashion of the heart,
What care, what rules your heedlefs charms fhall fave,
Each nymph your rival, and each youth your flave?
Against your fame with fondnefs hate combines,
The rival batters, and the lover mines.
With diftant voice neglected Virtue calls,
Lefs heard and lefs, the faint remonstrance falls;
Tir'd with contempt, fhe quits the flipp'ry reign,"
And Pride and Prudence take her feat in vain.
In crowd at once, where none the pafs defend,
The harmless Freedom, and the private Friend.
The guardians yield, by force fuperior ply'd;
By Int'reft, Prudence; and by Flatt'ry, Pride.
Now beauty falls betray'd, defpis'd, diftrefs'd,
And hiffing Infamy proclaims the reft.
Where then shall Hope and Fear their objects find? Muft dull Sufpence corrupt the stagnant mind?
Must helpless man, in ignorance fedate,
Roll darkling down the torrent of his fate?
Must no dislike alarm, no wishes rise,
No cries attempt the mercies of the skies?
Enquirer, ceafe, petitions yet remain,
Which heav'n may hear, nor deem religion vain.
Still raise for good the fupplicating voice,
But leave to heav'n the measure and the choice.
Safe in his pow'r, whofe eyes difcern afar
The fecret ambush of a specious pray'r.
Implore his aid, in his decifions rest,
Secure whate'er he gives, he gives the best.
Yet when the fenfe of facred presence fires,
And strong devotion to the skies afpires,
Pour forth thy fervours for a healthful mind,
Obedient paffions, and a will refign'd;
For love, which scarce collective man can fill;
For patience, fov'reign o'er tranfmuted ill;
For faith, that panting for a happier feat,
Counts death kind Nature's fignal to retreat :
These goods for man the laws of heav'n ordain,
These goods he grants, who grants the pow'r to gain; With these celestial Wisdom calms the mind,
And makes the happiness she does not find.
ED by the jocund train of vernal hours
And vernal airs, uprofe the gentle May;
Blushing the rofe, and blushing rose the flow'rs
That sprung fpontaneous in the genial ray.
Her locks with heav'n's ambrofial dews were bright,
And am'rous zephyrs flutter'd on her breast:
With every fhifting gleam of morning light
The colours fhifted of her rainbow vest.
Imperial enfigns grac'd her fmiling form,
A golden key, and golden wand fhe bore;
This charms to peace each fullen eastern storm,
And that unlocks the Summer's copious store.
Onward in confcious majefty fhe came,
The grateful honours of mankind to tafte;
To gather faireft wreaths of future fame,
And blend fresh triumphs with her glories paft.
Vain hope! no more in choral bands unite
Her virgin vot'ries, and at early dawn,
Sacred to May and Love's mysterious rite,
Brush the light dew-drops from the spangled lawn.
To her no more Augufta's wealthy pride
Pour's the full tribute from Potofi's mine;
Nor fresh-blown garlands village maids provide,
A purer off'ring, at her ruftic fhrine.
No more the Maypole's verdant height around
To Valour's games th' ambitious youth advance:
merry bells and tabors' sprightlier found
Wake the loud carol, and the fportive dance.
Sudden in penfive fadnefs droop'd her head,
Faint on her cheeks the blushing crimson dy'd"O! chafte victorious triumphs, whither fled?"
My maiden honours, whither gone ?" fhe cry'd.
Ah! once to fame and bright dominion born,
The Earth and smiling Ocean faw me rife,
With time coeval and the ftar of morn,
The first, the fairest daughter of the skies.
Alluding to the country cuftom of gathering May-dew. b The plate garlands of London.
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