.

THE PROGRESS OF LOVE.

IN FOUR ECLOGU E S.

I. UNCERTAINTY.

To Mr. POPE.

II. Hope. To the Hon. GEORGE DODDINGTON. III. JEALOUSY. TO EDWARD WALPOLE, Erq; IV. POSSESSION. To the Right Hon. the Lord

Viscount COBHAM.

UNCERTAINTY. EcLOCUE T. To Mr. Pope.

POPE;

OPE, to whose reed beneath the beachen shade,

The Nymphs of Thames a.pleas’d attention paid'; While yet thy Muse, content with humbler praise, Warbled in Windsor's grove her sylvan lays; Though now, sublimely borne on Homer's wing, Of glorious wars and godlike chiefs the king : Wilt thou with me revisit once again The crystal fountain, and the flowery plain ? Wilt .thou, indulgent, hear my verse relate The various changes of a lover's state ; And, while each turn of passion I pursue, All thy own heart if what I tell be true ?

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To the green margin of a lonely wood, Whose pendent shades o'erlook'd a silver flood, Young Damon came, unknowing where he stray'd, Full of the image of his beauteous maid : His flock, far off, unfed, untended, lay, To every savage a defenceless prey.; No tense of interest could their master move, And every care seem'd trilling now but love. A while in pensive filence he remain'd, But, though his voice was mute, his looks complain'd; At length the thoughts within his bosom pent Forc'd his unwilling tongue to give them vent.

** Ye nymphs, he cried, ye Dryads, .who so long rs Have favor'd Damon, and inspir'd his song ; “ For whom, retir’d, I.fun the gay resorts « Of sportful cities, and of pompous courts ; 4 In vain 1.bid the restless world adieu, “ To seek tranquillity and peace

with

you. Though wiļd Ambition, and destructive Rage, . “ No factions here can form, no wars.cani wage :

Though Envy frowns not on your humble fades “ Nor Calumny your innocence invades : os Yet cruel Love, that troubler of the breast, “ Too often violates your boasted reft ; “ With inbred storms disturbs your calm retreat, “ And taints with bitterness each rural sweet.

« Ah luckless day! when first with fond surprize « On Delia's face I fix'd my eager eyes! “ Then.in wild tumults all my

was tost, “ Then reason, liberty, at once were lost :