To you, my Lord, my mufe her tribute pays
Of various yerfe, in various rude clays;
To you the first addrefs'd her early voice,
By inclination led, and fix'd by choice;
To you, on whoit indulgence the depends,
Her few collected lays the now commends.

by no one measure bound, her numbers range, And, unrefoiv'd in choice, delight in change; Her fongs to no distinguish'd fame afpire,

For now fhe tries the reed, anon attempts the lyre:

In high Parnaffus fhe no birth right claims,
Nor drinks deep draughts of Heliconian ftreams:
Yet near the facred mount the loves to rove,
Vifits the fprings, and hoversround the grove.
She knows what dangers wait too bold a flight,
And fears to fall from an Icarian height:
Yet she admires the wing that safely foars,
At diftance follows, and its track ad res.

She knows what room, what force, the fwan requires,

Whole tow'ring head above the clouds afpires,
And knows as well, it is your lowest praife,
Such heights to reach with equal itrength and cafe.
O had your genius been to leifure boin,
And not more bound to aid us, than adorn!
Albion in verfe with ancient Grecce had vie'd,
And gain'd alone a fame, which, there, feven

ftates divide.

But fuch, ev'n fuch renown, ton dear had cuft,
1lad we the patriot in the poet loft.
A true poetic state we had deplor'd,
Had not your miniftry our coin refter'd.

But ftill, my lord, though your exalted name
Stands for emoft in the fairest lift of fame,
Though your ambition ends in public good
ţa virtue lineal to your house and blood):

Yet think not mearly of your other praise,
Nor light the trophies which the muses raise,
How oft a patriot's best-laid schemes we find
By party crofs'd, or faction undermin'd!
If he fuccccd, he undergoes this lot,
The good receiv'd, the giver is forget.

But honours which from verfe their fource derive,
Shall both furmount detraction, and furvive:
And poets have unquestion'd right to claim,
If not the greateft, the moft lafting name.
W. CONGREVE.

ALTZIS.

Ah woe too great! Ah theme which far-exceeds The lowly lays of humble thepherds,reeds!

O could I fing in verfe of equal strain. With the Sicilian bard, or Mantuan fwain; Or melting words and moving numbers choose, Sweet as the British Colin's mourning muse; Could I, like him, in tuneful grief excel, And mourn like Stella for her Aftrofel; Then might I raise my Voice (fecure of skill), And with melodions woe the valleys fill; The listening echo on my fong should wait, And hollow rocks Paftora's name repeat;

Each whittling wind, and murmuring ftream

Wert thou with every bay and laurel crown'd, And high as Pan himself in fong renowa'd; Yet would not all thy art avail, to fhow Verfe worthy of her name, or of our wae: But fuch true paffion in thy face appears, In thy pale lips, thick fighs, and gufhing tears; Such tender forrow in thy heart I read, As shall supply all skill, if not exceed. Then leave this common line of dumb diftrefs, Each vulgar grief can fighs and tears exprefs; In fweet complaining notes thy paffion vent, And not in fighs, but words explaining sighs, la

ment.

ALEXIS."

Wild be my words, Menalcas, wild my thought, Artless as nature's notes in birds untaught; Boundless my verse, and roving be my ftrains, Various as flowers on unfrequented plains. And thou, Thalia, darling of my breaft, By whom infpir'd, I fung at Comus' feast; While in a ring, the jolly rural throng Have fat and finil'd to hear my cheerful fong: Begone, with all thy mirth and (prightly lays, My pipe no longer now thy power übeys; Learn to lament, my mufe, to weep, and mourn, Thy fpringing laurels all to cypress turn j Wound with thy difmal cries the tender air, [hair; And beat thý fnowy breaft, and rend thy yellow Far hence, in utmost wilds, thy dwelling choofe, Begone, Thalia; forrow is my mufe.

I mourn Paftora dead; let Albion mourn; And fable clouds her chalky cliffs adorn. No more these woods fhall with her fight be

blefs'd,

Nor with her feet, thefe flowery plains he prefs'd;
No more the winds fhall with her treffes play,
And from her balmy breath steal fweets away;
No more these rivers cheerfully fhall pafs,
Pleas'd to reflect the beauties of her face;

In endless night and arms of death the lies,,
Death in eternal fhades has fhut Paftora's eyes.
Lament pe nymphs, and mourn ye wretched
fwains;

Štray all ye flocks, and defart be ye plains;
Sigh all ye winds, and weep ye cryftal floods;
Fade all ye flowers, and wither all ye woods.
I mourn Pattora dead; let, Albion mourn,
And fable clouds her chalky cliffs adorn.
Within a dismal gret, which damps furround,
All cold the lies upon h' unwholesome ground; ·
The marble weeps, a: d with a Glent pace,
Its trickling tears diftil upon her face.
Fatfelt ye weep, ye rc's, and falfely mourn;
For never will you let the nymph returu !
With a feign'd grief the faithless tomb relents,
And like the crocodile its prey laments..

*

O fhe was heavenly fair, in face and mind! Never in nature were fuch beauties join'd: Without, all shining; and within, all white; Pure to the fenfe, and pleafing to the fight; Like fome rare flower, whole leaves all colours yield,

And opening is with fweetefl odours fill'd.

As lofty pines o'ertop the lowly reed,

So did her graceful height all nymphs exceed ;
To which excelling height, fhe bore a mind
Humble, as fiers bending to the wind.
Thus excellent he was-

Ah wretched fate! he was, but is no more:
Help me, ye hills and valleys, to deplore.

1 mourn Paftora dead; let Albion mourn, And fable clouds her chalky cliffs adorn. From that bleft earth, on which her body lies, May blooming flowers with fragrant fweets arife.

Let Myrrha weeping aromatic gnm,
And ever-living laurel fhade her tomb.
Thither let all th' induftrions bees repair,
•Unlade their thighs and leave their honey there
Thither let fairies with their train refort,
Neglect their revels and their midnight sport;
There in unusual wailings wale the night,
and watch her by the fiery glow-worm's light.
There may no difinal yew nor cypress grow,
Nor Holly-buth, nor bitter alder's bough;
Let each unlucky bird far build his neft,
And distant dens receive each howling beaft
Let wolves be gone, be ravens put to fight,
With hooting owls, and bats that hate the light.
But let the fighing doves that forrows bring,
And nightingales in fweet complainings fing;
Let fwans from their forfuken rivers fly,

m

ftood,.

Greedy of fight, and negligent of food.

No more the nymphs fhall with soft tales delight Her cars, no mere with cances please her froht Nor ever more fhall fwa n make fong of mirth To blefs the joyous day that gave her birth Loft is that day which had froth her its hight, · For ever loft with her, in endless night; eir

I mourn Pastora dead, let Albion mourn, And fable clouds her chalky cliffs adorn, And fee the heavens to weep in dew prepare And heavy mifts obfcure the burden'd air; A fudden damp o'er all the plain is fpread, Each lily folds its leaves and hangs its heat. On every tree the bloffoms turn to tears, And every brugh a wesping moiffure bears.

Their wings the feather'd airy people droop, And flocks beneath their dewy fleeces ftoop.

The rocks are cleft, and new-defcending rills Furrow the brows of all th' impending hills: The water-gods to floods their rivulets turn, And each, with ftreaming eyes, fupplies his wanting urn. [grove, The fawns forfake the woods, the nymphs the And round the plain in fad diftraction rove; In prickly brakes their tender limbs they tear, And leave on thorns their locks of golden hair. With their sharp nails, themselves the fatyrs wound,

And tug their fhaggy beards, and bite with grief the ground.

Lo Pan himself beneath a blasted oak
Dejected lies, his pipe in pieces broke.
See Pales weeping too, in wild despair,
And to the piercing winds her bofom bare.

And fee yon fading myrtle, where appears
The queen of love, all bath'd in flowing tears;
See how fhe wrings her hands, and beats her
breaft,

And tears her useless girdle from her waist :
Hear the fad murmurs of her fighing doves,
For grief they figh, forgetful of their loves.

Lo, Love bimfelf, with heavy woes oppreft!
See how his forrows fwell his tender breast ;
His bow he breaks, and wide his arrows flings,
And folds his little arms, and hangs his drooping
wings;

Then lays his limbs upon the dying grafs,
And all with tears bedews his beauteous face,
With tears, which from his folded lids arise,
And even Love himself has weeping eyes.
All nature mourns; the floods and rocks deplore,
And cry with "Paîtora is no more!"

me,

I mourn Paftora dead; let Albion mourn, And fable clouds her chalky cliffs adorn. The rocks can melt, and air in mifts can mourn, And floods can weep, and winds to fighs can turn; The birds, in fongs, their forrows can disclose, And nymphs and swains, in words, can tell their

woes.

But, oh! behold that deep and wild despair, Which neither winds can fhow, nor floods, nor air.

See the great fhepherd, chief of all the fwains, Lord of thefe woods, and wide-extended plains, Stretch'd on the ground, and close to earth his face,

Scalding with tears th' already-faded grass;
To the cold clay he joins his throbbing breast,
No more within Paftora's arms to reft!

No more for thofe once foft and circling arms
Themselves are clay, and cold are all her charms;
Cold are thofe lips, which he no more must kifs,
And cold that bofom, once all downy blifs;
On whofe foft pillows, lull'd in fweet delights,
Hé us'd in balmy fleep to lofe the nights.

Ah! where is all that love and fondnefs fled?
Ah! where is all that tender fweetness laid ?
To duft muft all that heaven of beauty come!
And must Pastora moulder in the tomb!
Ah, death more fierce and unrelenting far,
Than wildeft wolves or favage tigers are:

With lambs and fheep their hungers are appeas'd But ravenous death the shepherdess has seiz'd.

I mourn Paftora dead; let Albion mourn, And fable clouds her chalky cliffs adorn. "But fee Menalcas, where a sudden light, "With wonder ftops my fong, and strikes my fight!

er

"And where Paftora lies, it spreads around, Showing all radiant bright the facred ground. "While from her tomb, behold, a flame ascends

Of whiteft fire, whose flight to heaven extends! "On flaking wings it mounts, and quick as fight "Cuts through the yielding air with rays of light; "Till the blue firmament at last it gains, "And, fixing there, a glorious star remains:" Fairelt it shines of all that light the skies, As once on earth were seen Paftora's eyes.

William, alone, my feeble voice can raife; What voice fo weak, that cannot sing his praise ! The liftening world each whifper will befriend! That breathes his name, and every ear attend. The hovering winds on downy wings fhall wait around, [found. And catch, and waft to foreign lands, the flying Ev'n I will in his praise be heard ; For by his name my verfe fhall be preferr'd. Borne like a lark upon this eagle's wing, High as the spheres, I will his triumph fing; High as the head of Fame; Fame whofe exalted fize [fkies: From the deep vale extends up to the vaulted A thousand talking tongues the monster bears, A thousand waking eyes and ever-open ears; Hourly the ftalks with huge gigantic pace, Measuring the globe, like time, with conftant

But lo, a change, aftonishing my eyes! And all around, behold, new objects rife ' What forms are these i fee? and whence? Being fubftantial! or does air condense, To clothe in vifionary shape my various thought? Are these by fancy wrought!

Can ftrong ideas ftrike fo deep the sense? O facred poefy! O boundless power! What wonders doft thou trace, what hidden worlds explore!

[fky, Through feas, earth, air, and the wide-circling What is not fought and feen by thy all-piercing eye!

IV.

'Twas now, when flowery lawns the prospect made, And flowing brooks beneath a forest's shade; A lowing heifer, lovclieft of the herd, Stood feeding by; while two fierce bulls prepar'd Their armed heads for fight; by fate of war to prove

The victor worthy of the fair-one's love. Unthought prefage of what met next my view! For foon the fhady scene withdrew :

And now, for woods, and fields, and springing flowers,

Behold a town arise, bulwark'd with walls, and lofty

towers!

Two rival armies all the plain o'erfpread, Each in battalia rang'd, and fhining arms array'd: With cager eyes beholding both from far Namur, the prize and mill refs of the war.

V.

A

Now, thirst of conque?, and immortal fame, Does every chief and foldier's heart inflame. Defenfive arms the Gallic forces bear, While hardy Britons for the form prepare: For fortune had, with partial hand, before Refign'd the rule to Gallia's power. High on a rock the mighty fortrefs lands, Founded by fate, and wrought by nature's hands. A wondrous tafk it is th' afcent to gain,

Through craggy cliffs, that strike the fight with pain,

And nod impending terrors o'er the plain. To this, what dangers men can add, by force or fkill

(And great is human force and wit in ill), Are join'd; on every fide wide-gaping engines wait, Teeming with fire, and big with certain fate; Ready to hurl destruction from above,

In dreadful roar, mocking the wrath of Jove. Thus fearful does the face of adverse power appear;

But British forces are unus'd to fear; Though thus oppos'd they might, if William were not there.

VI.

But hark, the voice of war! behold the ftorm begin!

The trumpet's clangor fpeaks in loud alarms,
Mingling fhrill notes, with dreadful din
Of cannons burst, and rattling clash of arms.

539

Clamours from earth to heaven, from heaven to earth rebound,

Distinction in promifcuous noife is drown'd, And echo loft in one continued found. Torrents of fire from brazen mouths are fent, Follow'd by peals, as if each pole were rent; Such flames the gulf of Tartarus difgorge,

So vaulted Ærna roars from Vulcan's forge; Such were the peals from thence, fuch the valt blaze that broke,

Reddening with horrid gloom the dusky smoke, When the huge Cyclops did with moulding thunder sweat,

And maffive bolts on repercuffive anvils beat.

Raising high piles of earth, and heap on heap they lay,

And then afcend; refembling thus (as far
As race of men inferior may)

The fam'd gigantic war,

When those tall fons of earth did heaven aspire; (A brave, but impious fire ')

Uprooting hills, with mot ftupendous hale,
To form the high and dreadful fcale.
The gods, with horror and amaze, lcok'd down,
Beholding rocks from their firm basis rent;

Mountain on mountain thrown, [ment! With threatening hurl, that shook th' aerial firmaTh' attempt did fear in heaven create; Even Jove defponding fate,

Till Mars, with all his force collected, stood, And pour'd whole war on the rebellious brood; Who, tumbling headlong from th' empyreal skies, O'erwhelm'd thofe hills, by which they thought

to rise.

538

See, how they climb, and fcale the steepy walls! See, how the Britons rife! fee the retiring Gauls! Now from the fort, behold, the yielding flag is fpread,

And William's banner on the breach difplay'd.

X.

Hark, the triumphant fhouts from every voice! The fkies with acclamations ring!. Hark, how around, the hills rejoice, And rocks reflected los fing!

Hautboys and fifes and trumpets join'd

Heroic harmony prepare,

And charm to filence every wind,

And glad the late-tormented air.
Far is the found of martial mufic fpread,
Echoing through all the Gallic holt,

Whose numerous troops the dreadful storm furvey'd

But they, with wonder or with awe difmay'd,
Unmov'd beheld the fortrefs loft.

William, their numerous troops with terror fill'd,
Such wondrous charms can godlike valour fhow!
Not the wing'd Perfeus, with petrific fhield
Of Gorgon's head, to more amazement charm'd his
foe,.

Nor, when on searing horfe he flew, to aid
And fave from monfter's rage the beauteous
maid;

Or more heroic was the deed;
Or fhe to furer chains decreed,
Than was Namur, till now by William freed.

THE BIRTH OF THE MUSE.
TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
CHARLES LORD HALIFAX.

' Dignum laude virum mufa vetat mòri.--HOR.

DESCEND, celeftial mufe! thy fon inspire Of thee to fing; infufe thy holy fire. Belov'd of gods and men, thyfelf disclose; · Say, from what fource thy heavenly power arose, Which, from unnumber'd years delivering down The deeds of heroes deathlefs in renown, down. Extends their life and fame to ages yet unknown. Time and the mufe fet forth with equal pace; "At once the rivals farted to the race i And both at once the deftin'd courfe fhall end, Or both to all eternity contend. One to preserve what t'other cannot fave, And refcue virtue rifing from the grave."

To thee, O Montague, thefe strains are fung,
For thee my voice is tun'd, and fpeaking lyre is
ftrung;

For every grace of every mufe is thine;
In thee their various fires united,fhine,
Darling of Phoebus and the tuneful Nine!
To thee alone I dare my fong commend,
Whose nature can forgive, and power defend,
And fhow by turns the patron and the friend.
Begin, my mufe, from Jove derive thy fang,
Thy fong of right does first to Jove belöng;
For thou thyfelf art of celeftial feed,

Nor dare a fire inferior boast the breed.
When firft the frame of this vaft ball was made,
And Jove with joy the finish'd work survey'd;
Viciffitude of things, of men and states,
Their rife and fall, were deftin'd by the fates.
Then time had first a hame; bý firm decree
Appointed lord of all futurity,

Within whofe ample bofom fates repose
Caufes of things, and fecret feeds enclofe,
Which, ripening there, fhall one day gain a birth;
And force à paffage through the feeming earth.
To him they give to rule the fpacious light,
And bound the yet unparted day and night;
To wing the hours that whirl the rolling fphere,
To fhift the feafons, and conduct the year,
Duration of doininion and of power
To him prefcribe, and fix each sated hour.
This mighty rule to time the fates ordain,
But yet to hard conditions bind his reign;
For every beauteous birth he brings to light,
(How good foe'er and grateful in his fight,)
He must again to native earth restore,
And all his race with iron teeth devour.
Nor good nor great fhall 'fcape his hungry maw,
But bleeding nature prove the rigid law.

mäw;

- Not yet the loofend earth aloft was flung,
Or pois'd amid the fkies in balance hung;
Nor yet did golden fires the fun adorn,
Or borrow'd luftre filver Cynthia's horn;
Nur yet had time commiflion to begin,
Or fate the many twisted web to fpin;
When all the heavenly hoft affenibled came
To view the world yet refling on its frame;
Eager they prefs, to fee the fire difmifs
And roll the globe along the vaft abyfs.

When deep revolving thoughts the god retain,
Which for a space fufpend the promis'd fcene;
Once more his eyes on time intentive look,
Again inspect fate's univerfal.book:
Abroad the wondrous volume-he difplays,
And prefent views the deeds of future days.

A beauteous fcene adorns the foremost page, Where nature's bloem prefents the golden age. The golden leaf to filver foon refignis, And fair the fheet, but yet more faintly, faines. Of bafer brafs, the next denotes the times; An impious page; deform'd with deadly crimes. The fourth yet wears a worfe and browner face, And adds to gloomy days an iron race.

་

He turns the book, and every age reviews, Then all the kingly line his eye pursues The first of men, and lords of earth defign'd, Who under him fhould govern human-kind,