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Ormifda call'd, to whom by promise ty'd,
A Rhodian beauty was the deftin'd bride.
Caffandra was her name, above the reft
Renown'd for birth, with fortune amply bless'd.
Lyfimachus, who rul'd the Rhodian state,
Was then by choice their annual magistrate :
He lov'd Caffandra too with equal fire,
But fortune had not favour'd his defire;
Crofs'd by her friends, by her not disapprov'd.
Nor yet preferr'd, or like Ormifda lov'd;
So ftood th' affair: fome little hope remain'd,
That, fhould his rival chance to lose, he gain'd..
Mean time young Pafimond his marriage prefs'd,
Ordain'd the nuptial day, prepar'd the feast;
And frugally refolv'd (the charge to fhun,
Which would be double should he wed alone)
To join his brother's bridal with his own.

Lyfimachus, opprefs'd with mortal grief,
Receiv'd the news, and study'd quick relief:
The fatal day approach'd; if force were us'd,
The magiftrate his public trust abus'd;
To juftice liable, as law requir'd;

For, when his office ceas'd, his power expir'd: While power remain'd, the means were in his hand

By force to feize, and then forfake the land:
Betwixt extremes he knew not how to move,
A flave to fame, but, more a slave to love :
Restraining others, yet himself not free,
Made impotent by power, debas'd by dignity.
Both fides he weigh'd: but, after much debate,
The man prevail'd above the magistrate.

Love never fails to mafter what he finds,
But works a different way in different minds,
The fool enlightens, and the wife he blinds.
This youth, propofing to poffefs and 'scape,
Began in murder, to conclude in rape :
Unprais'd by me, though heaven fometimes may
An impious act with undeferv'd fuccefs;
The great it feems are privileg'd alone
To punish all injuftice but their own.
But here I ftop, not daring to proceed,
Yet blush to flatter an unrighteous deed:
For crimes are but permitted, not decreed.

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Thefe fruitful feeds within your mind they fow'd ;
'Twas your's t' improve the talent they bestow'd:
They gave you to be born of noble kind,
They gave you love to lighten up your mind,
And purge the groffer parts; they gave you care
To pleafe, and courage to deferve the fair.

Thus far they try'd you, and by proof they found
The grain intrufted in a grateful ground:
But ftill the great experiment remaind,
They fuffer'd you to lofe the prize you gain'd;
That you might learn the gift was theirs alone:
And when reftor'd, to them the bleffing own.
Reftor'd it foon will be; the means prepar'd,
The difficulty fmooth'd, the danger shar'd:
Be but yourself, the care to me refign,
Then Iphigene is your's, Caffandra mine.
Your rival Pafimond purfues your life,
Impatient to revenge his ravifh'd wife,
But yet not his; to-morrow is behind,
And love our fortunes in one band has join'd:
Two brothers are our fees, Ormifda mine,
As much declar'd as Pafimond is thine :

To-morrow must their common vows be ty'd:2 With love to friend, and fortune for our guide, Let both refolve to die, or each redeem a bride.

Right I have none, nor hast thou much to plead; 'Tis force, when done, must justify the deed: Our task perform'd, we next prepare for flight: And let the lofers talk in vain of right: We with the fair will fail before the wind, If they are griev'd, I leave the laws behind. Speak thy refolves; if now thy courage droop,'" Despair in prison, and abandon hope: But if thou dar'ft in arms thy love regain (For liberty without thy love were vain); Then fecond my defign to feize the prey, Or lead to fecond rape, for well thou know'ft the way.

Said Cymon overjoy'd, do thou propofe The means to fight, and only thew the foes, For from the first, when love had fir'd my mind, Refolv'd I left the care of life behind.

To this the bold Lyfimachus reply'd, Let heaven be neutre, and the fword decide; The fpoufals are prepar'd, already play The minstrels, and provoke the tardy day: By this the brides are wak'd, their grooms are

drefs'd;

All Rhodes is fummon'd to the nuptial feast, All but myself the fole unbidden guest. Unbidden though I am, I will be there, And join'd by thee, intend to joy the fair.

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Now hear the reft; when day refigns the light, And cheerful torches gild the jolly night, Be ready at my call, my chofen few With arms adminifter'd fhall aid thy crew. Then entering unexpected will we feize Our deftin'd prey, from men diffolv'd in ease; By wine difabled, unprepar'd for fight: And haftening to the feas, fuborn our flight: The feas are ours, for I command the fort, A ship well-mann'd expects us in the port : If they, or if their friends, the prize conteft, Death shall attend the man who dares refit.'

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It pleas'd! the prifoner to his hold retir'd,
His troop with equal emulation fir'd,
All fix'd to fight, and all their wonted work
requir'd.

The fun arofe; the streets were throng'd around,
The palace open'd, and the pofts were crown'd.
The double bridegroom at the door attends
Th' expected fpoufe, and entertains the friends:
They meet, they lead to church, the priests invoke
The powers, and feed the flames with fragrant
smoke.

This done, they feast, and at the clofe of night
By kinkled torches vary their delight,
Thefe lead the lively dance, and thofe the brim-
ming bowls invite.

Now, at th' appointed place and hour affign'd
With fouls refolv'd the ravishers were join'd:
Three bands are form'd; the first is fent before
To favour the retreat, and guar'd the shore;
The fecond at the palace-gate is plac'd,
And up the lofty stairs afcend the laft:
A peaceful troop they seem with shining vefts,
But coats of mail beneath fecure their breafts.

Dauntless they enter, Cymon at their head,
And find the feaft renew'd, the table spread:
Sweet voices, mix'd with inftrumental founds,
Afcend the vaulted roof, the vaulted roof rebounds.
When like the harpies rufhing through the hall
The fudden troop appears, the tables fall,
Their fmoking load is on the pavement thrown;
Each ravifher prepares to feize his own;
The brides, invaded with a rude embrace,
Shriek out for aid, confufion fills the place.
Quick to redeem the prey their plighted lords
Advance, the palace gleams with thining fwords.
But late is all defence, and fuccour vain;
The rape is made, the ravishers remain :
Two sturdy flaves were only fent before
To bear the purchas'd prize in fafety to the fhore,
The troop retires, the lovers clofe the rear,
With forward faces not confeffing fear: [mend;
Backward they move, but fcorn their pace to
Then feek the stairs, and with flow hafte defcend.
Fierce Pafimond, their paffage to prevent,
Thruft full on Cymon's back in his defcent,
The blade return'd unbath'd, and to the handle
bent.

Stout Cymon foon remounts, and cleft in two
His rival's head with one defcending blow:
And as the next in rank Ormisda flood,
He turn'd the point; the fword inur'd to blood,
Bor'd his unguarded breaft, which pour'd a
purple flood.

With vow'd revenge the gathering crowd pursues,
The ravishers turn head, the fight renews;
The hall is heap'd with corps; the sprinkled gore
Befmears the walls, and floats the marble floor.
Difpers'd at length the drunken fquadron flies,
The victors to their veffel bear the prize;
And hear behind loud groans, and lamentable (

crics.

The crew with merry fhouts their anchors weigh,

Then ply their oars, and brush the buxom fea, While troops of gather'd Rhodians crowd the key.

What should the people do when left alone?
The governor and government are gone.
The public wealth to foreign parts convey'd;
Some troops difbanded, and the reft unpaid.
Rhodes is the fovereign of the fea no more;
Their fhips unrigg'd, and spent their naval
ftore;

They neither could defend, nor can pursue,
But grinn'd their teeth, and cast a helpless view:
In vain with darts a distant war they try,
Short, and more short, the miffive weapons fly.
Meanwhile the ravishers their crimes enjoy,
And flying fails and fweeping oars employ :
The cliffs of Rhodes in little fpace are loft,
Jove's ifle they feek; nor Jove denies his coaft.
In fafety landed on the Candian shore,
With generous wines their spirits they restore:
There Cymon with his Rhodian friend refides,
Both court, and wed at once the willing brides.
A war enfues, the Cretans own their caufe,
Stiff to defend their hofpitable laws:
Both parties lofe by turns; and neither wins,
Till peace propounded by a truce begins.
The kindred of the flain forgive the deed,
But a fhort exile must for fhew precede :
The term expir'd, from Candia they remove;
And happy cach, at home, enjoys his love.

TRANSLATIONS FROM

OVID'S METAMORPHOSES:

To the Right Honourable

LORD RADCLIFFE.

MY LORD,

THESE Mifcellany Poems are by many titles yours. The first they claim from your accept ance of my promife to prefent them to you, before fome of them were yet in being. The reft are derived from your own merit, the exactnefs of your judgment in poetry, and the candour of your nature; easy to forgive fome trivial faults when they come accompanied with countervailing beauties. But, after all, though these are your equi table claims to a dedication from other Poets, yet I must acknowledge a bribe in the cafe, which is your particular liking to my verfes. It is a vanity common to all writers, to over-value their own productions; and it is better for me to own this failing in myfelf, than the world to do it for me. For what other reafon have I spent my life in fo unprofitable a study? why am I grown old, in

feeking fo barren a reward as fame? The fame parts and application, which have made me a poet, might have raised me to any honours of the gown, which are often given to men of as little learning and lefs honesty than myself. No government has ever been, or ever can be, wherein time-fervers and blockheads will not be uppermoft. The perfons are only changed, but the fame jugglings in ftate, the fame hypocrify in religion, the fame felf-interest, and mismanagement, will remain for ever. Blood and money will be lavished in all ages, only for the preferment of new faces, with old confciences. There is too often a jaundice in the eyes of great men; they fee not those whom they raise in the fame colours with other men. All whom they affect, look golden to them; when the gilding is only in their own distempered fight. Thefe confiderations Prefixed to the Third Volume of Dryden's Mifecl have rifen by unworthy ways. I am not ashamed have given me a kind of contempt for those who

lany Poems, printed in 1693,

to be little, when I fee them fo infamously great; | comparison? one would have thought he had neither do I know why the name of poet fhould learned Latin, as late as they tell us he did Greek. be difhonourable to me if I am truly one, as I Yet he came off, with a pace tuâ, by your good hope I am; for I will never do any thing that leave, Lucan; he called him not by thofe outrafhall difhonour it. The notions of morality are geous names, of fool, booby, and blockhead: he known to all men: none can pretend ignorance had fomewhat more of good manners than his of those ideas which are in-born in mankind: and fucceffors, as he had much more knowledge. We if I fee one thing, and practife the contrary, I have two forts of thofe gentlemen in our nation: must be disingenuous, not to acknowledge a clear fome of them proceeding with a feeming moderatruth, and base to act against the light of my own tion and pretence of refpect, to the dramatic confcience. For the reputation of my honefty, writers of the laft age, only fcorn and valify the no man can queftion it, who has any of his own: prefent poets, to fet up their predeceffors. But for that of my poetry, it fhall either ftand by its this is only in appearance; for their real defign is own merit; or fall for want of it. Ill writers are nothing less than to do honour to any man, be ufually the fharpeft cenfors: for they (as the beft fides themfelves. Horace took notice of fuch men poet and the best patron faid) when in the full in his age: "Non ingeniis favet ille, fepultis; perfection of decay, turn vinegar, and come again" noftra fed impugnat; nos noftraque lividus in play. Thus the corruption of a poet is the ge"odit." It is not with an ultimate intention to neration of a critic: I mean of a critic in the ge- pay reverence to the manes of Shakspeare, Fletcher, neral acceptation of this age: for formerly they and Ben Jonson, that they commend their writwere quite another species of men. They were ings, hut to throw dirt on the writers of this age: defenders of poets, and commentators on their their declaration is one thing, and their practice works; to illuftrate obfcure beauties; to place is another. By a feeming veneration to our fa fome paffages in a better light; to redeem others thers, they would thruft out as their lawful iffue, from malicious interpretations; to help out an and govern us themfelves, under a fpecious preauthor's modefty, who is not oftentatious of his tence of reformation. If they could compass their wit; and, in fhort, to fhield him from the ill na- intent, what would wit and learning get by fuch ture of those fellows, who were then called Zoili a change? if we are bad poets, they are worse; and Momi, and now take upon themselves the and when any of their woeful pieces come abroad, venerable name of censors. But neither Zoilus, the difference is so great betwixt them and good nor he who endeavoured to defame Virgil, were writers, that there need no criticisms on our part ever adopted into the name of critics by the an- to decide it. When they defcribe the writers of cients: what their reputation was then, we know; this age, they draw fuch monftrous figures of them, and their fucceffors in this age deserve no better. as refemble none of us: our pretended picures Are our auxiliary forces turned our enemies? are are fo unlike, that it is evident we never fate to they, who at best are but wits of the second or them; they are all grotefque; the products of der, and whofe only credit amongst readers is their wild imaginations, things out of nature, fo what they obtained by being fubfervient to the far from being copied from us, that they resemble fame of writers, are thefe become rebels of flaves, nothing that ever was, or ever can be. But there and ufurpers of fubjects; or, to speak in the moft is another fort of infects, more venomous than the honourable terms of them, are they from our fe- former. Those who manifeftly aim at the deconds become principals against us? does the ivy ftruction of our poetical church and state; who undermine the oak, which fupports its weakness? allow nothing to their countrymen, either of this what labour would it coft them to put in a better or of the former age. These attack the living by line, than the worft of thofe which they expunge raking up the afhes of the dead; well knowing in a true poet? Petronius, the greatest wit per- that if they can fubvert their original title to the haps of all the Romans, yet when his envy pre-ftage, we who claim under them must fall of vailed upon his judgment to fall on Lucan, He fell bimfelf in his attempt: he performed worfe in his Effay of the Civil War, than the author of the Pharfalia and avoiding his errors, has made greater of his own. Julius Scaliger would needs turn down Homer, and abdicate him after the poffeffion of three thousand years: has he fucceeded in his attempt he has indeed fhown us fame of thofe imperfections in him, which are incident to human kind: but who had not rather be that Homer than this Scaliger? You fee the fame hypercritic, when he endeavours to mend the beginning of Claudian (a faulty poet, and living in a barbarous age) yet how short he comes of him, and fubftitutes fuch verfes of his own as deferve the ferula. What a cenfure has he made of Lucan, that he rather feems to bark than fing? would any but a dog, have made fo fnarling a

courfe. Peace be to the venerable shades of Shakfpeare and Ben Jonfon: none of the living will prefume to have any competition with them: as they were our predeceffors, fo they were our mafters. We trail our plays under them; but (as at the funerals of a Turkish emperor) our enfigns are furled or dragged upon the ground, in honour to the dead; fo we may lawfully advance our own, afterwards, to fhew that we fuccced: if lefs in dignity, yet on the fame foot and title, which we think too we can maintain against the infolence of our own janizarics. If I am the man, au I have reafon to believe, who am feemingly courted, and fecretly undermined; I think I fhall be able to defend myfelf, when I am openly attacked. And to fhew befides that the Greek writers only gave us the rudiments of a stage which they never finished : that many of the tragedies in the former

age amongst us, were without comparison beyond thofe of Sophocles and Euripides. But, at prefent, I have neither the leifure nor the means for fuch an undertaking. It is ill going to law for an eftate, with him who is in poffeffion of it, and enjoys the prefent profits, to feed his caufe. But the quantum mutatus" may be remembered in due time. In the mean while, leave the world to judge, who gave the provocation.

This, my Lord, is, I confefs, a long digreffion from Mifcellany Poems to Modern Tragedies: but I have the ordinary excufe of an injured man, who will be telling his tale unfeasonably to his betters; though, at the fame time, I am certain, you are so good a friend, as to take a concern in all things which belong to one who fo truly honours you. And befides, being yourfelf a critic of the genuine fort, who have read the beft authors in their own languages, who perfectly diftinguifh of their feveral merits, and in general prefer them to the moderns; yet, I know, you judge for the English tragedies, against the Greek and Latin, as well as against the French, Italian, and Spanish, of these latter ages. Indeed, there is a vaft difference betwixt arguing like Perault in be. half of the French poets against Homer and Virgil, and betwixt giving the English poets their undoubted due of excelling Elchylus, Euripides, and Sophocles for if we, or our greater fathers, have not yet brought the drama to an abfolute perfection; yet, at least, we have carried it much farther than thofe ancient Greeks; who, beginning from a chorus, could never totally exchuide st, as we have done; who find it an unprofitable incumbrance, without any neceflity of entertaining it amongst us, and without the possibility of eftablishing it here, unless it were fupported by a public charge. Neither can we accept of thofe Jay-bishops, as fome call them, who, under pretence of reforming the flage, would intrude themfelves upon us as our fuperiors; being, indeed, incompetent judges of what is manners, what religion, and, leaft of all, what is poetry and good fenfe. I can tell them, in behalf of all my fellows, that, when they come to exercise a jurisdiction over us, they fhall have the ftage to themfelves, as they have the laurel. As little can I grant, that the French dramatic writers excel the English: our authors as far furpass them in genius, as our foldiers excel theirs in courage: it is true, in conduct they furpass us either way; yet that proceeds not fo much from their greater knowledge, as from the difference of taftes in the two nations. They content themfelves with a thin defign, without epifodes, and managed by few perfons. Our audience will not be pleafed but with variety of accidents, an underplot, and many actors. They follow the ancients too fervilely, in the mechanic rules; and we affume too much licenfe to ourselves, in keeping them only in view, at too great a diflance. But if our audience had their taftes, our poets could more cafily comply with them, than the French writers could come up to the fublimity of our thoughts, er to the difficult variety of our designs. Howe

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ver it be, I dare establish it for a rule of practice on the ftage, that we are bound to please those whom we pretend to entertain; and that at any price, religion and good-manners only excepted: and I care not much, if I give this handle to our bad, illiterate poetafters, for the defence of their Scriptions, as they call them. There is a fort of merit in delighting the fpectators; which is a name more proper for them than that of auditors; or eife Horace is in the wrong, when he com mends Lucilius for it. But these common-places I mean to treat at greater leifure; in the mean time fubmitting that little I have said to your Lordship's approbation or your cenfure, and choofing rather to entertain you this way, as you are a judge of writing, than to opprefs your mo defty with other commendations; which, though they are your due, yet would not be equally received in this fatirical and cenforious age. That which cannot without injury he denied to you, is the eafinefs of your conversation, far from affectation or pride; not denying even to enemies their juft praifes: and this, if I would dwell on any theme of this nature, is no vulgar commendation to your Lordship. Without flattery, my Lord, you have it in your nature, to be a patron and encourager of good poets; but your fortune has not yet put into your hands the opportunity of exprefling it. What you will be hereafter, may be more than gueffed, by what you are at present. You maintain the character of a nobleman, with out that haughtinefs which generally attends too many of the nobility; and when you converle with gentlemen, you forget not that you have been of their order. You are married to the daughter of a king; who, amongst her other high perfections, has derived from him a charming be haviour, a winning goodness, and a majestic per. fon. The Mufes and the Graces are the ornaments of your family: while the Mufe fings, the Grace accompanies her voice: even the fervants of the Mufes have fometimes had the happiness to hear her, and to receive their infpirations from

her.

I will not give myself the liberty of going far ther; for it is fo fweet to wander in a pleasing way, that I fhould never arrive at my journey's end. To keep myself from being belated in my letter, and tiring your attention, I must return to the place where I was fetting out. I humbly dedicate to your Lordship my own labours in this Mifcellany; at the fame time not arrogating to myself the privilege of infcribing to you the works of others who are joined with me in this undertaking, over which I can pretend no right. Your lady and you have done me the favour to hear me read my translations of Ovid; and you both feemed not to be difpleased with them. Whether it be the partiality of an old man to his youngest child, I know not; but they appear to me the best of all my endeavours in this kind. Perhaps this poet is more easy to be translated than fome others whom I have lately attempted; perhaps too, he was more according to my genius. He is certainly more palatable to the reader than

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