224

And none of all her ftrings be mute, While the fharp found and fhriller lay In fweet harmonious notes decay,

Soften'd and mellow'd by the flute.

* «. The flute that sweetly can complain, "Diffolve the frozen nymph's disdain; Panting fympathy impart,

"Till the partake her lover's fmart.”

CHORUS.

III.

Next, let the folemn organ join
Religious airs, and ftrains divine,
Such as may lift us to the fkies,
And fet all heaven before our eyes :

"Such as may lift us to the fkies; "So far at least till they "Defcend with kind surprise, "And meet our pious harmony half-way."

Such were the tuneful notes that hung
On bright Cecilia's charming tongue:
Notes that facred heats infpir'd,
And with religious ardour fir'd :

The love-fick youth, that long fupprefs'd
His fmother'd paffion in his breast,
No fooner heard the warbling dame,

But, by the fecret influence turn'd,
He felt a new diviner flame,

And with devotion burn'd.
With ravish'd foul, and looks amaz'd,
Upon her beauteous face he gaz'd;

Nor made his amorous complaint:
In vain her eyes his heart had charm'd,
Her heavenly voice her eyes difarm❜d,
And chang'd the lover to a faint.

GRAND CHORUS.

VI.

And now the choir complete rejoiccs,
With trembling ftrings and melting voices,

The tuneful ferment rifes high,
And works with mingled melody:
Quick divifions run their rounds,
A thousand trills and quivering founds
In airy circles o'er us fly,

Till, wafted by a gentle breeze,
They faint and languifh by degrees,
And at a distance die.

The four laft lines of the fecond and third ftanzas were added by Mr. Tate,

AN ODE

I.

THE fpacious firmament on high,
With all the blue ethereal sky,
And spangled heavens, a fhining frame,
Their great original proclaim.
Th' unweary'd fun, from day to day,
Does his Creator's power difplay;
And publishes, to every land,
The work of an Almighty hand.

II.

A

His prefence fhall my wants fupply, And guard me with a watchful eye : My noon-day walks he fhall attend, And all my midnight hours defend.

11.

When in the fultry glebe I faint,
Or on the thirsty mountain pant;
To fertile vales and dewy meads
My weary wandering fteps he leads:
Where peaceful rivers, foft and flow,
Amid the verdant landscape flow.

IIJ.

Though in the paths of death I tread,
With gloomy horrors overspread,
My stedfait heart shall fear no ill,
For thou, O Lord, art with me ftill;
Thy friendly crook fhall give me aid,

And guide me through the dreadful shade..

IV.

Though in a bare and rugged way,
Through devious lonely wilds I stray,
Thy bounty fhall my wants beguile,
The barren wilderness fhall fmile,
With sudden greens and herbage crown'd,
And ftreams fhall murmur all around,

THE PLAY-HOUSE *.

WHERE gentle Thames through stately channels glides,

And England's proud metropolis divides;
A lofty fabric does the fight invade,
And stretches o'er the waves a pompous fhade;
Whence fudden fhouts the neighbourhood fur-
prise,

And thundering claps and dreadful hiffings rife.
Here thrifty R- hires monarchs by the day,
And keeps his mercenary kings in pay;
With deep-mouth'd actors fills the vacant scenes,
And rakes the ftews for goddeffes and queens:
Here the lewd punk, with crowns and fceptres
grac'd,

Teaches her eyes a morė majestic caft;
And hungry monarchs, with a numerous train
Of fuppliant flaves, like Sancho, ftarve and reign.
But enter in, my Mufe; the stage furvey,
And all its pomp and pageantry display;
Trap-doors and pit-falls, from th' unfaithful ground,
And magic walls encompass it around:
On either fide maim'd temples fill our eyes.
And intermixt with brothel-houses rife;
Disjointed palaces in order ftand,

And groves obedient to the mover's hand
O'erfhade the ftage, and flourish at command.
A ftamp makes broken towns and trees entire :
So when Amphion ftruck the vocal lyre,
He faw the fpacious circuit all around,
With crowding woods and rifing cities crown'd.
But next the tiring-room furvey, and fee
Falfe titles, and promifcuous quality,

* See Sedley's Mifcellanies, 8vo. p. 202.

Confus'dly fwarms, from heroes and from queens,
To those that swing in clouds and fill machines.
Their various characters they choose with art,
The frowning bully fits the tyrant's part:
Swoln cheeks and fwaggering belly make an host,
Pale meagre looks and hollow voice a ghost ;
From careful brows and heavy downcaft eyes,
Dull cits and thick-fcull'd aldermen arife;
The comic tone, infpir'd by Congreve, draws
At every word, loud laughter and applaufe:
The whining dame continues as before,
Her character unchang'd, and acts a whore.

Above the reft, the prince with haughty stalks
Magnificent in purple bufkins walks:
The royal robes his awful fhoulders grace,
Profufe of fpangles and of copper-lace:
Officious rafcals to his mighty thigh,
Guiltlefs of blood, th' unpointed weapon tie:
Then the gay glittering diadem put on, [ftone.
Ponderous with brafs, and starr'd with Bristol
His royal confort next consults her glass,
And out of twenty boxes culls a face;
The whiteuing first her ghaftly looks besmears,
All pale and wan th' unfinish'd form appears;
Till on her cheeks the blufhing purple glows,
And a falfe virgin-modefty bestows.
Her ruddy lips the deep vermilion dyes;
Length to her brows the pencil's art fupplies,
And with black bending arches fhades her eyes.
Well pleas'd at length the picture the beholds,
And spots it o'er with artificial molds;
Her countenance complete, the beaux the warms
With looks not her's; and fpite of nature, charms.

Thus artfully their perfons they disguise,
Till the last flourish bids the curtain rife.
The prince then enters on the stage in state:
Behind, a guard of candle-fnuffers wait :
There, fwoln with empire, terrible and fierce,
He flakes the dome, and tears his lungs with
verse :

His fubjects tremble; the fubmiffive pit,
Wrapt up in filence and attention, fit;
Till, freed at length, he lays afide the weight.
Of public bufinefs and affairs of state:
Forgets his pomp, dead to ambitious fires,
And to fome peaceful brandy-shop retires;
Where in full gills his anxious thoughts he drowns,
And quaffs away the care that waits on crowns.

The princess next her painted charms displays,
Where every look the pencil's art betrays:
The callow 'fquire at diftance feeds his eyes,
And filently for paint and washes dies.
But if the youth behind the scenes retreat,
He fees the blended colours melt with heat,
And all the trickling beauty run in sweat.
The borrow'd vifage he admires no more,
And nauseates every charm he lov'd before :
So the fam'd spear for double force renown'd,
Apply'd the remedy that gave the wound.

In tedious lifts 'twere endlefs to engage, And draw at length the rabble of the stage, Where one for twenty years has given alarms, And call'd contending monarchs to their arms; Another fills a more important poft, And rifes every other night a ghost;

Through the cleft stage, his mealy face he rears, Then stalks along, groans thrice, and disappears; Others, with fwords and fhields, the foldier's

pride, [fide, More than a thousand times have chang'd their And in a thousand fatal battles dy'd.

Thus feveral persons several parts perform;
Soft lovers whine, and blustering heroes storm.
The ftern exasperated tyrants rage,

Till the kind bowl of poifon clears the stage.
Then honours vanish, and diftinctions ceafe;
Then, with reluctance, haughty queens undrefs,
Heroes no more their fading laurels boaft,
And mighty kings in private men are loft.

He, whom fuch titles fwell'd, fuch power made proud,

To whom whole realms and vanquish'd nations bow'd,

TO HER ROYAL HIGHNESS

THE PRINCESS OF WALES,

THE

WITH THE TRAGEDY OF CATO, NOVEMBER 1714.

He muse, that oft, with facred raptures fir'd, Has generous thoughts of liberty inspir'd, And, boldly rifing for Britannia's laws, Engag'd great Cato in her country's cause, On you fubmiffive waits, with hopes affur'd, By whom the mighty bleffing ftands fecur'd, And all the glories that our age adorn, Are promis'd to a people yet unborn.

No longer fhall the widow'd land bemoan A broken lineage, and a doubtful throne; But boast her royal progeny's increase, And count the pledges of her future peace. O born to strengthen and to grace our inle! While you, fair princefs, in your offspring fmile, Supplying charms to the fucceeding age, Each heavenly daughter's triumphs we prefage; Already fee th' illuftrious youths complain, And pity monarchs doom'd to figh in vain.

Thou too, the darling of our fond defires, Whom Albion, opening wide her arms, requires,

With manly valour and attractive air
Shalt quell the fierce, and captivate the fair,
O England's younger hope! in whom conspire
The mother's fwectnefs, and the father's fire!
For thee perhaps, ev'n now, if kingly race
Some dawning beauty blooms in every grace,
Some Carolina, to heaven's dictates true,
Who, while the fcepter'd rivals vainly fue,
Thy inborn worth with confcious eyes fhall fee,
And flight th' imperial diadem for thee.

Pleas'd with the profpect of fucceflive reigns,
The tuneful tribe no more in daring strains
Shall vindicate, with pious fears oppreft,
Endanger'd rights, and liberty diftreft:
To milder founds each mufe fhall tune the lyre,
And gratitude, and faith to kings infpire,
And filial love; bid impious discord cease,
And footh the madding factions into peace;
Or rife ambitious in more lofty lays,
And teach the nation their new monarch's praife,
Defcribe his awful look, and godlike mind,
And Cæfar's power with Cato's virtue join'd.
Meanwhile, bright princefs, who, with grace
ful cafe,

And native majefty, are form'd to please,
Behold thofe arts with a propitious eye,
That fuppliant to their great protectress fly!