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Sometimes thy fancy prune her tender wing,
To praise a pendant, or to grace a ring;
To fix the dress that fuits each varying mien ;
To fhew where beft the clustering gems are feen ;'
To figh foft ftrains along the vocal grove,
And tell the charms, the sweet effects of love!
Nor fear to find a coy disdainful muse;

Nor think the fifters will their aid refuse.
Cool grots, and tinkling rills, or filent fhades,
Soft scenes of leifure! fuit th' harmonious maids;
And all the wife, and all the grave decree
Some of that facred train ally'd to me.

But if more fpecious eafe thy wishes claim,
And thy breast glow with faint defire of fame,
Some fofter science fhall thy thoughts amufe,
And learning's name a folemn found diffufe:
To thee all nature's curious ftores I'll bring,
Explain the beauties of an infect's wing;
The plant, which nature, lefs diffusely kind,
Has to few climes with partial care confin❜d;
The shell she scatters with more careless air,
And, in her frolics, feems fupremely fair;
The worth that dazzles in the tulip's ftains,
Or lurks beneath a pebble's various veins.

Sleep's downy god, averse to war's alarms,
Shall o'er thy head diffuse his fofteft charms;
Ere anxious thought thy dear repofe affail,
Or care, my most destructive foe, prevail.

The

The wat❜ry nymphs fhall tune the vocal vales,
And gentle zephyrs harmonize their gales,
For thy repose, inform, with rival joy,

Their streams to murmur, and their winds to figh.
Thus fhalt thou spend the sweetly-flowing day,
Till loft in blifs thou breathe thy foul away:
Till fhe t' Elyfian bow'rs of joy repair,
Nor find my charming scenes exceeded there."
She ceas'd; and on a lily'd bank reclin❜d,
Her flowing robe wav'd wanton with the wind:
One tender hand her drooping head fuftains;
One points, expreffive, to the flow'ry plains.
Soon the fond youth perceiv'd her influence roll
Deep in his breaft, to melt his manly foul:
As when FAVONIUS joins the folar blaze,
And each fair fabric of the froft decays.
Soon, to his breast, the foft harangue convey'd
Refolves too partial to the fpecious maid.
He figh❜d, he gaz'd, so sweetly smil❜d the dame;
Yet fighing, gazing, feem'd to fcorn his flame;
And, oft as virtue caught his wand'ring eye,
A crimson blush condemn'd the rifing figh.
'Twas fuch the ling'ring TROJAN's fhame betray'd,
When MAIA's fon the frown of Jove difplay'd:
When wealth, fame, empire, cou'd no ballance pro
For the foft reign of DIDO, and of love.
Thus ill with arduous glory love confpires;
Soft tender flames with bold impetuous fires!

Some

Some hov'ring doubts his anxious bosom mov'd,
And virtue, zealous fair! those doubts improv❜d.
"Fly, fly, fond youth, the too indulgent maid,
Nor err, by fuch fantastic scenes betray'd.
Tho' in my path the rugged thorn be seen,
And the dry turf disclose a fainter green;
Tho' no gay rofe, or flow'ry product shine,
The barren furface ftill conceals the mine.
Each thorn that threatens, ev'n the weed that grows
In virtue's path, fuperior fweets bestows-
Yet fhou'd those boasted, fpecious toys allure,
Whence cou'd fond floth the flatt'ring gifts procure?
The various wealth that tempts thy fond defire,
'Tis I alone, her greatest foe, acquire.
I from old ocean rob the treafur'd ftore;
I thro' each region, latent gems explore;
'Twas I the rugged brilliant first reveal'd,
By num'rous ftrata deep in earth conceal'd;
'Tis I the furface yet refine, and fhew

The modeft gem's intrinfic charms to glow.
Nor fwells the grape, nor fpires its feeble tree
Without the firm fupports of industry.

But grant we floth the scene herself has drawn,
The moffy grotto, and the flow'ry lawn;
Let PHILOMELA tune th' harmonious gale,
And with each breeze eternal fweets exhale;
Let

gay POMONA flight the plains around,

And chufe, for faireft fruits, the favour'd ground;

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To bless the fertile vale fhou'd virtue cease,

Nor moffy grots, nor flow'ry lawns cou'd please;
POMONA'S luscious gifts avail,

Nor

gay

The found harmonious, or the spicy gale.

Seeft thou yon rocks in dreadful pomp arife,

Whose rugged cliffs deform th' encircling skies?
Those fields, whence PHOEBUS all their moisture drains,
And, too profufely fond, difrobes the plains?
When I vouchsafe to tread the barren foil,

Those rocks seem lovely, and those deserts smile.
The form thou view'st, to ev'ry scene with ease
Transfers its charms, and ev'ry scene can please.
When I have on those pathless wilds appear'd,
And the lone wand'rer with my prefence chear'd;
Those cliffs the exile has with pleasure view'd,
And call'd that defert blissful folitude!

Nor I alone to fuch extend my care:
Fair-blooming health furveys her altars there.
Brown exercise will lead thee where the reigns,
And with reflected luftre gild the plains.
With her, in flow'r of youth, and beauty's pride,
Her offspring, calm content and peace, refide.
One ready off'ring fuits each neighb'ring shrine;
And all obey their laws, who practise mine.

But health averfe from floth's fmooth region flies And, in her absence, pleasure droops and dies. Her bright companions, mirth, delight, repose, Smile where fhe fmiles, and ficken when fhe goes.

A galaxy

A galaxy of pow'rs! whofe forms appear
For ever beauteous, and for ever near.

Nor will soft sleep to floth's request incline,
He from her couches flies unbid to mine.

Vain is the sparkling bowl, the warbling strain,
Th' incentive fong, the labour'd viand vain!
Where she relentless reigns without controul,
And checks each gay excurfion of the foul:
Unmov'd, tho' beauty, deck'd in all its charms,
Grace the rich couch, and spread the foftest arms:
Till joyless indolence fuggefts defires;

Or drugs are fought to furnish languid fires :
Such languid fires as on the vitals prey,
Barren of blifs, but fertile of decay.
As artful heats, apply'd to thirsty lands,
Produce no flow'rs, and but debafe the fands.
But let fair health her chearing fmiles impart,
How fweet is nature, how fuperfluous art!
'Tis fhe the fountain's ready draught commends,
And smooths the flinty couch which fortune lends.
And, when my hero from his toils retires,
Fills his gay bofom with unusual fires,

And, while no checks th' unbounded joy reprove,
Aids and refines the genuine fweets of love.
His faireft profpect rifing trophies frame :
His fweeteft mufic is the voice of fame;
Pleasures to floth unknown! fhe never found
How fair the prospect, or how sweet the found.

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