Some born to fhun the folemn ftrife;
Some for amufive tasks defign'd,

To foothe the certain ills of life;
Grace its lone vales with many a budding rofe,
New founts of bliss disclose,

Call forth refreshing fhades, and decorate repose.

From plains and woodlands; from the view
Of rural nature's blooming face,

Smit with the glare of rank and place,
To courts the fons of fancy flew ;
There long had art ordain'd a rival feat;
There had she lavish'd all her care
To form a scene more dazling fair,
And call'd them from their green retreat
To fhare her proud controul;
Had giv❜n the robe with grace to flow,
Had taught exotic gems to glow;

And emulous of nature's pow'r,
Mimick'd the plume, the leaf, the flow'r;
Chang'd the complexion's native hue,
Moulded each ruftic limb anew,

And warp'd the very foul 1

Awhile her magic ftrikes the novel eye,
Awhile the faery forms delight;
And now aloof we feem to fly
On purple pinions thro' a purer fky,

Where

Where all is wonderous, all is bright:
Now landed on fome fpangled fhore
Awhile each dazled maniac roves

By faphire lakes, thro' em'rald groves.
Paternal acres please no more;
Adieu the fimple, the fincere delight-

Th' habitual scene of hill and dale,
The rural herds, the vernal gale,
The tangled vetch's purple bloom,
The fragrance of the bean's perfume,
Be theirs alone who cultivate the foil,
And drink the cup of thirft, and eat the bread of toil.

But foon the pageant fades away!
'Tis nature only bears perpetual fway.
We pierce the counterfeit delight,
Fatigu'd with fplendor's irkfome beams.
Fancy again demands the fight

Of native groves, and wonted streams,
Pants for the scenes that charm'd her youthful eyes,
Where truth maintains her court, and banishes disguise.

Then hither oft ye fenators retire,

With nature here high converse hold;
For who like STAMFORD her delights admire,
Like STAMFORD fhall with fcorn behold
Th' unequal bribes of pageantry and gold;

VOL. I.

Beneath

Shall fee fair truth, immortal maid,
Friendship in artless guise array'd,

Honour, and moral beauty fhine

With more attractive charms, with radiance more divine.

Yes, here alone did highest heav'n ordain
The lafting magazine of charms,
Whatever wins, whatever warms
Whatever fancy feeks to share,
The great, the various, and the fair,
For ever should remain !

Her impulfe nothing may reftrainOr whence the joy 'mid columns, tow'rs, 'Midft all the city's artful trim, To rear some breathlefs vapid flow'rs, Or fhrubs fuliginoufly grim: From rooms of filken foliage vain, To trace the dun far diftant grove, Where fmit with undiffembled pain, The wood-lark mourns her abfent love, Borne to the dufty town from native air, To mimic rural life, and foothe some vapour'd fair.

But how must faithless art prevail,
Should all who taste our joy fincere,
To virtue, truth or fcience dear,
Forego a court's alluring pale,

For

For that rich luxury of thought they love!
Ah no, from these the public sphere requires
Example for its giddy bands;

From these impartial heav'n demands
To spread the flame itself inspires;

To fift opinion's mingled mass,

Impress a nation's taste, and bid the sterling pass.

Happy, thrice happy they,

Whofe graceful deeds have exemplary fhone
Round the gay precincts of a throne,
With mild effective beams!

Who bands of fair ideas bring,
By folemn grott, or fhady fpring,

To join their pleasing dreams!
Theirs is the rural blifs without alloy,
They only that deferve, enjoy.

What tho' nor fabled dryad haunt their grove,
Nor naiad near their fountains rove,
Yet all embody'd to the mental fight,

A train of smiling virtues bright

[brow.

Shall there the wife retreat allow, Shall twine triumphant palms to deck the wanderer's

!

And though by faithless friends alarm'd,
Art have with nature wag'd prefumptuous war;
By SEYMOUR'S winning influence charm'd,

In whom their gifts united fhine,

No longer shall their counfels jar.
'Tis hers to mediate the peace :

Near PERCY-lodge, with awe-ftruck mien,
The rebel feeks her lawful queen,
And havock and contention cease.
I fee the rival pow'rs combine,
And aid each other's fair defign;

Nature exalt the mound where art shall build; Art shape the gay alcove, while nature paints the fie

Begin, ye songsters of the grove !
O warble forth nobleft lay;

your

Where SOMERSET Vouchfafes to rove
Ye leverets freely sport and play.

-Peace to the ftrepent horn!

Let no harfh diffonance difturb the morn,
No founds inelegant and rude

Her facred folitudes profane!

Unless her candour not exclude

The lowly fhepherd's votive strain,

Who tunes his reed amidst his rural chear,

Fearful, yet not averfe, that SOMERSET fhould hear.

ODE