O! 'tis the statesman's craft profound
To fcatter his amusements round;
To tempt us from their confcious breast,
Where full-fledg'd crimes enjoy their nest.
Nor awes us every worth reveal'd
So deeply, as each vice conceal'd.
The lordly log, dispatch'd of yore,
That the frog-people might adore,
With guards to keep them at a distance,
Had reign'd, nor wanted wit's affiftance:
Nay-had addreffes from his nation
In praise of log-administration,
HE buoyant fires of youth were o’er, And fame and finery pleas'd no more; Productive of that gen'ral stare,
Which cool reflection ill can bear!
And, crowds commencing mere vexation,
Retirement fent its invitation.
Romantic scenes of pendent hills,
And verdant vales, and falling rills,
And moffy banks the fields adorn,
Where DAMON, simple swain, was born.
The dryads rear'd a fhady grove;
Where fuch as think, and fuch as love,
Might fafely figh their fummer's day;
Or mufe their filent hours away.
The oreads lik'd the climate well
And taught the level plain to swell
In verdant mounds, from whence the eye
Might all their larger works defcry.
The naiads pour'd their urns around,
From nodding rocks o'er vales profound.
They form'd their streams to please the view,
And bade them wind, as ferpents do:
And having fhewn them where to stray,
Threw little pebbles in their way.
These fancy, all-fagacious maid,
Had at their several tasks furvey'd :
She faw and fmil'd; and oft would lead
Our DAMON's foot o'er hill and mead
There, with descriptive finger, tracę
The genuine beauties of the place;
And when she all its charms had shewn,
Prescribe improvements of her own.
See yonder hill, fo green, fo round,
Its brow with ambient beeches crown'd!
'Twou'd well become thy gentle care
To raise a dome to VENUS there:
Pleas'd would the nymphs thy zeal furvey;
And VENUS, in their arms, repay.
'Twas such a fhade, and such a nook,
In fuch a vale, near fuch a brook;
From fuch a rocky fragment fpringing;
That fam'd APOLLO chofe, to sing in.
There let an altar wrought with art
Engage thy tuneful patron's heart.
How charming there to mufe and warble
Beneath his buft of breathing marble!
With laurel wreath, and mimic lyre,
That crown a poet's vaft defire.
Then, near it, fcoop the vaulted cell
Where mufic's charming maids may dwell;
Prone to indulge thy tender paffion,
And make thee many an affignation.
Deep in the grove's obfcure retreat
Be plac'd MINERVA's facred feat;
There let her aweful turrets rife,
(For wisdom flies from vulgar eyes :)
There her calm dictates fhalt thou hear
Diftinctly strike thy lift'ning ear:
And who wou'd fhun the pleasing labour,
To have MINERVA for his neighbour?"
In fhort, fo charm'd each wild fuggestion,
Its truth was little call'd in queftion:
And DAMON dreamt he faw the fawns,
And nymphs, diftinctly, fkim the lawns ;
Now trac'd amid the trees, and then
Loft in the circling fhades again.
With leer oblique their lover viewing-
And CUPID-panting-and pursuing-
Fancy, enchanting fair, he cry'd,
Be thou my goddefs! thou my guide!
What foes may think, or friends advise.
The feign'd concern, when folks furvey
Expence, time, study caft away;
The real spleen, with which they see :
I please myself, and follow thee.
Thus glow'd his breast by fancy warm'd;
And thus the fairy landskip charm❜d.
But most he hop'd his constant care
Might win the favour of the fair;
And, wand'ring late, thro' yonder glade,
He thus the foft defign betray'd.
"Ye doves! for whom I rear'd the
With melting lays falute my love!
My DELIA with your notes detain,
Or I have rear'd the grove in vain!
Ye flow'rs! which early fpring fupplies,
Difplay at once your brightest dyes!
That fhe your op'ning charms may see,
Or what were elfe your charms to me?
Kind zephyr! brush each fragrant flow'r,
And shed its odours round my bow'r,
Or ne'er again, O gentle wind!
Shall I, in thee, refreshment find
Ye ftreams, if e'er your banks I lov'd,
If e'er your native founds improv❜d,
May each foft murmur foothe my fair;
Or oh 'twill deepen my despair!
Be fure, ye willows! you be seen
Array'd in livelieft robes of green;
Or I will tear your flighted boughs,
And let them fade around my brows.
And thou, my grott! whofe lonely bounds
The melancholy pine furrounds!
May fhe admire thy peaceful gloom,
Or thou shalt prove her lover's tomb."
And now the lofty domes were rear'd;
Loud laugh'd the fquires, the rabble star'd.
See, neighbours, what our DAMON's doing!
I think fome folks are fond of ruin!
I saw his sheep at random ftray-
But he has thrown his crook away—
And builds fuch huts as, in foul weather,
Are fit for sheep nor fhepherd neither."
Whence came the fober fwain mifled?
Why, PHOEBUs put it in his head.
PHOEBUS befriends him, we are told;
And PHOEBUS Coins bright tuns of gold.
'Twere prudent not to be so vain on't:
I think he'll never touch a grain on't.
And if, from PHOEBUS, and his muse,
Mere earthly laziness enfues;
'Tis plain, for aught that I can say,
The dev❜l infpires, as well as they.
So they-while fools of groffer kind,
Lefs weeting what our bard defign'd,
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