To Virtue, Truth, or Science dear,

And sketch with care the Muse's bower,
Forgo a court's alluring pale,

Where Isis rolls her silver tide;
For dimpled brook and leafy grove,

Nor yet omit one reed or flower
For that rich luxury of thought they love!

That shines on Cherwell's verdant side;
Ali no, from these the public sphere requires If so thou mnay'st those hours prolong,
Examples for its giddy bands:

When polish'd Lycon join'd my song.
From these impartial Heaven demands

The song it ’vails not to recite
To spread the fame itself inspires;

But sure, to soothe our youthful dreams,
To sift Opinion's mingled mass,

Those banks and streams appear'd more bright Impress a nation's taste, and bid the sterling pass. Than other banks, than other streams : Happy, thrice happy they

Or, by thy softening pencil shown,
Whose graceful deeds have exemplary shone Assume they beauties not their own?
Round the gay precincts of a throne,

And paint that sweetly vacant scene,
With mild effective beams!

When, all beneath the poplar bough,
Who bands of fair ideas bring,

My spirits light, my soul serene,
By solemn grot, or shady spring,

I breath'd in verse one cordial vow:
To join their pleasing dreams!

That nothing should my soul inspire,
Theirs is the rural bliss without alloy,

But friendship warm, and love entire.
They only that deserve, enjoy.
What though nor fabled Dryad haunt their grove,

Dull to the sense of new delight,
Nor Naiad near their fountain rove,

On thee the drvoping Muse attends;

As some fond lover, robb’d of sight,
Yet all embody'd to the mental sight,
A train of smiling virtues bright

On thy expressive power depends ;

Nor would exchange thy glowing lines,
Shall there the wise retreat allow,

To live the lord of all that shines.
Shall twine triumphant palms to deck the wanderer's
brow.

But let me chase those vows away

Which at Ambition's shrine I made;
And though by faithless friends alarmn'd,
Art have with Nature wag'd presumptuous war;

Nor ever let thy skill display

Those anxious moments, ill repaid :
By Seymour's winnir:g influence charm’d,
In whom their gifts united shine,

Oh! from my breast that season rase,
No longer shall their counsels jar.

And bring my childhood in its place.
"Tis her's to mediate the peace;

Bring me the bells, the rattle bring,
Near Percy-lodge, with awe-struck mien,

And bring the hobby I bestrode;
The rebel seeks ber lawful queen,

When, pleas'd in many a sportive ring,
And havoc and contention cease.

Around the room I jovial rode:
I see the rival powers combine,

E'en let me bid my lyre adieu,
And aid each other's fair design ;

And bring the whistle that I blew.
Nature exalt the mound where Art shall build; Then will I muse, and pensive say,
Art shape the gay alcove, while Nature paints the Why did not these enjoyments last ;
field.

How sweetly wasted I the day,

While innocence allow'd to waste !
Begin, ye songsters of the grove !

Ambition's toiis alike are vain,
O warble forth your noblest lay;
Where Somerset vouchsafes to rove,

But ab! for pleasure yield us pain.
Ye leverets, freely sport and play.

- Peace to the strepent horn!
Let no harsh dissonance disturb the morn,

THE PRINCESS ELIZABETH;
No sounds inelegant and rude
Her sacred solitudes profane !

A BALLAD ALLUDING TO A STORY RECORDED OF HER,
Unless her candour not exclude

WHEN SHE WAS PRISONER AT WOODSTOCK, 1554. The lowly shepherd's votive strain,

Will you hear how once repining Who tunes his reed amidst bis rural cheer, Great Eliza captive lay? Tearful, yet not averse, that Somerset should hear. Each ambitious thought resigning,

Foe to riches, pomp, and sway.

While the nymphs and swains delighted
ODE TO MEMORY. 1748.

Tript around in all their pride;

Envying joys by others slighted, O Memory ! celestial maid!

Thus the royal maiden cried. Who gleau'st the flowerets cropt by Time;

“ Bred on plains, or born in valleys, And, suffering not a leaf to fade,

Who would bid those scenes adieu ?
Preserv'st the blocsoms of our prime;
Bring, bring those moments to my mind

Stranger to the arts of Malice,

Who would ever courts pursue? When life was new, and Lesbia kind.

" Malice never taught to treasure, And bring that garland to my sight, With which my favour'd crook she bound;

Censure never taught to bear :

Love is all the shepherd's pleasure;
And bring that wreath of roses bright

Love is all the daunsel's care.
Which then my festive temples crown'd;
And to my raptur'd ear convey

“ How can they of humble station The gentle things she deigu'd tu say.

Vainly blame the powers above?

A BALLAD.

Or accuse the dispensation

NANCY OF THE VALE.
Which allows them all to love?
“ Love like air is widely given;
Power por chance can these restrain ;

Nerine Galatea ! thymo mihi dulcior Hyblæ! Truest, noblest gifts of Heaven!

Candidior cygnis ! hederâ formosior albâ ! Virg. Only purest on the plain !

Tae western sky was purpled o'er “ Peers can no such charms discover,

With every pleasing ray; All in stars and garters drest,

And flocks, reviving, felt no inore As on Sundays, does the lover

The sultry heats of day: With his nosegay on his breast.

When from a hazle's artless bower “ Pinks and roses in profusion,

Soft warbled Strephon's tongue; Said to fade when Chloe 's near ;

He blest the scene, he blest the hour, Fops may use the same allusion;

While Nancy's praise he sung. But the shepherd is sincere.

“ Let fops with fickle falsehood range “ Hark to yonder milk-maid singing

The paths of wanton Lore, Cheerly o'er the brimming pail;

While weeping maids lament their change, Cowslips all around her springing

And sadden every grove; Sweetly paint the golden vale. “ Never yet did courtly maiden

“ But endless blessings crown the day

I saw fair Esham's dale!
Move so sprightly, look so fair;
Never breast with jewels laden

And every blessing find its way
Pour a song so void of care.

To Nancy of the Vale. “ Would indulgent Heaven had granted

“'T was from Avona's banks the maid Me some rural damsel's part !

Diffus'd her lovely beams; All the empire I had wanted

And every shining glance display'd Then had been my shepherd's heart.

The Naiad of the streams. “ Then, with him, o'er hills and mountains, - Soft as the wild-duck's tender young, Free from fetters might I rove;

That floats on Avon's tide; Fearless taste the crystal fountains;

Bright as the water-lily, sprung, Peaceful sleep beneath the grove.

And glittering near its side. “ Rustics had been more forgiving;

“ Fresh as the bordering flowers, her blooms Partial to my virgin bloom:

Her eye, all mild to view; None had envy'd me when living;

The little halcyon's azure plume
None had triumph'd o'er my tomb."

Was never half so blue.
“Her shape was like the reed so sleek,

So taper, straight, and fair;
ODE TO A YOUNG LADY,

Her dimpled smile, her blushing cheek,

How charming sweet they were !

“ Far in the winding vale retird, Survey, my fair! that lucid stream,

This peerless bud I found; Adown the smiling valley stray ;

And shadowing rock and woods conspir'd Would Art attempt, or Fancy dream,

To fence her beauties round. To regulate its winding way?

" That Nature in so lone a dell So pleas'd I view thy shining hair

Should form a nymph so sweet; In loose dishevellid ringlets flow :

Or Fortune to her secret cell Not all thy art, not all thy care,

Conduct my wandering feet ! Can there one single grace bestuw.

Gay lordlings sought her for their bride, Survey again that verdant hill,

But she would ne'er incline: With native plants enamell’d o'er ;

* Prove to your equals true,' she cried, Say, can the painter's utmost skill

* As I will prove to mine. Instruct one flower to please us more?

«« Tis Strephon, on the mountain's brow, As vain it were, with artful dye

Has won my right good will; To change the bloom thy cheeks disclose;

To him I gave my plighted vow,
And oh may Laura, ere she try,

With him I'll climb the hill.'
With fresh vermilion paint the rose.
Hark how the wood-lark's tuneful throat

“ Struck with her charms and gentle truth, Can every study'd grace excel;

I clasp'd the constant fair; Let Art constrain the rambling note,

To her alone I gave my youth, And will she, Laura, please so well?

And vow my future care. Oh ever keep thy native ease,

“ And when this vow shall faithless prove, By no pedantic law contin'd!

Or I those charms forgo; For Laura's voice is form'd to please,

The stream that saw our tender love, So Laura's words be not unkind,

That stream shall cease to pow."

SOMEWHAT TOO SOLICITOUS ABOUT HER MANNER OF

EXPRESSION.

ODE TO INDOLENCE. 1750.

Thou hear'st the sportsman's claim; Ah! why, for ever on the wing,

Enabling him, with idle noise, Persists my wearied soul to roam ?

To drown the Muse's melting voice,

And fright the timorous game.
Why, ever cheated, strives to bring
Or pleasure or contentment home ?

Is thought thy foe? adieu,
Thus the poor bird, that draws his name

Ye midnight lamps! ye curious tomes ! Prom Paradise's honour'd groves,

Mine eye o'er hills and valleys roams,

And deals no more with you.
Careless, fatigues his little frame,
Nor finds the resting-place he loves.

Is it the clime you flee?
Lo! on the rural mossy bed

Yet, 'midst his unremitting snows, My limbs with careless ease reclin'd;

The poor Laponian's bosom glows; Ah, gentle Sloth ! indulgent spread

And shares bright rays from thee. The same soft bandage o'er my mind.

There was, there was a time, For why should lingering thought invade,

When, though I scorn'd thy guardian care,

Nor made a vow, nor said a prayer,
Yet every wordly prospect cloy?

I did not rue the crime.
Lend me, soft Sloth, thy friendly aid,
And give me peace, debarrd of joy.

Who then more blest than I ?

When the glad school-boy's task was done, Lov'st thou yon calm and silent flood, That never ebbs, that never flows;

And forth, with jocund sprite, I run Protected by the circling wood

To freedom, and to joy? From each tempestuous wind that blows?

How jovial then the day!

What since have all my labours found, An altar on its bank shall rise,

Thus climbing life, to gaze around,
Where oft thy votary shall be found;

That can thy loss repay ?
What time pale Autumn lulls the skies,
And sickening verdure fades around.

Wert thou, alas ! but kind,

Methinks no frown that Fortune wears, Ye busy race, ye factious train,

Nor lessen'd hopes, nor growing cares, That haunt Ambition's guilty shrine;

Could sink my cheerful mind.
No more perplex the world in vain,
But offer here your vows with mine.

Whate'er my stars include;
And thou, puissant queen! be kind :

What other breasts convert to pain, If e'er I shar'd thy balmy power;

My towering mind shall soon disdain,

Should scorn-Ingratitude !
If e'er I sway'd my active mind
To weave for thee the rural bower.

Repair this mouldering cell,
Dissolve in sleep each anxious care ;

And blest with objects found at home, Each unavailing sigh remove;

And envying none their fairer dome, And only let me wake to share

How pleas'd my soul should dwell : The sweets of friendship and of love.

Temperance should guard the doors ;
From room to room should Memory stray,
And ranging all in neat array,

Enjoy ber pleasing stores
ODE TO HEALTH. 1730.

There let them rest unknown,
HEALTH, capricious maid !

The types of inany a pleasing scene :
Why dost thou shun my peaceful bower,

But to preserve them bright or clean,
Where I had hope to share thy power,

Is thine, fair queen ! alone. ,
And bless thy lasting aid ?
Since thou, alas ! art flown,

TO A LADY OF QUALITY',
It 'rails not whether Muse or Grace,
With tempting smile, frequent the place:

FITTING UP HER LIBRARY. 1738. I sigh for thee alone.

Ah! what is science, what is art, Age not forbids thy stay ;

Or what the pleasure these impart ! Thou yet might'st act the friendly part;

Ye trophies, which the learn'd pursue Thou yet might'st raise this languid heart;

Through endless fruitless toils, adieu ! Why speed so swift away?

What can the tedious tomes bestow, Thou scorn'st the city-air ;

To soothe the miseries they show ? I breathe fresh gales o'er furrow'd ground,

What, like the bliss for him decreed, Yet hast not thou my wishes crown'd,

Who tends his flock, and tunes his reed ! O false! O partial fair !

Say, wretched Pancy! thus refind I plunge into the wave :

From all that glads the simple hind, And though with purest hand I raise

How rare that object which supplies A rural altar to thy praise,

A charın for too discerning eyes! Thou wilt not deign to save.

The polish'd bard, of genius vain, Amid my well-known grove,

Endures a deeper sense of pain : Where mineral fountains vainly bear

As each invading blast devours

The richest fruits, the fairest flowers.
Thy boasted name, and titles fair,
Why scorns thy foot to rove?

! Lady Luxborough

Sages, with irksome waste of time,

The Sun's forgotten beams : The steep ascent of Knowledge climb;

O Sun ! how pleasing were thy rays, Then from the towering heights they scale,

Reflected from the polish'd face Behold Contentment range-the vale.

Of yon refulgent streams' Yet why, Asteria, tell us why

Rais'd by the scene, my feeble tongue We scorn the crowd, when you are nigh;

Essay'd again the sweets of song: Why then does reason seem so fair,

And thus, in feeble strains and slow, Why learning, then, deserve our care?

The loitering numbers 'gan to flow. Who can unpleas'd your shelves behold,

“ Come, gentle air ! my languid limbs restore, While you so fair a proof unfold

And bid me welcome from the Stygian shore: What force the brightest genius draws

For sure, I heard the tender sighs, From polish'd wisdom's written laws ?

I seem'd to join the plaintive cries Where are our humbler tenets flown?

Of hapless youths, who through the myrtle grove What strange perfection bids us own

Bewail for ever their unfinish'd love : That bliss with toilsome science dwells,

To that unjoyous clime,
And happiest he, who most excels?

Torn from the sight of these ethereal skies;
Debarr'd the lustre of their Delia's eyes,

And banish'd in their prime.
UPON A VISIT TO THE SAME.

“Come, gentle air ! and while the thickets bloom, IN WINTER. 1748.

Convey the jasmine's breath divine ; Os fair Asteria's blissful plains,

Convey the woodbine's rich perfume, Where ever blooming Fancy reigns,

Nor spare the sweet-leafʼd eglantine. How pleas'd we pass the winter's day;

And may'st thou shun the rugged storm, And charm the dull-ey'd Spleen away !

Till Health her wonted charms explain,

With rural Pleasure in her train, No linnet, from the leafless bough,

To greet me in her fairest form. Pours forth her note melodious now ;

While from this lofty mount 1 view But all admire Asteria's tongue,

The sons of Earth, the vulgar crew, Nor wish the linnet's vernal song,

Anxious for futile gains beneath me stray, No flowers emit their transient rays :

And seek with erring step Contentment's obvious Yet sure Asteria's wit displays

way. More various tints, more glowing lines,

“ Come, gentle air ! and thou, celestial Muse, And with perennial beauty shines.

Thy genial flame infuse; Though rifled groves and fetter'd streams

Enough to lend a pensive bosom aid, But ill befriend a poet's dreams;

And gild Retirement's gloomy shade; Asteria's presence wakes the lyre,

Enough to rear such rustic lays And well supplies poetic fire.

As foes may slight, bnt partial friends will praise." The fields have lost their lovely dye;

The gentle air allow'd my claim ; No cheerful azure decks the sky;

And, more to cheer my drooping frame, Yet still we bless the lowring day ;

She mix'd the balın of opening flowers; Asteria smiles and all is gay.

Such as the bee, with chymic powers, Hence let the Muse no more presume

From Hybla's fragrant hills inhales, To blame the Winter's dreary gloom;

Or scents Sebea's blooming vales. Accuse his loitering hours no more ;

But ah! the nymphs that heal the pensive mind, But ah! their envious baste deplore !

By prescripts more refin’d, For soon, from wit and friendship's reign,

Neglect their votary's anxious moan The social hearth, the sprightly vein,

Oh, how should they relieve!--the Muses all were I go-to meet the coming year,

flown. On savage plains, and deserts drear!

By flowery plain, or woodland shades, I gomto feed on pleasures flown,

I fondly sought the charming maids; Nor find the Spring my loss atone!

By woodland shades, or flowery plain, But 'mid the flowery sweets of May

I sought them, faithless maids ! in vain ! With pride recal the Winter's day.

When lo! in happier hour,
I leave behind my native mead,

To range where zeal and friendship lead, AN IRREGULAR ODE AFTER SICKNESS.

To visit Luxborough's honour'd bower. 1749.

Ah foolish man! to seek the tuneful maids

On other plains, or near less verdant shades; - Melius, cum venerit ipsa, canemus. VIRG.

Scarce have my footsteps press'd the favour'd Too long a stranger to repose,

ground,
At length from pain's abhorred couch I rose, When sounds ethereal strike my ear;
And wander'd forth alone;

At once celestial torms appear ;
To court once more the balmy breeze,

My fugitives are found !
And catch the verdure of the trees,

The Muses here attune their lyres,
Ere yet their charms were flown.

Ah partial ! with unwonted tires ; 'T was from a bank with pansies gay

Here, hand in hand, with careless mien, I hail'd once more the cheerful day,

The sportive Graces trip The vreen,

But whilst I wander'd o'er a scene so fair,

Yet sure your sex is near to flowers ally'd, Too well at one survey I trace,

Alike in softness, and alike in pride :
How every Muse and erery Grace

Foes to retreat, and ever fond to shine,
Had long employ'd their care.

Both rush to danger, and the shades decline;
Lurks not a stone enrich'd with lively stain, Expos'd, the short-liv'd pageants of a day,
Blooms not a flower amid the vernal store,

To painted flies or glittering fops a prey : Falls not a plume on India's distant piain,

Chang'd with each wind, nor one short day the same,
Glows not a shell on Adria's rocky shore, Each clouded sky affects their tender frame,
But, torn methought from native lands or seas, In glaring Chloe's man-like taste and mien,
From their arrangement, gain fresh power to please. Are the gross splendours of the tulip seen :

Distant they strike, inelegantly gay,
And some had bent the wildering maze,
Bedeck'd with every shrub that blows;

To the near view no pleasing charms display. And some entwin'd the willing sprays,

To form the nymph, a vulgar wit must join, To shield th' illustrious dame's repose :

As coarser soils will most the flower refine. Others had grac'd the sprightly dome,

Ophelia's beauties let the jasmine paint,

Too faintly soft, too nicely elegant.
And taught the portrait where to glow;

Around with seeming sanctity endued,
Others arrang'd the curious tome;
Or, 'mid the decorated space,

The passion-flower may best express the prude. Assign'd the laurel'd bust a place,

Like the gay rose, too rigid Silvia shines, And given to learning all the pomp of show.

While, like its guardian thorn, her virtue joins

Happy the nymph! from all their failures free, And now from every task withdrawn,

Happy the nymph ! in whom their charms agree. They met and frisk'd it o'er the lawn.

Faint these productions, till you bid disclose, “Ail! woe is me,” said I ;

The pink new splendors, and fresh tints the rose : And ***'s hilly circuit heard my cry,

And yet condemn not trivial draughts like these, “ Have I for this, with labour strove,

Forin'd to improve, and make e'en trifles please. And lavish'd all my little store

A power like yours minuter beauties warms, To fence for you my shady grove,

And yet can blast the most aspiring charms : And scollop every winding shore;

Thus, at the rays whence other objects shine, And fringe with every purple rose,

The taper sickens, and its flames decline. The sapphire stream that down my valley flows?

When by your art the purple violet lives, “Ah! lovely treacherous maids !

And the pale lily sprightlier charms receives : To quit unseen my votive shades,

Garters to me shall glow inferior far, When pale disease, and torturing pain,

And with less pleasing lustre shine the star. Had torn me from the breezy plain,

Let serious triflers, fond of wealth or fame, And tv a restless couch contin'd,

On toils like these bestow too soft a name; Who ne'er your wonted tasks declin'd.

Each gentler art with wise indifference view, She needs not your officious aid

And scorn one trifle, millions to pursue: Tó swell the song, or plan the shade;

More artful, I their specious schemes deride : By genuine fancy fir'd,

Fond to please you, by you in these employ'd; Her native genius guides her hand,

A nobler task, or more sublime desire,
And while she marks the sage command, Ambition ne'er could form, nor pride inspire:
More lovely scenes her skill shall raise,

The sweets of tranquil life and rural ease
Her lyre resound with nobler lays

Amuse securely, nor less justly please. Than ever you inspir'd.”

Where gentle Pleasure shows her milder power, Thus I may rage and grief display;

Or blooms in fruit, or sparkles in the flower ; But vainly blame, and vainly mourn,

Siniles in the groves, the raptur'd poet's theme ; Nor will a Grace or Muse return

Flows in the brook, bis Naiad of the stream ;
Till Luxborough lead the way.

Dawns, with each happier stroke the pencil gives,
And, in each livelier image, smiling lives;
Is heard, when Silvia strikes the warbling strings,

Seliwda speaks, or Philomela sings:
TO A LADY,

Breathes with the morn ; attends, propitious maid,

The evening ramble, and the noon-day glade;
WITH SOME COLOURED PATTERNS OF FLOWERS,

Some visionary fair she cheats our view,
OCTOBER 7, 1736.

Then only vigorous, when she's seen like you. MADAM !

Yet Nature some for sprightlier joys design'd, Though rude the draughts, though artless scem the For brighter scenes, with nicer care, refin'd. lines

When the gay jewel radiant streams supplies, From one unskill'd in verse, or in designs ;

And vivid brilliants meet your brighter eyes ; Oft has good-nature been the fool's defence, When dress and pomp around the fancy play, And honest meaning gilded want of sense.

By fortune's dazzling beauties borne away :
Fear not, though flowers and beauty grace mylay, When theatres for you the scenes forgo,
To praise ope fair, another shall decay.

And the box bows, obsequiously low :
No lily, bright with painted foliage, here,

How dull the plan which indolence has drawn, Shall only languish when Selinda 's near:

The mossy grotto, or the flow'ry lawn ! A fate revers'd no smiling rose shall know,

Though roseate scents in every wind exhale, Nor with reflected lustre doubly glow.

And sylvan warblers charm in every gale. Praises which languish when apply'd to you,

Of these be hers the choice, whom all approve; Where flattering schemes seem obviously true. And whom. but those who envy, all must love :