• But this, I warn, beware; whate'er shall lay

To intercept your courfe, or tempt your stay,

Quit not your faddle, nor your speed abate, Till fafely landed at your palace gate. • On this alone depends your weal or woe;

Such is the will of Fate, and fo the gods foreshew.'
He in the fofteft terms repaid her love,

And vow'd, nor age nor absence should remove
His conftant faith; and fure fhe could not blame
A fhort divorce due to his injur'd fame.

The debt discharg'd, then should her foldier come
Gay from the field, and flufh'd with conqueft, home;
With equal ardour her affection meet,

And lay his laurels at his mistress' feet.

He ceas'd; and, fighing, took a kind adieu :
Then urg'd his fteed. The fierce Grisippo flew ;
With rapid force outstripp'd the lagging wind,

And left the blissful fhores and weeping fair behind;

Now o'er the feas purfu'd his airy flight,

Now fcour'd the plains, and climb'd the mountain's height..
Thus driving on at speed, the prince had run

Near half his courfe; when, with the fetting fun,
As thro' a lonely lane he chanc'd to ride,

With rocks and bufhes fenc'd on either fide,

He spy'd a waggon full of wings, that lay
Broke and o'erturn'd across the narrow way.
The helpless driver, on the dirty road

Lay ftruggling, crush'd beneath th' incumbent load.
Never in human fhape was feen before

A wight fo pale, fo feeble, and so poor.
Comparisons of age would do him wrong,
For Neftor's felf, if plac'd by him, were young.
His limbs were naked all, and worn fo thin,
The bones feem'd starting thro' the parchment skin;
His eyes half drown'd in rheum, his accents weak ;
Bald was his head, and furrow'd was his cheek.

The confcious fteed stopp'd fhort in deadly fright,
And back recoiling, ftretch'd his wings for flight;
When thus the wretch, with fupplicating tone,
And rueful face, began his piteous moan;
And, as he spake, the tears ran trickling down.
⚫ O gentle youth, if pity e'er inclin'd

Thy foul to gen'rous deeds; if e'er thy mind
• Was touch'd with foft diftrefs, extend thy care
To fave an old man's life, and ease the load I bear.
So may propitious Heav'n your journey speed,
• Prolong your days, and all your vows fucceed!'
Mov'd with the pray'r, the kind Porfenna ftay'd,
Too nobly-minded to refuse his aid;

And, prudence yielding to fuperior grief,
Leap'd from his fteed, and ran to his relief;
Remov'd the weight, and gave the pris'ner breath,
Just choak'd, and gasping on the verge of death.
Then reach'd his hand; when lightly with a bound
The grizly spectre vaulting from the ground,
Seiz'd him with fudden gripe: th' aftonifh'd prince
Stood horror-ftruck, and thoughtless of defence.

⚫ O king of Ruffia !' with a thund'ring found Bellow'd the ghaftly fiend, at length thou'rt found. • Receive the ruler of mankind; and know,

My name is Time, thy ever-dreaded foe.
These feet are founder'd, and the wings you fee
Worn to the pinions in purfuit of thee;
Thro' all the world in vain for ages fought,

But Fate has doom'd thee now, and thou art caught!'

Then round his neck his arms he nimbly caft,
And feiz'd him by the throat, and grasp'd him fast;
Till forc'd at length the foul forfook it's feat,
And the pale breathlefs corfe fell bleeding at his feet.
Scarce had the curfed fpoiler left his prey,

When, fo it chanc'd, young Zephyr pafs'd that way;

}

Too

Too late his prefence to affift his friend,

A fad, but helpless witness of his end.

He chafes, and fans, and strives in vain to cure
His ftreaming wounds; the work was done too fure.
Now lightly with a foft embrace uprears

The lifeless load, and bathes it in his tears;
Then to the blissful feats with speed conveys,
And graceful on the moffy carpet lays
With decent care, close by the fountain's fide,
Where first the princess had her phoenix spy'd.
There with sweet flow'rs his lovely limbs he ftrew'd,
And gave a parting kifs, and fighs and tears bestow'd.
To that fad folitude the weeping dame,

Wild with her lofs, and fwoln with forrow, came.
There was she wont to vent her griefs, and mourn
Those dear delights that must no more return.
Thither that morn, with more than usual care,
She fped, but O what joy to find him there!
As just arriv'd, and weary with the way,
Retir'd to foft repofe her hero lay.
Now near approaching, fhe began to creep
With careful steps, loth to disturb his sleep;
Till quite o'ercome with tenderness, she flew,
And round his neck her arms in transport threw.
But, when the found him dead, no tongue can tell
The pangs fhe felt! fhe fhriek'd! and, fwooning, fell!
Waking, with loud laments fhe pierc'd the skies,
And fill'd th' affrighted foreft with her cries.
That fatal hour the palace gates she barr'd,
And fix'd around the coaft a ftronger guard;
Now rare appearing, and at diftance feen,

With crowds of black misfortunes plac'd between ;
Mischiefs of every kind, corroding care,
And fears, and jealoufies, and dark despair.

And fince that day (the wretched world must own ́
Thefe mournful truths by fad experience known)
No mortal e'er enjoy'd that happy clime,
And every thing on earth fubmits to Time.

WINDSOR FOREST.

T

TO THE

RIGHT HON. GEORGE LORD LANSDOWN.

BY MR. POPE.

HY forefts, Windfor! and thy green retreats,
At once the monarch's and the mufe's feats,
Invite my lays. Be prefent, fylvan maids!
Unlock your springs, and open all your fhades.
Granville commands; your aid, O Mufes, bring!

What mufe for Granville can refufe to fing?

The groves of Eden, vanish'd now fo long,
Live in defcription, and look green in fong:
Thefe, were my breast inspir'd with equal flame,
Like them in beauty, should be like in fame.
Here hills and vales, the woodland and the plain,
Here earth and water feem to ftrive again;
Not, chaos-like, together cruth'd and bruis'd,
But, as the world, harmoniously confus'd:
Where order in variety we fee,

And where, tho' all things differ, all agree.
Here waving groves a chequer'd fccne display,
And part admit, and part exclude the day;
As fome coy nymph her lover's warm addrefs
Nor quite indulges, nor can quite repress.
There, interfpers'd in lawns and op'ning glades,
Thin trees arife that fhun each other's fhades.

5

10

15

20

Here

Here in full light the ruffet plains extend ;

There, wrapt in clouds, the bluish hills afcend.
E'en the wild heath displays her purple dyes,

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And 'midft the defart, fruitful fields arise,

That crown'd with tufted trees and springing corn,

Like verdant ifles the fable waste adorn.

Let India boaft her plants, nor envy we

The weeping amber, or the balmy tree,

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While by our oaks the precious loads are borne,
And realms commanded which those trees adorn.
Not proud Olympus yields a nobler fight,
Tho' gods affembled grace his tow'ring height,
Than what more humble mountains offer here,
Where, in their bleffings, all those gods appear.
See Pan with flocks, with fruits Pomona crown'd,
Here blushing Flora paints th' enamell'd ground,
Here Ceres' gifts in waving profpect ftand,
And nodding tempt the joyful reaper's hand;
Rich Industry fits fmiling on the plains,
And Peace and Plenty tell, a STUART reigns.
Not thus the land appear'd in ages past,

A dreary defart, and a gloomy waste,
To favage beafts, and favage laws a prey,
And kings more furious and fevere than they ;
Who claim'd the skies, difpeopled air and floods,
The lonely lords of empty wilds and woods :
Cities laid wafte, they ftorm'd the dens and caves,
(For wifer brutes were backward to be flaves.)
What could be free, when lawless beafts obey'd,
And e'en the elements a tyrant sway'd?

In vain kind feafons fwell'd the teeming grain,

Soft show'rs diftill'd, and funs grew warm in vain
The swain with tears his fruftrate labour yields,
And famifh'd dies amidst his ripen'd fields.
What wonder then, a beast or subject slain,

Were equal crimes, in a defpotick reign?

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45

50

;

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Both