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He taught to turn the hare, to bay the deer,
And wheel the courfer in his mid career.
Ah! had he there restrain'd his tyrant hand!
Let me, ye Pow'rs! an humbler wreath demand:
No pomps I ask which crowns and fceptres yield,
Nor dang'rous laurels in the dusty field;
Faft by the foreft and the limpid spring
Give me the warfare of the woods to fing,

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To breed my whelps and healthful prefs the game, A meán inglorious but a guiltless name.

And now thy female bears in ample womb 135 The bane of hares and triumphs yet to come. No fport I ween nor blast of sprightly horn Should tempt me then to hurt the whelps unborn. Unlock'd in covers let her freely run

To range thy courts and bask before the fun. 140 Near thy full table let the fav'rite stand,

Strok'd by thy fon's or blooming daughter's hand. Carefs, indulge, by arts the matron bribe T'improve her breed and teem a vig'rous tribe.

So, if small things may be compar'd with great, And Nature's works the Mufe's imitate, 146 Softretch'd in fhades and lull'd by murm'ring ftreams Great Maro's breast receiv'd the heav'nly dreams; Reclufe, ferene, the mufing prophet lay Till thoughts in embryo rip'ning burst their way. Hence bees in state and foaming courfers come, Heroes and gods, and walls of lofty Rome.

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THE FATAL CURIOSITY.

Muca had I heard of fair Francelia's name,
The lavish praises of the babbler. Fame;

I thought them fuch, and went prepar'd to pry
And trace the charmer with a critick's eye,
Refolv'd to find fome fault before unfpy'd,
And disappointed if but fatisfy'd.

Love pierc'd the vaffal heart that durft rebel,
And where a judge was meant a victim fell.
On thofe dear eyes, with fweet perdition gay,
I gaz'd at once my pride and foul away;
All o'er I felt the luftious poifon run,

And in a look the hafly conqueft won.

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Thus the fond moth around the taper plays,

And sports and flutters near the treach'rous blaze;
Ravish'd with joy he wings his eager flight,
Nor dreams of ruin in fo clear a light;

He tempts his fate and courts a glorious doom,
A bright deftruction and a shining tomb.

TO A LADY,

WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE PHENIX,

LAVISH of wit, and bold appear the lines
Where Claudian's genius in the Phoenix fhines;
A thoufand ways each brilliant point is turn'd,
And the gay poem like its theme adorn'd.

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A tale more ftrange ne'er grac'd the poet's art,
Nor e'er did fiction play fo wild a part.

Each fabled charm in matchlefs Celia mects,
The heav'nly colours and ambrofial sweets;
Her virgin bofom chafter fires fupplies,

And beams more piercing guard her kindred eyes;
O'erflowing wit th' imagin'd wonder drew,
But fertile fancy ne'er can reach the true.

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II

Now buds your youth, your cheeks their bloom

Th' untainted lily and unfolding rofe;

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Eafe in your mien, and sweetness in your face,
You speak a Siren and you move a Grace;
Nor time-fhall urge thefe beauties to decay
While virtue gives what years fhall steal away.
The fair whofe youth can boaft the worth of age
In age fhall with the charms of youth engage;
In ev'ry change ftill lovely, ftill the fame,
A fairer Phoenix in a purer flame.

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A DESCRIPTION OF THE PHENIX,

FROM CLAUDIAN.

IN utmost ocean lies a lovely isle

Where spring ftill blooms and greens for ever smile,
Which fees the Sun put on his first array,

And hears his panting fteeds bring on the day,
When from the deep they rush with rapid force,
And whirl aloft to run their glorious courfe,

When first appear the ruddy streaks of light,
And glimm'ring beams difpel the parting night.

In these foft fhades unpreft by human feet
The happy Phenix keeps his balmy seat;
Far from the world disjoin'd he reigns alone,
Alike the empire and its king unknown:
A godlike Bird! whofe endless round of years
Outlafts the stars and tires the circling fpheres.
Not us'd like vulgar birds to eat his fill,
Or drink the crystal of the murm'ring rill,
But fed with warmth from Titan's purer ray,
And flak'd by ftreams which eastern seas convey,
Still he renews his life in these abodes,

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Contemns the pow'r of Fate and mates the gods. 20
His fiery eyes fhoot forth a glitt'ring ray,
And round his head ten thousand glories play;
High on his creft a ftar celestial bright
Divides the darkness with its piercing light;
His legs are ftain'd with purple's lively die,
His azure wings the fleeting winds outfly;
Soft plumes of cheerful blue his limbs infold,
Enrich'd with spangles and bedropt with gold.

Begot by none himself, begetting none,
Sice of himself he is, and of himself the fon;
His life in fruitful death renews his date,
And kind deftruction but prolongs his fate;
Ev'n in the grave new strength his limbs receive,
And on the fun'ral pile begin to live;

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For when a thousand times the fummer fun
His bending race has on the zodiack run,
And when as oft' the vernal signs have roll❜d,
As oft' the wintry brought the numbing cold,
Then drops the Bird worn out with aged cares,
And bends beneath the mighty load of years.

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So falls the ftately pine that proudly grew The fhade and glory of the mountain's brow: When pierc'd by blasts and spouting clouds o'erspread It flowly finking nods its tott'ring head, Part dies by winds and part by fickly rains, And wasting age destroys the poor remains. Then as the filver emprefs of the Night O'erclouded glimmers in a fainter light, So frozen with age and fhut from light's fupplies In lazy rounds fcarce roll his feeble eyes,

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And thofe fleet wings for ftrength and speed renown'd
Scarce rear th' inactive lumber from the ground.
Mysterious arts a fecond time create
The Bird prophetick of approaching fate:
Pil'd on a heap Sabæan herbs he lays,
Parch'd by his fire the Sun's intensest rays;
The pile defign'd to form his fun'ral scene
He wraps in covers of a fragrant green,
And bids his spicy heap at once become
A grave deftru&ive and a teeming womb.

On the rich bed the dying wonder lies,
Imploring Phœbus with persuasive cries

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