Then are the fi'ry rubies 49 to be seen,
And em'ralds 50 tinctur'd with the rainbow's
green,

Translucent beryl 51, flame-ey'd chrysolite52,
And sardonix 53, refresher of the sight;
With these th' empurpled amethist combines54,
And opaz55, vein'd with riv❜lets, mildly shines.
All first turns into riot, then to care:-
Whirl'd down th' impetuous torrent, call'd an heir.
(19.) Religion's harbour, like th' Etrurian
bay 56,

"Secure from storms is land-lock'd ev'ry way.
Safe, 'midst the wreck of worlds, the vessel rides,
Nor minds the absent rage of winds and tides:
Whilst from his prow the pilot looking down,
Surveys at once God's image and his own 7;
Heav'n's favour smooths th' expanse, and calm-
ness sleeps

On the clear mirror of the silent deep58.

(20) No man at once two Edens can enjoy59: Nor Earth and Heav'n the self-same mind employ. Two diffrent ways th' unsocial objects draw: Flesh strives with spirit, nature combats law : Reason and revelation live at strife, Though meant for mutual aid, like man and wife60

Religion and the world can ne'er agree: One eye is sacrific'd, that one may see, Canals, for pleasure made, with pleasure stray; But drain at length the middle stream away.

(21.) Life's joy and pomp at distance should appear,

Would'st thou be vitally with Christ conjoin'd?
Copy his deeds, and imitate his mind €2;
No man can worldly happiness ensure ;
Heav'n's consolation all men may procure

(22.) When passions reign with arbitrary sway,
Resistance, not compliance, wins the day.
Here av'rice, there ambitious schemes prevail;
Who can quench flames when double winds assail?
Boast as we will, our christian glories lie
In humble suff'ring, not proud apathy.
Submission an eternal crown procures;
Heav'n's hero conquers most, who most en-
dures.-

Like the four cherubs in Ezekiel's dream, (What time the prophet slept by Chebar's stream) The Christian, mov'd by energy divine, Walks forward still, in one unvarying line: Nor wealth, nor pow'r, attract his wondering sight;

He swerves not to the left hand, nor the right.
Humbly he eats, and finds the proffer'd scroll
Sweet to the taste, inspiring to the soul.
So when Saul's weary'd son his fasting broke
With honey dropping from Philistian oak,
Returning strength and sprightliness arise,
Glow on his cheeks, and sparkle in his eyes

When fortune smiles within doors and without, Man's heart, well-pleas'd, may think itself devout:

But, when ill days, and nights of pain, succeed, Let him bear well, and he's devout indeed.

(23.) Those who revenge a deed that injures them,

Copy the very sin, which they condemn".

342.

49 Rubies. "Nazarites, more ruddy than rubies." Lam, c. iv, v. 7.

50 Emeralds. "A rainbow in sight like an emerald." Rev. c. iv, v. 3.

51 Berryl. Dan. C. x, v. 6. Rev. xxi, v. 20. 52 Chrysolite. Ezek. c. xxviii.

53 Sardonyx. Rev. c. xxi, v. 20.

54 Amethist. Exod. c. xxviii, v. 19. Ibid. c. xxxix, v. 12.

55 Ezek. c. xxviii, v. 13, and Rev. xxi. v. 20. 56 The port of Lerichè, in Tuscany. 57One way to know God is perfectly to know one's self." Hugo de anima.

Why dost thou wonder, O man, at the height of the stars, or depth of the sea? examine ather thine own soul, and wonder there."

Isidor.

$8 Imitat. of Christ, L. II, c. 1-3. 59"It is not only difficult but impossible to enjoy Heaven here and hereafter; or, in other words, to live in pleasure and dissapation, and at the same time attain spiritual happiness. No man hath passed from oue paradise to another : no man hath been the mirror of felicity in both worlds, nor shone with equal glory in Earth and in Heaven."

60 Imitat. of Christ, L, I, c. 24. 61 lbid. L. I, c. 21.

Hieron.

They snatch God's own prerogative from God!
Michael in bitterness of strife consign'd
The final verdict to th' unerring mind 2.—
From turbulence of anger wisely keep;
The hind who soweth winds, shall whirlwinds
reap73.

(24.) The worldling, tempter of himself, pursues Idols of his own making; ideot's views ;

Leon.

Unhappy wretch! wrapt up in thin disguise!
Where all that is not impious, is unwise!
See, how he broods from night to morning's dawn
On eggs of basilisks, and scorpion-spawn74 :
And, after all the care he can impart,
His foster'd miscreants sting him to the heart
Swift through each vein the mystic poisons roll,
Fatal alike to body and to soul75!

(25.) Perfect would be our nature and our joy If man could ev'ry year one vice destroy 76 77 Withdraw thee from the sins that most assail, And labour where thy virtues least prevail78.

(26.) False joys elate, and griefs as false controul

The little pismire with an human soul79:
Oh, were he like th' unreas'ning ant, who strives
For solid good, and but by instinct lives.

(27.) To wail and not amend a life mispent Means to confess, but means not to repent: Tongue-penitents, like him who too much owes, Run more in debt, and live but to impose. (28.) Deem not th' unhappy, vicious; nor de

vote

To sarcasm and contempt the thread-bare coat. Oft have we seen rich fields of genuine corn Edg'd round with brambles, and begirt with thorn. The pow'rs of Zeuxis' pencil are the same, Enclos'd in gilded, or in sable frame.

(29.) The down that smoothes the great man's anxious bed,

Was gather'd from a quiet poor man's shed: Content and peace are found in mean estate, And Jacob's dreams on Jacob's pillow wait80. So Tekoa's swain, by no vain glories led, Nurtur'd his herds with leaves, and humbly fed81. (30.) Good turns of friends we scribble on the But injuries engrav'd on marble stand82. [sand, (31.) With pray'rs thy ev'ning close, thy morn begin;

But Heav'n's true sabbath is to rest from sin. (32) An hermit once cry'd out in private pray'r,

"Oh, if I knew that I should persevere !"
An angel's voice reply'd, in placid tone,
"What woulds't thou do, if the great truth were
kuown?

Do now 83, what thou intendest then to do,
And everlasting safety shall ensues.".

74 Isaiah, c. lix, v. 4. 5 Matth. c. x, v. 28.

Imitat. of Christ, L. I, c. 11. L. II, c. 23. "Instead of standing still, going backward, or deviating, always add, always proceed: not to advance, in some sense is to retire. It is better to creep in the right way than fly in the wrong way." St. August. in Serm.

78 Imitat. of Christ, L. I, c. 25. 79 Man. 50"And Jacob took the stones of that place and put them for his pillows."

Gen. c. xxxviii, v. 2.

81 Amos c. vii, v. 14. 82 Kempisii dictum commune. "Beneficia pulveri; si quid mali patimur, marmori insculpimus."

83 "A Christian hath no to morrow; that is to say, a Christian should put off no duty till to morrow." Tertull.

Imitat. of Christ, L, I, c. 25.

To choose, implies delay; whilst time devours The sickly blossoms of preceding hours. Repentance, well perform'd, confirms the more; As bones, well set, grow stronger than before.

(33) When Heav'n excites thee to a better

way,

Catch the soft summons, and the call obey:
Thus Mary left her solitude and tears,
When Martha whisper'd, lo! thy Christ ap-
pears $5.

(34.) The virtues of the world, which most men

move,

Are lay'rs from pride, or graftings on self-loves6: Whatever for itself is not esteem'd,

Proves a false choice, and is not as it seem'd87.

(55.) The track to Heav'n is intricate and Narrow to tread, and difficult to keep: [steep; On either hand sharp precipices lie,

And our steps faulter with the swerving eye;
That passage clear'd, a level road remains,
Through quiet valleys and refreshing plainsss.
(36.) Most would buy Heav'n without a price
or loss;

They like the paradise, but shun the cross
Many participate of Christ's repast;
Few choose his abstinence, or learn to fast90.
Few relish Christianity; and most [coast 91.
(In private) wish their Lord would leave their
Thousands may counterfeit th' apparent part;
And thousands may be Gergesenes at heart92.
All in Christ's kingdom would the thrones par-
take;

Few have the faith to suffer for his sake93.
His tasteful bread by many mouths is sought
Few choose to drink his passion's bitter draught4.

85 Imitat. of Christ, L. II, c. 28. See John c. ii, v. 28.

86 There is a sort of seeming good, which, if a rational mind loves, it sinneth; inasmuch as it is an object beneath the consideration of such a mind." St. August. de Ver. Relig. "Whatever is not loved on account of its own intrinsic worth, is not properly loved."

Idem in Soliloq. L. I, c. 13. 87"In this life there is no virtue but in loving that which is truly amiable. To choose this, is prudence; to be averted from it by no terrifying circumstances, is fortitude. To be influenced by no sort of temptation, is temperance; and to be affected by no ambitious views, is considering the thing with impartial justice as we ought to do." Idem de Ver. Felicitat. L. II. 88 Imitat. of Christ, L. II, c. 11, No. 1. 89 Ibid. 90 Ibid. 91 Matth. c. viii, v. 34. 92 Ibid. "It is common for man to ask every blessing that God can bestow, but he rarely desires to possess God himself."

Aug. in Psalm lxxvi. 93 Imitat. of Christ, L. II, c. 2. No. 1. 94 Ibid. See also c. 12.

CONTENTMENT, INDUSTRY, AND ACQUIESCENSE UNDER THE DIVINE WILL:

AN ODE,

WRITTEN IN THE ALPINE PARTS OF CARNIOLA, 1749.

The wilderness and solitary place shall be glad for them, (the children of the Lord:) and the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon: they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God. Isaiah, c. xxxv, v. 1, 2.

WHY dwells my unoffended eye
On yon blank desert's trackless waste;
All dreary earth, or cheerless sky,
Like ocean wild, and bleak, and vast?
There Lysidor's enamour'd reed
Ne'er taught the plains Eudosia's praise:
There herds were rarely known to feed,
Or birds to sing, or flocks to graze.
Yet does my soul complacence find;
All, all from Thee,
Supremely gracious Deity,
Corrector of the mind!!

The high-arch'd church is lost in sky,
The base 2 with thorns and bry'rs is bound:
The yawning fragments nod from high,
With close-encircling ivy crown'd:
Heart-thrilling echo multiplies
Voice after voice, creation new!
Beasts, birds obscene, unite their cries:
Graves ope, and spectres freeze the view.
Yet nought dismays; and thence we find
'Tis all from Thee,

Supremely gracious Deity,
Composer of the mind!

Earth's womb, half dead to Ceres' skill,
Can scarce the cake of off'ring give;
Five acres' corn can hardly fill
The peasant's wain, and bid him live;
The starving beldame gleans in vain,
In vain the hungry chough succeeds:
They curse the unprolific plain,

The scurf-grown moss, and tawdry weeds.
Yet still sufficiency we find;
All, all from Thee,
Supremely gracious Deity,
Corrector of the mind!

Yet health, and strength, and ease we find :
All, all from Thee,
Supremely gracious Deity,
Composer of the mind!

Tremble, and yonder Alp behold,
Where half-dead nature gasps below,
Victim of everlasting cold,
Entomb'd alive in endless snow.
The northern side is horrour all;
Against the southern, Phoebus plays;
In vain th' innoxious glimm'rings fall,
The frost outlives, outshines the rays.
Yet consolation still I find;
And all from Thee,

Supremely gracious Deity,
Corrector of the mind!

Bless me! how doubly sharp it blows,
From Zemblan and Tartarian coasts!
In sullen silence fall the snows,
The only lustre nature boasts;
The nitrous pow'r with tenfold force
Half petrifies Earth's barren womb,
High-arch'd cascades suspend their force,
Men freeze alive, and in the tomb.
Yet warmth and happiness we find;
All, all from Thee,

Supremely gracious Deity,
Composer of the mind!

Then, in exchange, a month or more
The Sun with fierce solsticial gleams,
Darting o'er vales his raging pow'r,
Like ray-collecting mirrors, beams.
Torrents and cataracts are dry,
Men seek the scanty shades in vain ;
The solar darts like lightning fly,
Transpierce the skull, and scorch the brain 5.
Yet still no restless heats we find;
And all from Thee,
Supremely gracious Deity,
Corrector of the mind!

For Nature rarely form'd a soil
Where diligence subsistence wants:
Exert but care, nor spare the toil,
And all beyond, th' Almighty grants.

Son of Sirach:-"When the cold north wind bloweth, and the water congealed into ice, he pourcth the hoar frost upon the earth. It abideth upon every gathering together of water, and clotheth the water with a breast-plate. It devoureth the mountain, and burneth the wilderness, and consumeth the grass as fire." c. xilli, v. 19, 21.

A glaciére, or ice-mountain. Cuncta gelu, canâque æternùm grandine tecta, Atque ævi glaciem cohibent: riget ardua montis Æthenii facies, surgentique obvia Phabo Duratas nescit flammis mollire pruinas. Sil. Ital.

"The Sun parcheth the country, and who can abide the burning heat thereof? A man blowing a furnace is in works of heat, but the Sun burneth the mountains three times more; breathing out fiery vapours, and sending forth bright beams, it dimmeth the eves."

Ecclus. ch. xliii, v. 5, 4.

Each earth at length to culture yields,
Each earth its own manure 6 contains:
Thus the Corycian nurst his fields",
Heav'n gave th' increase, and he the pains,
Th' industrious peace and plenty find:
All due to Thee,

Supremely gracious Deity,
Composer of the mind!

Scipio sought virtue in his prime,
And, having early gain'd the prize,
Stole from th' ungrateful world in time,
Contented to be low and wise!

He serv'd the state with zeal and force,
And then with dignity retir'd;
Dismounting from th' unruly horse,
To rule himself, as sense requir'd ;
Without a sigh, he pow'r resign'd.→
All, all from Thee,

Supremely gracious Deity,
Corrector of the mind!

When Dioclesian sought repose,

Cloy'd and fatigu'd with nauseous pow'r,
He left his empire to his foes,

For foois t' adunire, and rogues devour:
Rich in Lis poverty, he bought
Retirement's innocence and health,
With his own hands the monarch wrought,
And chang'd a throne for Ceres' wealth.
Toil sooth'd his cares, his blood refin'd.-
And all from Thee,
Supremely gracious Deity,
Composer of the mind!

He 8, who had rul'd the world, exchang'd
His sceptre for the peasant's spade,
Postponing (as thro' groves he rang'd)
Court-splendour to the rural shade.
Child of his hand, th' engrafted thorn
More than the victor-laurel pleas'd:
Heart's-ease, and meadow-sweet 10, adorn
The brow, from civic garlands eas'd.
Fortune, however poor, was kind.-
All, all from Thee,

Supremely gracious Deity,
Corrector of the mind!

Thus Charles, with justice styled the Great", For valour, picty and laws;

Resign'd two empires to retreat,

And from a throne to shades withdraws;
In vain (to soothe a monarch's pride)
His yoke the willing Fersian bore:

In vain the Saracen comply'd,

And fierce Northumbrians stain'd with gore.

Du Hamel; Elem. d'Agricult. Patullo; Meliorat. des Terres.

7 Virg. Georg. IV, v. 127, &c. 8 Dioclesian.

9 Heart's-ease, viola tricolor; called also by our old poets Love in idleness; pansy (from the French pensée, or the Italian pensier); three faces under a hood; herb Trinity; look up and kiss me; kiss me at the gate, &c.

10 Spiræa, named also in ancient English poetry, mead-sweet, queen of the meads, bridewort, &c.

11 Charlemagne, YOL. XVI,

One Gallic farm his cares confin'd;
And all from Thee,

Supremely gracions Deity,
Composer of the mind!

Observant of th' Almighty-will,
Prescient in faith, and pleas'd with toil,
Abram Chaldea left, to till

The moss-grown Haran's flinty soil 12:
Hydras of thorns absorb'd his gain,
The common-wealth of weeds rebell'd,
But labour tam'd th' ungrateful plain,
And famine was by art repell'd;
Patience made churlish nature kind.-
All, all from Thee,
Supremely gracious Deity,
Corrector of the mind!

-Formidine nulla;
Quippe in corde Deus-.

Stat. Theb. IV. v. 489.

THE VISION OF DEATH.

Imperfecta tibi elapsa est, ingrataque vita:
Et nec-opinanti Mors ad caput adstitit, ante
Quam satur, at plenus possis discedere rerum.
LUCRET.

Mille modis leti miseros Mors una fatigat.
Stat. Theb. IX. v. 280,

ADVERTISEMENT.

As this poem is an imperfect attempt to imitate Dryden's manner, I have of course admitted more triplets and Alexandrine verses than I might otherwise have done. Upon the whole, many good judges have thought, (and such was the private opinion of my much honoured friend Elijah Fenton in particular) that Dryden has too many Alexandrines and triplets, and Pope too few. The one by aiming at variety (for his ear was excellent) was betrayed into a careless diffusion; and the other, by affecting an over-scrupulous regularity, fell into sameness and restraint.

We speak this with all due deference to the two capital poets of the last and present century: and say of them, as the successor of Virgil said of Amphiaraüs and Admetus;

AMBO BONI, CHARIQUE AMBO.-
Theb. VI.

INTRODUCTION.

DRYDEN, forgive the Muse that apes thy voice
Weak to perform, but fortunate in choice,
Who but thyself the mind and ear can please
With strength and softness, energy and ease;
Various of numbers, new in ev'ry strain;
Diffus'd, yet terse, poetical, tho' plain:
Diversify'd 'midst unison of chime;
Freer than air, yet manacled with rhyme?

12 Gen. ch. xii, v. 31. Nehem. ch. ix, v, 7, Judith, ch. v. 7. Acts, ch. vii, v. 2—11.

Bb

Thou mak'st cach quarry which thou seek'st thy
The reigning eagle of Parnassian skies; [prize,
Now soaring 'midst the tracts of light and air,
And now the monarch of the woods and lair'.-
Two kingdoms thy united realm compose,
The land of poetry, and land of prose,
Each orphan-muse thy absence inly mourns;
Makes short excursions, and as quick returns:
No more they triumph in their fancy'd bays,
But crown'd with wood-bine dedicate their lays.
Thy thoughts and music change with ev'ry
line;

No sameness of a prattling stream is thine.
Which, with one unison of murmur, flows,
Opiate of in-attention and repose;

(So Huron-leeches, when their patient lies
In fev'rish restlessness with un-clos'd eyes,
Apply with gentle strokes their osier-rod,
And tap by tap invite the sleepy god)
No-Tis thy pow'r, (thine only,) tho' in rhyme,
To vary ev'ry pause, and ev'ry chime;
Infinite deseant 3! sweetly wild and true,
Still shifting, still improving, and still new !-
In quest of classic plants, and where they grow,
We trace thee, like a lev'ret in the snow.

Of all the pow'rs the human mind can boast,
The pow'rs of poetry are latest lost :
The falling of thy tresses at threescore,
Gave room to make thy laurels show the more 4.
This prince of poets, who before us went,
Had a vast income, and profusely spent:
Some have his lands, but none his treasur'd store,
Lands un-manur'd by us, and mortgag'd o'er and
o'er!

"Ahout his wreaths the vulgar muses strive,
And with a touch their wither'd bays revive 5!"
They kiss his tomb, and are enthusiasts made;
So Statius slept, inspir'd by Virgil's shade.
To Spencer much, to Milton much is due;
But in great Dryden we preserve the two.
What Muse but his can Nature's beauties hit,
Or catch that airy fugitive, call'd wit?

From limbs of this great Hercules are fram'd Whole groups of pigmies, who are verse-men nam'd:

Each has a little soul he calls his own,
And each enunciates with a human tone;

1 Layer,lair, and lay.-The surface of arable or grass-lands. Chaucer; Folkingham, 1610; Dryden. Laire also signifies the place where beasts sleep in the fields, and where they leave the mark of their bodies on young corn, grass, &c.

2 Voyages du Baron La Hontan.

3 Milton.

In those fair vales by Nature form'd to please,
Where Guadalquiver serpentines with ease,
(The richest tract the Andalusians know,
Fertile in herbage, grateful to the plow,)
A lovely villa stood; (suppose it mine ;)
Rich without cost, and without labour fine;
Indulgent Nature all her beauties brought,
And Art withdrew, unask'd for, and unsought.
For lo, th' Iberians by tradition found
That the whole district once was classic ground;
Here Columella first improv'd the plains,
And show'd Ascrean arts to simple swains:
Taught by the Georgic-Muse the lyre he strung,
And sung, what dying Virgil left unsung '.

Fatigu'd with courts, and votary to truth,
Hither I fled, philosopher, and youth:
And, leaving Olivarez to sustain
Th' encumbring fasces of ambitious Spain,
(As one rash Phaeton usurp'd a day,
Misled the seasons, and mistook his way,)
I chose to wander in the silent wood,
Or breathe my aspirations to the flood,
Studying the humble science to be good.
From the brute beasts humanity 1 learn'd,
And in the pansy's life God's providence discern'd,

'Twas now the joyous season of the year: The Sun had reach'd the Twins in bright career; Nature, awaken'd from six months' repose, Sprung from her verdant couch;—and active rose Like health refresh'd with wine; she smil'd, array'd [glade, With all the charms of sun-shine, stream and New drest and blooming as a bridal maid.

Yet all these charms could never lull to rest
A peevish irksomeness which teas'd my breast;
The vernal torrent, murm'ring from afar,
Whisper'd no peace to calm this nervous war;
And Philomel, the siren of the plain,
Sung soporific unisons in vain.

I sought my bed, in hopes relief to find:
But restlessness was mistress of my mind.
My wayward limbs were turn'd, and turn'd in
vain,-

Yet free from grief was I, and void of pain.
In me, as yet, ambition had no part; [heart.
Pride had not sowr'd, nor wealth debas'd my
I knew not public cares, nor private strife;-
And love, the blessing, or the curse of life,
Had only hover'd round me like a dream,
Play'd on the surface, not disturb'd the stream,
Yet still I felt, what young men often feel;
(Impossible to tell, or to conceal,)