Revolving in his alter'd soul
The various turns of fate below;
And now and then a sigh he stole ;
And tears began to flow.

5.

The mighty master smil❜d to see
That LovE was in the next degree;
"Twas but a kindred sound to move;
For pity melts the mind to love.
Softly sweet in Lydian measures,
Soon he sooth'd his soul to pleasures:
War he sung is toil and trouble;
Honour but an empty bubble:

1

Never ending, still beginning,
Fighting still, and still destroying:
If the world be worth thy winning,
Think, O, think it worth enjoying!
Lovely Thais sits beside thee

Take the good the gods provide thee.

The many rend the skies with loud applause; So Love was crown'd, but Music won the cause. The prince unable to conceal his pain,

Gaz'd on the fair

Who caus'd his care

And sigh'd and look'd, sigh'd and look'd,
Sigh'd and look'd, and sigh'd again;

At length, with Love and Wine at once oppress'd,
The vainquish'd victor sunk upon her breast.

6.

Now strike the golden lyre again,

A louder yet, and yet a louder strain;
Break his bands of sleep asunder,

And rouse him, like a ratling peal of thunder.

Hark, hark, the horrid sound

Has rais'd up his head,

As awak'd from the dead,

And amaz'd, he stares around.

Revenge, revenge, Timotheus cries

See the furies arise,

See the snakes that they rear
How they hiss in the air,

And the sparkles that flash from their eyes!
Behold a ghastly band,

Each a torch in his hand,

These are Grecian ghosts, that in battle were slain,
And unbury'd remain
Inglorious on the plain :
Give the vengeance due
To the valiant crew:

Behold how they toss their torches on high,
How they point to the Persian abodes,
And glitt'ring temples of their hostile gods!
The Princes applaud, with a furious joy:
And the King seiz'd a flambeaux, with zeal to
destroy;

Thais led the way,

To light him to his prey,

And, like another Helen, fir'd another Troy.

Thus, long ago,

7.

Ere heaving billows learn'd to blow,

While organs yet were mute;
Timotheus to his breathing flute
And sounding lyre,

kindle soft desire.

Could swell the soul to rage, or
At last divine CECILIA came,
Inventress of the vocal frame;

The sweet enthusiast, from her sacred store
Enlarg'd the former narrow bounds,

And added length to solemn sounds,

With nature's mother wit, and arts unknown befóre.

Let old Timotheus yield the prize,

Or both divide the crown;

He rais'd a mortal to the skies;
She drew an angel down.

DRYDEN.

The country Life.

BLEST be the man (and blest he is) whoe'er

(Plac'd far out of the roads of hope and fear)
A little field and little garden, feeds :

The field gives all that frugal nature needs;
The wealthy garden liberally bestows
All she can ask, when she luxurious grows.
The specious inconveniences, that wait
Upon a life of business and of state,
He sees (nor does the sight disturb his rest)
By fools desir'd, by wicked men possest.
Thus, thus (and this deserv'd great Virgil's praise)
The old Corycian yeoman pass'd his days;
Thus his wise life Abdolonymus spent:

Th' ambassadors, which the great emperor sent
To offer him a crown, with wonder found
The rev'rend gardener hoeing of his ground;
Unwillingly, and slow, and discontent,
From his lov'd cottage to a throne he went;
And oft he stopt, in his triumphant way,
And oft look'd back, and oft was heard to say,
Not without sighs,Alas! I there forsake
A happier kingdom than I go to take!

Thus Aglaus (a man unknown to men

But the gods knew, and therefore lov'd him then y
Thus liv'd obscurely then without a name,
Aglaus, now consign'd t'eternal fame.
For Gyges, the rich king, wicked and great,
Presumed at wise Apollo's Delphic seat
Presum❜d to ask: Oh thou, the whole world's
See'st thou a man that happier is than I?
The god, who scorns to flatter man, reply'd,
Aglaüs happier is. But Gyges cry'd,
In a proud rage, Who can that Aglaüs be?
We have heard, as yet, of no such king as he..

eye,

And true it was, through the whole earth around
No king of such a name was to be found.
Is some old hero of that name alive,

Who his high race does from the gods derive?
Is it some mighty general that has done
Wonders in fight, and god-like honours won?
Is it some man of endless wealth? said he.
None, none of these. Who can this Aglaüs be?
After long search, and vain enquiries past,
In an obscure Arcadian vale at last

(Th' Arcadian life has always shady been)
Near Sopho's town (which he but once had seen).
This Aglaüs, who monarch's envy drew,
Whose happiness the gods stood witness to,
This mighty Aglaüs, was labouring found,
With his own hands, in his own little ground.
So, gracious God! (if it may lawful be,
Among those foolish gods to mention thee).
So let me act on such a private stage,
The last dull scenes of my declining age;
After long toils and voyages in vain,
This quiet port let my tost vessel gain;
Of heavenly rest, this earnest to me lend,
Let my life sleep, and learn to love her end.

COWLEY.

Health.

Now early shepherds o'er the meadow pass,

And print long footsteps in the glitt'ring grass;
The cows neglectful of their pasture stand,
By turns obsequious to the milker's hand.

When Damon softly trod the shaven lawn, Damon, a youth from city cares withdrawn; Long was the pleasing walk he wander'd through, A cover'd arbour clos'd the distant view;

There rest the youth, and while the feather'd throng

Raise their wild music, thus contrives a song.. Here wafted o'er by mild Etesian air,

Thou, country goddess, beauteous Health! repair;
Here let my breast thro' quiv'ring trees inhale
Thy rosy blessings with the morning gale.
What are the fields, or flow'rs, or all I see?
Ah! tasteless all, if not enjoy'd with thee.
Joy to my soul! I feel the goddess nigh,
The face of Nature cheers as well as I;
O'er the flat green refreshing breezes run
The smiling daisies blow beneath the sun,
The brooks run purling down with silver waves
The planted lanes rejoice with dancing leaves,
The chirping birds from all the compass rove,
To tempt the tuneful echoes of the grove;
High sunny summits, deeply shaded dales,
Thick mossy banks, and flow'ry winding vales,
With various prospect gratify the sight,
And scatter fix'd attention in delight.

Oh come, thou goddess of my rural song!
And bring thy daughter calm Content, along,
Dame of the ruddy cheek and laughing eye,
From whose bright presence clouds of sorrow fly:
For her I mow my walks,I plat my bow'rs
Clip low my hedges, and support my flow'rs;
To welcome her this summer seat I drest,
And here I court her when she comes to rest;