Why fhould I live to hate the light;
Be with myself at conftant ftrife,
And drag about, in nature's fpite,
An useless, joyless, load of life?
But far from her all ills remove,
Your favourite care let Delia be,
Long bleft in friendship, bleft in love,
And may she never think on me.

III.

But if, to prove my love fincere,
The fates a while this trial doom;
Then aid me, Hope, my woes to bear,
Nor leave me till my Delia come;

Till Delia come; no more to part,

And all thefe cares and fears remove;
Oh, come! relieve this widow'd heart,
Oh, quickly come! my pride, my love!
My Delia come! whofe looks beguile,
Whofe fmile can charm my cares away ;-
Oh! come with that enchanting fmile,
And brighten up life's wintry day;

Oh, come! and make me full amends
For all my cares, my fears, my pain ;
Delia, reftore me to my friends,
Reflore me to myself again.

On the late Improvements at Nuneham, the Seat of the Earl of HARCOURT By the late W. WHITEHEAD, Efq.

AME Nature, the Goddefs, one very bright day,

DA

In ftrolling thro' Nuneham, met Brown in her way
And bless me, she said, with an infolent sneer,

I wonder that fellow will dare to come here.
What more than I did has your impudence plann'd ?
The lawn, wood, and water, are all of my hand;
In my very best manner, with Themis's fcales,
I lifted the hills, and I fcoop'd out the vales;
With Sylvan's own umbrage I grac'd ev'ry brow,
And pour'd the rich Thames thro' the meadows below.
I grant it, he cry'd; to your fov'reign command

I bow, as I ought.-Gentle Lady, your hand:

The weather's inviting, fo let us move on;

You know what you did, and now fee what I've done.
I with gratitude own you have reason to plead

That to thefe happy scenes you were bounteous indeed :
My lovely materials were many and great!

(For fometimes, you know, I'm oblig'd to create)
But fay in return, my adorable dame,

To all you fee here can you lay a just claim?

Were there no flighter parts, which you finish'd in hafte,
Or left, like a friend, to give scope to my taste ?
Who drew o'er the furface, did you, or did I,

The smooth-flowing outline, that steals from the eye *,
The foft undulations, both diftant and near,
That heave from the lawns, and yet fcarcely appear
(So bends the ripe harveft the breezes beneath,
As if earth was in flumber and gently took breath)
Who thinn'd, and who group'd, and who scatter'd thofe trees,
Who bade the flopes fall with that delicate ease,

Who caft them in fhade, and who plac'd them in light,
Who bade them divide, and who bade them unite?
The ridges are melted, the boundaries gone :
Obferve all thefe changes, and candidly own

I have cloath'd you when naked, and, when o'erdreft,
I have ftripp'd you again to your boddice and veft;
Conceal'd ev'ry blemish, each beauty display'd,
As Reynolds would picture fome exquifite maid,
Each fpirited feature would happily place,
And fhed o'er the whole inexpreffible grace.

One question remains. Up the green of yon fleep
Who threw the bold walk with that elegant sweep?
-There is little to fee, till the fummit we gain
Nay, never draw back, you may climb without pain,
And, I hope, will perceive how each object is caught,
And is loft, in exactly the point where it ought.
That ground of your moulding is certainly fine,

But the fwell of that knoll, and those openings, are mine.

The profpect, wherever beheld, must be good,

But has ten times its charms when you burst from this wood,

A wood of my planting. The goddess cried, Hold!

"Tis grown very hot, and 'tis grown very cold.

*The two laft words in this couplet have identical rather than correfponding founds, and therefore only appear to rhyme. This defect, however, may easily be removed by transposing the two verfes and reading them thus:

That fweet flowing outline, that steals from the view,
Who drew o'er the furface, did I, or did you?

M.

She

She fann'd, and fhe fhudder'd, fhe cough'd, and fhe fneez'd,
Inclin'd to be angry, inclin'd to be pleas'd;

Half fmil'd, and half pouted-then turn'd from the view,
And dropp'd him a curt'fie, and blufhing withdrew.

Yet foon recollecting her thoughts, as she pass'd,
"I may have my revenge on this fellow at last:
"For a lucky conjecture comes into my head,
"That, whate'er he has done, and whate'er he has faid,
"The world's little malice will balk his defign:

"Each fault they'll call his, and each excellence mine *."

Verfes on the Duchefs of RUTLAND; fuppofed to be writen by Sir H. LANGUISH.

S poor Anacreon bleeding lies,
From the first glance of Stella's eyes,
Too weak to fly, too proud to yield,
Or leave an undisputed field;
He rallies, refts upon his arms,
And reconnoitres all her charms.
Vainly he fancies that by peeping,
Through all the beauties in her keeping,
He may in fuch a store collect
The healing balm of one defect;
One feeble part, one faulty spot,
That Nature's forming hand forgot,
Or left, in mercy, a defence
Against her wide omnipotence,
Which spares philofopher nor fage,
Nor tender youth, nor cautious age.
He view'd her ftature, tow'ring high ;-

The liquid luftre of her eye ;

The various wonders of her mouth,
Diffufing sweetness, like the South;
Where everlasting raptures grow,
Where violets breathe and roses glow;
Where pearls in fplendid order meet,
And tune the lapfe of accents fweet;
As pebbles fhed their filver beam,
Brighten, and harmonize the ftream.

Altho' the perfonification of NATURE has been common to feveral Poets, when they meant to compliment an artist that rivalled her, yet the idea of making her behave herself like that most unnatural of all created Beings, A MODERN FINE LADY, must be allowed to be a thought both very bold and truly original; and the Poet has, I think, executed it with much genuine humour.

M.

He view'd her whole array of charms,
The waving plumes, and polifh'd arms;
He look'd through every rank and file,
Through every grace, and every fmile;
But faw no fingle fpot neglected ;-
The front fecure, the rear protected,
The centre form'd with double care,
For the Supreme command was there:
There hid, mysterious from the day,
The confecrated banners lay:
No advantageous pass was loft,
No beauty fleeping on its poft;
But all was order, all was force:
A look was victory of course,

On objects from the fight precluded
He by analogy concluded;

By faith in what had been reveal'd,
He judg'd of all that lay conceal'd;
That heav'n, to which our fancies ftray
Through fleecy cloud, and milky way:
But he could fpeculate, or fpy
Nothing, to change his destiny.
At length an incident arofe,
That flatter'd him with leffer woes.
The bold intrufion of a fly
Had clos'd the luftre of one eye,
And gave him hopes that, thus bereft
Of half her fplendour, what was left
He could refift, or could evade,

Or could retire behind the fhade.

But whilft he triumphs in these fancies,

A new auxiliary advances.

The fnowy arm's fublime difplay
Was rais'd to chase that cloud away,
Which feem'd the lightning to abate,
And yet awhile fufpend his fate.

But, ah! how frail is hope! how vain!
The vanquish'd luftre came again,
And living ivory fupply'd

That fplendour which her eye deny'd.

So Alpine fnowy cliffs arife,

Pervade the clouds, and touch the skies;

Scatter around the filver ray,

And give new brightnefs to the day.
Thus difappointed in his dream

Of imperfection in her frame,
He meditates yet to explore
One defperate expedient more.

"Where

"Where fhall I go a fault to find?"Have I no refuge in her mind ? "Can't I one healing error trace, "To cure the mischiefs of her face? "One tax, one countervailing duty,

To balance her account of beauty? "One faving foible, balmy fault, "One impropriety of thought, "To lend its medicinal aid,

"And cure the wounds her eyes have made?
Prefumptuous hope!-I view'd once more
"The blaze that dazzled me before,
"And faw! thofe very eyes impart
"A foul, that fharpen'd every dart;
"With every rich endowment fraught,
"The tender care, the generous thought,
"The sense of each exalted duty,

That mingled worth with every beauty:
"And a prevailing with imprefs'd
"To make all happy, and one blefs'd.
"Her foul through every feature spoke-
"There was a virtue in each look:
"The whole was gentleness and love-
"Her arrows feather'd from the dove;
"And every glance that charm'd the fight
"Was as benevolent as bright.

"Finding no poffible retreat, "I yield contented to my fate"I unreluctant drag the chain, "And in the paffion lose the pain "For her fweet bondage is fo light, "And all her fetters are fo bright, "That, vain and vanquish'd, I must own I cannot wish to lay them down, "Nor idly ftruggle to be free, Nor change my lot for liberty."

H

The Three VERNONS".

By the Hon. HORACE WALPOLE.

ENRIETTA's + ferious charms
Awe the breast her beauty warms;
See the bluffies! Love prefumes;
See the frowns! he drops his plumes.

Daughters of Richard Vernon, Efq,
Now Countess of Warwick.

M4

Dancing