What but their wish indulg'd in courts to Such bribes the rapid Greek o'er Asia whirl'd,
And pow'r too great to keep or to resign? When first the college rolls receive his name,
The young enthusiast quits his ease for fame:
Resistless burns the fever of renown,
Caught from the strong contagion of the gown;
O'er Bodley's dome his future labors spread,
And Bacon's mansion trembles o'er his head.
Are these thy views? proceed, illustrious,
youth,
And Virtue guard thee to the throne of Truth:
Yet should thy soul indulge the gen'rous heat,
Till captive Science yields her last retreat;
Should Reason guide thee with her bright-
est ray,
And pour on misty Doubt resistless day :
Should no false kindness lure to loose delight,
Nor praise relax, nor difficulty fright;
Should tempting Novelty thy cell refrain,
And Sloth effuse her opiate fumes in vain;
Should Beauty blunt on fops her fatal dart,
Nor claim the triumph of a letter'd heart;
Should no disease thy torpid veins invade,
Nor Melancholy's phantoms haunt thy shade;
Yet hope not life from grief or danger free,
Nor think the doom of man revers'd for thee:
Deign on the passing world to turn thine eyes,
And pause a while from learning, to be wise:
There mark what ills the scholar's life assail,
Toil, envy, want, the patron, and the jail.
See nations slowly wise, and meanly just,
To buried merit raise the tardy bust.
If dreams yet flatter, once again attend,
Hear Lydiat's life,‡ and Galileo's end. [stows,
Nor deem, when Learning her last prize be-
The glitt'ring eminence exempt from foes;
See, when the vulgar 'scapes, despis'd or aw'd,
Rebellion's vengeful talons seize on Laud.
From meaner mines, tho' smaller fines con
tent,
The plunder'd palace, or sequester'd rent; Mark'd out by dang'rous parts, he meets the shock,
And fatal Learning leads him to the block: Around his tomb let Art and Genius weep, But hear his death, ye blockheads, hear and sleep.
The festal blazes, the triumphal show, The ravish'd standard, and the captive foe, The senate's thanks, the gazette's pompous tale,
With force resistless o'er the brave prevail.
For such the steady Romans shook the world;
For such in distant lands the Britons shine,
And stain with blood the Danube or the
Rhine;
[warm,
This pow'r has praise, that virtue scarce can
Till fame supplies the universal charm.
Yet Reason frowns on War's unequal game,
Where wasted nations raise a single name.
And mortgag'd states their grandsires' wreaths
regret,
From age to age in everlasting debt; [convey,
Wreaths which at last the dear-bought right
To rust on medals, or on stones decay.
On what foundation stands the warrior's
pride,
[cide;
How just his hopes, let Swedish Charles de-
A frame of adamant, a soul of fire,
No dangers fright him, and no labors tire;
O'er love, o'er fear, extends his wide domain,
Unconquer'd lord of pleasure and of pain;
No joys to him pacific sceptres yield,
War sounds the trump, he rushes to the field;
Behold surrounding kings their pow'r com-
bine,
And one capitulate, and one resign;
Peace courts his hand, but spreads her charms
in vain ;
[remain,
"Think nothing gain'd, he cries, till nought
On Moscow's walls till Gothic standards fly,
And all be mine beneath the polar sky."
The march begins in military state,
And nations on his eye suspended wait;
Stern Famine guards the solitary coast,
And Winter barricades the realms of Frost;
He comes, nor want or cold his course delay;-
Hide, blushing Glory, hide Pultowa's day :
The vanquish'd hero leaves his broken bands,
And shows his miseries in distant lands,
Condemn'd a needy supplicant to wait,
While ladies interpose, and slaves debate.
But did not Chance at length her error mend?
Did no subverted empire mark his end?
Did rival monarchs give the fatal wound?
Or hostile millions press him to the ground?
His fall was destin'd to a barren strand,
A petty fortress, and a dubious hand;
He left the name, at which the world grew
To point a moral, or adorn a tale. [pale,
All times their scenes of pompous woes
afford,
From Persia's tyrant, to Bavaria's lord.
In gay hostility, and barb'rous pride,
With half mankind embattled at his side,
Ver. 114-132. †There is a tradition, that the study of friar Bacon, built on an arch over the bridge, will fall when a man greater than Bacon shall pass under it.
A very learned divine and mathematician, fellow of New College, Oxford, and rector of Okerton near Banbury. He wrote, among many others, a Latin treatise, De Natura Cali, &c. in which he attacked the sentiments of Scaliger and Aristotle; not bearing to hear it urged that some things are true in philosophy and false in divinity. He made above six hundred sermons on the harmony of the Evangelists. Being unsuccessful in publishing his works, he lay in the prison of Bocardo at Oxford, and the king's-bench, tifl bishop Usher, Dr. Laud, Sir William Boswell, and Dr. Pink, released him by paying his debts. He petitioned king Charles I. to be sont into Ethiopia, &c. to procure MSS. Having spoken in favour of monarchy and bishops, he was plundered by the parliament forces, and twice carried away prisoner from his rectory; and he died very poor in 1646.
Great Xerxes comes to seize the certain prey,
And starves exhausted regions in his way;
Attendant Flatt'ry counts his myriads o'er,
Till counted myriads sooth his pride no more;
Fresh praise is try'd till madness fires his mind,
The waves he lashes, and enchains the wind;
New pow'rs are claim'd, new pow'rs are still
bestow'd,
Till rude resistance lops the spreading god;
The daring Greeks deride the martial show,
And heap their valleys with the gaudy foe;
Th' insulted sea with humbler thoughts he
gains,
A single skiff to speed his flight remains :
Th' incumber'd oar scarce leaves the dreaded
Through purple billows and a floating host.
The bold Bavarian, in a luckless hour,
Tries the dread summits of Cæsarean pow'r,
With unexpected legions bursts away,
And sees defenceless realms receive his sway;
Short sway! fair Austria spreads her mournful
charms,
The queen, the beauty, sets the world in arms;
From hill to hill the beacon's rousing blaze
Improve his heady rage with treach'rous skill,
And mould his passions till they make his will
Unnumber'd maladies his joints invade,
Lay siege to life, and press the dire blockade;
But unextinguish'd Av'rice still remains,
And dreaded losses aggravate his pains;
He turns, with anxious heart and crippled
hands,
His bonds of debt, and mortgages of lands;
Or views his coffers with suspicious eyes,
Unlocks his gold, and counts it till he dies.
But grant, the virtues of a temp'rate prime
Blest with an age exempt from scorn or crime;
An age that melts with unperceiv'd decay,
And glides in modest innocence away;
Whose peaceful day Benevolence endears,
Whose night congratulating Conscience
cheers;
The gen'ral fav'rite as the gen'ral friend:
Such age there is, and who shall wish its end?
Yet ev'n on this her load Misfortune flings,
To press the weary minutes' flagging wings;
New sorrow rises as the day returns,
A sister sickens, or a daughter mourns.
Now kindred Merit fills the sable bier,
Spreads wide the hope of plunder and of Now lacerated Friendship claims a tear.
The fierce Croatian, and the wild Hussar,
With all the sons of ravage crowd the war;
The baffled prince, in honor's flatt'ring bloom,
Of hasty greatness finds the fatal doom;
His foes' derision, and his subjects' blame,
And steals to death from anguish and from
shame.
Year chases year, decay pursues decay,
Still drops some joy from with'ring life away;
New forms arise, and diff'rent views engage,
Superfluous lags the vet'ran on the stage,
Till pitying Nature signs the last release,
And bids afflicted worth retire to peace.
But few there are whom hours like these
await,
'Enlarge* my life with multitude of days;'Who set unclouded in the gulphs of Fate. In health, in sickness, thus the suppliant prays; From Lydia's monarch should the search deHides from himself his state, and shuns to know, By Solon caution'd to regard his end, [scend,
That life protracted is protracted woe.
Time hovers o'er, impatient to destroy,
And shuts up all the passages of joy :
In vain their gifts their bounteous seasons pour,
The fruit autumnal, and the vernal flow'r-
With listless eyes the dotard views the store,
He views, and wonders that they please no
more;
In life's last scene what prodigies surprise,
Fears of the brave, and follies of the wise!
From Marlb'rough's eyes the streams of do
tage flow,
And Swift expires a driv'ler and a show.
Thet teeming mother, anxious for her race,
Begs for each birth the fortune of a face;
Yet Vane could tell what ills from beauty
spring!
Now pall the tasteless meats, and joyless wines,
And Luxury with sighs her slave resigns. And Sedley curs'd the form that pleas'd a king.
Approach, ye minstrels, try the soothing strain, Ye nymphs of rosy lips and radiant eyes,
Diffuse the tuneful lenitives of pain: [ear, Whom Pleasure keeps too busy to be wise,
No sounds, alas! would touch th' impervious Whom joys with soft varieties invite,
Though dancing mountains witness'd Orpheus By day the frolic, and the dance by night,
Nor lute nor lyre his feeble pow'rs attend,
Nor sweeter music of a virtuous friend :
But everlasting dictates crowd his tongue,
Perversely grave, or positively wrong.
The still returning tale, or ling'ring jest,
Perplex the fawning niece and pamper'd guest,
While growing hopes scarce awe the gather-
Who frown with vanity, who smile with art,
And ask the latest fashion of the heart,
What care, what rules your heedless charms
shall save,
[slave?
Each nymph your rival, and each youth your
Against your fame with fondness hate com-
The rival batters, and the lover mines. [bines,
With distant voice neglected Virtue calls,
Less heard and less, the faint remonstrance
falls;
[rein,
And scarce a legacy can bribe to hear;
The watchful guests still hint the last offence, Tir'd with contempt, she quits the slipp'ry
The daughter's petulance, the son's expense, And Pride and Prudence take her seat in vain
In crowd at once, where none the pass de-That bell again! It tells us what she is;
The harmless freedom, and the private friend. The guardians yield, by force superior ply'd; To Int'rest, Prudence; and to Flatt'ry, Pride. Here beauty falls betray'd, despis'd, distrest, And hissing Infamy proclaims the rest.
Where then shall Hope and Fear their ob-
jects find?
Must dull Suspense corrupt the stagnant mind?
Must helpless man, in ignorance sedate,
Roll darkling down the torrent of his fate?
Must no dislike alarm, no wishes rise,
No cries invoke the mercies of the skies?
Inquirer, cease, petitions yet remain
Which Heav'n may hear, nor deem religion
Still raise for good the supplicating voice,
But leave to Heav'n the measure and the
choice,
Safe in his pow'r, whose eyes discern afar
The secret ambush of a specious pray'r,
Implore his aid, in his decisions rest,
Secure whate'er he gives, he gives the best.
Yet when the sense of sacred presence fires,
And strong devotion to the skies aspires,
Pour forth thy fervors for a healthful mind,
Obedient passions, and a will resign'd;
For love, which scarce collective man can fill;
For patience, sov'reign o'er transmuted ill;
For faith, that, panting for a happier seat,
Counts death kind Nature's signal of retreat :
These goods for man the laws of Heav'n or-
dain,
[gain;
These goods he grants, who grants the pow'r to
With these celestial Wisdom calms the mind,
And makes the Happiness she does not find.
§ 52. Elegy on the Death of Lady Coventry.
Written in 1760. MASON.
THE midnight clock has toll'd-and, hark the
bell
[found?
Of death beats slow! heard ye the note pro-
It pauses now; and now, with rising knell,
Flings to the hollow gale its sullen sound.
Yes-Coventry is dead. Attend the strain,
Daughters of Albion: ye that, light as air,
So oft have tripp'd in her fantastic train,
With hearts as gay, and faces half as fair: For she was fair beyond your brightest bloom, (This envy owns, since now her bloom is
Fair as the forms that, wove in Fancy's loom,
Float in light vision round the poet's head.
Whene'er with soft serenity she smil'd,
Or caught the orient blush of quick surprise,
How sweetly mutable, how brightly wild,
The liquid lustre darted from her eyes! Each look, each motion, wak'd a new-born grace,
That o'er her form its transient glory cast: Some lovelier wonder soon usurp'd the place, Chas'd by a charm still lovelier than the last. Ver. 346-366.
On what she was, no more the strain pro
long;
Luxuriant fancy, pause! an hour like this
Demands the tribute of a serious song.
Maria claims it from that sable bier,
Where cold and wan the slumb'rer rests her
head;
In still small whispers to reflection's ear
She breathes the solemn dictates of the dead. O catch the awful notes, and lift them loud! Proclaim the theme by sage, by fool re ver'd,
Hear it, ye young, ye vain, ye great, ye proud' "Tis Nature speaks, and Nature will be
Yes; ye shall hear, and tremble as ye hear,
While, high with health, your hearts exult
E'en in the midst of pleasure's mad career,
The mental monitor shall wake and weep!
For say, than Coventry's propitious star,
What brighter planet on your births arose ?
Or gave of fortune's gifts an ampler share,
In life to lavish, or by death to lose?
Early to lose! While, borne on busy wing,
Ye sip the nectar of each varying bloom;
Nor fear while basking in the beams of spring
The wint'ry storm that sweeps you to the
tomb;
Think of her fate! revere the heavenly hand
That led her hence, tho' soon by steps so
Long at her couch Death took his patient stand,
And menac'd oft, and oft withheld the blow.
To give reflection time, with lenient art,
Each fond delusion from her soul to steal!
Teach her from folly peaceably to part,
And wean her from a world she lov'd so
well.
Say, are you sure his mercy shall extend
To you so long a span? Alas, ye sigh!
Make then, while yet ye may, your God your
friend,
And learn with equal ease to sleep or die! Nor think the Muse, whose sober voice ye hear,
Contracts with bigot frown her sullen brow; Casts round religion's orb the mists of fear,
Or shades with horrors what with smiles
No-she would warn you with seraphic fire,
Heirs as ye are of heaven's eternal day; Would bid you boldly to that heaven aspire, Nor sink and slumber in your cells of clay. Know, ye were form'd to range yon azure field, In yon ethereal founts of bliss to lave: Force then, secure in faith's protecting shield, The sting from death, the vict❜ry from the grave!
Is this the bigot's rant? Away, ye vain!
Your hopes, your fears, in doubt, in dullness
steep:
Go sooth your souls in sickness, grief, or pain,
With the sad solace of eternal sleep!
Yet will I praise you, triflers as you are,
More than those preachers of your fav'rite
creed,
Who proudly swell the brazen throat of war,
Who from the phalanx, bid the battle bleed,
Nor wish for more; who conquer but to die.
Hear, Folly, hear, and triumph in the tale!
Like you they reason, not like you enjoy
The breeze of bliss, that fills your silken sail :
On pleasure's glitt'ring stream ye gaily steer
Your little course to cold oblivion's shore;
They dare the storm, and thro' th' inclement
year
| Transplanted to the world's tempestuous clime,
Must learn each passion's boist'rous breath
[to bear;
There, if ambition, pestilent and pale,
Or luxury should taint their vernal glow;
If cold self-interest, with her chilling gale,
Should blast th' unfolding blossoms ere they
[blow;
If mimic hues, by art or fashion spread, [ply;
Their genuine simple colouring should sup-
O may with them these laureate honors fade,
And with them (if it can) my friendship die!
Then do not blame, if, tho' thyself inspire,
Cautious I strike the panegyric string;
The Muse full oft pursues a meteor fire,
And, vainly vent'rous, soars on waxen wing;
Too actively awake at friendship's voice,
[roar. The poet's bosom pours the fervent strain,
Till sad reflection blames the hasty choice,
And oft invokes oblivion's aid in vain.
Call we the shade of Pope from that blest bow'r,
Where thron'd he sits with many a tuneful
sage;
Ask, if he ne'er bemoans that hapless hour
Stem the rough surge, and brave the torrent's Is it for glory? That just Fate denies; Long must the warrior moulder in his shroud, [cents rise Ere from her trump the heaven-breath'd acThat lift the hero from the fighting crowd!
Is it his grasp of empire to extend ?
To curb the fury of insulting foes? Ambition, cease! the idle contest end : "Tis but a kingdom thou canst win or lose. And why must murder'd myriads lose their all, (If life be all), why desolation low'r With famish'd frown on this affrighted ball, That thou mayst flame the meteor of an
When St. John's name illumin'd glory's
[page.
Ask, if the wretch who dar'd his mem❜ry stain ;
Deserv'd the meed that Marlbro' fail'd to gain;
Ask if his country's, his religion's foe,
The deathless meed he only could bestow;
The bard will tell thee, the misguided praise
Clouds the celestial sunshine of his breast;
Ev'n now repentant of his erring lays,
He heaves a sigh amid the realms of rest,
Yet pity, Dryden-hark, whene'er he sings, How adulation drops her courtly dew
Go, wiser ye, that flutter life away, [high? If Pope thro' friendship fail'd, indignant view,
Crown with the mantling juice the goblet
Weave the light dance, with festive freedom
[die!
And live your moment, since the next ye
Yet know, vain sceptics! know, th' Almighty
Mind,
Who breath'd on man a portion of his fire,
Bade his free soul, by earth nor time confin'd,
To heav'n, to immortality aspire.
Nor shall the pile of hope his mercy rear'd
By vain philosophy be e'er destroy'd:
Eternity, by all or wish'd or fear'd,
Shall be by all or suffer'd or enjoy'd!
53. Elegy to a young Nobleman leaving the
University. MASON.
ERE yet, ingenuous youth, thy steps retire
From Cam's smooth margin, and the peace-
ful vale,
[quire,
Where Science call'd thee to her studious
And met thee musing in her cloisters pale;
O let thy friend (and may he boast the name!)
Breathe from his artless reed one parting
A lay like this thy early virtues claim, [lay:
And this let voluntary friendship pay.
Yet know, the time arrives, the dang'rous time,
When all those virtues, op'ning now so fair,
On titled rhymers and inglorious kings!
See, from the depths of his exhaustless mine,
His glitt'ring stores the tuneful spendthrift
Where fear or int'rest bids, behold they shine;
Now grace a Cromwell's, now a Charles's
[brows. Born with too gen'rous or too mean a heart, Dryden in vain to thee those stores were lent;
Thy sweetest numbers but a trifling art:
Thy strongest diction idly eloquent.
The simplest lyre, if truth directs its lays,
Warbles a melody ne'er heard from thine:
Not to disgust with false or venal praise,
Was Parnell's modest fame, and may be
[mine.
Go then, my friend, nor let thy candid breast
Condemn me, if I check the plausive string; Go to the wayward world; complete the rest; Be what the purest Muse would wish to sing. Be still thyself; that open path of truth,
Which led thee here, let manhood firm pur Retain the sweet simplicity of youth; [sue And all thy virtue dictates dare to do.
Still scorn, with conscious pride, the mask of August she trod, yet modest was her air;
On vice's front let fearful caution low'r; And teach the diffident, discreeter part
Of knaves that plot, and fools that fawn for pow'r.
Serene her eye, yet darting heavenly fire; Still she drew near, and nearer still more fair, More mild, appear'd: yet such as might inspire
Pleasure corrected with an awful fear; So, round thy brow when age's honors spread, Majestically sweet, and amiably severe. When death's cold hand unstrings thy Ma-The other dame seem'd even of fairer hue;
son's lyre, When the green turf lies lightly on his head, Thy worth shall some superior bard inspire: He to the amplest bounds of time's domain On rapture's plume shall give thy name to fly; [strain, For trust, with rev'rence trust, this Sabine "The Muse forbids the virtuous man to die."
$54. The Choice of Hercules: from the
Greek of Prodicus. Br. LowTH.
Now had the son of Jove, mature, attain'd
The joyful prime; when youth, elate and Steps into life, and follows unrestrain'd [gay, Where passion leads, or prudence points the
In the pure mind, at those ambiguous years, Or vice, rank weed, first strikes her pois'nous root;
Or haply virtue's op'ning bud appears
By just degrees, fair bloom of fairest fruit! For, on youth's untainted thought imprest, The gen'rous purpose still shall warm the manly breast.
As on a day, reflecting on his age
For highest deeds now ripe, Alcides sought
Retirement, nurse of contemplation sage,
Step following step, and thought succeeding
thought;
Musing, with steady pace the youth pursued
His walk, and lost in meditation stray'd
Far in a lonely vale, with solitude
Conversing; while intent his mind survey'd
The dubious path of life: before him lay,
Here virtue's rough ascent, there pleasure's
When, lo! far off two female forms he spies:
Direct to him their steps they seem to bear:
Both large and tall, exceeding human size;
But bold her mien, unguarded rov'd her eye And her flush'd cheeks confess'd at nearer
The borrow'd blushes of an artful dye. All soft and delicate, with airy swim,
Lightly she danc'd along; her robe betray'd
Through the clear texture every tender limb,
Height'ning the charms it only seem'd to
shade;
And as it flow'd adown, so loose and thin,
Her stature show'd more tall, more snowy
white her skin.
Oft with a smile she view'd herself askance;
Ev'n on her shade a conscious look she
Smooth is my way, and all my paths are With me retire, from toils and perils free; Leave honor to the wretch! pleasures were made for thee.
"Then will I grant thee all thy soul's desire; All that may charm thine ear, and please thy
All that the thought can frame, or wish require
To steep thy ravish'd senses in delight:
The sumptuous feast, enhanc'd with music's
sound,
Fittest to tune the melting soul to love,
Rich odors, breathing choicest sweets around;
The fragrant bow'r, cool fountain, shady
Both, far exceeding human beauty, fair. Graceful, yet each with different grace, they move; [love. This striking sacred awe; that, softer, winning [head: The first in native dignity surpass'd; Fresh flow'rs to strew thy couch, and crown thy Artless and unadorn'd she pleas'd the more; Joy shall attend thy steps, and ease shall
Health o'er her looks a genuine lustre cast;
A vest more white than new-fall'n snow" These will I freely, constantly supply; [woe Pleasure's not earn'd with toil, nor mix'd with
|