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29 By this the stars began to wink,
They shriek, they fly, the tapers sink,
And down ydrops the knight.
For never spell by Faerie laid

With strong enchantment bound a glade
Beyond the length of night.

30 Chill, dark, alone, adreed he lay,
Till up the welkin rose the day,

Then deem'd the dole was o'er:
But wot ye well his harder lot?
His seely back the bunch has got
Which Edwin lost afore.

31 This tale a Sybil-nurse aread;
She softly stroked my youngling head,
And when the tale was done,

Thus some are born, my son, (she cries,)
With base impediments to rise,

And some are born with none.

32 But virtue can itself advaunce

To what the favourite fools of chaunce
By fortune seem'd design'd;

Virtue can gain the odds of Fate,
And from itself shake off the weight
Upon the unworthy mind.

TO MR POPE.

To praise, yet still with due respect to praise, A bard triumphant in immortal bays,

The learn'd to show, the sensible commend,
Yet still preserve the province of the friend,
What life, what vigour, must the lines require,
What music tune them, what affection fire!

Oh! might thy genius in my bosom shine,
Thou shouldst not fail of numbers worthy thine;
The brightest ancients might at once agree
To sing within my lays, and sing of thee.

Horace himself would own thou dost excel

In candid arts, to play the critic well.

Ovid himself might wish to sing the dame
Whom Windsor Forest sees a gliding stream;
On silver feet, with annual osier crown'd,
She runs for ever through poetic ground.

How flame the glories of Belinda's hair,

Made by thy Muse the envy of the fair!
Less shone the tresses Egypt's princess' wore,
Which sweet Callimachus so sung before;
Here courtly trifles set the world at odds,

Belles war with beaux, and whims descend for gods,
The new machines in names of ridicule,
Mock the grave frenzy of the chymic fool.
But know, ye fair, a point conceal'd with art,
The Sylphs and Gnomes are but a woman's heart :
The Graces stand in sight; a Satyr train

Peep o'er their heads, and laugh behind the scene.
In Fame's fair temple, o'er the boldest wits
Enshrined on high the sacred Virgil sits,
And sits in measures, such as Virgil's Muse
To place thee near him might be fond to choose.
How might he tune the alternate reed with thee,
Perhaps a Strephon thou, a Daphnis he,

1 ' Egypt's princess:' Cleopatra.

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While some old Damon, o'er the vulgar wise,

Thinks he deserves, and thou deserv'st the prize!
Rapt with the thought, my fancy seeks the plains,
And turns me shepherd while I hear the strains.
Indulgent nurse of every tender gale,
Parent of flowerets, old Arcadia, hail!
Here in the cool my limbs at ease I spread,
Here let thy poplars whisper o'er my head,
Still slide thy waters soft among the trees,
Thy aspens quiver in a breathing breeze,
Smile all thy valleys in eternal spring,
Be hush'd, ye winds! while Pope and Virgil sing.
In English lays, and all sublimely great,
Thy Homer warms with all his ancient heat;
He shines in council, thunders in the fight,
And flames with every sense of great delight.
Long has that poet reign'd, and long unknown,
Like monarchs sparkling on a distant throne,
In all the majesty of Greek retired,

Himself unknown, his mighty name admired;
His language failing, wrapp'd him round with night,
Thine, raised by thee, recalls the work to light.
So wealthy mines, that ages long before
Fed the large realms around with golden ore,
When choked by sinking banks, no more appear,
And shepherds only say, The mines were here:
Should some rich youth (if Nature warm his heart,
And all his projects stand inform'd with Art)
Here clear the caves, there ope the leading vein;
The mines, detected, flame with gold again.
How vast, how copious are thy new designs!

How every music varies in thy lines!
Still as I read, I feel my bosom beat,
And rise in raptures by another's heat.

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Thus in the wood, when summer dress'd the days,
When Windsor lent us tuneful hours of ease,
Our ears the lark, the thrush, the turtle blest,
And Philomela sweetest o'er the rest :
The shades resound with song-oh softly tread!
While a whole season warbles round my head.

This to my friend-and when a friend inspires,
My silent harp its master's hand requires,
Shakes off the dust, and makes these rocks resound;
For fortune placed me in unfertile ground,
Far from the joys that with my soul agree,
From wit, from learning-far, oh far from thee!
Here moss-grown trees expand the smallest leaf,
Here half an acre's corn is half a sheaf;
Here hills with naked heads the tempest meet,
Rocks at their side, and torrents at their feet,
Or lazy lakes, unconscious of a flood,
Whose dull brown Naiads ever sleep in mud.

Yet here Content can dwell, and Learned Ease,
A friend delight me, and an author please;
Even here I sing, while Pope supplies the theme,
Show my own love, though not increase his fame.

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HEALTH: AN ECLOGUE.

Now early shepherds o'er the meadow pass,
And print long footsteps in the glittering grass,
The cows neglectful of their pasture stand,
By turns obsequious to the milker's hand,
When Damon softly trode the shaven lawn,
Damon a youth from city cares withdrawn ;
Long was the pleasing walk he wander'd through,
A cover'd arbour closed the distant view;

There rests the youth, and while the feather'd throng 9
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 through quivering trees inhale
Thy rosy blessings with the morning gale.
What are the fields, or flowers, 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 flowery winding vales,
With various prospect gratify the sight,
And scatter fix'd attention in delight.

Come, country Goddess, come! nor thou suffice,
But bring thy mountain sister, Exercise!
Call'd by thy lovely voice, she turns her pace,
Her winding horn proclaims the finish'd chase
She mounts the rocks, she skims the level plain,
Dogs, hawks, and horses crowd her early train ;
Her hardy face repels the tanning wind,
And lines and meshes loosely float behind.
All these as means of toil the feeble see,

But these are helps to pleasure join'd with thee.
Let Sloth lie softening till high noon in down,
Or lolling fan her in the sultry town,
Unnerved with rest, and turn her own disease,
Or foster others in luxurious ease:

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