Ν Τ Page .. To Lyce, an elderly lady 364 On the death of Mr. Robert Levet, a practiser in phyfick 365 Epitaph on Claude Philips, an itinerant musician 367 Epitaphium in Thomam Hanmer, Baronettum 367 Paraphrase of the above epitaph · 369 To Miss Hickman, playing on the spinnet 371 Paraphrase of Proverbs, chap. vi. verses 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 372 Horace, lib. iv. ode vii. translated 372 On seeing a bust of Mrs. Montague 373 Anacreon. Ode ix. 374 Lines written in ridicule of certain poems, published in 1777 375 Parody of a translation from the Medea of Euripides 376 Burlesque of the modern versifications of ancient Legendary Tales. An Impromptu 377 Translation of the two first stanzas of the song “ Rio verde, Rio verde," printed in Bishop Percy's Reliques of 377 Imitation of the style of **** 377 Burlesque of the following lines of Lopez de Vega. An Impromptu 378 Translation of some lines at the end of Baretti's Easy Phraseology. An Impromptu dena's running away from the Comet in 1742 or 1743 379 379 Epitaph for Mr. Hogarth 379 Translation of fome lines written under a print representing persons skaiting An Impromptu friend about a gown and hat she was inclined to wear Impromptu. Translation of an air in the Clemezza de Tito of Metastasio, beginning “Deh se piacerni vuoi" Tranflation of a speech in Aquilcio, in the Adriano of Metaftafio, beginning “Tu che in corte invechiafti" POEMATA 378 380 380 380 381 381 382 H I S Τ Ο O RY OF S, R A S S E L A PRINCE OF ABISSINIA, CH A P. I. DESCRIPTION OF A PALACE IN A VALLEY. Y E who listen with credulity to the whispers of fancy, and persue with eagerness the phantoms of hope; who expect that age will perform the promises of youth, and that the deficiencies of the present day will be supplied by the morrow; attend to the history of Rasselas prince of Abisinia. Rafselas was the fourth son of the mighty emperour, in whose dominions the Father of Waters begins his course; whose bounty pours down the streams of plenty, and scatters over half the world the harvests of Egypt. According to the custom which has descended from age to age among the monarchs of the torrid zone, Raffelas was confined in a private palace, with the other sons and daughters of Abisinian royalty, till the order of succession should call him to the throne. The place, which the wisdom or policy of an- nian nian princes, was a spacious valley in the kingdom of Amhara, surrounded on every side by mountains, of which the fumınits overhang the middle part. The only passage, by which it could be entered, was a cavern that paffed under a rock, of which it has long been disputed whether it was the work of nature or of human industry. The outlet of the cavern was concealed by a thick wood, and the mouth which opened into the valley was closed with gates of iron, forged by the artificers of ancient days, so masfy that no man could without the help of engines open or shut them. From the mountains on every side, rivulets descended that filled all the valley with verdure and fertility, and formed a lake in the middle inhabited by fish of every species, and frequented by every fowl whom nature has taught to dip the wing in water. This lake discharged its superfluities by a stream which entered a dark cleft of the mountain on the northern side, and fell with dreadful noise from precipice to precipice till it was heard no more. The sides of the mountains were covered with trees, the banks of the brooks were diversified with flowers; every blast shook spices from the rocks, and every month dropped fruits upon the ground. All animals that bite the grass, or brouse the shrub, whether wild or tame, wandered in this extensive circuit, fecured from beasts of prey by the mountains which confined them. On one part were flocks and herds feeding in the pastures, on another all the beasts of chase frisking in the lawns; the sprightly kid was bounding on the rocks, the subtle monkey frolicking in the trees, and the folemn |