IX.

With what fufpicious fearful care

The fordid wretch fecures his claim,

If haply fome luxurious heir

Should alienate the fields that wear his name!
What fcruples left fome future birth

Should litigate a span of earth!

Bonds, contracts, feoffinents, names unmeet for profe, The towering Mufe endures not to disclose;

Alas! her unrevers'd decree,

More comprehenfive and more free,

Her lavish charter, Taste, appropriates all we see.

X.

Let gondolas their painted flags unfold,

And be the folemn day enroll'd,

When, to confirm his lofty plea,

In nuptial fort, with bridal gold, The grave Venetian weds the fea; Each laughing Mufe derides the vow ;

Ev'n Adria fcorns the mock embrace,
To fome lone hermit on the mountain's brow,
Allotted, from his natal hour,

With all her myrtle fhores in dow'r.
His breast to admiration prone

Enjoys the fmile upon her face,
Enjoys triumphant every grace,
And finds her more his own.

XI.

Fatigu'd with form's. oppreffive laws,
When SOMERSET avoids the Great;
When cloy'd with merited applaufe,

.

She feeks the rural calm retreat;

Does the not praise each moffy cell,
And feel the truth my numbers tell?
When deafen'd by the loud acclaim,
Which genius grac'd with rank obtains,
Could fhe not more delighted hear
Yon throstle chaunt the rifing year?
Could fhe not fpurn the wreaths of fame,
To crop the primrose of the plains?

Does fhe not fweets in each fair valley find,
Loft to the fons of pow'r, unknown to half mankind?

XII.

Ah! can fhe covet there to fee

The fplendid flaves, the reptile race,

That oil the tongue, and bow the knee,
That flight her merit, but adore her place?
Far happier, if aright I deem,

When from gay throngs, and gilded spires,
To where the lonely halcyons play,

Her philofophic fiep retires:

While ftudious of the moral theme,

She, to fome finooth fequefter'd ftream

Likens the fivain's inglorious day

Pleas'd

Pleas'd from the flowery margin to furvey,

How cool, ferene, and clear the current glides away.
XIII.

O blind to truth, to virtue blind,
Who flight the fweetly-penfive mind!

On whose fair birth the Graces mild,
And every Muse prophetic fmil'd.

Not that the poet's boasted fire

Should Fame's wide echoing trumpet fwell;

Or, on the mufic of his lyre'

Each future age with rapture dwell;

The vaunted fweets of praise remove,
Yet fhall fuch bosoms claim a part

In all that glads the human heart ;
Yet these the spirits, form'd to judge and prove

All Nature's charms immenfe, and Heav'n's unbounded love.

XIV.

And oh! the transport, most ally'd to song,
In fome fair villa's peaceful bound,
To catch foft hints from Nature's tongue,
And bid Arcadia bloom around:

Whether we fringe the floping hill,
Or smoothe below the verdant mead;
Whether we break the falling rill,

Or through meandering mazes lead;
Or in the horrid bramble's room
Bid careless groups of rofes bloom;

Or let some shelter'd lake ferene

Reflect flow'rs, woods and spires, and brighten all the scene. XV.

O fweet difpofal of the rural hour!

O beauties never known to cloy!

While worth and genius haunt the favour'd bow'r

And every gentle breaft partakes the joy!

While Charity at eve furveys the fwain,
Enabled by these toils to chear

A train of helpless infants dear,
Speed whistling home across the plain;
Sees vagrant Luxury, her hand-maid grown,
For half her graceless deeds atone,

And hails the bounteous work, and ranks it with her own,
XVI.

Why brand thefe pleasures with the name

Of foft, unfocial toils, of indolence and shame?
Search but the garden, or the wood,

Let

yon

admir'd carnation own,

Not all was meant for raiment, or for food,

Not all for needlefs ufe alone;

There while the feeds of future blossoms dwell, 'Tis colour'd for the fight, perfum'd to please the smell, XVII.

Why knows the nightingale to fing?

Why flows the pine's nectareous juice?
Why fhines with paint the linnet's wing?

For fuftenance alone? for use?

For

For prefervation? Every sphere
Shall bid fair Pleafure's rightful claim appear.

And fure there feem, of human kind,'

Some born to fhun the folemn ftrife;
Some for amufive tasks defign'd,

To foothe the certain ills of life;
Grace its lone vales with many a budding rofe,
New founts of blifs difclofe,

Call forth refreshing fhades, and decorate repose.

XVIII.

From plains and woodlands; from the view
Of rural Nature's blooming face,

Smit with the glare of rank and place,
To courts the fons of Fancy flew;
There long had Art ordain'd a rival feat;
There had the lavish'd all her care
To form a fcene more dazzling fair,
And call them from their green retreat
To share her proud controul;
Had giv'n the robe with grace to flow,
Had taught exotic gems to glow;

And emulous of Nature's pow'r,

Mimick'd the plume, the leaf, the flow'r;
Chang'd the complexion's native hue,

Moulded each rustic limb anew,

And warp'd the very foul!

XIX. Awhile