SONG V.

I.

CRUEL Amynta! can you see

A heart thus torn which you betray'd?
Love of himself ne'er vanquish'd me,
But thro' your eyes the conqueft made.

II.

In ambush there the traitor lay,

Where I was led by faithlefs fmiles:
No wretches are fo loft as they
Whom much fecurity beguiles.

SONG VI.

I.

SEE, fee fhe wakes, Sabina wakes!

And now the fun begins to rise;

Lefs glorious is the Morn that breaks

From his bright beams than her fair eyes.

H.

With light united day they give,
But diff'rent fates ere night fulfil:
How many by his warmth will live!
How many will her coldness kill!

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SONG VII.

I.

PIOUS Selinda goes to pray'rs
If I but afk the favour,

And yet the tender fool 's in tears

When the believes I'll leave her.

II.

Would I were free from this restraint, Or elfe had hopes to win her;

Would she could make of me a faint, Or I of her a finner.

འ་་

PROLOGUE

TO

QUEEN MARY,

Upon her Majesty's coming to See The Old Bachelor, after having feen The Double Dealer.

By this repeated act of grace we see

Wit is again the care of Majefty,

And while thus honour'd our proud ftage appears,
We feem to rival ancient theatres.

Thus flourish'd wit in our forefathers' age,
And thus the Roman and Athenian stage.

Whofe wit is beft we'll not prefume to tell,
But this we know, our audience will excel;
For never was in Rome nor Athens feen
So fair a circle and fo bright a Queen.

Long has the Mufes' land been overcast,
And many rough and flormy winters past,

ΤΟ

Hid from the world, and thrown in fhades of night,
Of heat depriv'd, and almost void of light,

While wit, a hardy plant, of nature bold,
Has ftruggled ftrongly with the killing colda
So does it ftill thro' oppofition grow,
As if its root was warmer kept by fnow;

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But when fhot forth then draws the danger near,
On ev'ry fide the gath'ring winds appear,
And blasts destroy that fruit which frofts would
fpare':

But now new vigour and new life it knows,
And warmth, that from this royal prefence flows.

O would she shine with rays more frequent here! How gay would then this drooping land appear! 25 Then like the fun with pleasure she might view

The fmiling earth cloth'd by her beams anew:
O'er all the meads fhould various flow'rs be seen,
Mix'd with the laurel's never-fading green,
The new creation of a gracious Queen.

PROLOGUE.

ΤΟ

PYRRHUS KING OF EPIRUS.

3C

OUR age has much improv'd the warriour's art,
For fighting now is thought the weakest part,
And a good head more useful than a heart.

This way of war does our example yield;

}

That ftage will win which longest keeps the field. 5
We mean not battle when we bid defiance,
But starving one another to compliance.

Our troops encamp'd are by each other view'd,

And those which first are hungry are fubdu'd.

And there, in truth, depends the great decifion; 10
They conquer who cut off the foe's provifion.

Let fools with knocks and bruises keep a pother,
Our war and trade is to outwit each other.

But hold; will not the politicians tell us

That both our conduct and our forefight fail us, IS To raife recruits, and draw new forces down,

Thus in the dead vacation of the Town?

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To mufter up our rhymes without our reason,
And forage for an audience out of feafon ?
Our Author's fears must this false step excuse,
'Tis the first flight of a just-feather'd Muse :
Th' occafion ta'en when criticks are away,
Half wits and beaus, those rav'nous birds of prey;
But, Heav'n be prais'd, far hence they vent their
wrath,

Mauling in mild lampoon th' intriguing Bath.
Thus does our Author his firft flight commence ;
Thus against friends at firft with foils we fence;
Thus prudent Gimcrack try'd if he were able
(Ere he'd wet foot) to swim upon a table.
Then spare the youth; or if you 'll damn the play,
Let him but firft have his, then take your day.

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