But when in muddy Pools the Water sinks,
And the chapt Earth is furrow'd o'er with Chinks,
He leaves the Fens, and leaps upon the Ground,

And, hiffing, rouls his glaring Eyes around:

With thirft inflam'd, impatient of the Heats,
He rages in the Fields, and wide Destruction threats,
Oh! let not Sleep my clofing Eyes invade,
In open Plains, or in the fecret Shade,

When he, renew'd in all the fpeckled Pride :
Of pompous Youth, has caft his Slough afide:
And in his Summer Livery rouls along
Erect, and brandishing his forky Tongue,
Leaving his Neft, and his imperfect Young:
And, thoughtlefs of his Eggs, forgets to rear,
The hopes of Poy fon for the following Year.

So fhines, renew'd in Youth, the crested Snake,
Who flept the Winter in a thorny Brake;
And cafting off his Slough, when Spring returns,
Now looks aloft, and with new Glory burns:
Reftor'd with poys'nous Herbs, his ardent Sides
Reflect the Sun, and rais'd on Spires he rides ;
High o'er the Grafs he hiffing rouls along,
And brandishes by fits his forky Tongue.

As when a Snake furpriz'd upon the Road,
Is crush'd athwart her Body by the Load
Of heavy Wheels; or with a mortal Wound
Her Belly bruis'd, or trodden to the Ground:
In vain with loosen'd Curls the crawls along,
Yet fierce above, the brandishes her Tongue;
Glares with her Eyes, and bristles with her Scales,
But grov❜ling in the Duft, her Part unfound the trails,

A Snake of Size immenfe afcends a Tree,
And in the leafy Summit fpy'd a Neft,
Which o'er her callow Young a Sparrow prefs'd,
Eight were the Birds unfledg’d: The Mother flew
And hover'd round her Care, but still in View,

R 2

'Till the fierce Reptile first devour'd the Brood, Then feiz'd the flutt'ring Dam, and drank her Blood. (Dryd. Virg.

Of a Lady playing with a Snake.

'Tis Innocence and Youth which makes
In Chloris Fancy fuch Mistakes,

To start at Love, and play with Snakes.
Thrice happy Snake, that in her Sleeve
May'ft boldly creep; we dare not give
Our Thoughts fo unconfin'd a Leave.
Contented in that Neft of Snow
He lyes, as he his Blifs did know,
And to the Wood no more would go.
Take heed, fair Eve, you do not make
Another Tempter of this Snake;

A marble one, fo warm'd, would fpeak. Wall.

SNOW.

A Shower of foft and fleecy Rain
Falls to new-cloath the Earth again:
Behold the Mountain Tops around,
As if with Fur of Ermin crown'd:
And lo! how by Degrees,

The univerfal Mantle hides the, Trees,

In hoary Flakes which downward fly,

As if it were the Autumn of the Sky,

Whofe fall of Leaf would their's fupply. Trembling the Groves fuftain the Weight, and bow, Like aged Limbs, which feebly go

Beneath a venerable Head of Snow.

SOCRATES.

Thus Socrates was obftinately, good,

Vertuous by Force, by Inclination lewd;
When fecret Movements drew his Soul afide,

He quell'd his Lufts, and ftem'd the fwelling Tide;

Suftain'd

Suftain'd by Reafon ftill, unmov'd, he flood,
And fteady bore against th' oppofing Flood.
He durft correct what Nature form'd amiss,
And forc'd unwilling Virtue to be his ;
Fame circling flies thro' ev'ry Grecian Town,
Proclaims the Sage, and makes the Hero known;
Applaufe from Men might not alone fuffice:

They ftil'd him good,but Heav'n pronounc'd him wife. (Dryd.

SOLDIER.

A Leader feem'd

Each Warriour fingle as in Chief, expert
When to advance, or ftand, or turn the Sway.
Of Battel, open when, and when to close
The Ridges of grim War: No Thought of Flight,
None of Retreat: No unbecoming Deed
That argu'd Fear, each on himself rely'd,

As only in his Arm the Moment lay

Of Victory..

The Tyrant, Custom,

Has made the flinty and fteel Couch of War

My thrice driven Bed of Down.

Rude am 1 in my Speech,

Milt.

And little blefs'd with the foft Phrafe of Peace :
For fince thefe Arms of mine had feven Years Pith,
'Till now fome nine Moons wafted, they have us’d
Their dearest Action in the tented Field:
And little of this great World can I fpeak,

More than pertains to Feats of Broils and Battel.

Let Honour

(Shak, Othel.

Call for my Blood, and fluice it into Streams:
Turn Fortune loofe again to my Perfuit,
And let me hunt her thro' embattel'd Foes,
In dufty Plains amidst the Cannons Roar,
There will I be the firft.

Dryd. Span, Fry.

Black was his Beard, and manly was his Face,

R 3

The

The Balls of his broad Eyes roll'd in his Head;
And glar'd betwixt a Yellow and a Red :
He look'd a Lion with a gloomy Stare,

And o'er his Eye-! rows hung his matted Hair:
Big-bon'd, and large of Limbs, with Sinews ftrong,
Broad-fhoulder'd, and his Arms were round and long:
Upright he food, and bore aloft his Shield,
Confpicuous from afar, and over-look'd the Field.
His Surcoat was a Bear's Skin on his Back,

His Hair hung long behind, and gloffy Raven black:
Whene'er he spoke, his Voice was heard around,
Loud as a Trumpet with a filver Sound. Dryd. Pal. Arc.
Rough in Battel,

As the first Romans, when they went to War;
Yet after Victory more pitiful,

Than all their praying Virgins left at Home.
Twelve Legions wait you,
And long to call you Chief: by painful Journeys
I led them patient both of Heat and Hunger:
'Twill do you good to fee their Sun-burnt Faces,
Their fcarr❜d Cheeks, and chopt Hands; there's Virtue

(in them: They'll fell thofe mangled Limbs at dearer Rates Than yon trim Bands can buy.

Oh thou haft fir'd me! my Soul is up in Arms, And mans each Part about me: Once again That noble Eagerness of Fight has feiz'd me, That Eagerness, with which I darted upward To Caffius Camp: In vain the steepy Hill Oppos'd my way: In vain a War of Spears Sung round my Head, and planted all my Shield : I won the Trenches, while my foremost Men Lagg'd on the Plain below. Come on, my Our Hearts and Arms are ftill the fame: I long Once more to meet our Foes, that thou and I, Like Time and Death, marching before our Troops, May talte Fate to 'em, mow 'em out a Passage,

Soldier !

And

And entring where the foremost Squadrons yield,
Begin the noble Harveft of the Field. Dryd. All for Love
Thro' all the Mazes of the bloody Field

I hunted his facred Life. I fought him
Where Ranks fell thickest; 'twas indeed the Place
To feek Sebaftian; thro' a Track of Death

I follow'd him by Groans of dying Men:
But ftill I came too late; for he was flown,
I ike Lightning, fwift before me, to new Slaughter.
I mow'd across, and made irregular Harveft,
Defac'd the Pomp of Battel, but in vain :
For he was still fupplying Death elsewhere.

As for Sebaftian, we muft fearch the Field,
And, where we fee a Mountain of the Slain,
Send one to climb, and looking down below,
There shall he find him at his manly Length,
With his Face up to Heav'n, in the red Monument ́
Which his true Sword has digg❜d.

He in the Battel had a thirsty Sword,

And well 'twas glutted there.

Dryd. Don. Seb. When the young Hero, yet unfledg'd in Arms, Made the tough Age of bold Ramirez bend, He fought like Mars defcending from the Skies, And look'd like Venus rising from the Waves

(Dryd. Love Trium. Adorn'd with Sweat, and painted gay with Blood, He hews down all, and deals his Deaths around. Cowl. Had'st thou once feen him, like the God of War, While griefly Terror perch'd upon his Plume, Severely fhining in his dreadful Helmet, And thundring thro' the Tempest of the Field.

(Den. Rin. & Arm.

How nobly he becomes the great Battalion ! See how he fhines in Arms, and funs the Field : Moves, fpeaks, and fights, and is himself a War. (Lee D. of Guife. Succefs attended still his brandish'd Sword, And,like the Grave, the glutt'nous Blade devour'd: R 4

Slaughter