At length breaks down in raine, and haile, and fleet,
Firft from one Coast, till nought thereof be dry;
And then another, till that likewise fleet;
And fo from fide to fide, till all the world be weet.
(Spen.
From the damp Earth impervious Vapours rife,
Encrease the Darkness, and involve the Skies.
At once the rushing Winds with roaring Sound
Burft from th' Æolian Caves, and rend the Ground,
With equal Rage their airy Quarrel try,

And win by turns the Kingdom of the Sky:
But with a thicker Night black Aufter shrouds
The Heav'ns, and drives on Heaps the rolling Clouds:
Then down on Earth a rattling Tempest pours,
Which the cold North congeals to haily Show'rs.
From Pole to Pole the Thunder roars aloud,
And broken Lightnings flash from ev'ry Cloud.
Now fmoaks with Show'rs the misty Mountain-
(Ground,
And floated Fields lye undistinguish'd round :
Th' Inachian Streams with headlong Fury run,
And Erafinus rouls a Deluge on:

The foaming Lerna fwells above its Rounds,
And fpreads its ancient Poyfon o'er the Grounds :
Where late was Duft, now rapid Torrents play,
Rufh thro' the Mounds, and bear the Dams away:
Old Limbs of Trees, from crackling Forefts torn,
Are whirl'd in Air, and on the Winds are born;
The Storm the dark Lycean Groves difplay'd,
And first to Light expos'd the venerable Shade.
Oft have I feen a fudden Storm arise
From all the warring Winds that fweep the Skies :
The heavy Harvest from the Root is torn,
And whirl'd aloft the lighter Stubble born:
With fuch a Force the flying Rack is driv'n,
And fuch a Winter wears the Face of Heav'n!
And oft w hole Sheets defcend of fluicy Rain,
Suck'd by the fpungy Clouds from off the Main :

The

The lofty Skies at once come pouring down,
The promis'd Crop, and golden Labours drown:
The Dikes are fill'd, and with a roaring Sound,
The rifing Rivers float the nether Ground, (bound.
And Rocks the bellowing Noife of boiling Seas re-
The Father of the Gods his Glory fhrowds,
Involv'd in Tempefts, and a Night of Clouds;
And from the middle Darkness Aashing out,
By Fits he deals his fiery Bolts about.
Earth feels the Motions of her angry God,
Her Entrails tremble, and her Mountains Nod:
And flying Beafts in Forefts feek Abode.

Either Tropick now

'Gan thunder: at both Ends of Heav'n the Clouds, From many a horrid Rift abortive pour'd

}

Fierce Rain with Lightning mix'd, Water with Fire
In Ruin reconcil'd. Dreadful was the Rack (Winds
As Earth and Sky would mingle: Nor yet flept the
Within their ftony Caves, but rush'd abroad
From the four Hinges of the World, and fell
On the vex'd Wilderness, whofe tallest Pines,
Tho' rooted deep as high, and sturdiest Oaks
Bow'd their stiff Necks, loaden with stormy Blafts,
Or torn up fheer.
Milt.

Heav'ns Crystal Battlements to pieces dafh'd,
In Storms of Hail were downward hurl'd,
Loud Thunder roar'd, red Lightning Alf'd,

And univerfal Uproar fill'd the World.

Torrents of Water, Floods of Flame,
From Heav'n in fighting Ruins came.

At once the Hills, that to the Clouds afpire,

Were wash'd with Rain, and scorch'd with Fire.

Thus Storms, let loose,

(Black.

Do rive the Trunks of talleft Cedars down,
Tear from their Tops the loaded pregnant Vine,
And kill the tender Flow'rs, but yet half-blown :

But

But having no more Fury left in Store, (more, Heav'n's Face grows clear, the Storm is heard no And Nature fmiles as gaily as before. Otw. Cai. Mar,

On the Storm that preceded the Death of O. Cromwel. We must refign! Heav'n his great Soul does claim In Storms as loud as his immortal Fame?

His dying Groans, his laft Breath fhakes our Ifle,
And Trees uncut fall for his Fun'ral Pile:
About his Palace their broad Roots are toft
Into the Air; fo Romulus was loft!

New Rome in fuch a Tempest mifs'd her King,
And from obeying fell to worshipping:
On Oëta's Top thus Hercules lay dead,

With ruin'd Oaks and Pines about him spread.
Nature her felf took Notice of his Death,

And, fighing, fwell'd the Sea with fuch a Breath,
That to remoteft Shores her Billows roll'd,

Th' approaching Fate of their great Ruler told. Wall.

STORM at Sea.

Now, like a fiery Meteor funk the Sun ; The Promise of a Storm! the fhifting Gales Forfake by Fits, and fill the flagging Sails. Hoarfe Murmurs of the Main from far were heard, And Night came on, not by Degrees prepar'd, But all at once at once the Winds arise, The Thunders roul, the forky Lightning Aies : In vain the Master iffues out Commands, In vain the trembling Sailors ply their Hands: The Tempeft unforeseen prevents their Care, And from the firft they labour in Despair.. The giddy Ship, between the Winds and Tides Forc'd back and forwards, in a Circle rides, Stunn'd with the diff'rent Blows; then floots amain, 'Till, counterbuff'd, the ftops, and fleeps again :

And now with Sails declin'd,

The wand'ring Veffel drove before the Wind:

Tofs'd

Tofs'd and retofs'd, aloft, and then alow;
Nor Port they feek, nor certain Course they know,
But ev'ry Moment wait the coming Blow.

(Dryd. Cym. Iph.

Then o'er our Heads defcends a Burst of Rain, And Night, with fable Clouds, involves the Main: The ruffling Winds the foamy Billows raife; The scatter'd Fleet is forc'd to fev'ral Ways: The Face of Heav'n is ravish'd from our Eyes, And in redoubled Peals the roaring Thunder flies. Caft from our Courfe, we wander in the Dark, Nor Star to guide, nor Point of Land to mark; Ev'n Palinurus no Diftinction found (around. Between the Night and Day: fuch Darkness reign'd Thus when a black-brow'd Goft begins to rife, White Foam at firft on the curl'd Ocean fries; Then roars the Main, the Billows mount the Skies,, 'Till by the Fury of the Storm, full blown, The muddy Bottom o'er the Clouds is thrown.

To Heav'n aloft on ridgy Waves we ride, Then down to Hell defcend when they divide: And thrice our Gallies knock'd the ftony Ground, And thrice, the hollow Rocks return'd the Sound, And thrice we faw the Stars, that stood with Dews (around. Dryd. Virg.

Storm and Shipwreck.

7

Then Eolus hurl'd against the Mountain Side His quiv'ring Spear, and all the God apply'd. The raging Winds run thro' the hollow Wound, And dance aloft in Air, and skim along the Ground: Then, fettling on the Sea, the Surges fweep, Raife liquid Mountains, and disclose the Deep. South, Eaft, and Weft, with mixt Confufion roar, And roll the foaming Billows to the Shore: The Cables rack, the Sailors fearful Gries Afcend, and Sable Night involves the Skies; And Heav'n it felf is ravish'd from our Eyes.

Loud

Loud Peals of Thunder from the Poles enfue: Then flashing Fires the transient Light renew. The Face of Things a frightful Image bears, And prefent Death in various Forms appears: Fierce Boreas drives against the flying Sails, And rends the Sheets: the raging Billows rife, And mount the toffing Veffel to the Skies. Nor can the fhiv'ring Oars sustain the Blow; The Galley gives her Side, and turns her Prow: While thofe a-ftern, defcending down the Steep, Thro' gaping Waves behold the boiling Deep. Three Ships were hurry'd by the Southern Blaft, And on the fecret Shelves with Fury caft. Three more fierce Eurus in his angry Mood, Dash'd on the Shallows of the moving Sand, And in mid Ocean left them moor'd aland. From Stem to Stem one was by Waves o'erborn, The trembling Pilot, from the Rudder torn, Was headlong hurl'd; the Ship thrice round was tost, Then bulg'd at once, and in the Deep was loft. And here and there above the Waves were seen, Arms, Pictures, precious Goods, and floating Men: The ftouteft Veffel to the Storm gave Way, And fuck'd thro' loofen'd Planks the ruling Sea. The Ships with gaping Seams

Admit the Deluge of the briny Streams. Dryd. Virg.

STREA M.

The Stream is fo tranfparent, pure, and clear,
That had the self-enamour'd Youth gaz'd here,
So fatally deceiv'd he had not been,

While he the Bottom, not his Face, had seen. Denh.

STRENGTH.

Compos'd of mighty Bones and Brawn he stands,

A goodly tow'ring Object on the Sands.