From all that pleading Nature could oppofe,
From a whole city's tears, by rigid Faith
Imperious call'd, and Honour's dire command.
Scipio, the gentle chief, humanely brave,
Who foon the race of fpotlefs glory ran,
And, warm in youth, to the poetic fhade
With Friendship and Philofophy retir❜d,
Tully, whofe powerful eloquence a while
Reftrain'd the rapid fate of rufhing Rome,
Unconquer'd Cato, virtuous in extreme.
And thou, unhappy Brutus! kind of heart,
Whose steady arm, by awful Virtue urg'd,
Lifted the Roman steel against thy friend.
Thoufands befides the tribute of a verfe
Demand: but who can count the ftars of heaven?
Who fing their influence on this lower world?
Behold who yonder comes! in sober state,
Fair, mild, and ftrong, as is a vernal fun
"Tis Phoebus' felf, or else the Mantuan Swain!
Great Homer, too, appears, of daring wing,
Parent of fong! and equal by his fide
The British Mufe; join'd hand in hand they walk,
Darkling, full up the middle steep to fame. 536
Nor abfent are thofe fhades, whose skilful touch
Pathetic drew th' impaffion'd heart, and charm'd
Tranfported Athens with the moral fcene;
Nor those who, tuneful, wak'd th' enchanting lyre.
First of your kind! fociety divine!
Still visit thus my nights, for you referv'd,
And mount my foaring foul to thoughts like yours.
Silence, thou lonely power! the door be thine;
See on the hallowed hour that none intrude,
Save a few chofen friends, who fometimes deign
To bless my humble roof, with fenfe refin'd,
Learning digefted well, exalted faith,
Unftudy'd wit, and humour ever gay.
Or from the Mufes' hill will Popè defcend,
To raife the facred hour, to bid it fmile,
And with the focial fpirit warm the heart?
For tho' not sweeter his own Homer fings,
Yet is his life the more endearing fong.
Where art thou, Hammond! thou the darling pride,
The friend and lover of the tuneful throng!
Ah, why, dear Youth! in all the blooming primë
Of vernal genius, where difclosing faft
Each active worth, each manly virtue lay,
Why wert thou ravish'd from our hope so foon 566
What now avails that noble thirst of fame
Which ftung thy fervent breaft? that treasur'd store
Of knowledge, early gain'd? that eager zeal
To ferve thy country, glowing in the band
Of youthful patriots; who sustain her name?
What now, alas! that life diffufing charm-
Of sprightly wit? that rapture for the Mufe,
That heart of friendship, and that foul of joy,
Which bade, with fofteft light, thy virtues fmile?
Ah! only fhew'd to check our fond purfuits, 57°
And teach our humbled hopes that life is vain!
Thus in fome deep retirement would I pafs
The winter-glooms, with friends of pliant foul,
Or blithe, or folemn, as the theme inspir'd:
With them would fearch if Nature's boundless frame
Was call'd, late rifing from the void of night, 576
Or fprung eternal from the eternal Mind,
Its life, its laws, its progrefs, and its end.
Hence larger profpects of the beauteous whole
Would, gradual, open on our opening minds, 580
And each diffufive harmony unite
In full perfection to th' astonish'd eye.
Then would we try to scan the moral world,
Which, tho' to us it seems embroil'd, moves on
In higher order, fitted and impell'd
By Wisdom's finest hand, and iffuing all
In general good. The fage Hiftoric Mufe
Should next condu& us thro' the deeps of time;
Shew us how empire grew, declin'd, and fell,
In scattered states; what makes the nations smile, 590
Improves their foil, and gives them double funs,
And why they pine beneath the brightest skies,
In Nature's richest lap. As thus we talk'd,
Our hearts would burn within us, would inhale
That portion of divinity, that ray
Of purest heaven, which lights the public foul
Of patriots and of heroes. But if doom'd,
In powerless humble fortune, to reprefs
These ardent rifings of the kindling foul,
Then, even fuperior to ambition, we
Would learn the private virtues; how to glide
Thro' fhades and plains, along the fmootheft ftream Of rural life; or, fnatch'd away by hope,
Thro' the dim fpaces of futurity
With earnest eye anticipate thofe fcenès
Of happiness and wonder, where the mind,
In endless growth and infinite afcent,
Rifes from ftate to ftate, and world to world.
But when with these the ferious thought is foil'd, We, fhifting for relief, would play the shapes 61b Of frolic Fancy, and inceffant form
Those rapid pictures, that affembled train
of fleet ideas, never join'd before,
Whence lively Wit excites to gay fufprife,
Or folly-painting Humour, grave himself,
Calls Laughter forth, deep-thaking every nerve.
Mean time the village rouzes up the fire,
While well attested, and as well believ'd,
Heard folemn, goes the goblin Itory round,
Till fuperftitious horror creeps o'er all.
Or, frequent in the founding hall, they wake
The rural gambol. Ruftic mirth goes round';
The fimple joke that takes the fhepherd's heart,
Eafily pleas'd; the long loud laugh, fincere;
The kifs, fnatch'd hafty from the fide-long maid, 625 On purpose guardlefs, or pretending sleep;
The leap, the flap, the haul; and, fhook to notes Of native mufic, the refpondent dance.
Thus jocund fleets with them the Winter-night.
The city fwarms intenfe. The public haunt,630
Full of each theme, and warm with mixt discourse,
Hams indiftin&t. The fons of Riot flow
Down the loose stream of false inchanted joy
To fwift deftruction. On the rankled foul
The gaming-fury falls; and in one gulf
Of total ruin, honour, virtue, peace,
Friends, families, and fortune, headlong fink.
Up fprings the dance along the lighted dome,
Mix'd, and evolv'd, a thousand sprightly ways.
The glittering court effufes every pomp; 640
The circle deepens: beam'd from gaudy robes,
Tapers, and fparkling gems, and radiant eyes,
A foft effulgence o'er the palace waves;
While, a gay infect in his summer-shine,
The fop, light-fluttering, spreads his mealy wings.645 Dread o'er the fcene the ghoft of Hamlet ftalks ; Othello rages; poor Monimia mourns ;
And Belvidera pours her foul in love.
Terror alarms the breaft; the comely tear
Steals o'er the cheek: or elfe the Comic Mufe 650
Holds to the world a picture of itself,
And raifes, fly, the fair impartial laugh.
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