"Fetter'd her fcarce-fledg'd pinion. I fuch bonds
"Aim'd to destroy, mistaking: bonds like thefe
" "Twere greater art t' ennoble, and refine.
"For this fuperior part Museus came :
"Thou cam'ft, and at thy magick touch the chains
"Off dropt, and (paffing strange !) foft-wreathed bands
"Of flow'rs their place fupply'd! which well the Muse
Might wear for choice, not force; obstruction none,
"But lovelieft ornament. Wond'rous this, yet here
"The wonder refts not; various argument
"Remains for me, all doubting, where to cull
"The primal grace,
where countless graces charm.
"Various this peaceful scene, this mineral roof;
"This 'femblance meet of coral, ore, and shell
"Thefe pointed crystals fair, 'mid each obfcure
Bright glift'ring; all thefe flowly-dripping rills, "That tinkling ftray amid the cooly cave.
"Yet not this various peaceful scene; with this
"Its mineral roof; nor this affemblage meet
"Of coral, ore, and fhell; nor 'mid th' obfcure
"These pointed crystals, glift'ring fair; nor rills,
"That ftraying tinkle thro' the cooly cave;
"Deal charms more various to each raptur'd sense,
"Than thy mellifluous lay-"
"Ceafe, friendly fwain; (Museus cry'd, and rais'd his aching head)
"All praife is foreign, but of true defert;
Plays round the head, but comes not to the heart.
"Ah! why recall the toys of thoughtless youth?
"When flow'ry fiction held the place of truth :
"When fancy rul'd; when trill'd each trivial ftrain,
"But idly fweet, and elegantly vain.
"O! in that strain, if all of wit had flow'd,
"All mufick warbled, and all beauty glow'd;
"Had livelieft nature, happiest art combin'd,
"That lent each grace, and this each grace
"Alas! how little were my proudest boast!
"The fweetest trifler of my tribe at most.
To fway the judgment, while he charms the ear; "To curb mad paffion in its wild career; "To blend with skill, as loftiest themes inspire, "All reason's rigour, and all fancy's fire; "Be this the poet's praife; with this uncrown'd, "Wit dies a jeft, and poetry a found.
"Come then that honest fame; whofe fober ray "Or gilds the fatire, or the moral lay,
"Which dawns, tho' thou, rough DONNE! hew out the line, "But beams, fage HORACE, from each ftrain of thine. "O! if, like these, one poet more could brave
.. The venal statesman, or the titled flave;
"Brand frontless Vice, strip all her stars and strings, "Nor fpare her basking in the smile of kings:
Yet ftoop to Virtue, tho' the proftrate maid Lay fadly pale in bleak misfortune's fhade: "If grave, yet lively; rational, yet warm; "Clear to convince, and eloquent to charm U 4
"He pour'd, for her lov'd caufe, ferene along
"The pureft precept, in the sweetest song:
"For her lov'd caufe, he trac'd his moral plan,
"Yon various region of bewild'ring man;
"Explor'd alike each scene, that frown'd or fmil'd,
"The flow'ry garden, or the weedy wild;
"Unmov'd by fophiftry, unaw'd by name,
"No dupe to doctrines, and no fool to fame ;
"Led by no fyftem's devious glare astray,
"As earth-born meteors glitter to betray:
"But all his foul to reafon's rule refign'd,
"And heav'n's own views fair op'ning on his mind,
"Catch'd from bright nature's flame the living ray,
"Thro' paffion's cloud pour'd in refistless day;
"And this great truth in all its luftre shew'd,
"That GOD IS WISE, and ALL CREATION GOOD:
"If this his boast, pour here the welcome lays :
"Praise less than this, is impotence of praise."
"To pour that praise be mine," fair VIRTUE cry'd, And fhot all radiant, thro' an op'ning cloud. But ah! my Mufe, how will thy voice exprefs Th' immortal strain, harmonious, as it flow'd? Ill fuits immortal ftrain a dorick dress: And far too high already haft thou foar'd. Enough for thee, that, when the lay was o'er, The goddess clasp'd him to her throbbing breast. But what might that avail? Blind Fate before
Had op'd her fhears, to flit his vital thread;
And who may hope gainsay her stern beheft ?
Then thrice he wav'd the hand, thrice bow'd the head,
And figh'd his foul to reft.
Then wept the Nymphs; witnefs, ye waving fhades!
Witness, ye winding ftreams! the Nymphs did weep;
The heav'nly Goddess too with tears did steep
Her plaintive voice, that echo'd thro' the glades;
And, cruel gods," and "cruel stars,” she cry'd:
Nor did the shepherds, thro' the woodlands wide,
On that fad day, or to the penfive brook,
Or ftagnant river, drive their thirsty flocks;
Nor did the wild-goat brouze the steepy rocks;
And Philomel her custom'd oak forfook;
And roses wan were wav'd by zephyrs weak,
As Nature's felf was fick ;
And every lilly droop'd its velvet head;
And groan'd each faded lawn, and leaflefs grove;
Sad fympathy! yet fure his rightful meed,
Who charm'd all nature: well might Nature mourn
Thro' all her fweets; and flow'r, and lawn, and fhade,
All vocal grown, all weep MUSEUS dead.
Here end we, Goddess: this your shepherd fang, All as his hands an ivy chaplet wove.
O! make it worthy of the facred bard,
And make it equal to the fhepherd's love.
Nor thou, MUSEUS, from thine ear discard,
For well I ween thou hear'st my
Whether 'mid angel troops, the stars among,
From golden harps thou call'st seraphick lays;
Or, anxious for thy dearest Virtue's fare,
Thou ftill art hov'ring o'er her tuneless sphere,
And mov'ft fome hidden spring her weal to raise.
Thus the fond fwain on dorick oate effay'd,
Manhood's prime honours downing on his cheek:
Trembling he ftrove to court the tuneful maid
With ftripling arts, and dalliance all too weak ;
Unfeen, unheard, beneath an hawthorn fhade.
But now dun clouds the welkin 'gan to ftreak;
And now down-dropt the larks, and ceas'd their ftrain:
They ceas'd, and with them ceas'd the shepherd fwain.
|