(Far more than e'er can by yourself be guess'd;) But as he glozeth with speeches soote, Fix on Vertumnus and reject the rest.

The ducke sore tickleth his erse roote; For his firm faith I dare engage my own;

Fore-piece and buttons all to-brest, . Scarce to himself, himself is better known.

Forth thrust a white neck, and red crest.
To distant lands Vertumnus never roves;

* Te-he,' cried ladies; clerke nought spake;
Like you, contented with his native groves; Miss stared, and gray ducke cryeth, 'Quaake.
Nor at first sight, like most, admires the fair; "O moder, moder,' quoth the daughter,
For you he lives : and you alone shall share 'Be thilke same thing maids longen a'ter ?
His last affection, as his early care.

Bette is to pine on coals and chalke,
Besides, he's lovely far above the rest,

Then trust on mon, whose yerde can talke-
With youth immortal, and with beauty bless'd.
Add, that he varies every shape with ease,
And tries all forms that may Pomona please.

SPENSER.
But what should most excite a mutual flame,
Your rural cares and pleasures are the same :

THE ALLEY.
To him your orchard's early fruit are due,

In every town where Thamis rolls his tyde, (A pleasing offering when 'tis made by you,) A narrow pass there is with houses low; He values these : but yet, alas! complains,

Where, ever and anon, the stream is eyed, That still the best and dearest gift remains.

And many a boat, soft sliding to and fro. Not the fair fruit that on yon branches glows

There oft are heard the notes of infant woe, With that ripe red the autumnal sun bestows;

The short thick sob, loud scream, and shriller squall
Nor tasteful herbs that in these gardens rise, How can ye, mothers, vex your children so ?
Which the kind soil with milky sap supplies : Some play, some eat, some cack against the wall,
You, only you, can move the god's desire : And as they crouchen low, for bread and butter call.
Oh, crown so constant and so pure a fire !

And on the broken pavement, here and there,
Let soft compassion touch your gentle mind; Doth many a stinking sprat and herring lie;
Think, 'tis Vertumnus begs you to be kind : A brandy and tobacco shop is near,
So may no frost, when early buds appcar,

And hens, and dogs, and hogs are feeding by;
Destroy the promise of the youthful year;

And here a sailor's jacket hangs to dry. Nor winds, when first your florid orchard blows, At every door are sun-burnt matrons seen, Shake the light blossoms from their blasted boughs. Mending old nets to catch the scaly fry,

This when the various god had urged in vain, Now singing shrill, and scolding eft between; He straight assumed his native form again; Scolds answer foul-mouth'd scolds; bad neighbourSuch, and so bright an aspect now he bears,

hood I ween. As when through clouds the emerging sun appears, And, thence exerting his refulgent ray,

The snappish cur (the passengers' annoy) Dispels the darkness, and reveals the day.

Close at my heel with yelping treble flies; Force he prepared, but check'd the rash design;

The whimpering girl, and hoarser screaming boy, For when, appearing in a form divine,

Join to the yelping treble, shrilling crics; The nymph surveys him, and beholds the grace

The scolding quean to louder notes doth rise, Of charming features, and a youthful face;

And her full pipes those shrilling cries confound; In her soft breast consenting passions move,

To her full pipes the grunting hog replies;
And the warm maid confess'd a mutual love.

The grunting hogs alarm the neighbours round,
And curs, girls, boys, and scolds, in the deep base are

drown'd.
IMITATIONS

Hard by a sty, beneath a roof of thatch,

Dwelt Obloquy, who in her early days
OF ENGLISH POETS. Baskets of fish at Billingsgate did watch,

Cod, whiting, oyster, mackrel, sprat, or plaice :
Done by the Author in his Youth.

There learn'd she speech from tongues that never

cease. CHAUCER.

Slander beside her, like a magpie, chatters, WOMEN ben full of ragerie,

With Envy (spitting cat,) dread foe to peace; Yet swinken nat sans secresie.

Like a cursed cur, Malice before her clatters, Thilka moral shall ye understond,

And, vexing every wight, tears clothes and all to From schoole-boy's tale of fayre Irelond:

tatters. Which to the fennes hath him betake, To filch the gray ducke fro the lake.

Her dugs were mark'd by every collier's hand,

Her mouth was black as bull dog's at the stall; Right then, there passen by the way

She scratch'd, bit, and spared ne lace ne band,
Ilis aunt, and eke her daughters tway.

And bitch and rogue her answer was to all;
Ducke in his trowsers hath he hent,
Not to be spied of ladies gent. ,

Nay, e'en the parts of shame by name would call;

Yea, when she passed by or lane or nook, But ho! our nephew,' crieth one,

Would greet the man who turn'd him to the wall, Ho! quoth another, “cozen John ;'

And by his hand obscene the porter took,
And stoppen, and lough, and callen out,
This silly clerke full low doth lout : ,

Nor ever did askance like modest virgin look.
They asken that, and talken this,

Such place hath Deptford, navy-building town, Lo! here is coz, and here is miss.'

Woolwich and Wapping, smelling strong of pitch:

Such Lambeth, envy of each band and gown; There in bright drops the crystal fountains play And Twickenham such, which fairer scenes enrich, By laurels shielded from the piercing day; Grots, statues, urns, and Jo-n's dog and bitch, Where Daphne, now a tree, as once a maid, Ne village is without, on either side,

Still from Apollo vindicates her shade, All up the silver Thames, or all adown;

Still turns her beauties from the invading beam, Ne Richmond's self, from whose tall front are eyed Nor seeks in vain for succour to the stream; Vales, spires, meandering streams, and Windsor's The stream at once preserves her virgin leaves, towery pride.

At once a shelter from her boughs receives,
Where summer's beauty midst of winter stays,

And winter's coolness spite of summer's rays.
WALLER.
OF A LADY SINGING TO HER LUTE.
Fair charmer, cease, nor make your voice's prize,

WEEPING.
A heart resign'd, the conquest of your eyes :
Well might, alas! that threaten'd vessel fail,

WHILE Celia's tears make sorrow bright,
Which winds and lightning both at once assail.

Proud grief sits swelling in her eyes : We were too bless'd with these enchanting lays,

The sun, next those the fairest light, Which must be heavenly when an angel plays:

Thus from the ocean first did rise; Bat killing charms your lover's death contrive,

. And thus through mists we see the sun, Lest heavenly music should be heard alive.

Which else we durst not gaze upon.
Orpheus could charm the trees: but thus a tree. These silver drops, like morning dew,
Taught by your hand, can charm no less than he: | Foretell the fervor of the day:
A poet made the silent wood pursue,

So from one cloud soft showers we view,
This vocal wood had drawn the poet too.

And blasting lightnings burst away.
The stars that fall from Celia's eye,

Declare our doom is drawing nigh.
ON A FAN OF THE AUTHOR'S DESIGN.
In which was painted the Story of Cephalus and Pro-

The baby in that sunny sphere
cris, with the Motto, Aura veni.'

So like a Phaëton appears,

That heaven, the threaten'd world to spare, COME, gentle air !' the Æolian shepherd said,

Thought fit to drown him in her tears : While Procris panted in the secret shade ;

Else might the ambitious nymph aspire
Come, gentle air,' the fairer Delia cries,

| To set, like him, heaven too on fire.
While at her feet her swain expiring lies.
Lo, the glad gales o'er all her beauties stray,
Breathe on her lips, and in her bosom play!
In Delia's hand this toy is fatal found,

EARL OF ROCHESTER.
Nor could that fatal dart more surely wound: .
Both gifts destructive to the givers prove;

ON SILENCE.
Alike both lovers fall by those they love.

SILENCE! coeval with eternity, Yet guiltless too the bright destroyer lives,

Thou wert, ere nature's self began to be; At random wounds, nor knows the wound she gives ; 'Twas one vast nothing, all, and all slept fast in thee She views the story with attentive eyes,

Thine was the sway, ere heav'n was formed, or earth: And pities Procris, while her lover dies.

Ere fruitful thought conceived creation's birth,

Or midwife word gave aid, and spoke the infant forth. COWLEY,

The various elements against thee join'd

In one more various animal combined,
THE GARDEN.

And framed the clamorous race of busy human-kind Fain would my muse the flowery treasure sing,

The tongue moved gently first, and speech was low, And humble glories of the youthful spring :

Till wrangling science taught it noise and show, Where opening roses breathing sweets diffuse, And soft carnations shower their balmy dews;

And wicked wit arose, thy most abusive foe. Where lilies smile in virgin robes of white,

But rebel wit deserts thee oft in vain; The thin undress of superficial light,

Lost in the maze of words he turns again, And varied tulips show so dazzling gay,

And seeks a surer state, and courts thy gentle reign. Blushing in bright diversities of day.

Afflicted sense thou kindly dost set free,
Each painted floweret in the lake below

Oppress'd with argumental tyranny,
Surveys its beauties, whence its beauties grow; And routed reason finds a safe retreat in thee.
And pale Narcissus, on the bank, in vain

With thee in private modest d Iness lies,
Transformed, gazes on himself again.

And in thy bosom lurks in thought's disguise ; Here aged trees cathedral walks compose,

Thou varnisher of fools, and cheat of all the wise ! And mount the hill in venerable rows; There the green infants in their beds are laid,

Yet thy indulgence is by both confess'd; The garden's hope, and its expected shade.

Folly by thee lies sleeping in the breast, Here orange trees with blooms and pendants shine,

And 'tis in thee at last that wisdom seeks for rest. And vernal honours to their autumn join;

Silence, the knave's repute, the whore's good namo, Exceed their promise in their ripen'd store,

The only honour of the wishing dame; Yet in the rising blossom promise more.

Thy very want of tongue, makes thee a kind of fame

But couldst thou seize some tongues that now are In diamonds, pearls, and rich brocades,
free,

She shines the first of batter'd jades,
How church and state should be obliged to thee; | And flutters in her pride.
At senate, and at bar, how welcome wouldst thou be! So have I known those insects fair

Yet speech e'en there submissively withdraws, T(Which curious Germans hold so rare)

From rights of subjects, and the poor man's cause: Still vary shapes and dyes;
Then pompous Silence reigns, and stills the noisy laws. Still gain new tities with new forms;

Past services of friends, good deeds of fods, First grubs obscene, then wriggling worms,
What favourites gain, and what the nation owes, | Then painted butterflies.
Fly the forgetful world, and in thy arms repose.

The country wit, religion of the town,
The courtier's learning, policy of the gown,

DR. SWIFT.
Are best by thee express'd; and shine in thee alone.

THE HAPPY LIFE OF A COUNTRY PARSON. The parson's cant, the lawyer's sophistry,

PARSON, these things in thy possessing, Lord's quibble, critic's jest, all end in thee,

Are better than the bishop's blessing :
All rest in peace at last, and sleep eternally,

A wife that makes conserves ; a steed
That carries double when there's need;

October store, and best Virginia,
EARL OF DORSET.

Tithe pig, and mortuary guinea :

Gazettes sent gratis down, and frank'd,
ARTEMISIA.

For which thy patron's weekly thank'd;
Though Artemisia talks, by fits,

A large Concordance, bound long since ; Of councils, classics, fathers, wits ;

Sermons to Charles the First, when prince: Reads Malbranche, Boyle, and Locke;

A Chronicle of ancient standing : Yet in some things methinks she fails :

A Chrysostom to smooth-thy band in: 'Twere well if she would pare her nails,

The Polyglott-three parts--my text, And wear a cleaner smock.

Howbeit,-likewise-now to my next :

Lo, here the Septuagint,—and Paul, Haughty and huge as High-Dutch bride,

To sum the whole,--the close of all. Such nastiness, and so much pride,

He that has these, may pass his life, is Are oddly join'd by fate:

Drink with the 'squire, and kiss his wife ; On her large squab you find her spread,

On Sundays preach, and eat his fill; ' Like a fat corpse upon a bed,

And fast on Fridays--if he will; That lies and stinks in state.

Toast church and queen, explain the news, She wears no colours (sign of grace)

Talk with church-wardens about pews; On any part except her face;

Pray heartily for some new gift,
All white and black beside :

And shake his head at Dr. Sw**t.
Dauntless her look, her gesture proud,
Her voice theatrically loud,
And masculine her stride.

. AN ESSAY ON MAN,
So have I seen, in black and white,
A prating thing, a magpie hight,

IN FOUR EPISTLES
Majestically stalk;
A stately, worthless animal,

TO HENRY ST. JOHN, LORD BOLINGBROKE.
That plies the tongue, and wags the tail,
All Autter, pride, and talk.

THE DESIGN
HAVING proposed to write some pieces on human

life and manners, such as (to use my lord Bacon's exPHRYNE.

pression) come home to men's business and bosoms,' PHRYNE had talents for mankind,

I thought it more satisfactory to begin with considerOpen she was, and unconfined,

ing man 'in the abstract, his nature, and his state: Like some free port of trade;

since, to prove any moral duty, to enforce any moral Merchants unloaded here their freight,

precept, or to examine the perfection or imperfection And agents from each foreign state,

of any creature whatsoever, it is necessary first to Here first their entry made.

know what condition and relation it is placed in, and Her learning and good-breeding such,

what is the proper end and purpose of its being. Whether the Italian or the Dutch,

The science of human nature is, like all other Spaniards or French came to her;

sciences, reduced to a few clear points : there are not To all obliging she'd appear:

many certain truths in this world. It is therefore in Twas Si Signor,' 'twas Yaw Mynheer,

the anatomy of the mind as in that of the body; 'Twas 'S'il vous plait, Monsieur.'

more good will accrue to mankind by attending to

the large, open, and perceptible parts, than by studyObscure by birth, renown'd by crimes,

ing too much such finer nerves and vessels, the conStill changing names, religion, climes,

(formations and uses of which will for ever escape At length she turns a bride :

Tour observation. The disputes are all upon these

last ; and I will venture to say, they have less sharp-' him miserable, ver. 173, &c. VII. That throughout ened the wits than the hearts of men against each

the whole visible world, an universal order and gra

dation in the sensual and mental faculties is observed, other, and have diminished the practice more than 'ad

which causes a subordination of creature to creature, vanced the theory of morality. If I could flatter

and of all creatures to man. The gradations of sense, myself that this Essay has any merit, it is in steering

instinct, thought, reflection, reason; that reason alone betwixt the extremes of doctrines seemingly oppo countervails all the other faculties, ver. 207. VIII. site, in passing over terms utterly unintelligible, and How much farther this order and subordination of in forming a temperate yet not inconsistent, and a living creatures may extend above and below us; short, yet not imperfect, system of ethics.

were any part of which broken, not that part only This I might have done in prosé; but I chose verse.

but the whole connected creation must be destroyed

ver. 233. IX. The extravagance, madness and pride and even rhyme, for two reasons. The one will ap

of such a desire, ver. 250. X. The consequence of all, pear obvious ; that principles, maxims, or precepts,

the absolute submission due to Providence, both as to

the so written, both strike the reader more strongly at, our present and future state, ver. 281, to the end. first, and are more easily retained by him afterwards: the other may seem odd, but it is true: I found 1]

EPISTLE 1. could express them more shortly this way than in AWAKE, my St. John! leave all meaner things prose itself; and nothing is more certain, than that To low ambition, and the pride of kings : much of the force, as well as the grace of arguments Let us (since life can little more supply or instructions, depends on their conciseness. I was Than just to look about us, and to die) unable to treat this part of my subject more in detail, Expatiate free o'er all this scene of man; without becoming dry and tedious; or more poeti- A mighty maze! but not without a plan : cally, without sacrificing perspicuity to ornament, A wild, where weeds and flowers promiscuous shoot; without wandering from the precision, or breaking the Or garden, tempting with forbidden fruit, chain of reasoning: if any man can unite all these Together let us beat this ample field, without diminution of any of them, I freely confess Try what the open, what the covert yield; ' 10 he will compass a thing above my capacity. '. The latent tracts, the giddy heights, explore,

What is now published, is only to be considered as Of all who blindly creep, or sightless soar; 2 general map of man, marking out no more than the Eye nature's walks, shoot folly as it flies, greater parts, their extent, their limits, and their con. And catch the manners living as they rise : nexion, but leaving the particular to be more fully de- Laugh where we must, be candid where we can, lj lineated in the charts which are to follow. Con- But vindicate the ways of God to man. sequently, these Epistles in their progress (if I have I. Say first, of God above, or man below, health and leisure to make any progress) will be less What can we reason, but from what we know? dry, and more susceptible of poetical ornament. 1 Of man, what see we but his station here, am here only opening the fountains, and clearing the From which to reason, or to which refer? 20 passage. To deduce the rivers, to follow them in Through worlds unnumber'd though the God be their course, and to observe their effects, may be all known, task more agreeable.

'Tis ours to trace him only in our own.
He, who through vast immensity can pierce,

See worlds on worlds compose one universe,
AN ESSAY ON MAN.

Observe how system into system runs... !
What other planets circle other suns,

What varied being peoples every star,
ARGUMENT OF EPISTLE I. May tell why heaven has made us as we are.
Of the Nature and State of Man with respect to the

But of this frame, the bearings and the ties,
Universe.

The strong connexions, nice dependencies, 30.
Of man in the abstract. I. That we can judge only with

.nGradations just, has thy pervading soul , regard to our own system. being ignorant of the rela. Look'd through? or can a part contain the whole ? tions of systems and things, ver. 17, &c. II. That is the great chain that draws all to agree, man is not to be deemed imperfect, but a being suited And drawn supports, upheld by God, or thee to his place and rank in the creation, agreeable to the I1. Presumptuous man! the reason wouldst thou find, general order of things, and conformable to ends and Why form'd so weak, so little, and so blind ? relations to him unknown, ver. 35, &c, ILI. That it First, if thou canst, the harder reason guess, is partly upon his ignorance of future events, and Why form'd no weaker, blinder, and no less? partly upon the hope of a future state, that all his Ask of thy mother earth, why oaks are made happiness in the present depends, ver. 77, &c. IV. The pride of aiming at more knowledge, and pretend

Taller or stronger than the weeds they shade ? 40 ing to more perfection, the cause of man's error and/Or ask of yonder argent fields above, misery. The impiety of putting himself in the place Why Jove's satellites are less than Jove. of God, and judging of the fitness or unfitness, per. Of systems possible, if 'tis confess'd, fection or imperfection, justice or injustice, of his That wisdom infinite must form the best, dispensations, 'ver. 109, &c. V. The absurdity of Where all must fall or not coherent be, conceiting himself the tinal cause of the creation, And all that rises, rise in due degree; or expecting that perfection in the moral world,

d. Then, in the scale of reasoning life, 'tis plain, which is not in the natural, ver. 131, &c. VI. The unreasonableness of his complaints against Provi.

There must be somewhere, such a rank as man: dence, while on the one hand he demands the perfec

And all th tion of the angels, and on the other the bodily qualifi. Is only this, if God has placed him wrong?. rations of the brutes; though to possess any of the Respecting man, whatever wrong we call, sensitive faculties in a higher degree, would render May, must be right, as relative to all.

on

ers

50

Val:

In human works, though laboured on with pain, Snatch from his hand the balance and the rod,
A thousand movements scarce one purpose gain : Re-judge his justice, be the god of God...
In God's one single can its end produce;

In pride, in reasoning pride, our error lies ,
Yet serve to second too some other use.

All quit the sphere, and rush into the skies.
So man, who here seems principal alone,

Pride still is aiming at the bless'd abodes,
Perhaps acts second to some sphere unknown, Men would be angels, angels would be gods.
Touches some wheel, or verges to some goal: Aspiring to be gods, ifangels fell,
"Tis but a part we see, and not a whole.

60 Aspiring to be angels, men rebel :
When the proud steed shall know why man restrains And who but wishes to invert the laws
His fiery course, or drives him o'er the plains; Of order, sins against the Eternal Cause. 130
When the dull ox, why now he breaks the clod, V. Ask for what end the heavenly bodies shine,
Is now a victim, and now Egypt's god,: ; Earth for whose use ? Pride answers, ''Tis for mine.
Then shall man's pride and dulness comprehend For me kind nature wakes her genial power;,'
His actions', passions', being's use and end ;, Suckles each herb, and spreads out every flower;
Why doing, suffering, check’d, impell'd; and why Annual for me, the grape, the rose, renew
This hour a slave, the next a deity.

The juice nectareous, and the balmy dew; Then say not man's imperfect, Heaven in fault: For me, the mine a thousand treasures brings ; Say rather, man's as perfect as he ought : i 70For me, health gushes from a thousand springs; His knowledge measured to his state and place Seas roll to waft me, suns to light me rise ; His time a moment, and a point his space.

My foot-stool earth, my canopy the skies.' 140 If to be perfect in a certain sphere,

But errs not nature from this gracious end, What matter, soon or late, or here or there? From burning suns when livid deaths descend, The bless'd to-day is as completely so,

When earthquakes swallow, or when tempests sweep As who began a thousand years ago.

Towns to one grave, whole nations to the deep? III. Heaven from all creatures hides the book of fate,' No,' 'tis replied, the first Almighty Cause All but the page prescribed, their present state ; Acts not by partial, but by general laws; i From brutes what men, from men what spirits know: The exceptions few; some change since all began Or who could suffer being here below ? : 80 And what created perfect-?-Why then man? The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day,

If the great end be human happiness, Had he thy reason, would he skip and play? Then nature deviates ; and can man do less ? 150 Pleased to the last, he crops the flowery food, As much that end a constant course requires And licks the hand just raised to shed his blood. Of showers and sun-shine, as of man's desires ? Oh blindness to the future! kindly given,

As much eternal springs and cloudless skies, That each may fill the circle mark'd by Heaven, As men for ever temperate, calm, and wise. Who sees with equal eye, as God of all,

If plagues or earthquakes break not Heaven's design, A hero perish, or a sparrow fall,

Why then a Borgia, or a Catiline ? ! Atoms or systems into ruin hurl'd,

Who knows, but he whose hand the lightning forms, And now a bubble burst, and now a world. 90 Who heaves old Ocean, and who wings the storms,

Hope humbly then; with trembling pinions soar; Pours fierce ambition in a Cæsar's mind, Wait the great teacher, Death; and God adore. Or turns young Ammon loose to scourge mankind? 160 What future bliss, he gives not thee to know, . From pride, from pride, our very reasoning springs; But gives that hope to be thy blessing now.

Account for moral as for natural things :' Hope springs eternal in the human breast : Why charge we Heaven in those, in these acquit, Man never Is, but always To be bless'd :

In both, to reason right, is to submit. The soul, uneasy, and confined from home,

! Better for us, perhaps, it might appear, '. Rests and expatiates on a life to come.

Were there all harmony, all virtue here;
Lo, the poor Indian ! whose untutor'd mind That never air or ocean felt the wind,
Sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind; 100 That never passion discomposed the mind.
His soul proud science never taught to stray But all subsists by elemental strife;
Far as the solar walk, or milky way;!..

And passions are the elements of life. : 170 Yet simple nature to his hope has given,

The general order since the whole began,' Behind the cloud-topp'd hill, an humbler heaven; Is kept in nature, and is kept in man. Some safer world in depth of woods embraced, VI. What would this man? Now upward will he soar Some happier island in the watery waste,

And, little less than angel, would be more; Where slaves once more their native land behold, Now looking downwards, just as grieved appears No fiends torment, no Christians thirst for gold. To want the strength of bulls, the fur of bears. To be, contents his natural desire,

Made for his use all creatures if he call,
He asks no angel's wing, no seraph's fire ; 110 Say what their use, had he the powers of all ?
But thinks, admitted to that equal sky,

Nature to these, without profusion, kind,
His faithful dog shall bear him company.

The proper organs, proper powers assign'd; 180 IV. Go wiser thou ! and in thy scale of sense, Each seeming want compensated; of course, Weigh thy opinion against Providence ;

Here with degrees of swiftness, there of force; Call imperfection what thou fanciest such;

All in exact proportion to the state; Say, here he gives too little, there too much: Nothing to add, and nothing to abate. Destroy all creatures for thy sport or gust,

Each beast, each insect, happy in its own: Yet say, if man's unhappy, God's unjust :

Is Heaven unkind to man, and man alone! If man alono engross not Heaven's high care, Shall he alone, whom rational we call, Ali ne made perfect here, immortal there : 120) Be pleased with nothing, if not bless'd with all ?