The works of the poets of Great Britain and Ireland. With prefaces, biographical and critical, by S. Johnson

O D E.

AUGHTER of Memory, immortal Muse,
Calliope; what poet wilt thou choose,
Of Anna's name to fing?

To whom wilt thou thy fire impart,

Thy lyre, thy voice, and tuneful art; Whom raife fublime on thy æthereal wing, And confecrate with dews of thy Caftalian fpring? II..

Without thy aid, the moft afpiring mind
Muft flag beneath, to narrow flights confin'd,
Striving to rife in vain :

Nor e'er can hope with equal lays
To celebrate bright Virtue's praise.

Thy aid obtain'd, ev'n I, the humbleft fwain, May climb Pierian heights, and quit the lowly plain. III.

High in the starry orb is hung,

And next Alcides' guardian arm,
That harp to which thy Orpheus fung,

Who woods, and rocks, and winds, could charm;
That harp which on Cyllene's fhady hill,
When first the vocal fhell was found,

With more than mortal skill

Inventer Hermes taught to found:
Hermes on bright Latona's fon,
By sweet perfuafion won,
The wondrous work bestow'd;
Latona's fon, to thine

Indulgent, gave the gift divine:

A god the gift, a god th' invention show'd.

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As Britain's ifle, when old vex'd Ocean roars, Unfhaken fees against her filver shores

His foaming billows beat;

So Britain's Queen, amidst the jars
And tumults of a world in wars,

Fix'd on the bafe of her well-founded flate, Serene and fafe looks down, nor feels the shocks of fate.

II.

But greatest fouls, though bleft with fweet repofe, Are fooneft touch'd with fenfe of others woes,

Thus Anna's mighty mind,

To mercy aud foft pity prone,

And mov'd with forrows not her own,

Has all her peace and downy reft refign'd,

To wake for common good, and fuccour human kind.
III.

Fly, tyranny; no more be known
Within Europa's blissful bound;
Far as th' unhabitable zone
Fly every hofpitable ground.
To horrid Zembla's frozen realms repair,
There with the baleful beldam, Night,
Unpeopled empire share,

And rob thofe lands of legal right.
For now is come the promis'd hour,
When Justice fhall have power;
Juftice to earth restor'd!

Again Aftrea reigns!

Anna her equal fcale maintains,

And Marlborough wields her fure-deciding fword.

Though in all numbers skill'd,

To fing the hero's matchlefs deed,

Which Belgia fav'd, and Brabant freed;

To fing Ramillia's day! to which must yield

Canna's illuftrious fight, and fam'd Pharfalia's field?

II.

In the short corfe of a diurnal fun,
Behold the work of many ages done!

What verfe fuch worth can raife?
Luftre and life, the poet's art

To middle virtue may impart;

But deeds fublime, exalted high like thefe, Tranfcend his utmost flight, and mock his diftant

praife.

III.

Still would the willing Mufe afpire,

With tranfport ftill her ftrains prolong; But fear unftrings the trembling lyre,`

And admiration ftops her fong.

Go on, great chief, in Anna's caufe proceed;
Nor fheath the terrors of thy fword,

Till Europe thou haft freed,

And univerfal peace reftor'd.

This mighty work when thou shalt end,
Equal rewards attend,

Of value far above

Thy trophies and thy fpoils;

Reward ev'n worthy of thy toils,

The Queen's juft favour, and thy Country's love..

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE

EARL OF GODOLPHIN,

LORD HIGH TREASURER OF GREAT BRITAIN

PINDARIC ODE.

-Quemvis mediâ erue turbâ :

"Aut ob avaritiam, aut miferâ ambitione laborat. "Hunc capit argenti fplendor

Hic mutat merces furgente á fole, ad eum quo "Vefpertina tepet regio: quin par mala præceps

Fertur

«Omnes hi metuunt verfus, odere poetas."

Their lives to selfish ends decreed,
Through blood or rapine they proceed;
No anxious thoughts of ill repute

Sufpend th' impetuous and unjust pursuit:
But power and wealth obtain'd, guilty and great,
Their fellow-creatures fears they raife, or urge their

hate.

II.

But not for these his ivory lyre
Will tuneful Phœbus ftring,

Nor Polyhymnia crown'd amid the choir,
Th' immortal epode fing.

Thy fprings, Caftalia, turn their ftreams afide
From rapine, avarice, and pride;

Nor do thy greens, fhady Aonia, grow

To bind with wreaths a tyrant's brow.
I.

How juft, moft mighty Jove, yet how severe,
Is thy fupreme decree,

That impious men shall joyless hear
The Mufe's harmony!

Their facred fongs, (the recompenfe
Of virtue and of innocence)

Which pious minds to rapture raise,

And worthy deeds at once excite and praise,
To guilty hearts afford no kind relief;
But add inflaming rage, and more afflicting grief.
II.

Monftrous Typhæus thus new terrors fill,
He, who affail'd the skies,
And now beneath the burning hill
Of dreadful Ætna lies.

Hearing the lyre's celeftial found,
He bellows in th' abyfs profound;
Sicilia trembles at his roar,

Tremble the feas, and far Campania's shore ;
While all his hundred mouths at once refpire
Volumes of curling smoke, and floods of liquid fire.
III.

From heaven alone all good proceeds;

To heavenly minds belong

All power and love, Godolphin, of good deeds,
And fenfe of facred fong!

And thus moft pleafing are the Mufe's lays
To them who merit most her praise ;
Wherefore, for thee her ivory lyre fire ftrings,
And foars with rapture while the fings.
I.

HOR. L. i. Sat. 4. Whether affairs of most important weight

Require thy aiding hand,

And Anna's caufe and Europe's fate

Thy ferious thoughts demand;
Whether thy days and nights are spent

In cares, on public good intent;
Or whether leisure hours invite

To manly fports, or to refin'd delight:
In courts refiding, or to plains retir'd,

Where generous steeds conteft, with emulation fir'd
II.

Thee still she seeks, and tuneful fings thy name,
As once the Theron fung,

While with the deathlefs worthy's fame

Olympian Pifa rung:

Nor lefs fublime is now her choice,
Nor lefs infpir'd by thee her voices

CONGRE VE'S POEM S.

And now the loves aloft to found

The man for more than mortal deeds renown'd;
Varying anon her theme, fhe takes delight

So without preface, or pretence;
To hold thee longer in fufpence,
I fhall proceed, as I am able,

The wifi-heel'd horfe to praife, and fing his rapid To the recital of my fable.

fight.

And fee! the air-born racers start,

Impatient of the rein;

Fafter they run than flies the Scythian dart,

Nor, paffing, print the plain!

A goblin of the merry kind,

More black of hue, than curit of mind,
To help a lover in diftrefs,

Contrived a charm with fuch fuccefs,
That in fhort fpace the cruel dame

The winds themfelves, who with their fwiftnefs vie, Relented, and return'd his flame.

In vain their airy pinions ply;

So far in matchlefs fpeed thy courfers pafs

Th' æthereal authors of their race.

And now awhile the well-train'd courfers breathe;
And now my Mufe, prepare

Of olive-leaves a twisted wreath

To bind the victor's hair.

Pallas, in care of human-kind,
The fruitful olive first defign'd;

Deep in the glebe her spear the lanc'd,
When all at once the laden boughs advanc'd:
The Gods with wonder view'd the teeming earth,
And all, with one confent, approv'd the beauteous
birth.

This done, earth fhaking Neptune next effay'd,
In bounty to the world,

To emulate the blue-ey'd maid;
And his huge trident hurl'd
Against the founding beach; the stroke
Transfix'd the globe, and open broke

The central earth, whence, iwift as light,
Forth rush'd the first-born horfe. Stupendous fight!
Neptune for human good the beast ordains,
Whom foon he tam'd to use, and taught to bear the
reins.

III.

Thus gods contended (noble ftrife,
Worthy the heavenly mind!)

W most should do to foften anxious life,

And most endear mankind.

Thus thou, Godolphin, dost with Marlborough strive,
From whofe joint toils we reft derive :
Triumph in wars abroad his arm affures,

Sweet Peace at home thy care fecures,

AN IMPOSSIBLE THING.

A TALE.

To thee, dear Dick, this tale I fend,

Both as a critick and a friend.

I tell it with fome variation
(Not altogether a tranflation)
From La Fontaine, an author, Dick,
Whofe Mufe would touch thee to the quick.
The fubject is of that fame kind,

To which thy heart feems most inclin'd:
How verfe may alter it, God knows;
Thou lov't it well, I'm fure, in profe
VOL. IV.

The bargain, made betwixt them both,
Was bound by honour and by oath :
The lover laid down his falvation,
And Satan ftak'd his reputation.
The latter promis'd on his part

(To ferve his friend, and thew his art),
That madam fhould by twelve o'clock,
Though hitherto as hard as rock,
Become as gentle as a glove,
And kifs and coo like any dove.
In short, the woman should be his,
That is upon condition-Viz.
What one would with were everlasting,
That he the lover, after tasting
Should, in return for fuch enjoyment,
Supply the fiend with fresh employment:
"That's all, quoth Pug; my poor requeft
"Is, only, never to have reft.
"You thought, 'tis like, with reafon too,
"That I should have been ferv'd, not you:
"But what? upon my friend impose!
"No-though a devil, none of those.
"Your business then, pray understand me,
"Is nothing more but to command me.
"Of one thing only let me warn ye:
"Which fomewhat nearly may concern ye
"As foon as e'er one work is done,
"Strait name a new one; and so on:
"Leteach to other quick fucceed,
"Or elfe--you know how 'tis agreed-
"For if through any hums or haws
"There haps an intervening paufe,

"In which for want of fresh commands,
"Your flave obfequious idle stands,
"Nor foul nor body ever more
"Shall ferve the nymph whom you adore
"But both be laid at Satan's feet,
"To be difpos'd as he thinks meet.'

יי

At once the lover all approves;
For who can hefitate that loves?!
And thus he argues in his thought:
"Why, after all, I venture nought;
"What mystery is in commanding?
"Does that require much understanding?
"Indeed, wer't my part to obey,
"He'd go the better of the lay:
"But he must do what I think fit-
"Phaw, pihaw, young Belzebub is bit.”

Thus pleas'd in mind, he calls a chair,
Adjufts, and combs, and courts the fair:
The fpell takes place, and all goes right,
And happy he employs the night
Infweet embraces, balmy kitles,
And riots in the blifs of blies.

Rrr

"O joy," cried he," that has no equal !”
But hold-no raptures-mark the sequel.
For now when near the morning's dawn,
The youth began as 'twere to yawn ;
His eyes a filky flumber feiz'd,

Or would have done, if Pug had pleas'd:
But that officious Dæmon near,
Now buzz'd for bufinefs in his ear:
In hafte, he names a thousand things;
The goblin plies his wicker wings,
And in a tricc returns to afk
Another and another task.

Now palaces are built and towers,
The work of ages in few hours.
Then ftorms are in an inftant rais'd,
Which the next moment are appeas'd.
Now fhowers of gold and gems are rain'd,
As if each India had been drain'd:
And he, in one aftonish'd view,
Sees both Golconda and Pern.
Thefe things, and ftranger things than these,
Were done with equal fpeed and eafe.
And now to Rome poor Pug he'll send ;
And Pug foon reach'd his journey's end,
And foon return'd with fuch a pack
Of bulls and pardons at his back,
That now, the Squire (who had some hope
In holy water and the pope)

Was out of heart, and at a stand
What next to with, and what command;
Invention flags, his brain grows muddy,
And black defpair fucceeds brown study.
In this diftrefs the woeful youth
Acquaints the nymph with all the truth,
Begging her counfel, for whofe fake
Both foul and body were at stake.
"And is this all?" replied the fair:
"Let me alone to cure this care.
"When next your Dæmon fhall appear,
"Pray give him-look, what I hold here,
"And bid him labour, foon or late,
"To lay thefe ringlets lank and strait.”
Then, fomething fcarcely to be feen,
Her finger and her thumb between
She held, and fweetly fmiling, cry'd,
"Your Goblin's fkill fhall now be try'd."

She faid; and gave-what fhall I call
That thing fo fhining, crifp, and small,
Which round his finger ftrove to twine?
A tendril of the Cyprian vine?
Or fprig from Cytherea's grove;
Shade of the labyrinth of love?
With awe, he now takes from her hand
That fleece-like flower of fairy land:
Lefs precious, whilom, was the fleece
Which drew the Argonauts from Greece;
Or that, which modern ages fee
The fpur and prize of chivalry,
Whofe curls of kindred texture grace
Heroes and kings of Spanish race.

The fpark prepar'd, and Pug at hand, He iffues, thus, his ftrict command: "This line, thus curve and thus orbicular, "Render direct, and perpendicular; "But fo direct, that in no fort

"Hence, to thy talk-avaunt, be gone."
A way the fiend like lightning flies,
And all his wit to work applies:
Anvils and preffes he employs,

And dins whole hell with hammering noise.
In vain he to no terms can bring
One twirl of that reluctant thing;
Th' elaftic fibre mocks his pains,
And its first fpiral form retains.
New stratagems the fprite contrives,
And down the depths of fea he dives:
"This fprunt its pertnefs fure will lose,
"When laid (faid he) to foak in ooze."
Poor foolish fiend! he little knew
Whence Venus and her garden grew.
Old Ocean, with paternal waves
The child of his own bed receives;
Which oft as dipt new force exerts,
And in more vigorous curls reverts.
So when to earth Alcides flung

The huge Antæus, whence he sprung,
From every fall fresh ftrength he gain'd,
And with new life the fight maintain'd.
The baffled Goblin grows perplex'd,
Nor knows what flight to practise next :
The more he tries, the more he fails;
Nor charm, nor art, nor force avails.
But all concur his fhame to fhow,
And more exafperate the foe.

And now he penfive turns and fad,
And looks like melancholic mad.
He rolls his eyes now off, now on
That wonderful phænomenon.
Sometimes he twists and twirls it round,
Then, paufing, meditates profound:
No end he fees of his surprise,
Nor what it should be can devise:

For never was yet wool or feather,
'That could ftand buff against all weather;
And unrelax'd, like this, refift

Both wind and rain, and snow and mift.

What stuff, or whence, or how 'twas made,
What fpinfter which could fpin fuch thread,
He nothing knew; but, to his cost,
Knew all his fame and labour loft.
Subdued, abafh'd, he gave it o'er;
'Tis faid, he blush'd; 'tis fure, he swore
Not all the wiles that hell could hatch
Could conquer that Superb Mustach.
Defeated thus, thus difcontent,

Back to the man the Dæmon went :
"I grant," quoth he, "our contract null,
"And give you a discharge in full.
"But tell me now, in name of wonder,
"(Since I fo candidly knock under)
"What is this thing? where could it grow?
"Pray take it 'tis in ftatu quo.
"Much good may't do you; for my part,
<< I wash my hands of't from my heart."

"In truth, Sir Goblin or Sir Fairy," Replies the lad, "you're too foon weary. "What, leave this trifling task undone! "And think'st thou this the only one? "Alas! were this fubdued, thou'dft find "Millions of more fuch still behind; "Which might employ, ev'n to eternity, "Both you and all your whole fraternity."

THE

PEASANT IN SEARCH OF HIS HEIFER.

A TALE AFTER M. DE LA FONTAINI.

fo befel : : a filly fwain

Had fought his heifer long in vain;
For wanton fhe had frisking ftray'd,
And, left the lawn, to feek the fhade.
Around the plain he rolls his eyes,
Then to the wood in hafte he hies;
Where, fingling out the faireft tree
He climbs, in hopes to hear or fee.

Anon, there chanc'd that way to pafs
A jolly lad and buxom lafs :

The place was apt, the paftime pleasant ;
Occafion with her forelock prefent;
The girl agog, the gallant ready;
So lightly down he lays my lady.
But fo the turn'd, or fo was laid,
That the fome certain charm's difplay'd,
Which with fuch wonder ftruck his fight
(With wonder, much; more with delight)
That loud he cry'd in rapture, "What?
"What fee I, gods! What fee I not!"
But nothing nam'd; from whence 'tis guefs'd,
'Twas more than well could be exprefs'd.

The clown aloft, who lent an ear,
Straight ftopt him short in mid career;
And louder cry'd, " Ho! honeft friend,
"That of thy feeing feeft no end;
"Doft fee the heifer that I feek?
"If doft, pray be so kind to speak."

HOMER'S HYMN

TO VENUS.

SING, Mufe, the force and all-informing fire,
Of Cyprian Venus, goddess of defire:

Her charms th' immortal minds of gods can move,
And tame the ftubborn race of men to love.
The wilder herds, and ravenous beasts of prey,
Her influence feel, and own her kindly fway.
Thro' pathlefs air, and boundlefs ocean's fpace,
She rules the feather'd kind and finny rack;
Whole nature on her fole fupport depends,
And far as life exifts, her care extends.

Of all the numerous hoft of gods above,
But three are found inflexible to love.
Blue-ey'd Minerva free preferves her heart,.
A virgin unbeguil'd by Cupid's art:
In fhining arms the martial maid delights,
O'er war prefides, and well-difputed fights;
With thirst of fame fhe firft the hero fir'd,
And firft the fkill of ufeful arts infpir'd;
Taught artifts first the carving tool to wield,
Chariots with brafs to arm, and form the fenceful
fhield:

She first taught modest maids in early bloom,
To thun the lazy life, and spin, or ply the loom..
Diana next the Paphian queen defies:
Her smiling arts and proffer'd friendship flics:

She loves, with well-mouth'd hounds and cheerful horn,

Or filver-founding voice, to wake the morn,

To wound the mountain boar, or roufe the woodland deer;

To draw the bow, or dart the pointed fpear,
Sometimes, of gloomy groves the likes the fhades,
And there of virgin-nymphs the chorus leads;
And fometimes feeks the town, and leaves the plains,
And loves fociety where virtue reigns.

The third celeftial power averfe to love

Is virgin Vefta, dear to mighty Jove;

Whom Neptune fought to wed, and Phœbus woo'd; And both with fruitlefs labour long purfu'd.

For fhe, feverely chaste, rejected both,

And bound her purpose with a folemn oath,

A virgin life inviolate to lead;

She fwore, and Jove affenting, bow'd his head.
But fince her rigid choice the joys deny'd
Of nuptial rights, and bleflings of a bride,
The bounteous Jove with gifts that want fupply'd.
High on a throne fhe fits amidst the skies,
And first is fed with fumes of facrifice;
For holy rights to Vefta first are paid,
And on her alter firft-fruit offerings laid;
So Jave ordain'd in honour of the maid.

Thefe are the powers above, and only thefe,
Whom Love and Cytherca's art difpleafe;
Of other beings, none in earth or skies
Her force refifts, or influence denies.

With eafe her charms, the thunderer can bind,
And captivate with love th' almighty mind:
Ev'n he, whofe dread commands the gods obey,
Submits to her, and owns fuperior sway.
Enfav'd to mortal beauties by her power,
He oft defcends, his creatures to adore ;
While to conceal the theft from Juno's eyes,
Some well-diffembled fhape the god belies.
Juno, his wife and fifter, both in place
And beauty firft among th' æthereal race;
Whom, all tranfcending, in fuperior worth,
Wife Saturn got, and Cybele brought forth:
And Jove, by never-erring counsel sway'd,
The partner of his bed and empire made.

But Jove at length, with juft refentment fir'd, The laughing queen herself with love infpir'd. Swift through her veins the fweet contagion ran, And kindled in her breaft defire of mortal man; That the, like other deities, might prove The pains and pleasures of inferior love; And not infultingly the gods deride, Whose fons were human by the mother's fide: Thus, Jove ordain'd, the now for man should burn, And bring forth mortal offspring in her turn.

Amongst the fprings which flow from Ida's head, His lowing herds the young Anchifes fed; Whofe godlike form and face the fmiling queen Beheld, and lov'd to madness, foon as feen: To Cyprus ftraight the wounded goddess flies, Where Paphian temples in her honour rife, And altars fmoke with daily facrifice. Soon as arriv'd, the to her thrine repair'd, Where entering quick, the shining gates the barr'da The ready Graces wait, her baths prepare, And oint with fragrant oils her flowing hair, Her flowing hair around her shoulders fpreads, And all adown ambrofial odour sheds.

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The works of the poets of Great Britain and Ireland. With prefaces ..., Volume 4