To high exploits, the praises that belong, Live, but as nourish'd by the Poet's fong.

A tree of life is facred Poetry,

Sweet is the fruit, and tempting to the eye; Many there are, who nibble without leave, But none who are not born to tafte, furvive.

WALLER fhall never die, of life fecure,
As long as Fame, or aged Time endure,
WALLER, the Mufe's darling, free to tafte
Of all their stores, the mafter of the feast;
Not like old Adam, ftinted in his choice,
But Lord of all the fpacious paradife.

Thofe foes to Virtue, Fortune, and Mankind,
Fav'ring his fame, once, to do justice join'd;
No carping critic interrupts his praise;
No rival ftrives, but for a fecond place;
No want conftrain'd; (the writer's ufual fate)
A Poet with a plentiful eftate;

The firft of mortals who before the tomb,
Struck that pernicious monster, Envy, dumb;
Malice and Pride, thofe favages, difarm'd;
Not Orpheus with fuch powerful magic charm'd.
Scarce in the grave can we allow him more,
Than living we agreed to give before.

His noble mufe employ'd her generous rage
In crowning virtue, fcorning to engage
The vice and follies of an impious age.
No fatyr lurks within this hallow'd ground,

But nymphs and heroines, kings and gods abound;
Glory, and arms, and love, is all the found.
His Eden with no Serpent is defil'd,
But all is gay, delicious all, and mild.

Miftaken men, his Mufe of flattery blame,
Adorning twice an impious tyrant's name,
We raise our own, by giving fame to foes;
The valour that he prais'd, he did oppose,

Nor were his thoughts to poetry confin'd,
The ftate, and bufinefs fhar'd his ample mind;
As all the Fair were captives to his wit,
So Senates to his wifdom would submit ;
His voice fo foft, his eloquence fo ftrong,

Like Cato's was his fpeech, like Ovid's was his fong.

Our British kings are rais'd above the herfe,
Immortal made, in his immortal verfe;
No more are Mars and Jove poetic themes,
But the celeftial Charles's, and juft James:
Juno and Pallas, all the fhining race

Of heavenly beauties, to the Queen give place;
Clear, like her brow, and graceful was his fong,
Great, like her mind, and like her virtue ftrong.

Parent of Gods, who doft to Gods remove,
Where art thou plac'd? And which thy seat above ?
WALLER, the God of Verfe, we will proclaim,
Not Phœbus now, but WALLER be his name;
Of joyful Bards, the fweet feraphic choir
Acknowledge thee their oracle and fire;
The Spheres do homage, and the Mufes fing
WALLER, the God of Verfe, who was the King,

ΤΟ

MYRA.

WARN'D, and made wife by others flame,

I fled from whence fuch mifchiefs came,
Shunning the Sex, that kills at fight,
I fought my fafety in my flight.

But, ah! in vain from fate we fly,
For firft, or laft, as all muft die;
So 'tis as much decreed above,
That firft, or laft, we all must love.

My heart which stood fo long the shock
Of winds and waves, like fome firm rock,
By one bright fpark from Myra thrown,
Is into flame, like powder, blown.

Give ear, ambitious Princes, and be wife;
Liften, and learn wherein true greatness lies;
Place not your pride in roofs that fhine with gems,
In purple robes, nor sparkling diadems;
Nor in dominion, nor extent of land:
He's only great, who can himself command,
Whofe guard is peaceful innocence, whofe guide
Is faithful reafon; who is void of pride.
Checking ambition; nor is idly vain
Of the falfe incenfe of a popular train;
Who withou. ftrife, or envy, can behold
His neighbour's plenty, and his heaps of gold;
Nor covets other wealth, but what we find
In the poffeffions of a virtuous mind.

Fearless he fees, who is with virtue crown'd,
The tempeft rage, and hears the thunder found;
Ever the fame, let Fortune fmile or frown,
On the red feaffold, or the blazing throne;
Serenely, as he lived, refigns his breath,
Meets deftiny half way, nor fhrinks at death.

Ye fovereign Lords, who fit like Gods in ftate,
Awing the world, and bustling to be great;
Lords but in title, vaflals in effect,
Whom luft controuls, and wild-defires direct:
The reins of empire but fuch hands difgrace,
Where Paffion, a blind driver, guides the race.

What is this Fame, thus crowded round with flaves?
The breath of fools, the bait of flattering knaves:
An honeft heart, a conscience free from blame,
Not of great act, but good, give me the name:
In vain we plant, we build, our ftores increase,
If confcience roots up all our inward peace.
What need of arms, or inftruments of war,
Or battering engines that deftroy from far?
The greatest king, and conqueror is he,
Who Lord of his own appetites can be ;
Eleft with a pow'r that nothing can destroy,
And all have equal freedom to enjoy.

Whom worldly luxury, and pomps allure,
They tread on ice, and find no footing fure;
Place me, ye Powers! in fome obfcure retreat,
O keep me innocent, make others great:
In quiet fhide, content with rural sports,
Give me a life remote from guilty courts,
Where free from hopes or fears, in humble enfe,
Unheard of, I may live and die in peace.

Happy the man who thus retir'd from fight,
Studies himfelf, and feeks no other light:
But mof unhappy he, who fits on high,
Expos'd to every tongue and every eye;

Whofe follie blaz'd about, to all are known, But are a fecret to himfelf alone :

OCCASIONED BY THE FOREGOING VERSES. WRITTEN IN THE YEAR 1690.

EASE, tempting Siren, ceafe thy flattering strain, Sweet is thy charming fong, but fung in vain : When the winds blow, and loud the tempefts roar, What fool would truft the waves, and quit the fhore ? Early, and vain, into the world I came, Big with falfe hopes, and eager after fame; Till looking round me, ere the race began, Madmen, and giddy fools, were all that ran; Reclaim'd betimes, I from the lifts retire, And thank the Gods, who my retreat inspire. In happier times our ancestors were bred, When virtue was the only path to trend: Give me, ye Gods! but the fame road to fame, Whate'er my fathers dar'd, I dare the fame. Chang'd is the fcene, fome baneful planet rules An impious world, contriv'd for knives and fools. Look now around, and with impartial eyes Confider, and examine all who rife;

Weigh

Such precedents are numberlefs, we draw
Our right from custom; custom is a law
As high as heaven, as wide as feas or land;
As ancient as the world is our command.
Mars and Alcides would this plea allow :
Beauty was ever abfolute till now.
It is enough that I pronounce it mine,
And, right or wrong, he fhould his claim refign:
Not bears nor tygers fure fo favage are,
As thefe ill-manner'd monfters of the bar.

Loud rumour has proclaim'd a nymph divine,
Whofe matchlefs form, to counterbalance mine,
By dint of Beauty fhall extort your grace:
Let her appear, this rival, face to face;
Let eyes to eyes oppos'd this ftrife decide;
Now, when I lighten, let her beams be try'd.
Was 't a vain promife, and a gownfman's lie?
Or ftands the here unmark'd, when I am by?
So heav'n was mock'd, and once all Elys round,
Another Jupiter was faid to found;
On brazen floor the royal actor tries
To ape the thunder rattling in the skies;
A brandish'd torch, with emulating blaze,
Affects the forky lightning's pointed rays:
Thus borne aloft, triumphantly he rode
Through crowds of worshippers, and acts the God,
The fire omnipotent prepares the brand,
By Vulcan wrought, and arms his potent hand;
Then flaming hurls it hiffing from above,
And in the vaft abyfs confounds the mimic Jove,
Prefumptuous wretch! with mortal art to dare
Immortal power, and brave the thunderer!

Caffiope, preferring with difdain,
Her daughter to the Nereids, they complain;
The daughter, for the mother's guilty fcorn,
Is doomed to be devoured; the mother's borne
Above the clouds, where, by immortal light,
Revers'd the fhines, expofed to human fight,
And to a fhameful pofture is confin'd,
As an eternal terror to mankind.

Did thus the Gods fuch private nymphs respect?
What vengeance might the Queen of Love expect?
But grant fuch arbitrary pleas are vain,
Wav'd let them be; mere justice shall obtain.
Who to a husband juftlier can fucceed,
Than the foft partner of his nuptial bed;
Or to a father's right lay ftronger claim,
Than the dear youth in whom furvives his name?
Behold that youth, confider whence he springs,
And in his royal veins refpect your kings:
Immortal Jove, upon a mortal fhe,
Begat his fire: Second from Jove is he.
Well did the father blindly fight your cause,
Following the cry-of Liberty and Laws,
If by thote laws, for which he loft his life t,
You fpoll, ungratefully, the fon and wife.

A report fpread of a beautiful young lady, niece to the Lord Chief Juftice, who would appear at the bar of the Houte of Lords, and eclipfe the charms of the Duchefs of Grafton; No fuch lady was feen there, nor perhaps ever in any part of the world.

†The Duke of Grafton, flain at the fiege of Cork in Ireland, about the beginning of the Revolution.

What need I more? 'Tis treafon to difpute:
The grant was royal; that decides the fuit.
"Shall vulgar laws imperial power constrain?
"Kings and the Gods, can never act in vain."

She finish'd here, the Queen of every grace,
Difdain vermilioning her heavenly face:
Our hearts take fire, and all in tumult rife,
And one with sparkles in a thousand eyes.
O! might fome champion finish thefe debates!
My fword fhall end, what now my pen relates.
Up rofe the Judge, on each fide bending low,
A crafty smile, accompanies his bow;
Ulyffes like, a gentle paufe he makes,
Then, raifing by degrees his voice, he speaks.

In you, my Lords, who judge; and all who hear, Methinks I read your wishes for the fair;

Nor can I wonder, even I contend
With inward pain, unwilling to offend;
Unhappy! thus oblig'd to a defence,
That may difplease such heavenly excellence,
Might we the laws on any terms abuse,
So bright an influence were the best excuse;
Let Niobe's juft fate, the vile difgrace
Of the † Propatides' polluted race;
Let death, or fhame, or lunacy furprize,
Who dare to match the luftre of thofe eyes!
Aloud the fairest of the Sex complain
Of captives loft, and loves invok'd in vain;
At her appearance all their glory ends,
And not a star, but fets, when the afcends.

Where Love prefides, ftill may she bear the prize
But rigid Law has neither ears nor eyes:
Charms, to which Mars and Hercules would bow,
Minos and Rhadamanthus difavow.
Juftice, by nothing bias'd, or inclin'd,
Deaf to perfuafion, to temptation blind,
Determines without favour, and the laws
O'erlook the parties, to decide the cause.
What then avails it, that a beardlefs boy
Took a rash fancy for a female toy?
Th' infulted Argives, with a numerous hoft,
Purfue revenge, and feek the Dardan coaft;
Though the Gods built, and though the Gods defend
Thofe lofty towers, the hoftile Greeks afcend;
Nor leave they, till the town in afhes lies,
And all the race of royal Priam dies :
The Queen of || Paphos, mixing in the fray,
Rallies the troops, and urges on the day;
In perfon, in the foremost ranks fhe stands,
Provokes the charge, directs, affifts, commands;
Stern Diomed, advancing high in air,
His lofty javelin ftrikes the heavenly Fair;
The vaulted fkies with her loud fhrieks refound,
And high Olympus trembles at the wound.

Niobe turned into a stone for prefuming to compare herfelf with Diana.

Propatides, certain virgins, who, for affronting Venus, were condemned to open prostitution, and afterwards turned into stone.

Minos and Rhadamanthus, famous legislators, who for their strict administration of justice, were after their deaths made chief judges in the infernal regions. || Venus.

In