But when he sings th' exhilerated swains, Th' embow'ring groves, and _Windsor's_ blissful plains, Our eyes are ravish'd with the sylvan scene, Embroider'd fields, and groves in living green: His lays the verdure of the meads prolong, And wither'd forests blossom in his song; _Thames'_ silver streams his flowing verse admire, And cease to murmur while he tunes his lyre.

Next shou'd appear great _Dryden's_ lofty muse, For who would _Dryden's_ polish'd verse refuse?

His lips were moisten'd in _Parna.s.sus'_ spring, And _Phoebus_ taught his _laureat_ son to sing.

How long did _Virgil_ untranslated moan, His beauties fading, and his flights unknown; Till _Dryden_ rose, and, in exalted strain, Re-sang the fortune of the G.o.d-like man?

Again the _Trojan_ prince with dire delight, Dreadful in arms, demands the ling'ring fight: Again _Camilla_ glows with martial fire, Drives armies back, and makes all _Troy_ retire.

With more than native l.u.s.tre _Virgil_ shines, And gains sublimer heights in _Dryden's_ lines.

The gentle _Watts_, who strings his silver lyre To sacred odes, and heav'n's all-ruling fire; Who scorns th' applause of the licentious stage, And mounts yon sparkling worlds with hallow'd rage, Compels my thoughts to wing the heav'nly road, And wafts my soul, exulting, to my G.o.d; No fabled _Nine_ harmonious bard! inspire Thy raptur'd breast with such seraphic fire; But prompting _Angels_ warm thy boundless rage, Direct thy thoughts, and animate thy page.

Blest man! for spotless sanct.i.ty rever'd, Lov'd by the good, and by the guilty fear'd; Blest man! from gay delusive scenes remov'd, Thy Maker loving, by thy Maker lov'd; To G.o.d thou tun'st thy consecrated lays, Nor meanly blush to sing _Jehovah's_ praise.

Oh! did, like thee, each laurel'd bard delight, To paint _Religion_ in her native light, Not then with _Plays_ the lab'ring' press would groan, Nor _Vice_ defy the _Pulpit_ and the _Throne_; No impious rhymer charm a vicious age, Nor prostrate _Virtue_ groan beneath their rage: But themes divine in lofty numbers rise, Fill the wide earth, and echo through the skies.

These for _Delight_;--for _Profit_ I would read, The labour'd volumes of the learned dead: Sagacious _Locke_, by Providence design'd T' exalt, instruct, and rectify the mind.

Th' unconquerable _Sage_,[A] whom virtue fir'd, And from the tyrant's lawless rage retir'd, When victor _Caesar_ freed unhappy _Rome_, From _Pompey's_ chains, to subst.i.tute his own.

_Longinius_, _Livy_, fam'd _Thucydides_, _Quintillian_, _Plato_ and _Demosthenes_, Persuasive _Tully_, and _Corduba's Sage_,[B]

Who fell by _Nero's_ unrelenting rage; _Him_[C] whom ungrateful _Athens_ doom'd to bleed, Despis'd when living, and deplor'd when dead.

_Raleigh_ I'd read with ever fresh delight, While ages past rise present to my fight: Ah man unblest! he foreign realms explor'd, Then fell a victim to his country's sword!

Nor should great _Derham_ pa.s.s neglected by, } Observant sage! to whose deep piercing eye } Nature's stupendous works expanded lie. }

Nor he, _Britannia_, thy unmatch'd renown!

(Adjudg'd to wear the philosophic crown) Who on the solar orb uplifted rode, And scan'd th' unfathomable works of G.o.d, Who bound the silver planets to their spheres, And trac'd th' elliptic curve of blazing stars!

_Immortal Newton_; whole ill.u.s.trious name Will shine on records of eternal fame.

[Footnote A: Cato.]

[Footnote B: Seneca.]

[Footnote C: Socrates.]

By love directed, I wou'd choose a wife, T' improve my bliss and ease the load of life.

Hail _Wedlock!_ hail, inviolable tye!

Perpetual fountain of domestic joy!

Love, friendship, honour, truth, and pure delight, Harmonious mingle in the nuptial rite.

In _Eden_ first the holy state begun, When perfect innocence distinguish'd man; The human pair, th' Almighty Pontiff led, Gay as the morning to the bridal bed; A dread solemnity th' espousals grac'd, _Angels_ the _Witnesses_, and G.o.d the PRIEST!

All earth exulted on the nuptial hour, And voluntary roses deck'd the bow'r!

The joyous birds, on ev'ry blossom'd spray, Sung _Hymenians_ to th' important day, While _Philomela_ swell'd the sponsal song, And Paradise with gratulations rung.

Relate, inspiring muse! where shall I find A blooming virgin with an angel mind, Unblemish'd as the white-rob'd virgin quire That fed, _O Rome!_ thy consecrated fire; By reason aw'd, ambitious to be good, Averse to vice, and zealous for her G.o.d?

Relate, in what blest region can I find Such bright perfections in a female mind?

What _Phoenix_-woman breathes the vital air, So greatly greatly good, and so divinely fair?

Sure, not the gay and fashionable train, Licentious, proud, immoral and prophane; Who spend their golden hours in antic dress, Malicious whispers, and inglorious ease.--

Lo! round the board a shining train appears, In rosy beauty, and in prime of years!

_This_ hates a flounce, and _this_ a flounce approves, _This_ shews the trophies of her former loves; _Polly_ avers that _Sylvia_ dress in green, When last at church the gaudy Nymph was seen; _Chloe_ condemns her optics, and will lay 'Twas azure sattin, interstreak'd with grey; _Lucy_ invested with judicial pow'r, Awards 'twas neither--and the strife is o'er.

Then parrots, lap-dogs, monkeys, squirrels, beaus, Fans, ribbands, tuckers, patches, furbaloes, In quick succession, thro' their fancies run, And dance incessant on the flippant tongue.

And when fatigued with ev'ry other sport, The belles prepare to grace the sacred court, They marshal all their forces in array, To kill with glances and destroy in play.

Two skilful _maids_, with reverential fear, In wanton wreaths collect their silken hair; Two paint their cheeks, and round their temples pour The fragrant unguent, and the ambrosial show'r; One pulls the shape-creating stays, and one Encircles round her waist the golden zone: Not with more toil t' improve immortal charms, Strove _Juno_, _Venus_, and the _Queen of Arms_, When _Priam's_ Son adjudg'd the golden prize To the resistless beauty of the skies.

At length equip'd in love's enticing arms, With all that glitters and with all that charms, Th' ideal G.o.ddesses to church repair, Peep thro' the fan and mutter o'er a pray'r, Or listen to the organ's pompous sound, Or eye the gilded images around; Or, deeply studied in coquetish rules, Aim wily glances at unthinking fools; Or shew the lilly hand with graceful air, Or wound the fopling with a lock of hair: And when the hated discipline is o'er, And _Misses_ tortur'd with _Repent_ no more, They mount the pictur'd coach, and to the play The celebrated idols hie away.

Not so the _La.s.s_ that shou'd my joys improve, With solid friendship, and connubial love: A native bloom, with intermingled white, Should set features in a pleasing light; Like _Helen_ flushing with unrival'd charms.

When raptur'd _Paris_ darted in her arms.

But what, alas! avails a ruby cheek, A downy bosom, or a snowy neck!

Charms ill supply the want of innocence, Nor beauty forms intrinsic excellence: But in her breast let moral beauties shine, Supernal grace and purity divine: Sublime her reason, and her native wit Unstrain'd with pedantry and low conceit; Her fancy lively, and her judgment free, From female prejudice and bigotry: Averse to idle pomp, and outward show, The flatt'ring c.o.xcomb, and fantastic beau.

The fop's impertinence she should despise, Tho' _sorely wounded by her radient eyes_; But pay due rev'rence to the exalted mind By learning polish'd, and by wit refin'd, Who all her virtues, without guile, commends, And all her faults as freely reprehends.

Soft _Hymen's_ rites her pa.s.sion should approve, And in her bosom glow the flames of love: To me her foul, by sacred friendship turn, And I, for her, with equal friendship burn; In ev'ry stage of life afford relief, Partake my joys, and sympathize my grief; Unshaken, walk in virtue's peaceful road, Nor bribe her reason to pursue the mode; Mild as the saint whose errors are forgiv'n, Calm as a vestal, and compos'd as heav'n.

This be the partner, this the lovely wife That should embellish and prolong my life; A nymph! who might a second fall inspire, And fill a glowing _Cherub_ with desire!

With her I'd spend the pleasurable day, While fleeting minutes gaily danc'd away: With her I'd walk, delighted, o'er the green, Thro' ev'ry blooming mead, and rural scene, Or sit in open fields damask'd with flow'rs, Or where cool shades imbrown the noon-tide bow'rs, Imparadis'd within my eager arms, I'd reign the happy monarch of her charms: Oft on her panting bosom would I lay, And, in dissolving raptures, melt away; Then lull'd, by nightingales, to balmy rest, My blooming fair should slumber at my breast.

And when decrepid age (frail mortals doom!) Should bend my wither'd body to the tomb, No warbling _Syrens_ should r.e.t.a.r.d my flight, To heav'nly mansions of unclouded light; Tho' death, with his imperial horrors crown'd, Terrific grinn'd, and formidably frown'd, Offences pardon'd, and remitted sin, Should form a calm serenity within: Blessing my _natal_ and my _mortal_ hour, (My soul committed to th' eternal pow'r) Inexorable death should smile, for I, Who _knew_ to LIVE, would never _fear_ to DIE.

HYMNS

HYMN I.

Begin the high celestial strain, My ravish'd soul, and sing, A solemn hymn of grateful praise To heav'n's Almighty King.

Ye curling fountains, as ye roll Your silver waves along, Whisper to all your verdant sh.o.r.es The subject of my song.

Retain it long y' echoing rocks, The sacred sound retain, And from your hollow winding caves Return it oft again.

Bear it, ye winds, on all your wings, To distant climes away, And round the wide extended world My lofty theme convey.

Take the glad burden of his name, Ye clouds, as you arise, Whether to deck the golden morn, Or shade the ev'ning skies.

Let harmless thunders roll along The smooth etherial plain, And answer from the crystal vault To ev'ry flying strain.

Long let it warble round the spheres, And echo through the sky, Till Angels, with immortal skill, Improve the harmony.

While I, with sacred rapture fir'd, The blest Creator sing, And warble consecrated lays To heav'n's Almighty King.

HYMN II--ON HEAVEN.

Hail sacred Salem! plac'd on high, Seat of the mighty King!

What thought can grasp thy boundless bliss, What tongue thy glories sing?

Thy crystal tow'rs and palaces Magnificently rise, And dart their beaut'ous l.u.s.tre round The empyrean skies.

The voice of triumph in thy streets And acclamations found, Gay banquets in thy splendid courts And purest joys abound.

Bright smiles on ev'ry face appear, Rapture in ev'ry eye; From ev'ry mouth glad anthems flow, And charming harmony.

Ill.u.s.trious day for ever there, Streams from the face divine; No pale-fac'd moon e'er glimmers forth, Nor stars nor sun decline.

No scorching heats, no piercing colds, The changing seasons bring; But o'er the fields mild breezes there Breathe an eternal spring.

The flow'rs with lasting beauty shine, And deck the smiling ground, While flowing streams of pleasures all The happy plains surround.

HYMN III.--THE CREATION.

Now let the s.p.a.cious world arise, Said the creator Lord: At once th' obedient earth and skies Rose at his sov'reign word.

Dark was the deep, the waters lay Confus'd, and drown'd the land; He call'd the light, the new-born day Attends on his command.

He bids the clouds ascend on high; The clouds ascend, and bear A wat'ry treasure to the sky, And float on softer air.

The liquid element below, Was gather'd by his hand; The rolling seas together flow, And leave a solid land: With herbs and plants (a flow'ry birth) The naked globe he crown'd, Ere there was rain to bless the earth, Or sun to warm the ground.

Then he adorn'd the upper skies, Behold the sun appears, The moon and stars in order rise, To mark our months and years.

Out of the deep th' Almighty King Did vital beings frame, And painted fowls of ev'ry wing, And fish of ev'ry name, He gave the lion and the worm At once their wond'rous birth; And grazing beasts of various form Rose from the teeming earth.