And thus to th' ages paft he makes amends,
Their charity deftroys, their faith defends.
Then did religion in a lazy cell,

In empty, airy contemplations dwell;
And like the block, unmoved lay: but ours,
As much too active, like the ftork devours.
Is there no temp'rate region can be known,
Betwixt their frigid, and our torrid zone ?
Cou'd we not wake from that lethargick dream,
But to be reftlefs in a worfenextreme ?

And for that lethargy was there no cure,

But to be caft into a calenture?

Can knowledge have no bound, but must advance
So far, to make us with for ignorance?
And rather in the dark to grope our way,
Than led by a false guide to err by day?

Who fees these difmal heaps, but would demand
What barbarous invader fack'd the land?
But when he hears, no Goth, no Turk did bring
This defolation, but a Christian king;
When nothing, but the name of zeal, appears
'Twixt our best actions and the worst of theirs,
What does he think our facrilege wou'd fpare,
When fuch th' effects of our devotions are ?
Parting from thence 'twixt anger, fhame, and fear,
Thofe for what's paft, and this for what's too near,
My eye defcending from the hill, furveys

Where Thames among the wanton vallies ftrays.
Thames, the most lov'd of all the Ocean's fons

By his old fire, to his embraces runs ;
Hafting to pay his tribute to the fea,
Like mortal life to meet eternity.

Tho' with thofe ftreams he no resemblance hold,
Whofe foam is amber, and their gravel gold;
His genuine and lefs guilty wealth t' explore,
Search not his bottom, but furvey his shore;

O'er

O'er which he kindly fpreads his fpacious wing,
And hatches plenty for th' enfuing spring.
Nor then deftroys it with too fond a stay,

Like mothers which their infants overlay :
Nor with a fudden and impetuous wave,
Like profufe kings, refumes the wealth he gave.
No unexpected inundations fpoil

The mower's hopes, nor mock the plowman's toil;
But godlike his unweary'd bounty flows;

First loves to do, then loves the good he does.
Nor are his bleffings to his banks confin'd,
But free, and common, as the fea or wind;
When he to boaft, or to difperfe his stores
Full of the tributes of his grateful shores,
Vifits the world, and in his flying tow'rs

Brings home to us, and makes both Indies ours §
Finds wealth where 'tis, bestows it where it wants,
Cities in defarts, woods in cities plants.

So that to us no thing, no place is strange,
While his fair bofom is the world's exchange.
O could I flow like thee, and make thy ftream
My great example, as it is my theme!
Tho' deep, yet clear; tho' gentle, yet not dull;
Strong without rage, without o'er-flowing full:
Heav'n her Eridanus no more fhall boaft,
Whofe fame in thine, like leffer currents loft;
Thy nobler streams fhall vifit Jove's abodes,
To fine among the ftars*, and bathe the gods.
Here Nature, whether more intent to please
Us or herself, with ftrange varieties,
(For things of wonder give no less delight
To the wife maker's, than beholder's fight:
Tho' these delights from fev'ral caufes move;
For fo our children, thus our friends we love)

The Forest.

Wifely

Wifely fhe knew, the harmony of things,
As well as that of founds, from difcord fprings,
Such was the difcord, which did firft difperfe
Form, order, beauty, through the universe;
While drynefs, moisture, coldness, heat refifts,
All that we have, and that we are, subsists:
While the steep horrid roughness of the wood,
Strives with the gentle calmnefs of the flood.
Such huge extremes when Nature doth unite,
Wonder from thence refults, from thence delight.
The ftream is fo tranfparent, pure, and clear,
That had the felf-enamour'd youth * gaz'd here;
So fatally deceiv'd he had not been,

While he the bottom, not his face had seen.
But his proud head the airy mountain hides
Among the clouds; his fhoulders and his fides
A fhady mantle cloathes; his curled brows
Frown on the gentle ftream, which calmly flows;
While winds and ftorms his lofty forehead beat:
The common fate of all that's high or great.
Low at his foot a fpacious plain is plac'd,
Between the mountain and the ftream embrac'd:
Which shade and fhelter from the hill derives,
While the kind river wealth and beauty gives ;
And in the mixture of all thefe, appears
Variety, which all the reft endears..
This scene had fome bold Greek or British bard
Beheld of old, what ftories had we heard
Of fairies, fatyrs, and the nymphs, their dames,
Their feasts, their revels, and their am'rous flames!
'Tis ftill the fame, altho' their airy shape
All but a quick poetick fight escape.

There Faunus and Sylvanus keep their courts,
And thither all the horned hoft reforts

* Narciffus.

Та

To
graze the ranker mead; that noble herd,
On whofe fublime and fhady fronts is rear'd
Nature's great mafter-piece; to fhew how foon
Great things are made, but sooner are undone.
Here have I feen the king, when great affairs
Gave leave to flacken, and unbend his cares,
Attended to the chace by all the flow'r
Of youth, whofe hopes a nobler prey devour;
Pleasure with praise and danger they would buy,
And wish a foe that would not only fly.
The ftag, now conscious of his fatal growth;
At once indulgent to his fear and sloth,
To fome dark covert his retreat had made,
Where nor man's eye nor Heaven's fhould invade
His soft rèpose; when th' unexpected found
Of dogs and men his wakeful ear does wound:
Rouz'd with the noise, he scarce believes his ear,
Willing to think th' illufions of his fear

Had giv'n this false alarm; but straight his view
Confirms, that more than all he fears is true.
Betray'd in all his ftrengths, the wood befet ;
All inftruments, all arts of ruin met;

He calls to mind his strength, and then his speed;
His winged heels, and then his armed head;
With these t' avoid, with that his fate to meet:
But fear prevails, and bids him trust his feet.
So faft he flies, that his reviewing eye
Has loft the chafers, and his ear the cry;
Exulting, till he finds their nobler sense
Their disproportion'd speed does recompense;
Then curfes his confpiring feet, whofe fcent
Betrays that fafety which their swiftness lent.
Then tries his friends: among the baser herd,
Where he fo lately was obey'd and fear'd,
His fafety feeks; the herd, unkindly wise,
Or chases him from thence, or from him flies.

Like a declining statesman, left forlorn
To his friends pity, and pursuers fcorn;
With fhame remembers, while himself was one
Of the fame herd, himself the fame had done.
Thence to the coverts, and the conscious groves,
The scenes of his paft triumphs, and his loves;,
Sadly furveying where he rang'd alone
Prince of the foil, and all the herd his own;
And like a bold knight-errant did proclaim
Combat to all, and bore away the dame;
And taught the woods to echo to the stream
His dreadful challenge, and his clashing beam.
Yet faintly now declines the fatal strife;
So much his love was dearer than his life.
Now ev'ry leaf, and ev'ry moving breath,
Presents a foe, and ev'ry foe a death.
Weary'd, forfaken, and purfu'd, at laft,
All fafety in defpair of safety plac'd,
Courage he thence refumes, refolv'd to bear
All their affaults, fince 'tis in vain to fear.

And now too late he wishes, for the fight,
That ftrength he wafted in ignoble flight :
But when he fees the eager chace renew'd,
Himfelf by dogs, the dogs by men purfu'd;
He ftraight revokes his bold refolve, and more
Repents his courage than his fear before;
Finds that uncertain ways unfafest are,

And doubt a greater mischief than despair.

Then to the ftream, when neither friends, nor force,

Nor speed, nor art avail, he shapes his course;
Thinks not their rage so desperate t' assay

An element more merciless than they;
But fearless they purfue, nor can the flood

Quench their dire thirst-alas! they thirst for blood.
So, tow'rds a fhip the oar-finn'd gallies ply,

Which wanting fea to ride, or wind to fly,

Stands