Whom, full of eager hafte, furprize, and fear,
Our mighty prince had fummon'd to appear;
As if fome news he'd of the Catti tell,
Or that the fierce Sicambrians did rebel :
As if expreffes from all parts had come
With fresh alarms threatening the fate of Rome.
What folly this! But, oh! that all the reft
Of his dire reign had thus been spent in jest;
And all that time fuch trifles had employ'd
In which so many nobles he destroy'd ;
He fafe, they unreveng'd, to the difgrace.
Of the furviving, tame, Patrician race!
But, when he dreadful to the rabble grew,.
Him, whom so many lords had flain they flew..

DAMON

AND A L E X I S.

DAMO N.

ELL me, Alexis, whence thefe forrows grow?

TELL

From what hid fpring do thefe falt torrents flow? Why hangs the head of my afflicted fwain;

Like bending lilies over-charg'd with rain ?

ALEXIS.

Ah, Damon, if what you already see,
Can move thy gentle breast to pity me;
How would thy fighs with mine in concert join,
How would thy tears fwell up the tide of mine?
Couldst thou but fee (but, oh, no light is there,.
But blackeft clouds of darknefs and defpair!)

Couldft

Couldft thou but fee the torments that within
Lie deeply lodg'd, and view the horrid fcene!
View all the wounds, and every fatal dart
That sticks and rankles in my bleeding heart!
No more, ye fwains, Love's harmless anger fear,,
For he has empty'd all his quiver here,
Nor thou, kind Damon, ask me why I grieve,
But rather wonder, wonder that I live.

DAMON,

Unhappy youth! too well, alas! I know The pangs despairing lovers undergo!

[Imperfect.]

CELIA AND DORINDA,

WHEN firft the young Alexis faw

Calia to all the plain give law,

The haughty Calia, in whofe face

Love dwelt with Fear, and Pride with Grace;
When every fwain he faw fubmit

To her commanding eyes and wit,
How could th' ambitious youth afpire
To perish by a nobler fire?

With all the power of verse he ftrove
The lovely fhepherdefs to move :
Verfe, in which the Gods delight,

That makes nymphs love, and heroes fight;

Verfe, that once rul'd all the plain,

Verfe, the wishes of a fwain.

How

How oft has Thyrfis' pipe prevail'd,

Where Egon's flocks and herds have fail'd
Fair Amaryllis, was thy mind.
Ever to Damon's wealth inclin'd;
Whilft Lycidas 's gentle breast,
With Love, and with a Muse possest,
Breath'd forth in verfe his foft defire,
Kindling in thee his gentle fire?

[Imperfect.]

CELIA'S

S O LIL O QUY.

MISTRESS of all my fenfes can invite,

Free as the air, and unconfin'd as light;
Queen of a thousand flaves that fawn and bow,
And, with fubmiffive fear, my power allow,
Shoul I exchange this noble ftate of life
To gain the vile detefted name of Wife;
Should I my native liberty betray,

Call him my lord, who at my footstool lay?

No thanks, kind heaven, that haft my soul employ'd,

:

With my great fex's useful virtue, Pride.

That generous pride, that noble just disdain,

That fcorns the flave that would prefume to reign.

Let the raw amorous fcribbler of the times

Call me his Cælia in infipid rhymes;

I hate and fcorn you all, proud that I am
Trevenge m tex's injuries on man

Compar'd to all the plagues in marriage dwell,
were preferment to lead apes in hell.

ΤΟ

TO SOME DISBANDED OFFICERS, Upon the late Vote of the House of Commons.

HAVE we for this ferv'd full nine hard campaigns?

Is this the recompence for all our pains?

Have we to the remoteft parts been fent,
Bravely expos'd our lives, and fortunes spent,
To be undone at last by Parliament ?

}

Muft colonels and corporals now be equal made,
And flaming fword turn'd pruning knife and spade?
T---b, S---, F---, and thousands more,

Muft now return to what they were before.
No more in glittering coaches fhall they ride,
No more the feathers fhew the coxcombs' pride.
For thee, poor ! my Mufe does kindly weep,
To fee difbanded colonels grown fo cheap.
So younger brothers with fat jointures fed,
Go defpicable, once their widows dead.
No fhip, by tempest from her anchor torn,
Is half so lost a thing, and so forlorn.
On every ftall, in every broker's shop,
Hang up the plumes of the dismantled fop;
Trophies like these we read not of in story,
By other ways the Romans got their glory.
But in this, as in all things, there's a doom,
Some die i' th' field, and others ftarve at home.

To a Roman Catholick upon MARRIAGE.
ENSURE and penances, excommunication,

C

Are bug-bear words to fright a bigot nation But 'tis the Church's more fubftantial curfe,

To damn us all for better and for worfe.

Falfely your Church feven facraments does frame,
Penance and Matrimony are the fame.

A FRAG

MEN

T.

AND yet he fears to use them, and be free;
Yet fome have ventur'd, and why should not all?
Let villains, perjur'd, envious, and malicious,
The wretched mifer and the midnight murderer;
Betrayers of their country, or their friend,

(And every guilty breast) fear endless torment,
Blue lakes of brimftone, unextinguish'd fires,
Scorpions and whips, and all that guilt deferves;
Let these, and only thefe, thus plague themfelves.
For though they fear what neither shall nor can be,
'Tis punishment enough it makes them live,
Live, to endure the dreadful apprehenfion

Of Death, to them fo dreadful; but why dreadful,
At least to virtuous minds ?-To be at reft,
To fleep, and never hear of trouble more,

Say, is this dreadful? Heart, wouldst thou be at quiet?
Doft thou thus beat for reft, and long for cafe,
And not command thy friendly hand to help thee?
What hand can be fo eaf as thy own,

To apply the medicine that cures all difeafes!

AN