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How the fame nerves are fashion'd to sustain
The greatest pleasure and the greatest pain;
Why bilious juice a golden light puts on,
And floods of chyle in filver currents run;
How the dim fpeck of entity began

T'extend its recent form, and ftretch to man;
To how minute an origin we owe

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Young Ammon, Cæfar, and the great Nassau ;
Why paler looks impetuous rage proclaim,

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And why chill virgins redden into flame;
Why envy oft' transforms with wan disguise,
And why gay mith fits fmiling in the eyes;
All ice why Lucrece; or Sempronia, fire;
Why Scarfdale rages to furvive defire;

When Milo's vigour at th' Olympick 's shown,
Whence tropes to Finch, or impudence to Sloane;
How matter, by the vary'd shape of pores,
Or idiots frames, or folemn fenators.

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Hence 'tis we wait the wondrous caufe to find, How body acts upon impaffive mind;

How fumes of wine the thinking part can fire,.
Paft hopes revive, and prefent joys infpire;
Why our complexions oft' our foul declare,
And how the pallions in the feature are;
How touch and harmony arife between
Corporeal figure, and a form unfeen ;

VARIATIONS.

609

Ver. 53. Why Atticus polité, Brutus fevere,
Why Methwin muddy, Montagu why clears

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How quick their faculties the limbs fulfil,
And act at every fummons of the will;
With mighty truths, mysterious to defcry,
Which in the womb of diftant causes lie.

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But now no grand enquiries are defcry'd, Mean faction reigns where knowledge fhould prefide, Feuds are increas'd, and learning laid aside. Thus fynods oft' concern for faith conceal, And for important nothings fhew a zeal : The drooping fciences neglected pine, And Pean's beams with fading luftre shine." No readers here with hectic looks are found, Nor eyes in rheum, through midnight-watching, drown'd; The lonely edifice in fweats complains

That nothing there but fullen filence reigns.

This place, fo fit for undisturb'd repose,
The God of Sloth for his afylum chofe ;
Upon a couch of down in thefe abodes,
Supine with folded arms he thoughtless nods;
Indulging dreams his Godhead lull to ease,
With murmurs of foft rills, and whispering trees:
The poppy and each numbing plant dispense
Their drowzy virtue, and dull indolence;
No paffions interrupt his eafy reign,
No problems puzzle his lethargic brain;
But dark oblivion guards his peaceful bed,
And lazy fogs hang lingering o'er his head.

As at full length the pamper'd monarch lay,
Battening in ease, and flumbering life away;

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A fpiteful

A fpiteful noife his downy chains unties,

Haftes forward, and increafes as it flies.

First, fome to cleave the ftubborn * flint engage, 95 Till, urg'd by blows, it sparkles into rage:

Some temper lute, fome fpacious vessels move;
Thefe furnaces erect, and those approve;

Here phials in nice difcipline are fet,
There gallipots are rang'd in alphabet.
In this place, magazines of pills you spy ;
In that, like forage, herbs in bundles lie;
While lifted peftles, brandifh'd in the air,
Descend in peals, and civil wars declare.

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Loud ftrokes, with pounding fpice, the fabric rend, 105
And aromatic clouds in fpires afcend.

So when the Cyclops o'er their anvils fweat,
And fwelling finews echoing blows repeat;
From the volcanos grofs eruptions rife,
And curling fheets of fmoke obfcure the skies.
The flumbering God, amaz'd at this new din,
Thrice ftrove to rife, and thrice funk down again.
Liftlefs he stretch'd and gaping rubb'd his eyes,
Then falter'd thus betwixt half words and fighs:
How impotent a deity am I !

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With Godhead born, but curs'd, that cannot die !
Through my indulgence, mortals hourly share
A grateful negligence, and eafe from care.
Lull'd in my arms, how long have I with-held
The northern monarchs from the dufty field!

* The building of the Difpenfary.
C 4

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How

How have I kept the British fleet at ease,

From tempting the rough dangers of the feas!
Hibernia owns the mildness of my reign,
And my divinity 's ador'd in Spain..
I fwains to fylvan folitudes convey,

Where, ftretch'd on moffy beds, they waste away
In gentle joys the night, in vows the day.
What marks of wondrous clemency I've shown,
Some reverend worthies of the gown can own:
Triumphant plenty, with a cheerful grace,
Basks in their eyes, and sparkles in their face.
How fleek their looks, how goodly is their mien,
When big thy ftrut behind a double chin!

Each faculty in blandifhments they lull,

Afpiring to be venerably dull;

No learn'd debates moleft their downy trance,

Or difcompofe their pompous ignorance;
But, undisturb'd, they loiter life away,
So wither green, and bloffom in decay ;
Deep funk in down, they, by my gentle care,
Avoid th' inclemencies of morning air,

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And leave to tatter'd * crape the drudgery of prayer.

+ Urim was civil, and not void of fenfe, Had humour, and a courteous confidence: Só fpruce he moves, fo gracefully he cocks, The hallow'd rofe declares him orthodox: He pafs'd his eafy hours, instead of prayer, In madrigals, and phyllifing the fair;

*See Boil. Lut.

† Dr. Atterbury.

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Confiant

Conftant at feafts, and each decorum knew,
And, foon as the defert appear'd, withdrew;
Always obliging, and without offence,
And fancy'd, for his gay impertinence.
But fee how ill-miftaken parts fucceed;

He threw off my dominion, and would read;
Engag'd in controverfy, wrangled well;

In convocation-language could excel;

In volumes prov'd the church without defence,
By nothing guarded but by Providence ;

How grace and moderation disagree;

And violence advances charity.

Thus writ till none would read, becoming foon
A wretched fcribbler, of a rare buffoon.

Mankind my fond propitious power has try'd,
Too oft' to own, too much to be deny'd.
And all I ask are fhades and filent bowers,
To pass in soft forgetfulness my hours.
Oft' have my fears fome distant villa chose,
O'er their quietus where fat judges dofe,
And lull their cough and confcience to repose:
Or, if fome cloister's refuge I implore,
Where holy drones o'er dying tapers fnore,

Ver. 170.

VARIATIONS.

Sometimes among the Cafpian cliffs I creep,
Where folitary bats and fwallows fleep; .
Or, if fome cloifler's refuge I implore,
Where holy drones o'er dying tapers fnore,.
Still Naffau's arms a foft repofe deny,
Keep me awake, and follow where I fly.

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