Bacchus firft rais'd and prun'd the climbing vine,

And taught the grape to ftream with gen'rous wine;
Induftrious Ceres tam'd the favage ground,

And pregnant fields with golden harvests crown'd;
Flora with bloomy sweets enrich'd the year,

And fruitful autumn is Pomona's care.

I first taught woman to subdue mankind,

And all her native charms with dress refin'd:
Celestial fynod, this machine furvey,

That fhades the face, or bids cool zephyrs play;
If confcious blushes on her cheek arife,

With this fhe veils them from her lover's eyes;
No levell'd glance betrays her am'rous heart,
From the fan's ambufh fhe directs the dart.
The royal scepter fhines in Juno's hand,

And twisted thunder fpeaks great Jov's command;
On Pallas' arm the Gorgon fhield appears,
And Neptune's mighty grafp the trident bears:
Ceres is with the bending fickle seen,

And the ftrong bow points out the Cynthian queen ;
Henceforth the waving fan my hands fhall grace,
The waving fan fupply the fcepter's place.
Who fhall, ye powers, the forming pencil hold?
What story shall the wide machine unfold?
Let loves and graces lead the dance around,
With myrtle wreaths and flow'ry chaplets crown'd;
Let Cupid's arrows ftrow the smiling plains
With unrefifting nymphs, and am'rous fwains,

May

May glowing picture o'er the furface shine,
To melt flow virgins with the warm defign.

Diana rofe; with filver crefcent crown'd,
And fix'd her modest eyes upon the ground;
Then with becoming mien she rais'd her head,
And thus with graceful voice the virgin faid.

Has woman then forgot all former wiles,
The watchful ogle, and delusive smiles ?
Does man against her charms too pow'rful prove,
Or are the fex grown novices in love?
Why then these arms? or why should artful eyes,
From this flight ambush, conquer by furprize?
No guilty thought the spotlefs virgin knows,
And o'er her cheek no confcious crimfon glows;
Since blushes then from fhame alone arife,
Why should we veil them from her lover's eyes?
Let Cupid rather give up his command,

And truft his arrows in a female hand.

Have not the Gods already cherish'd pride,
And woman with deftructive arms supply'd?
Neptune on her beftows his choicest stores,
For her the chambers of the deep explores;
The gaping shell its pearly charge refigns,
And round her neck the lucid bracelet twines :
Plutus for her bids earth its wealth unfold,
Where the warm.oar is ripen'd into gold;
Or where the ruby reddens in the foil,.
Where the green emerald pays the fearcher's toil.

Does not the di'mond sparkle in her ear,
Glow on her hand, and tremble in her hair?
From the gay nymph the glancing luftre flies,
And imitates the lightning of her eyes.
But yet if Venus' wishes muft fucceed,
And this fantaftic engine be decreed,
May some chaste story from the pencil flow,
To speak the virgin's joy, and Hymen's woe.
Here let the wretched Ariadne stand,
Seduc'd by Thefeus to fome defart land,
Her locks difhevell'd waving in the wind,
The crystal tears confefs her tortur'd mind;
The perjur'd youth unfurls his treach'rous fails,
And their white bofoms catch the fwelling gales.
Be ftill, ye winds, fhe cries, ftay, Thefeus, ftay;
But faithlefs Thefeus hears no more than they.
All defp'rate, to some craggy cliff she flies,
And spreads a well-known fignal in the skies;
His lefs'ning veffel plows the foamy main,
She fighs, fhe calls, fhe waves the fign in vain.
Paint Dido there amidst her last distress,

Pale cheeks and blood-fhot eyes her grief express:
Deep in her breast the reeking sword is drown'd;
And gufhing blood streams purple from the wound :
Her fifter Anna hov'ring o'er her ftands,
Accuses heav'n with lifted eyes and hands ;
Upbraids the Trojan with repeated cries,
And mixes curfes with her broken fighs.

View this, ye maids; and then each swain believe; They're Trojans all, and vow but to deceive.

Thus may the nymph, whene'er she spreads the fan,
In his true colours view perfidious man ;
Pleas'd with her virgin state in forests rove,
And never truft the dang'rous hopes of love.
The goddefs ended. Merry Momus rofe,
With smiles and grins he waggish glances throws,
Then with a noify laugh foreftalls his joke;
Mirth flashes from his eyes while thus he spoke.
Rather let heav'nly deeds be painted there,
And by your own examples teach the fair ;
Let chaste Diana on the piece be seen,

And the bright crefcent own the Cynthian queen.
Would you warn beauty not to cherish pride,
Nor vainly in the treach'rous bloom confide,
On the machine the fage Minerva place,
With lineaments of wisdom mark her face;
See, where the lies near fome transparent flood,
And with her pipe chears the refounding wood:
Her image in the floating glafs fhe spies,
Her bloated cheeks, worn lips, and shrivell'd eyes;
She breaks the guiltless pipe, and with disdain.

Its shatter'd ruins flings upon the plain.

With the loud reed no more her cheek fhall fwell,

What, spoil her face! no. Warbling strains farewel. Shall arts, fhall sciences employ the fair?

Thofe trifles are beneath Minerva's care.

From Venus let her learn the married life,
And all the virtuous duties of a wife.
Here on a couch extend the Cyprian dame,
Let her eye sparkle with the glowing flame;
The God of war within her clinging arms,
Sinks on her lips, and kindles all her charms.
Paint limping Vulcan with a husband's care,
And let his brow the cuckold's honours wear;
Beneath the net the captive lovers place,
Their limbs entangled in a close embrace.
Let thefe amours adorn the new machine,,
And female nature on the piece be seen ;;
So fhall the fair, as long as fans shall last,.
Learn from your bright examples to be chaste.

BOOK III.

Thus Momus fpoke.. When fage Minerva rofe;
From her sweet lips smooth elocution flows,
Her skilful hand an iv'ry pallet grac'd,

Where fhining, colours were in order plac'd.
As Gods are blefs'd with a fuperior skill,.
And, fwift as mortal thought, perform their will.
Strait fhe proposes, by her art divine,
To bid the paint exprefs her great defign.
Th' affembled pow'rs confent. She now began,
And her creating pencil ftain'd the fan.

O'er the fair field, trees fpread, and rivers flow, Tow'rs rear their heads, and diftant mountains grow;