Affign the Period to each Nation's Fame.
Thus rofe, and thus expir'd th' Affyrian Name;
Thus funk (alike their Glory, and their Doom)
Thy Pride, O Perfia, and thy Grandeur, Rome.

Now mix'd with Shades of mighty Heroes flain,

The empty Troops o'erfpread th' Elysian Plain: And if th' Important Story be allow'd,

Confirm'd by Fame, each Night the Fairy-Crowd, Unbody'd Forms, by won'dring Shepherds seen, Skims thro' the Gloom, and wanton o'er the Green.

With Schemes of War no more their Bofoms glow,

Forget their Labours, and the Feather'd Foe.
But fportive now in wanton Dances round,
With narrow Tracks they mark the flow'ry
Ground:

1

A greener Turf the verdant Ring fupplies,
And in the Fairy-Name the Pygmy dies.

FINI S.

THE

THE

Puppet-Show.

Ο

Written by Mr. ADDISON.

F Trivial Things I fing furprizing Scenes,
Crowds void of Thought, and Nations in
Machines.

A Race Diminutive; whofe Frames were
built

Free from the Sacrilege of antient Guilt;
Who from a better new PROMETHEUS came;
Nor boaft the Plunder of Coeleftial Flame.

THERE, where facetious Andrew rifes high, And draws the Peopled Street beneath his Eye; With witty Jefts the gaping Crowd derides, Difterts their Mufcles, and fatigues their Sides. All Sons of Mirth, the Gay, the Curious come, Enter the Booth, and fill the fpacious Room. Not undiftinguifh'd are the Honours there; But different Seats their different Prices bear. At length, when now the Curtain mounts on high,

The narrow Scenes are opened to the Eye

Where

Where Wire-Partitions twinkle to the Sight,
That cut the Vifion, and divide the Light.
Ingenious Artifice! of fure Deceit,

Since Naked Prospects would betray the Cheat.
And now the fqueaking Tribe proceeding roams
O'er painted Manfions, and illuftrious Domes.
Within this humble Cell, this narrow Wall,
Affemblies, Battels, Conquefts, Triumphs, All
That Human Minds can act, or Pride furvey,
On their low Stage, the Little Nation play.

BUT one above the reft diftinguish'd stalks ; A Hero, who in hoarfer Accents talks.

Large is the Buckle that his Veft controuls;
His Mimick Eye with living Motion rowls.
His Belly turgid of enormous Size;

Behind his Back a Bulk of Mountains lies.
Huge, manly, tall, he frights the Pygmy-Court,
Who fly and wonder at his Giant-Port.
Audacious Hero He; who much relies
On his unequal Arm, and haughty Size.
Of thefe Superior Gifts and Talents proud,
He mocks and rallies all the Leffer Crowd:
Scatters his Satire round, and oft provokes
The Croud to Laughter by facetious Jokes.
Een when fome ferious Action is difplay'd,
And folemn Pomps in long Proceffion made,
He uncontroulable, of Humour rude,
Muft with unfeafonable Mirth intrude:
Scornful he grins upon their Tragic Rage,
And difconcerts the Fable of the Stage.
Sometimes the gracelets Wight with faucy Air,
Makes rude Approaches to the painted Fair.
The Nymph retires, he fcorns to be withstood,
And forces Kiffes on th' unwilling Wood.

Nor fo his Fellows of inferior Parts,
They pleas'd the Theatre with various Arts,

Lafcivi

I

Lafcivious Sport, in circling Turns advance,
And tire their little Limbs in active Dance.
SOMETIMES the Wooden People you behold,
Attir'd in rich Array of figur'd Gold:
Rows of diffembled Jewels blaze around,
And Robes of Tyrian Purple ftain the Ground.
For when their Tribes in Pageantry difplay
The Mimick Grandeur of fome Solemn Day,
The painted Nymphs proceed a comely Train,"
In Order juft, and brighten all the Plain.
Nobles of Stature fmall attract the Eyes,
And laft the Commons of an humbler Size.
The pleas'd Spectator, as thefe Scenes he views,
The Pygmy-Nation in his Mind renews:
He fancies now the Cranes Invafions ceafe;
Their warlike Souls are foften'd by a Peace, A
And now fecure in guiltless Sports they play,
Laugh down the Sun, and dance away the Day.
THUS, when the Stars obtain their Midnight
Sphere,

"

T

10

A Race like thefe of Human Form appear;
The Fairy Train, that dancing in the Dark,
Return in Circles, and their Footsteps mark
The merry Goblins, conftant to the Round,
In meafure trip, and beat the hallow'd Ground.
The Morn Betrays the Print, the fruitful Earth
From hence teems pregnant with a juicy Birth,,
Luxuriant Growths of bolder Grafs are feen,
That rife in Circles of a deeper Green.

YET O! fome Clouds obfcure their peaceful Days, Wars, borrid Wars, difaftrous Tumults raife. The Joys of Peace are broke by rough Alarms, Their Troops breath Slaughter, and prepare for

t Arms.

So infincere is mortal Blifs! fo fure à la but. Care blends our Foys, and makes them all impure!

Now

Now Swords, and warring Arms the Profpect

mar,

Protended Spears that glitter from afar,
And fulph'rous Tubes; dread Equipage of

War.

The Din of Fight begins; a direful Sound
Flies thro' the Dome, and fhakes the Walls
around,

From the burit Volumes fputt'ring Sulphurs toft
Promiscuous Hifs, and Sounds in Sounds are loft.
Confufion reigns; the Field of War bespread,
Reveals, unhappy View! her Heaps of Dead
Thick on all Hands, extended on the Stage,
Slain Troops appear, the Guilt of Civil Rage..
Bur when they have allay'd their Martial Ire,
And their calm Spirits breath a fober Fire;
The War concluded. They refume their Parts,
Repeat their former Toils, and various Arts.
Now oft the Heroes of the Sacred Page;
Great Souls! the Product of a better Age,
Redeem'd and refcu'd from the filent Urn,
On this low Stage in Miniature return.
There may you fee a venerable Band
Of Patriarch-Sires in hoary Order stand;
Their Faces furrow'd, as they once appear'd,
And their Chins cloath'd with filver Lengths of
Beard.

So, long confuming Age from Day to Day,
Contracted TITHON by a flow Decay,

From wafting Stage to Stage he gradual past,
And funk into a Grafhopper at laft.

Now fing we whence the Puppet - Actors

came,

What hidden Power fupplies the hollow Frame; What cunning Agent o'er the Scenes prefides, And all the fecret Operation glides.

The