ALEXANDER'S FEAST;

OR, THE POWER OF MUSIC; AN ODE IN HONOUR OF
ST. CECILIA'S DAY.

I.

'Twas at the royal feast, for Persia won

By Philip's warlike son:

Aloft in awful state

The godlike hero sate

On his imperial throne:

His valiant peers were plac'd around; Their brows with roses and with myrtles bound: (So should desert in arms be crown'd.)

The lovely Thais, by his side,
Sate like a blooming Eastern bride
In flower of youth and beauty's pride.

Happy, happy, happy pair!
None but the brave,

None but the brave,

None but the brave deserves the fair.

CHORUS.

Happy, happy, happy pair!

None but the brave,

None but the brave,

None but the brave deserves the fair.

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15 II.

Timotheus, plac'd on high

Amid the tuneful quire,

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With flying fingers touch'd the lyre :

The trembling notes ascend the sky,

And heavenly joys inspire.

The song began from Jove,

Who left his blissful seats above,

(Such is the power of mighty love.)
A dragon's fiery form belied the god :
Sublime on radiant spires he rode,

When he to fair Olympia press'd :
And while he sought her snowy breast:

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Then, round her slender waist he curl'd,
And stamp'd an image of himself, a sovereign of

the world.

The listening crowd admire the lofty sound,
A present deity, they shout around:
A present deity, the vaulted roofs rebound:

With ravish'd ears

The monarch hears,
Assumes the god,
Affects to nod,

And seems to shake the spheres.

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V. 20. Dr. Burney has given a learned, full, and entertaining account of Timotheus, the musician, in his first volume of his History of Music, p. 405. Mr. Jackson, whose taste and feeling on the subject of music must be allowed to be just and exquisite, censures Dryden for extending the powers of music over the passions, and affirms that pleasure only can be excited. Dr. J. W.

Of Bacchus ever fair and ever young:
The jolly god in triumph comes;
Sound the trumpets; beat the drums;

Flush'd with a purple grace
He shows his honest face:

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Now give the hautboys breath; he comes, he comes.
Bacchus, ever fair and young,

Drinking joys did first ordain ;
Bacchus' blessings are a treasure,
Drinking is the soldier's pleasure :

Rich the treasure,

Sweet the pleasure,

Sweet is pleasure after pain.

CHORUS.

Bacchus' blessings are a treasure,
Drinking is the soldier's pleasure :
Rich the treasure,
Sweet the pleasure,

Sweet is pleasure after pain.

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65 IV.

Sooth'd with the sound the king grew vain;

Fought all his battles o'er again;

And thrice he routed all his foes; and thrice he

slew the slain.

The master saw the madness rise; His glowing cheeks, his ardent eyes; And, while he heaven and earth defied, Chang'd his hand, and check'd his pride. He chose a mournful muse

Soft pity to infuse:

He sung Darius great and good,
By too severe a fate,
Fallen, fallen, fallen, fallen,
Fallen from his high estate,
And welt'ring in his blood;
Deserted, at his utmost need,
By those his former bounty fed;
On the bare earth expos'd he lies,
With not a friend to close his eyes.
With downcast looks the joyless victor sate,
Revolving in his alter'd soul

The various turns of chance below;
And, now and then, a sigh he stole;
And tears began to flow.

CHORUS.

Revolving in his alter'd soul

The various turns of chance below;

And, now and then, a sigh he stole ;
And tears began to flow.

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85

90 V.

The mighty master smil'd, to see
That love was in the next degree:
'Twas but a kindred sound to move,
For pity melts the mind to love.

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Softly sweet, in Lydian measures,
Soon he sooth'd his soul to pleasures.
War, he sung, is toil and trouble;
Honour, but an empty bubble;
Never ending, still beginning,
Fighting still, and still destroying:
If all the world be worth thy winning,
Think, O think it worth enjoying:
Lovely Thais sits beside thee,
Take the good the gods provide thee.
The many rend the skies with loud applause;
So Love was crown'd, but Music won the cause.

The prince, unable to conceal his pain,
Gaz'd on the fair

Who caus'd his care,

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And sigh'd and look'd, sigh'd and look'd,

Sigh'd and look'd, and sigh'd again:

At length, with love and wine at once oppress'd, The vanquish'd victor sunk upon her breast.

CHORUS.

The prince, unable to conceal his pain,
Gaz'd on the fair

Who caus'd his care,

And sigh'd and look'd, sigh'd and look'd,

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