Yet ftops not there, but its free course maintains,
And spreads gay verdure through th' adjacent plains;
The labouring hinds with pleasure see it flow,
And blefs thofe ftreams by which their pastures grow.

O generous ufe of power! O virtuous pride!
Ne'er may the means be to fuch fouls deny'd,
Executors of Heaven's all-bounteous will,
Who well the great First-giver's ends fulfil,
Who from fuperior heights ftill looking down
On glittering heaps, which scarce they think their own,
Defpife the empty fhow of useless state,

And only would by doing good be great!

Now pause awhile, my Mufe, and then renew The pleasing tafk, and take a second view!

* * * *

*

*

* * * * * * *

* * * * * *

A train of virtues yet undrawn appear;

Here juft Oeconomy, strict Prudence there;
Near Liberality they ever stand;

This guides her judgment, that directs her hand.
By these fee wild Profufion chas'd away,

And wanton Luxury, like birds of prey.
Whilft meek Humility, with charms ferene,
Forbids vain Pomp t' approach the hallow'd scene;
Yet through her veil the more attracts the fight,
And on her fifter-virtues cafts a light.

But wherefore ftarts the Painter-Mufe, and why, The piece unfinish'd, throws the pencil by?

Methinks (the fays) Humility I hear,

With gentle voice reproving, cry-Forbear!
Forbear, rash Muse! nor longer now commend,
Left whom thou would'st describe, thou should'st offend,
And in her breaft a painful glowing raise,
Who, confcious of the merit, fhuns the praise.

"Me vero primùm dulces ante omnia Mufæ
Accipiant, colique vias & fidera monftrent."

66

VIRG.

ADVERTISEMENT.

It may be proper to acquaint the reader that the fol lowing poem was begun on the model of a Latin ode of Cafimire, intitled E REBUS HUMANIS EXCESSUS, from which it is plain that COWLEY likewife took the firft hint of his ode called the ECSTASY. The former part, therefore, is chiefly an imitation of that ode, though with confiderable variations, and the addition of the whole fecond

ftanza,

stanza, except the first three lines: but the plan itfelf feeming capable of a farther improvement, the latter part, which attempts a fhort view of the heavens according to the modern philofophy, is entirely original, and not founded on any thing in the Latin author.

I

I.

LEAVE Mortality's low fphere.
Ye winds and clouds, come lift me high,
And on your airy pinions bear

Swift through the regions of the sky.
What lofty mountains downward fly!
And lo, how wide a space of air
Extends new profpects to my eye!
The gilded fanes, reflecting light,
And royal palaces, as bright,
(The rich abodes

Of heavenly and of earthly gods)
Retire apace; whole cities too
Decrease beneath my rising view.
And now far off the rolling globe appears;
Its fcatter'd nations I furvey,

And all the mass of earth and fea;
Oh object well deferving tears!

Capricious ftate of things below,

That, changeful from their birth, no fix'd duration

know!

II.

Here new-built towns, afpiring high,
Afcend, with lofty turrets crown'd;
There others fall, and mouldering lie,
Obfcure, or only by their ruins found.
Palmyra's far-extended waste I spy,
(Once Tadmor, ancient in renown)
Her marble heaps, by the wild Arab shown,
Still load with ufelefs pomp the ground.
But where is lordly Babylon? where now
Lifts she to heaven her giant brow?
Where does the wealth of Nineveh abound?
Or where's the pride of Afric's fhore?
Is Rome's great rival then no more?

In Rome herself behold th' extremes of fate,
Her ancient greatness funk, her modern boasted flate!
See her luxurious palaces arife,

With broken arches mixt between !

And here what fplendid domes poffefs the fkies!

And there old temples, open to the day,

Rear

Their walls o'ergrown with mofs difplay;
And columns, awful in decay,

up their rooflefs heads to form the various scene.
III.

Around the fpace of earth I turn my eye;

But where's the region free from woe? Where shall the Muse one little fpot descry The feat of happiness below?

Here Peace would all its joys difpenfe, The vines and olives unmolested grow, But lo! a purple peftilence

Un

Unpeoples cities, fweeps the plains,

Whilft vainly through deserted fields

Her unreap'd harvests Ceres yields,

And at the noon of day a midnight filence reigns.
There milder heat the healthful climate warms,

But, flaves to arbitrary power,

And pleas'd each other to devour,
The mad poffeffors rush to arms.
I fee, I see them from afar,
I view distinct the mingled war!
I fee the charging fquadrons preft

Hand to hand, and breast to breast. Destruction, like a vulture, hovers nigh; Lur'd with the hope of human blood, She hangs upon the wing, uncertain where to fly, But licks her drowthy jaws, and waits the promis'd food.

IV.

Here cruel Discord takes a wider scene,

To exercise more unrelenting rage;

Appointed fleets their numerous powers engage,
With scarce a space of fea between.
Hark! what a brazen burft of thunder
Rends the elements afunder!

Affrighted Ocean flies the roar,

And drives the billows to the distant shore;
The diftant fhore,

That fuch a ftorm ne'er felt before,

Tranfmits it to the rocks around;

The rocks and hollow creeks prolong the rolling found.