When he th' Almighty Infant 's Birth foretold A mighty Volume in one hand is born Whose open'd Leaves the other seems to turn Vast Annals of my Sins in Scarlet writ But now eras'd blot our and cancell'd quite Hark how the Heavenly Whisper strikes mine Ear Mortal behold thy Crimes all pardon'd here Hail Sacred Envoy of th' Eternal King Welcom as the bless'd Tidings thou dost bring Welcom as Heav'n from whence thou cam'st but now Thus low to thy great God and mine I bow And might I here O might I ever grow Fix'd an unmov'd and endless Monument Of Gratitude to my Creator sent TO THE MEMORY OF Mr. Charles Morwent A PINDARIQUE Ignis utique quo clariùs effulsit citiùs extinguitur eripit se aufertque ex oculis subitò perfecta virtus quicquid est absoluti faciliùs transfluit optimi neutiquam diurnant Cambden de Phil. Syd O celeres hominum bonorum dies Apul. LONDON Printed in the Year 1687. To the Memory of my Dear Friend Mr. CHARLES MORWENT A PINDARIQUE Ostendunt terris hunc tantùm fata nec ultrà Esse sinunt Virg. I. BEst Friend could my unbounded Grief but rate With due proportion thy too cruel Fate Could I some happy Miracle bring forth Great as my Wishes and thy greater Worth All Helicon should soon be thine And pay a Tribute to thy Shrine The learned Sisters all transform'd should be No longer nine but one Melpomene Each should into a Niobe relent At once thy Mourner and thy Monument Each should become Like the fam'd Memnon's speaking Tomb To sing thy well-tun'd Praise Nor should we fear their being dumb Thou still would'st make 'em vocal with thy Rays II. O that I could distil my vital Juice in Tears Or wast away my Soul in sobbing Airs Were I all Eyes To flow in liquid Elegies That every Limb might grieve And dying Sorrow still retrieve My Life should be but one long mourning day And like moist Vapors melt in Tears away I 'd soon dissolve in one great Sigh And upwards fly Glad so to be exhal'd to Heav'n and thee A Sigh which might well-nigh reverse thy death And hope to animate thee with new Breath Pow'rful as that which heretofore did give A Soul to well-form'd Clay and made it live III. Adieu blest Soul whose hasty Flight away Tells Heaven did ne'er display Such Happiness to bless the World with stay Death in thy Fall betray'd her utmost spite And shew'd her shafts most times are levell'd at the white She saw thy blooming Ripeness time prevent She saw and envious grew and straight her arrow sent So Buds appearing e'er the Frosts are past Nip'd by some unkind Blast Wither in Penance for their forward haste Thus have I seen a Morn so bright So deck'd with all the Robes of Light As if it scorn'd to think of Night Which a rude Storm e'er Noon did shroud And buried all its early Glories in a Cloud The day in funeral Blackness mourn'd And all to Sighs and all to Tears it turn'd IV. But why do we thy Death untimely deem Or Fate blaspheme We should thy full ripe Virtues wrong To think thee young Fate when she did thy vigorous Growth behold And all thy forward Glories told Forgot thy tale of Years and thought thee old The brisk Endowments of thy Mind Scorning i' th' Bud to be confin'd Out-ran thy Age and left slow Time behind Which made thee reach Maturity so soon And at first Dawn present a full-spread Noon So thy Perfections with thy Soul agree Both knew no Non-age knew no Infancy Thus the first Patern of our Race began His Life in middle-age at 's Birth a perfect Man. V. So well thou acted'st in thy Span of Days As calls at once for Wonder and for Praise Thy prudent Conduct had so learnt to measure The different whiles of Toil and Leasure No time did Action want no Action wanted Pleasure Thy busie Industry could Time dilate And stretch the Thread of Fate Thy careful Thrift could only boast the Power To lengthen Minutes and extend an Hour No single Sand could e'er slip by Without its Wonder sweet as high And every teeming Moment still brought forth A thousand Rarities of Worth. While some no other Cause for Life can give But a dull Habitude to live Thou scorn'dst such Laziness while here beneath And Liv'dst that time which others only Breath VI. Next our just Wonder does commence How so small Room could hold such Excellence Nature was proud when she contriv'd thy Frame In thee she labor'd for a Name Hence 't was she lavish'd all her Store As if she meant hereafter to be poor And like a Bankrupt run o' th' Score Her curious Hand here drew in Straights and joyn'd All the Perfections lodge in Humane kind Teaching her numerous Gifts to lie Crampt in a short Epitome So Stars contracted in a Diamond shine And Jewels in a narrow Point confine The Riches of an Indian Mine Thus subtle Artists can Draw Nature's larger self within a Span A small Frame holds the World Earth Heav'ns and all Shrunk to the scant Dimensions of a Ball. VII Those Parts which never in one Subject dwell But some uncommon Excellence foretel Like Stars did all constellate here And met together in one Sphere Thy Judgment Wit and Memory conspir'd To make themselves and thee admir'd And could thy growing Height a longer Stay have known Thou hadst all other Glories and thy self out-done While some to Knowledg by degrees arrive Through tedious Industry improv'd Thine scorn'd by such pedantick Rules to thrive But swift as that of Angels mov'd And made us think it was intuitive Thy pregnant Mind ne'er struggl'd in its Birth But quick and while it did conceive brought forth The gentle Throes of thy prolifick Brain Were all unstrain'd and without Pain Thus when Great Jove the Queen of Wisdom bare So easie and so mild his Travels were VIII Nor were these Fruits in a rough Soil bestown As Gems are thick'st in rugged Quarries sown Good Nature and good parts so shar'd thy mind A Muse and Grace were so combin'd 'T was hard to guess which with most Lustre shin'd A Genius did thy whole Comportment act Whose charming Complaisance did so attract As every Heart attack'd Such a soft Air thy well-tun'd Sweetness sway'd As told thy Soul of Harmony was made All rude Affections that Disturbers be That mar or disunite Society Were Foreiners to thee Love only in their stead took up its Rest Nature made that thy constant Guest And seem'd to form no other Passion for thy Breast IX This made thy Courteousness to all extend And thee to the whole Universe a Friend Those which were Strangers to thy native Soil and thee No Strangers to thy Love could be Whose Bounds were wide as all Mortality Thy Heart no Island was disjoyn'd Like thy own Nation from all human kind But 't was a Continent to other Countries fixt As firm by Love as they by Earth annext
with Gall Yet sweet Alexis my Esteem of thee Was equal to thy Worth and Love for me Death is thy Gain that Thought affects me most I care not what th' ill-natur'd World has lost For Wit with thee expir'd how shall I grieve Who grudge th' ingrateful Age what thou didst leave The Tribute of their Verse let others send And mourn the Poet gone I mourn the Friend Enjoy thy Fate thy Predecessors come Cowley and Butler to conduct thee home Who would not Butler cries like me engage New Worlds of Wit to serve a grateful Age For such Rewards what Task will Authors shun I pray Sir is my Monument begun Enjoy thy Fate thy Voice in Anthems raise So well tun'd here on Earth to our Apollo's Praise Let me retire while some sublimer Pen Performs for thee what thou hast done for Homer and for Ben. N.T. On the ensuing Poems of Mr. John Oldham and the Death of his good Friend the ingenious Author OBscure and cloudy did the day appear As Heaven design'd to blot it from the year The Elements all seem'd to disagree At least I 'm sure they were at strife in me Possest with Spleen which Melancholy bred When Rumor told me that my Friend was dead That Oldham honour'd for his early Worth Was cropt like a sweet Blossom from the Earth Where late he grew delighting every Eye In his rare Garden of Philosophy The fatal Sound new Sorrows did infuse And all my Griefs were doubled at the News For we with mutual Arms of Friendship strove Friendship the true and solid part of Love And he so many Graces had in store That Fame or Beauty could not bind me more His Wit in his immortal Verse appears Many his Virtues were tho' few his Years Which were so spent as if by Heaven contriv'd To lash the Vices of the longer liv'd None was more skilful none more learn'd than he A Poet in its sacred Quality Inspir'd above and could command each Passion Had all the Wit without the Affectation A Calm of Nature still possest his Soul No canker'd Envy did his Breast controul Modest as Virgins that have never known The jilting Breeding of the nauseous Town And easie as his Numbers that sublime His lofty Strains and beautifie his Rhime Till the Time's Ignomy inspir'd his Pen And rowz'd the drowsie Satyr from his Den Then fluttering Fops were his Aversion still And felt the Power of his Satyrick Quill The Spark whose Noise proclaims his empty Pate That struts along the Mall with antick Gate And all the Phyllis and the Chloris Fools Were damn'd by his invective Muse in Shoals Who on the Age look'd with impartial Eyes And aim'd not at the Person but the Vice. To all true Wit he was a constant Friend And as he well could judge could well commend The mighty Homer he with Care perus'd And that great Genius to the World infus'd Immortal Virgil and Lucretius too And all the Seeds o' th' Soul his Reason knew Like Ovid could the Ladies Hearts assail With Horace sing and lash with Juvenal Unskill'd in nought that did with Learning dwell But Pride to know he understood it well Adieu thou modest Type of perfect Man Ah had not thy Perfections that began In Life's bright Morning been eclips'd so soon We all had bask'd and wanton'd in thy Noon But Fate grew envious of thy growing Fame And knowing Heav'n from whence thy Genius came Assign'd thee by immutable Decree A glorious Crown of Immortality Snatch'd thee from all thy mourning Friends below Just as the Bays were planting on thy Brow. Thus worldly Merit has the Worlds Regard But Poets in the next have their Reward And Heaven in Oldham's Fortune seem'd to show No Recompence was good enough below So to prevent the Worlds ingrateful Crimes Enrich'd his Mind and bid him die betimes T. Durfey On the Death of Mr. John Oldham HEark is it only my prophetick Fear Or some Death's sad Alarum that I hear By all my Doubts 't is Oldham's fatal Knell It rings aloud eternally farewel Farewel thou mighty Genius of our Isle Whose forward Parts made all our Nation smile In whom both Wit and Knowledge did conspire And Nature gaz'd as if she did admire How such few years such Learning could acquire Nay seem'd concern'd that we should hardly find So sharp a Pen and so serene a Mind Oh then lament let each distracted Breast With universal Sorrow be possest Mourn mourn ye Muses and your Songs give o'er For now your lov'd Adonis is no more He whom ye tutor'd from his Infant-years Cold pale and ghastly as the Grave appears He whom ye bath'd in your lov'd murmuring Stream Your daily pleasure and your mighty Theme Is now no more the Youth the Youth is dead The mighty Soul of Poetry is fled Fled ere his Worth or Merit was half known No sooner seen but in a Moment gone Like to some tender Plant which rear'd with Care At length becomes most fragrant and most fair Long does it thrive and long its Pride maintain Esteem'd secure from Thunder Storm or Rain Then comes a Blast and all the Work is vain But Oh! my Friend must we no more rehearse Thy equal Numbers in thy pleasing Verse In Love how soft in Satyr how severe In Passion moving and in Rage austere Virgil in Judgment Ovid in Delight An easie Thought with a Meonian Flight Horace in Sweetness Juvenal in Rage And even Biblis must each Heart engage Just in his Praises and what most desire Wou'd flatter none for Greatness Love or Hire Humble though courted and what 's rare to see Of wondrous Worth yet wondrous Modesty So far from Oftentation he did seem That he was meanest in his own Esteem Alas young man why wert thou made to be At once our Glory and our Misery Our Misery in losing thee is more Than could thy Life our Glory be before For shou'd a Soul celestial Joys possess And straight be banish'd from that Happiness Oh where would be its Pleasure where its Gain The Bliss once tasted but augments the Pain So having once so great a Prize in thee How much the heavier must our Sorrows be For if such Flights were in thy younger Days What if thou'dst liv'd O what had been thy Praise Eternal Wreaths of never-dying Bays But those are due already to thy Name Which stands enroll'd in the Records of Fame And though thy great Remains to Ashes turn With lasting Praises we 'll supply thy Urn Which like Sepulchral Lamps shall ever burn But hold methinks great Shade I see thee rove Through the smooth Path of Plenty Peace and Love Where Ben. salutes the first o'erjoy'd to see The Youth that sung his Fame and Memory Great Spencer next with all the learned Train Do greet thee in a Panegyrick Strain Adonis is the Joy of all the Plain Tho. Andrews DAMON an ECLOGUE On the untimely Death of Mr. Oldham Corydon Alexis BEneath a dismal Yew the Shepherds sate And talk'd of
you unhappy happy few Who strive with Life and Humane Miseries below Forgive me too If I in ought disparag'd them or else discourag'd you II. Blest Vertue whose Almighty Power Does to our fallen Race restore All that in Paradise we lost and more Lifts us to Heaven and makes us be The Heirs and Image of the Deity Soft gentle Yoak which none but resty Fools refuse Which before freedom I would ever chuse Easie are all the Bonds that are impos'd by thee Easie as those of Lovers are If I with ought less pure may thee compare Nor do they force but only guide our Liberty By such soft Ties are Spirits above confin'd So gentle is the Chain which them to Good does bind Sure Card whereby this frail and tott'ring Bark we steer Thro' Life's tempestuous Ocean here Thro' all the tossing Waves of Fear And dangerous Rocks of black Despair Safe in thy Conduct unconcern'd we move Secure from all the threatning Storms that blow From all Attacks of Chance below And reach the certain Haven of Felicity above III. Best Mistris of our Souls whose Charms and Beauties last And are by very Age increast By which all other Glories are defac'd Thou' rt thy own Dowry and a greater far Than All the Race of Woman-kind e'er brought Tho' each of them like the first Wife were fraught And half the Universe did for her Portion share That tawdry Sex which giddy senseless we Thro' Ignorance so vainly Deifie Are all but glorious Brutes when un-endowed with thee 'T is Vice alone the truer Jilt and worse In whose Enjoyment tho' we find A flitting Pleasure yet it leaves behind A Pain and Torture in the Mind And claps the wounded Conscience with incurable Remorse Or else betrays us to the great Trepans of Humane Kind IV. 'T is Vice the greater Thraldom harder Drudgery Whereby deposing Reason from its gentle Sway That rightful Sovereign which we should obey We undergo a various Tyranny And to un-number'd servile Passions Homage pay These with Aegyptian Rigor us enslave And govern with unlimited command They make us endless Toil pursue And still their doubled Tasks renew To push on our too hasty Fate and build our Grave Or which is worse to keep us from the Promis'd Land. Nor may we think our Freedom to retrieve We struggle with our heavy Yoak in vain In vain we strive to break that Chain Unless a Miracle relieve Unless th' Almighty Wand enlargement give We never must expect Delivery Till Death the universal Writ of Ease does set us free V. Some sordid Avarice in Vassallage confines Like Roman Slaves condemn'd to th' Mines These are in its harsh Bridewel lash'd and punished And with hard Labour scarce can earn their Bread. Others Ambition that Imperious Dame Exposes cruelly like Gladiators here Upon the World's Great Theatre Thro' Dangers and thro' Blood they wade to Fame To purchase grinning Honour and an empty Name And some by Tyrant-Lust are Captive led And with false Hopes of Pleasure fed 'Till tir'd with Slavery to their own Desires Life's o'er-charg'd Lamp goes out and in a Snuff expires VI. Consider we the little Arts of Vice The Stratagems and Artifice Whereby she does attract her Votaries All those Allurements and those Charms Which pimp Transgressors to her Arms Are but foul Paint and counterfeit Disguise To palliate her own conceal'd Deformities And for false empty Joys betray us to true solid Harms In vain she would her Dowry boast Which clog'd with Legacies we never gain But with unvaluable Cost Which got we never can retain But must the greatest part be lost To the great Bubbles Age or Chance again 'T is vastly over-balanc'd by the Joynture which we make In which our lives our souls our All is set at stake Like silly Indians foolish we With a known Cheat a losing Traffick hold Whilst led by an ill-judging Eye W' admire a trifling Pageantry And merchandize our Jewels and our Gold For worthless Glass and Beads or an Exchange's Frippery If we a while maintain th' expensive Trade Such mighty Impost on the Cargo's laid Such a vast Custom to be paid We 're forc'd at last like wretched Bankrupts to give out Clapt up by Death and in Eternal Durance shut VII What art thou Fame for which so eagerly we strive What art thou but an empty Shade By the Reflection of our Actions made Thou unlike others never follow'st us alive But like a Ghost walk'st only after we are dead Posthumous Toy vain after-Legacy Which only ours can be When we our selves no more are we Fickle as vain who dost on vulgar Breath depend Which we by dear Experience find More changeable more veering than th' unconstant Wind. What art thou Gold that cheat'st the Miser's eyes Which he does so devoutly idolize For whom he all his Rest and Ease does sacrifice 'T is Use alone can all thy Value give And he from that no Benefit can e'er receive Curst Mineral near Neighb'ring Hell begot Which all th' Infection of thy damned Neighbourhood hast brought Thou Bawd to Murthers Rapes Treachery And every greater Name of Villany From thee they all derive their Stock and Pedigree Thou the lewd World with all its crying Crimes dost store hardly wilt allow the Devil the cause of more And what is Pleasure which does most beguile That Syren which betrays us with a flattering Smile We listen to the treacherous Harmony Which sings but our own Obsequy The Danger unperceiv'd till Death draw nigh Till drowning we want Pow'r to ' scape the fatal Enemy VIII How frantick is the wanton Epicure Who a perpetual Surfeit will endure Who places all his chiefest Happiness In the Extravagancies of Excess Which wise Sobriety esteems but a Disease O mighty envied Happiness to eat Which fond mistaken Sots call Great Poor Frailty of our Flesh which we each day Must thus repair for fear of ruinous decay Degrading of our Nature where vile Brutes are fain To make and keep up Man Which when the Paradise above we gain Heav'n thinks too great an Imperfection to retain By each Disease the sickly Joy's destroy'd At every Meal it 's nauseous and cloy'd Empty at best as when in Dream enjoy'd When cheated by a slumbering Imposture we Fancy a Feast and great Regalio's by And think we taste and think we see And riot on imaginary Luxury IX Grant me O Virtue thy more solid lasting Joy Grant me the better Pleasures of the Mind Pleasures which only in pursuit of thee we find Which Fortune cannot marr nor Chance destroy One Moment in thy blest Enjoyment is Worth an Eternity of that tumultuous Bliss Which we derive from Sense Which often cloys and must resign to Impotence Grant me but this how will I triumph in my happy State Above the Changes and Reverse of Fate Above her Favours and her Hate I 'll scorn the worthless Treasures of Peru And those of t' other Indies too I 'll pity Caesar's self with all his Trophies and
Charms Bring home lov'd Daphnis to my longing Arms. As a poor Heifer wearied in the Chase Of seeking her lov'd Steer from place to place Thro' Woods thro' Groves thro' Arable and Wast On some green River's bank lies down at last There Lows her Moan despairing and forlorn And tho' belated minds not to return Let Daphnis's Case be such and let not me Take any Care to give a Remedy Bring Daphnis from the Town ye Magick Charms Bring home lov'd Daphnis to my longing Arms These Garments erst the faithless Traitor left Dear Pledges of his Love of which I 'm reft Beneath the Threshold these I bury now In thee O Earth these Pledges Daphnis owe. Bring Daphnis from the Town ye Magick Charms Bring home lov'd Daphnis to my longing Arms. Of Maeris I these Herbs and Poysons had From Pontus brought in Pontus store are bred With these I 've oft seen Maeris Wonders do Turn himself Wolf and to the Forest go I 've often seen him Fields of Corn displace From whence they grew and Ghosts in Church-yards raise Bring Daphnis from the Town ye Magick Charms Bring home lov'd Daphnis to my longing Arms. Go Maid go bear the Ashes out at door And them forthwith into the neighb'ring current pour Over thy Head and don 't look back be sure I 'll try what these on Daphnis will prevail The Gods he minds not nor my Charms at all Bring Daphnis from the Town ye Magick Charms Bring home lov'd Daphnis to my longing Arms. Behold the Ashes while we lingring stay While we neglect to carry them away Have reach'd the Altar and have fir'd the Wood That lyes upon 't Heav'n send it be for good Something I know not what 's the matter Hark! I hear our Lightfoot in the Entry bark Shall I believe or is it only Dream Which Lovers fancies are too apt to frame Cease now ye Magick Charms behold him come Cease needless Charms my Daphnis is at home UPON THE MARRIAGE OF THE Prince of ORANGE WITH THE Lady MARY I. AS when of old some bright and Heav'nly Dame A God of equal Majesty did Wed Strait thro' the Court above the Tydings spread Strait at the News th' immortal Offspring came And all the Deities did the High Nuptials grace With no less Pomp no less of Grandeur we Behold this glad Solemnity And all confess an equal Joy And all expect as God-like and as great a Race Hark how united Shouts our Joys proclaim Which rise in Gratitude to Heav'n from whence they came Gladsome next those which brought our Royal Exile home When he resum'd his long usurped Throne Hark how the mighty Vollies rend the Air And shake at once the Earth and utmost Sphere Hark how the Bell's harmonious Noise Bear Consort too with humane Joys Behold those num'rous Fires which up and down Threaten almost new Conflagration to the Town Well do these Emblems mighty Orange speak thy Fame Whose Loudness Musick Brightness all express the same 'T was thus great Jove his Semele did Wed In Thunder and in Lightning so approach'd her bed II. Hail happy Pair kind Heav'ns great Hostages Sure Pledges of a firm and lasting Peace Call 't not a Match we that low Stile disdain Nor will degrade it with a Term so mean A League it must be said Where Countries thus Espouse and Nations Wed Our Thanks propitious Destiny Never did yet thy Pow'r dispence A more Plenipotentiary Influence Nor Heav'n more sure a Treaty ratifie To YOU our great and gracious Monarch too An equal share of Thanks is due Nought could this mighty Work produce but Heav'n and You. Let others boast Of Leagues which Wars and Slaughter cost This Union by no Blood Cemented is Nor did its Harmony from Jars and Discords rise Not more to your great Ancestor we owe By whom two Realms into one Kingdom grow He join'd but what Nature had join'd before Lands disunited by no parting Shore By You to Foreign Countries we 're Allied You make Us Continent whom Seas and Waves divide III. How well Brave Prince do you by prudent Conduct prove What was denied to mighty Jove Together to be Wise and Love In this you highest Skill of Choice and Judgment shew 'T is here display'd and here rewarded too Others move only by unbridled guideless Heat But you mix Love with Policy Passion with State You scorn'd the Painters Hands your Hearts should tye Which oft and here they must the Original belye For how should Art that Beauty undertake Which Heav'n would strive in vain again to make Taught by Religion you did better Methods try And worship'd not the Image but the Deity Go envied Prince your glorious BRIDE receive Too great for ought but mighty YORK to give She whom if none must Wed but those who merit Her Monarchs might cease Pretence and flighted Gods despair Think You in Her far greater Conquests gain Than all the Pow'rs of France have from your Country ta'ne In her fair Arms let your Ambition bounded lie And fancy there an Universal Monarchy IV. And you fair Princess who could thus subdue What France with all its Forces could not do Enjoy your glorious Prize Enjoy the Triumphs of your conqu'ring Eyes From Him and th' Height of your great Mind look down And with neglect despise a Throne And think 't as great to Merit as to wear a Crown Nassau is all which your Desires or Thoughts can frame All Titles lodge within that single Name A Name which Mars himself would with Ambition bear Prouder in that than to be call'd the God of War To you great Madam if your Joys admit Increase If Heav'n has not already set your Happiness Above its Pow'r to raise To You the zealous humble Muse These solemn Wishes Consecrates and Vows And begs you 'll not her Offering refuse Which not your Want but her Devotion shews V. May your great Consort still successful prove In all his high Attempts as in your Love May he thro' all Attacks of Chance appear As free from Danger as he is from Fear May neither Sense of Grief or Trouble know But what in Pity you to others show May you be fruitful in as numerous Store Of Princely Births as She who your great Father bore May Heav'n to your just Merits kind Repeal the ancient Curse on Womankind Easie and gentle as the Labours of the Brain May yours all prove and just so free from Pain May no rude Noise of War approach your Bed But Peace her downy Wings about you spread Calm as the Season when fair Halcyons breed May you and the just owner of your Breast Both in as full Content and Happiness be blest As the first sinless Pair of old enjoy'd Ere Guilt their Innocence and that destroy'd Till nothing but Continuance to your Bliss can add And you by Heav'n alone be happier made Till future Poets who your Lives review When they'd their utmost Pitch of Flatt'ry shew Shall pray their Patrons may become like you
Nor know to frame a skilful Wish more great Nor think a higher Blessing in the Gift of Fate AN ODE For an Anniversary of MUSICK on S. Cecilia's Day I. BEgin the Song your Instruments advance Tune the Voice and Tune the Flute Touch the silent sleeping Lute And make the Strings to their own Measures dance Bring gentlest Thoughts that into Language glide Bring softest Words that into Numbers slide Let every Hand and every Tongue To make the Noble Consort throng Let all in one harmonious Note agree To frame the mighty Song For this is Musicks sacred Jubile II. Hark how the wak'ned Strings resound And break the yielding Air The ravish'd Sense how pleasingly they wound And call the listning Soul into the Ear Each Pulse beats time and every Heart With Tongue and Fingers bears a part By Harmonies entrancing Power When we are thus wound up to Ecstasie Methinks we mount methinks we tower And seem to antedate our future Bliss on high III. How dull were Life how hardly worth our care But for the Charms that Musick lends How faint its Pleasures would appear But for the Pleasure which our Art attends Without the Sweets of Melody To tune our vital Breath Who would not give it up to Death And in the silent Grave contented lye IV. Musick 's the Cordial of a troubled Breast The softest Remedy that Grief can find The gentle Spell that charms our Care to rest And calms the ruffled Passions of the Mind Musick does all our Joy refine It gives the Relish to our Wine 'T is that gives Rapture to our Love And Wings Devotion to a pitch Divine 'T is our chief Bliss on Earth and half our Heaven above Chorus Come then with tuneful Throat and String The Praises of our Art let 's sing Let 's sing to Blest CECILIA's Fame That grac'd this Art and gave this Day its Name With Musick Wine and Mirth conspire To bear a Consort and make up the Choir TO MADAM L. E. Vpon her Recovery from a late Sickness Madam PArdon that with slow Gladness we so late Your wish'd return of Health congratulate Our Joys at first so throng'd to get abroad They hinder'd one another in the crowd And now such haste to tell their Message make They only stammer what they meant to speak You the fair Subject which I am to sing To whose kind Hands this humble joy I bring Aid me I beg while I this Theme pursue For I invoke no other Muse but you Long time had you here brightly shone below With all the Rays kind Heaven could bestow No envious Cloud e're offer'd to invade Your Lustre or compel it to a Shade Nor did it yet by any Sign appear But that you thoroughout Immortal were Till Heaven if Heaven could prove so cruel sent To interrupt the Growth of your content As if it grudg'd those Gifts you did enjoy And would that Bounty which it gave destroy 'T was since your Excellence did envy move In those high Powers and made them jealous prove They thought these Glories should they still have shin'd Unsullied were too much for Woman-kind Which might they write as lasting as they 're Fair Too great for ought but Deities appear But Heaven it may be was not yet compleat And lackt you there to fill your empty Seat. And when it could not fairly woo you hence Turn'd Ravisher and offer'd Violence Sickness did first a formal siege begin And by sure slowness try'd your Life to win As if by lingring methods Heaven meant To chase you hence and tire you to consent But thus in vain Fate did to force resort And next by Storm strove to attack the Fort A Sleep dull as your last did you Arrest And all their Magazines of Life possest No more the Blood its circling course did run But in the Veins like Isicles it hung No more the Heart now void of quickning heat The tuneful March of vital Motion beat Stiffness did into all the Sinews climb And a short Death crept cold through every Limb. All Signs of Life from sight so far withdrew 'T was now thought Popery to pray for you There might you were not that sense lost have seen How your true Death would have resented been A Lethargy like yours each Breast did seize And all by Sympathy catcht your Disease Around you silent Imagery appears And nought in the Spectators moves but Tears They pay what Grief were to your Funeral due And yet dare hope Heaven would your Life renew Mean while all means all Drugs prescribed are Which the decays of Health or Strength repair Medicines so powerful they new Souls would save And Life in long-dead Carcasses retrieve But these in vain they rougher Methods try And now you 're Martyr'd that you may not die Sad Scene of Fate when Tortures were your gain And 't was a kindness thought to wish you pain As if the slackned string of Life run down Could only by the Rack be screw'd in tune But Heav'n at last grown conscious that its pow'r Could scarce what was to die with you restore And loth to see such Glories overcome Sent a Post-Angel to repeal your doom Strait Fate obey'd the Charge which Heaven sent And gave this first dear Proof it could Repent Triumphant Charms what may not you subdue When Fate 's your Slave and thus submits to you It now again the new-broke Thread does knit And for another Clew her Spindle fit And life 's hid spark which did unquencht remain Caught the fled light and brought it back again Thus you reviv'd and all our Joy with you Reviv'd and found their Resurrection too Some only griev'd that what was deathless thought They saw so near to Fatal ruin brought Now crowds of Blessings on that happy hand Whose skill could eager Destiny withstand Whose learned Pow'r has rescu'd from the Grave That Life which 't was a Miracle to save That Life which were it thus untimely lost Had been the fairest Spoil Death e'r could boast May he henceforth be God of Healing thought By whom such good to you and us was brought Altars and Shrines to him are justly due Who shew'd himself a God by raising you But say fair Saint for you alone can know Whither your Soul in this short flight did go Went it to antidate that Happiness You must at last tho late we hope possess Inform us lest we should your Fate belye And call that Death which was but Ecstasie The Queen of Love we 're told once let us see That Goddesses from Wounds could not be free And you by this unwish'd Occasion show That they like Mortal us can Sickness know Pitty that Heav'n should all its Titles give And yet not let you with them ever live You 'd lack no point that makes a Deity If you could like it too Immortal be And so you are half boasts a Deathless State Although your frailer Part must yield to Fate By every breach in that fair lodging made Its blest Inhabitant
is more displaid In that white Snow which over-spreads your Skin We trace the whiter Soul which dwells within Which while you through this shining Hue display Looks like a Star plac'd in the milky way Such the bright Bodies of the Blessed are When they for Raiment cloath'd with Light appear And should you visit now the Seats of Bliss You need not wear another form but this Never did Sickness in such Pomp appear As when it thus your Livery did wear Disease it self look'd amiable here So Clouds which would obscure the Sun oft gilded be And Shades are taught to shine as bright as he Grieve not fair Nymph when in your Glass you trace The marring Footsteps of a pale Disease Regret not that your Cheeks their Roses want Which a few Days shall in full store replant Which whilst your Blood withdraws its guilty Red Tells that you own no Faults that Blushes need The Sun whose Bounty does each Spring restore What Winter from the rifled Meadows tore Which every Morning with an early Ray Paints the young blushing Cheeks of instant Day Whose skill inimitable here below Limns those gay Clouds which form Heav'ns colour'd Bow That Sun shall soon with Interest repay All the lost Beauty Sickness snatch'd away Your Beams like his shall hourly now advance And every Minute their swift Growth enhance Mean while that you no helps of Healths refuse Accept these humble Wishes of the Muse Which shall not of their just Petition fail If she and she's a Goddess ought prevail May no profane Disease henceforth approach This sacred Temple with unhallow'd touch Or with rude sacriledge its frame debauch May these fair Members always happy be In as full Strength and well-set Harmony As the new Foundress of your Sex could boast Ere she by Sin her first Perfection lost May Destiny just to your Merits twine All your smooth Fortunes in a Silken Line And that you may at Heaven late arrive May it to you its largest Bottom give May Heaven with still repeated Favours bless Till it its Pow'r below its Will confess Till Wishes can no more exalt your Fate Nor Poets fansie you more fortunate ON THE DEATH OF Mrs Katharine Kingscourt A Child of Excellent Parts and Piety SHE did She did I saw her mount the Skie And with new Whiteness paint the Galaxy Heav'n her methought with all its Eyes did view And yet acknowledg'd all its Eyes too few Methought I saw in Crowds blest Spirits meet And with loud Welcomes her Arrival greet Which could they grieve had gone with grief away To see a Soul more white more pure than they Earth was unworthy such a Prize as this Only a while Heav'n let us share the Bliss In vain her stay with fruitless Tears we 'd woo In vain we'd Court when that our Rival grew Thanks ye kind Powers who did so long dispense Since you so wish'd her with her absence thence We now resign to you alone we grant The sweet Monopoly of such a Saint So pure a Saint I scarce dare call her so For fear to wrong her with a Name too low Such a Scraphick brightness in her shin'd I hardly can believe her Woman-kind 'T was sure some noble Being left the Sphere Which deign'd a little to inhabit here And can't be said to die but disappear Or if she Mortal was and meant to show The greater skill by being made below Sure Heav'n preserv'd her by the fall uncurst To tell how all the Sex were form'd at first Never did yet so much Divinity In such a small Compendium crouded lye By her we credit what the Learned tell That many Angels in one Point can dwell More damned Fiends did not in Mary rest Than lodg'd of Blessed Spirits in her Breast Religion dawn'd so early in her mind You 'd think her Saint whilst in the Womb enshrin'd Nay that bright ray which did her Temples paint Proclaim'd her clearly while alive a Saint Scarce had she learnt to lisp Religion's Name E'r she by her Example preach'd the same And taught her Cradle like the Pulpit to reclaim No Action did within her Practice fall Which for th' Atonement of a Blush could call No word of hers e'er greeted any Ear But what a dying Saint confest might hear Her Thoughts had scarcely ever fully'd been By the least Foot-steps of Original Sin. Her Life did still as much Devotion breath As others do at their last Gasp in Death Hence on her Tomb of her let not be said So long she liv'd but thus so long she pray'd A SUNDAY-THOUGHT In Sickness LOrd how dreadful is the Prospect of Death at the remotest Distance How the smallest Apprehension of it can pall the most gay airy and brisk Spirits Even I who thought I could have been merry in sight of my Coffin and drink a Health with the Sexton in my own Grave now tremble at the least Envoy of the King of Terrors To see but the shaking of my Glass makes me turn pale and fear is like to prevent and do the Work of my Distemper All the Jollity of my Humor and Conversation is turn'd on a sudden into shagrin and melancholy black as Despair and dark as the Grave My Soul and Body seem at once laid out and I fancy all the Plummets of Eternal Night already hanging upon my Temples But whence proceed these Fears Certainty they are not idle Dreams nor the accidental Product of my Disease which disorders the Brains and fills 'em with odd Chimaera's Why should my Soul be averse to its Enlargement Why should it be content to be knit up in two Yards of Skin when it may have all the World for its Purliew 'T is not that I 'm unwilling to leave my Relations and present Friends I 'm parted from the first already and could be sever'd from both the length of the whole Map and live with my Body as far distant from them as my Soul must when I 'm dead Neither is it that I 'm loth to leave the Delights and Pleasures of the World some of them I have tried and found empty the others covet not because unknown I 'm confident I could despise 'em all by a Greatness of Soul did not the Bible oblige me and Divines tell me 't is my Duty It is not neither that I 'm unwilling to go hence before I 've Establish'd a Reputation and something to make me survive my self I could have been content to be Still-born and have no more than the Register or Sexton to tell that I 've ever been in the Land of the Living In Fine 't is not from a Principle of Cowardise which the Schools have called Self-preservation the poor Effect of Instinct and dull pretence of a Brute as well as me This Unwillingness therefore and Aversion to undergo the general Fate must have a juster Original and flow from a more important Cause I 'm well satisfied that this other Being within that moves and actuates my Frame of Flesh and Blood
has a Life beyond it and the Grave and something in it prompts me to believe its immortality A Residence it must have somewhere else when it has left this Carcase and another State to pass into unchangeable and everlasting as it self after its Separation This Condition must be good or bad according to its Actions and Deserts in this Life for as it owes its Being to some Infinite Power that created it I well suppose it his Vassal and oblig'd to live by his Law and as certainly conclude that according to the keeping or breaking of that Law 't is to be rewarded or punish'd hereafter This Diversity of Rewards and Punishments makes the two Places Heaven and Hell so often mention'd in Scripture and talked of in Pulpits Of the later my Fears too cruelly convince me and the Anticipation of its Torment which I already feel in my own Conscience There is there is a Hell and damned Fiends and a never-dying Worm and that Sceptick that doubts of it may find 'em all within my single Breast I dare not any longer with the Atheist disbelieve them or think 'em the Clergy's Bugbears invented as Nurses do frightful Names for their Children to scare 'em into Quietness and Obedience How oft have I triumph'd in my unconcern'd and sear'd insensibility How oft boasted of that unhappy suspected Calm which like that of the dead Sea prov'd only my Curse and a treacherous Ambush to those Storms which at present and will for ever I dread shipwreck my Quiet and Hopes How oft have I rejected the Advice of that Bosom-Friend and drowned its Alarms in the Noise of a tumultuous Debauch or by stupifying Wine like some condemn'd Malefactor arm'd my self against the Apprehensions of my certain Doom Now now the Tyrant awakes and comes to pay at once all Arrears of Cruelty At last but too late like drowning Mariners I see the gay Monsters which inveigled me into my Death and Destruction Oh the gnawing Remorse of a rash unguarded unconsidering Sinner Oh how the Ghosts of former Crimes affright my haunted Imagination and make me suffer a thousand Racks and Martyrdoms I see methinks the Jaws of Destruction gaping wide to swallow me and I like one sliding on Ice tho I see the Danger cannot stop from running into it My Fancy represents to me a whole Legion of Devils ready to tear me in pieces numberless as my Sins or Fears and whither Alas whither shall I fly for Refuge Where shall I retreat and take Sanctuary Shall I call the Rocks and Mountains to cover me or bid the Earth yawn wide to its Centre and take me in Poor shift of escaping Almighty Justice Distracting Frenzy that would make me believe Contradictions and hope to fly out of the reach of him whose Presence is every where not excluded Hell it self for he is there in the effects of his Vengeance Shall I invoke some Power infinite as that that created me to reduce me to nothing again and rid me at once of my Being and all that tortures it Oh no 't is in vain I must be forced into Being to keep me fresh for Torment and retain Sense only to feel Pain I must be adying to all Eternity and live ever to live ever wretched Oh that Nature had placed me in the Rank of things that have only a bare Existence or at best an Animal Life and never given me a Soul and Reason which now must contribute to my Misery and make me envy Brutes and Vegetables Would the Womb that bare me had been my Prison till now or I stept out of 't it into my Grave and saved the Expences and Toil of a long and tedious Journey where Life affords nothing of Accommodations to invite ones stay Happy had I been if I had expired with my first Breath and enter'd the Bill of Mortality as soon as the World Happy if I had been drowned in my Font and that Water which was to Regenerate and give me New Life had prov'd Mortal in another Sense I had then died without any Guilt of my own but what I brought into the World with me and that too atton'd for I mean that which I contracted from my first Parents my unhappiness rather than Fault inasmuch as I was fain to be born of a Sinning Race Then I had never enhaunc'd it with acquired Guilt never added those innumerable Crimes which must make up my Indictment at the Grand Audit. Ungrateful Wretch I 've made my Sins as numerous as those Blessings and Mercies the Almighty Bounty has conferr'd upon me to oblige and lead me to Repentance How have I abused and misimployed those Parts and Talents which might have render'd me serviceable to Mankind and repaid an Interest of Glory to their Donor How ill do they turn to account which I have made the Patrons of Debauchery and Pimps and Panders to Vice How oft have I broke my Vows to my Great Creator which I would be conscientious of keeping to a silly Woman a Creature beneath my self What has all my Religion been but an empty Parade and Shew Either an useful Hypocrisie taken up for Interest or a gay specious Formality worn in Complaisance to Custom and the Mode and as changeable as my Cloaths and their Fashion How oft have I gone to Church the place where we are to pay him Homage and Duty as to an Assignation or Play only for Diversion or at best as I must ere long for ought I know with my Soul sever'd from my Body How I tremble at the Remembrance as if I could put the Sham upon Heaven or a God were to be imposed on like my Fellow-Creature And dare I convicted of these High Treasons against the King of Glory dare I expect a Reprieve or Pardon Has he Thunder and are not all his Bolts levell'd at my Head to strike me through the very Centre Yes I dare appeal to thee boundless Pity and Compassion My own Instances already tells me that thy Mercy is infinite for I 've done enough to shock Long-sufferance it self and weary out an Eternal Patience I beseech thee by thy soft and gentle Attributes of Mercy and Forgiveness by the last dying Accents of my suffering Deity have Pity on a poor humble prostrate and confessing Sinner And thou great Ransom of lost Mankind who offered'st thy self a Sacrifice to attone our Guilt and redeem our mortgag'd Happiness do thou be my Advocate and intercede for me with the Angry Judge My Pray'rs are heard a glorious Light now shone And lo An Angel-Post comes hast'ning down From Heav'n I see him cut the yielding Air So swift he seems at once both there and here So quick my sight in the pursuit was slow And Thought could scarce so soon the Journey go No angry Message in his Look appears His Face no signs of threatning Vengeance wears Comely his shape of Heavenly Meen and Air Kinder than Smiles of beauteous Virgins are Such he was seen by the blest Maid of old
Thou scorn'dst the Map should thy Affection guide Like theirs who love by dull Geography Friends but to whom by Soil they are ally'd Thine reach'd to all beside To every Member of the World 's great Family Heav'ns Kindness only claims a Name more general Which we the nobler call Because 't is common and vouchsaf'd to all X. Such thy Ambition of obliging was Thou seem'dst corrupted with the very Power to please Only to let thee gratifie At once did bribe and pay thy Courtesie Thy Kindness by Acceptance might be bought It for no other Wages sought But would its own be thought No Suiters went unsatisfy'd away But left thee more unsatisfy'd than they Brave Titus thou mightst here thy true Portraicture find And view thy Rival in a private mind Thou heretofore deserv'dst such Praise When Acts of Goodness did compute thy days Measur'd not by the Sun 's but thine own kinder Rays Thou thought'st each hour out of Life's Journal lost Which could not some fresh Favor boast And reckon'dst Bounties thy best Clepsydras XI Some Fools who the great Art of giving want Deflower their Largess with too slow a Grant Where the deluded Suitor dearly buys What hardly can defray The Expence of Importunities Or the Suspense of torturing Delay Here was no need of tedious Pray'rs to sue Or thy too backward Kindness woo It moved with no formal State Like theirs whose Pomp does for intreaty wait But met the swift'st Desires half way And Wishes did well-nigh anticipate And then as modestly withdrew Nor for its due Reward of Thanks would stay XII Yet might this Goodness to the happy most accrue Somewhat was to the miserable due Which they might justly challenge too Whate'er Mishap did a known Heart oppress The same did thine as wretched make Like yielding Wax thine did th' Impressions take And paint its Sadness in as lively Dress Thou could'st afflictions from another Breast translate And forein Grief impropriate Oft-times our Sorrows thine so much have grown They scarce were more our own Who seem'd exempt thou suffer'dst all alone XIII Our small'st Misfortunes scarce could reach thy Ear But made thee give in Alms a Tear And when our Hearts breath'd their regret in sighs As a just Tribute to their Miseries Thine with their mournful Airs did symbolize Like Throngs of Sighs did for its Fibres crowd And told thy Grief from our each Grief aloud Such is the secret Sympathy We may betwixt two neighb'ring Lutes descry If either by unskilful hand too rudely bent Its soft Complaint in pensive murmurs vent As if it did that Injury resent Untoucht the other strait returns the Moan And gives an Eccho to each Groan From its sweet Bowels a sad Note 's convey'd Like those which to condole are made As if its Bowels too a kind Compassion had XIV Nor was thy goodness bounded with so small extent Or in such narrow Limits pent Let Female Frailty in fond Tears distill Who think that Moisture which they spill Can yield Relief Or shrink the Current of anothers Grief Who hope that Breath which they in sighs convey Should blow Calamities away Thine did a manlier Form express And scorn'd to whine at an Unhappiness Thou thought'st it still the noblest Pity to redress So friendly Angels their Relief bestow On the unfortunate below For whom those purer minds no Passion know Such Nature in that generous Plant is found Whose every Breach does with a Salve abound And wounds it self to cure another's Wound In pity to Mankind it sheds its Juice Glad with expence of Blood to serve their Use First with kind Tears our Maladies bewails And after heals And makes those very Tears the remedy produce XV. Nor didst thou to thy Foes less generous appear If there were any durst that Title wear They could not offer Wrongs so fast But what were pardon'd with like haste And by thy acts of Amnesty defac't Had he who wish'd the Art how to forget Discover'd its new Worth in thee He had a double Value on it set And justly scorn'd th' ignobler Art of Memory No Wrongs could thy great Soul to Grief expose 'T was plac'd as much out of the reach of those As of material Blows No Injuries could thee provoke Thy Softness always dampt the stroke As Flints on Feather-beds are easiest broke Affronts could ne'er thy cool Complexion heat Or chafe thy temper from its setled State But still thou stoodst unshockt by all As if thou hadst unlearnt the Power to hate Or like the Dove wert born without a Gall. XVI Vain Stoicks who disclaim all Human Sense And own no Passions to resent Offence May pass it by with unconcern'd Neglect And Virtue on those Principles erect Where 't is not a Perfection but Defect Let these themselves in a dull Patience please Which their own Statues may possess And they themselves when Carcasses Thou only couldst to that high pitch arrive To court Abuses that thou mightst forgive Wrongs thus in thy Esteem seem'd Courtesie And thou the first was e'er oblig'd by Injury XVII Nor may we think these God-like Qualities Could stand in need of Votaries Which heretofore had challeng'd Sacrifice Each Assignation each Converse Gain'd thee some new Idolaters Thy sweet Obligingness could supple Hate And out of it its Contrary create It s powerful Influence made Quarrels cease And Fewds dissolv'd into a calmer Peace Envy resign'd her Force and vanquish'd Spite Became thy speedy Proselyte Malice could cherish Enmity no more And those which were thy Foes before Now wish'd they might adore Caesar may tell of Nations took And Troops by Force subjected to his Yoke We read as great a Conquerer in thee Who couldst by milder ways all Hearts subdue The nobler Conquest of the two Thus thou whole Legions mad'st thy Captives be And like him too couldst look and speak thy Victory XVIII Hence may we Calculate the Tenderness Thou didst Express To all whom thou didst with thy Friendship bless To think of Passion by new Mothers bore To the young Offspring of their Womb Or that of Lovers to what they Adore Ere Duty it become We should too mean Ideas frame Of that which thine might justly claim And injure it by a degrading Name Conceive the tender Care Of guardian Angels to their Charge assign'd Or think how dear To Heaven Expiring Martyrs are These are the Emblems of thy mind The only Types to shew how thou wast kind XIX On whomsoe'er thou didst confer this Tye 'T was lasting as Eternity And firm as the unbroken Chain of Destiny Embraces would faint shadows of your Union show Unless you could together grow That Union which is from Alliance bred Does not so fastly wed Tho it with Blood be cemented That Link wherewith the Soul and Body 's joyn'd Which twists the double Nature in Mankind Only so close can bind That holy Fire which Romans to their Vesta paid Which they immortal as the Goddess made Thy noble Flames most fitly parallel For thine were just
so pure and just so durable Those feigned Pairs of Faithfulness which claim So high a place in ancient Fame Had they thy better Pattern seen They'd made their Friendship more divine And strove to mend their Characters by thine XX. Yet had this Friendship no advantage been Unless 't were exercis'd within What did thy Love to other Objects tie The same made thy own Pow'rs agree And reconcil'd thy self to thee No Discord in thy Soul did rest Save what its Harmony increast Thy mind did with such regular Calmness move As held resemblance with the greater Mind above Reason there fix'd its peaceful Throne And reign'd alone The Will its easie Neck to Bondage gave And to the ruling Faculty became a Slave The Passions rais'd no Civil Wars Nor discompos'd thee with intestine Jars All did obey And paid Allegiance to its rightful Sway. All threw their resty Tempers by And gentler Figures drew Gentle as Nature in its Infancy As when themselves in their first Beings grew XXI Thy Soul within such silent Pomp did keep As if Humanity were lull'd asleep So gentle was thy Pilgrimage beneath Time's unheard Feet scarce makeless noise Or the soft Journey which a Planet goes Life seem'd all calm as its last Breath A still Tranquillity so husht thy Breast As if some Halcyon were its Guest And there had built her Nest It hardly now enjoys a greater Rest As that smooth Sea which wears the Name of Peace Still with one even Face appears And feels no Tides to change it from its place No Waves to alter the fair Form it bears As that unspotted Sky Where Nile does want of Rain supply Is free from Clouds from Storms is ever free So thy unvary'd mind was always one And with such clear Serenity still shone As caus'd thy little World to seem all temp'rate Zone XXII Let Fools their high Extraction boast And Greatness which no Travel but their Mothers cost Let 'em extol a swelling Name Which their 's by Will and Testament became At best but meer Inheritance As oft the Spoils as Gift of Chance Let some ill-plac't Repute on Scutcheons rear As fading as the Colors which those bear And prize a painted Field Which Wealth as soon as Fame can yield Thou scorn'dst at such low Rates to purchase Worth Nor couldst thou owe it only to thy Birth Thy self-born Greatness was above the Power Of Parents to entail or Fortune to deflower Thy Soul which like the Sun Heaven molded bright Disdain'd to shine with borrow'd Light. Thus from himself th' Eternal Being grew And from no other Cause his Grandeur drew XXIII Howe'er if true Nobility Rather in Souls than in the Blood does lie If from thy better part we Measures take And that the Standard of our Value make Jewels and Stars become low Heraldry To blazon thee Thy Soul was big enough to pity Kings And look'd on Empires as poor humble things Great as his boundless Mind Who thought himself in one wide Globe confin'd And for another pin'd Great as that Spirit whose large Powers rowl Thro' the vast Fabrick of this spatious Bowl And tell the World as well as Man can boast a Soul. XXIV Yet could not this an Haughtiness beget Or thee above the common Level set Pride whose Alloy does best Endowments mar As things most lofty smaller still appear With thee did no Alliance bear Low Merits oft are by too high Esteem bely'd Whose Owners lessen while they raise their Price Thine were above the very Guilt of Pride Above all others and thy own Hyperbole In thee the wid'st Extreams were joyn'd The loftiest and the lowliest Mind Thus tho some part of Heav'ns vast Round Appear but low and seem to touch the Ground Yet 't is well known almost to bound the Spheres 'T is truly held to be above the Stars XXV While thy brave Mind preserv'd this noble Frame Thou stoodst at once secure From all the Flattery and Obloquy of Fame It s rough and gentler Breath were both to thee the same Nor this could thee exalt nor that depress thee lower But thou from thy great Soul on both look'dst down Without the small concernment of a Smile or Frown Heav'n less dreads that it should fir'd be By the weak flitting Sparks that upwards fly Less the bright Goddess of the Night Fears those loud howlings that revile her Light Than thou Malignant Tongues thy Worth should blast Which was too great for Envy's Cloud to overcast 'T was thy brave Method to despise Contempt And make what was the Fault the Punishment What more Assaults could weak Detraction raise When thou couldst Saint disgrace And turn Reproach to Praise So Clouds which would obscure the Sun oft gilded be And Shades are taught to shine as bright as he So Diamonds when envious Night Would shroud their Splendor look most bright And from its Darkness seem to borrow Light. XXVI Had Heav'n compos'd thy mortal Frame Free from Contagion as thy Soul or Fame Could Virtue been but Proof against Death's Arms Th'adst stood unvanquisht by these Harms Safe in a Circle made by thy own Charms Fond Pleasure whose soft Magick oft beguiles Raw unexperienc'd Souls And with smooth Flattery cajoles Could ne'er ensnare thee with her Wiles Or make thee Captive to her soothing Smiles In vain that Pimp of Vice assay'd to please In hope to draw thee to its rude Embrace Thy Prudence still that Syren past Without being pinion'd to the Mast All its Attempts were ineffectual found Heav'n fenc'd thy heart with its own Mound And forc'd the Tempter still from that forbidden Ground XXVII The mad Capricio's of the doating Age Could ne'er in the same Frenzy thee engage But mov'd thee rather with a generous Rage Gallants who their high Breeding prize Known only by their Gallanture and Vice Whose Talent is to court a fashionable Sin And act some fine Transgression with a janty Meen May by such Methods hope the Vogue to win Let those gay Fops who deem Their Infamies Accomplishment Grow scandalous to get Esteem And by Disgrace strive to be eminent Here thou disdainst the common Road Nor wouldst by ought be woo'd To wear the vain Iniquities o' th' Mode Vice with thy Practice did so disagree Thou scarce couldst bear it in thy Theory Thou didst such Ignorance 'bove Knowledg prize And here to be unskill'd is to be wise Such the first Founders of our Blood While yet untempted stood Contented only to know Good. XXVIII Virtue alone did guide thy Actions here Thou by no other Card thy Life didst steer No sly Decoy would serve To make thee from its rigid Dictates swerve Thy Love ne'er thought her worse Because thou hadst so few Competitors Thou couldst adore her when ador'd by none Content to be her Votary alone When 't was proscrib'd the unkind World And to blind Cells and Grotto's hurl'd When thought the Fantom of some crazy Brain Fit for grave Anchorets to entertain A thin Chimaera whom dull Gown-Men frame To gull
deluded Mortals with an empty Name XXIX Thou own'dst no Crimes that shun'd the Light Whose Horror might thy Blood affright And force it to its known Retreat While the pale Cheeks do Penance in their White And tell that Blushes are too weak to expiate Thy Faults might all be on thy Forehead wore And the whole World thy Confessor Conscience within still kept Assize To punish and deter Impieties That inbred Judg such strict Inspection bore So travers'd all thy Actions ore Th' Eternal Judge could scarce do more Those little Escapades of Vice Which pass the Cognizance of most I' th' Crowd of following Sins forgot and lost Could ne'er its Sentence or Arraignment miss Thou didst prevent the young desires of ill And them in their first Motions kill The very thoughts in others unconfin'd And lawless as the Wind Thou couldst to Rule and Order bind They durst not any Stamp but that of Virtue bear And free from stain as thy most publick Actions were Let wild Debauchees hug their darling Vice And court no other Paradise Till want of Power Bids 'em discard the stale Amour And when disabled Strength shall force A short Divorce Miscall that weak forbearance Abstinence Which wise Morality and better Sence Stiles but at best a sneaking Impotence Thine far a Nobler Pitch did fly 'T was all free choice nought of Necessity Thou didst that puny Soul disdain Whose half strain Virtue only can restrain Nor wouldst that empty Being own Which springs from Negatives alone But truly thoughtst it always Virtues Skeleton XXX Nor didst thou those mean Spirits more approve Who Virtue only for its Dowry love Unbrib'd thou didst her sterling self espouse Nor wouldst a better Mistris choose Thou couldst Affection to her bare Idoea pay The first that e'er caress'd her the Platonick way To see her in her own Attractions drest Did all thy Love arrest Nor lack'd there new Efforts to storm thy Brest Thy generous Loyalty Would ne'er a Mercenary be But chose to serve her still without a Livery Yet wast thou not of Recompence debarr'd But countedst Honesty it s own Reward Thou didst not wish a greater Bliss t' accrue For to be good to thee was to be happy too That secret Triumph of thy Mind Which always thou in doing well didst find Were Heaven enough were there no other Heaven design'd XXXI What Virtues few possess but by Retail In gross could thee their Owner call They all did in thy single Circle fall Thou wast a living System where were wrote All those high Morals which in Books are sought Thy Practice did more Virtues share Than heretofore the learned Porch e'er knew Or in the Stagyrites scant Ethics grew Devout thou wast as holy Hermits are Which share their time 'twixt Ecstasie and Prayer Modest as Infant Roses in their bloom Which in a Blush their Lives consume So Chast the Dead are only more Who lie divorc'd from Objects and from Power So pure that if blest Saints could be Taught Innocence they 'd gladly learn of thee Thy Virtues height in Heaven alone could grow Nor to ought else would for Accession owe It only now 's more perfect than it was below XXXII Hence tho' at once thy Soul liv'd here and there Yet Heaven alone its Thoughts did share It own'd no home but in the active Sphere Its Motions always did to that bright Centre rowl And seem'd t' inform thee only on Parole Look how the Needle does to its dear North incline As wer 't not fixt 't would to that Region climb Or mark what hidden force Bids the Flame upwards take its course And makes it with that Swiftness rise As if'twere wing'd by th' Air thro' which it flies Such a strong Virtue did thy Inclinations bend And made 'em still to the blest Mansions tend That mighty Slave whom the proud Victor's Rage Shut Pris'ner in a golden Cage Condemn'd to glorious Vassalage Ne'er long'd for dear Enlargement more Nor his gay Bondage with less patience bore Than this great Spirit brookt its tedious Stay While fetter'd here in brittle Clay And wish'd to disengage and fly away It vex'd and chaf'd and still desir'd to be Releas'd to the sweet Freedom of Eternity XXXIII Nor were its Wishes long unheard Fate soon at its desire appear'd And strait for an Assault prepar'd A sudden and a swift Disease First on thy Heart Life's chiefest Fort does seize And then on all the Suburb-vitals preys Next it corrupts thy tainted Blood And scatters Poyson through its purple Flood Sharp Aches in thick Troops it sends And Pain which like a Rack the Nerves extends Anguish through every Member flies And all those inward Gemonies Whereby frail Flesh in Torture dies All the staid Glories of thy Face Where sprightly Youth lay checkt with manly Grace Are now impair'd And quite by the rude hand of Sickness mar'd Thy Body where due Symmetry In just proportions once did lie Now hardly could be known It s very Figure out of Fashion grown And should thy Soul to its old Seat return And Life once more adjourn 'T would stand amaz'd to see its alter'd Frame And doubt almost whether its own Carcass were the same XXXIV And here thy Sickness does new matter raise Both for thy Virtue and our Praise 'T was here thy Picture look'd most neat When deep'st in Shades 't was set Thy Virtues only thus could fairer be Advantag'd by the Foil of Misery Thy Soul which hasten'd now to be enlarg'd And of its grosser Load discharg'd Began to act above its wonted rate And gave a Praelude of its next unbody'd State. So dying Tapers near their Fall When their own Lustre lights their Funeral Contract their Strength into one brighter Fire And in that Blaze triumphantly expire So the bright Globe that rules the Skies Tho' he gild Heav'n with a glorious Rise Reserves his choicest Beams to grace his Set And then he looks most great And then in greatest Splendor dies XXXVI Thou sharpest Pains didst with that Courage bear And still thy Looks so unconcern'd didst wear Beholders seem'd more indispos'd than thee For they were sick in Effigie Like some well-fashion'd Arch thy Patience stood And purchas'd Firmness from its greater Load Those Shapes of Torture which to view in Paint Would make another faint Thou could'st endure in true Reality And feel what some could hardly bear to see Those Indians who their Kings by Tortures chose Subjecting all the Royal Issue to that Test Could ne'er thy Sway refuse If he deserves to reign that suffers best Had those fierce Savages thy Patience view'd thou 'dst claim'd their Choice alone They with a Crown had paid thy Fortitude And turn'd thy Death-bed to a Throne XXVII All those Heroick Pieties Whose Zeal to Truth made them its Sacrifice Those nobler Scaevola's whose holy Rage Did their whole selves in cruel Flames engage Who did amidst their Force unmov'd appear As if those Fires but lambent were Or they had found their Empyreum there Might
these repeat again their Days beneath They 'd seen their Fates out-acted by a natural Death And each of them to thee resign his Wreath In spite of Weakness and harsh Destiny To relish Torment and enjoy a Misery So to caress a Doom As make its Sufferings Delights become So to triumph o'er Sense and thy Disease As amongst Pains to revel in soft Ease These Wonders did thy Virtues worth enhance And Sickness to dry Martyrdom advance XXXVIII Yet could not all these Miracles stern Fate avert Or make 't without the Dart. Only she paus'd a while with Wonder strook A while she doubted if that Destiny was thine And turn'd o'er again the dreadful Book And hop'd she had mistook And wish'd she might have cut another Line But dire Necessity Soon cry'd 't was thee And bad her give the fatal Blow Strait she obeys and strait the vital Powers grow Too weak to grapple with a stronger Foe And now the feeble Strife forgoe Life's sap'd Foundation every Moment sinks And every Breath to lesser compass shrinks Last panting Gasps grow weaker each Rebound Like the faint Tremblings of a dying Sound And doubtful Twilight hovers o'er the Light Ready to usher in Eternal Night XXXIX Yet here thy Courage taught thee to out-brave All the slight Horrors of the Grave Pale Death's Arrest Ne'er shock'd thy Breast Nor could it in the dreadfulst Figure drest That ugly Skeleton may guilty Spirits daunt When the dire Ghosts of Crimes departed haunt Arm'd with bold Innocence thou couldst that Mormo dare And on the bare-fac'd King of Terrors stare As free from all Effects as from the cause of Fear Thy Soul so willing from thy Body went As if both parted by Consent No Murmur no Complaining no Delay Only a Sigh a Groan and so away Death seem'd to glide with Pleasure in As if in this Sense too 't had lost her Sting Like some well-acted Comedy Life swiftly past And ended just so still and sweet at last Thou like its Actors seem'dst in borrow'd Habit here beneath And couldst as easily As they do that put off Mortality Thou Breathedst out thy Soul as free as common Breath As unconcern'd as they are in a feigned Death XL. Go happy Soul ascend the joyful Sky Joyful to shine with thy bright Company Go mount the spangled Sphere And make it brighter by another Star Yet stop not there till thou advance yet higher Till thou art swallow'd quite In the vast unexhausted Ocean of Delight Delight which there alone in its true Essence is Where Saints keep an eternal Carnival of Bliss Where the Regalio's of refined Joy Which fill but never cloy Where Pleasures ever growing ever new Immortal as thy self and boundless too There may'st thou learned by Compendium grow For which in vain below We so much time and so much pains bestow There may'st thou all Idea's see All wonders which in Knowledg be In that fair beatifick mirror of the Deity XLI Mean while thy Body mourns in its own Dust And puts on Sables for its tender Trust Tho' dead it yet retains some untoucht Grace Wherein we may thy Soul 's fair Foot-steps trace Which no Disease can frighten from its wonted place E'en its Deformities do thee become And only serve to consecrate thy Doom Those marks of Death which did its Surface stain Now hallow not profane Each Spot does to a Ruby turn What soil'd but now would now adorn Those Asterisks plac'd in the Margin of thy Skin Point out the nobler Soul that dwelt within Thy lesser like the greater World appears All over bright all over stuck with Stars So Indian Luxury when it would be trim Hangs Pearls on every Limb. Thus amongst ancient Picts Nobility In Blemishes did lie Each by his Spots more honorable grew And from their Store a greater Value drew Their Kings were known by th' Royal Stains they bore And in their Skins their Ermin wore XLII Thy Blood where Death triumph'd in greatest State Whose Purple seem'd the Badge of Tyrant-Fate And all thy Body o'er Its ruling Colours bore That which infected with the noxious Ill But lately help'd to kill Whos 's Circulation fatal grew And thro' each part a swifter Ruin threw Now conscious it s own Murther would arraign And throngs to sally out at every Vein Each Drop a fedder than its native Dye puts on As if in its own Blushes 't would its Guilt attone A sacred Rubrick does thy Carcass paint And Death in every Member writes the Saint So Phoebus cloaths his dying Rays each Night And blushes he can live no longer to give Light. LXIII Let Fools whose dying Fame requires to have Like their own Carcasses a Grave Let them with vain Expence adorn Some costly Urn Which shortly like themselves to Dust shall turn Here lacks no Carian Sepulchre Which Ruin shall ere long in its own Tomb interr No fond Aegyptian Fabrick built so high As if 't would climb the Sky And thence reach Immortality Thy Virtues shall embalm thy Name And make it lasting as the Breath of Fame When frailer Brass Shall moulder by a quick Decrease When brittle Marble shall decay And to the Jaws of Time become a Prey Thy Praise shall live when Graves shall buried lie Till Time it self shall die And yield its triple Empire to Eternity To the Memory of that worthy Gentleman Mr. Harman Atwood PINDARIQUE I. NO I 'll no more repine at Destiny Now we poor common Mortals are content to die When thee blest Saint we cold and breathless see Thee who if ought that 's great and brave Ought that is excellent might save Had justly claim'd Exemption from the Grave And cancell'd the black-irreversible Decree Thou didst alone such Worth such Goodness share As well deserv'd to be immortal here Deserve a Life as lasting as the Fame thou art to wear At least why went thy Soul without its Mate Why did they not together undivided go So went we 're told the fam'd Illustrious Two. Nor could they greater Merits shew Altho' the best of Patriarchs that And this the best of Prophets was Heav'n did alive the blessed Pair translate Alive they launch'd into Life's boundless Happiness And never past Death's Straights and narrow Seas Ne'er enter'd the dark gloomy Thorowfare of Fate II. Long time had the Profession under Scandal lain And felt a general tho' unjust Disdain An upright Lawyer Contradiction seem'd And was at least a Prodigy esteem'd If one perhaps did in an Age appear He was recorded like some Blazing Star And Statues were erected to the wondrous Man As heretofore to the strange honest Publican To thee the numerous Calling all its thanks should give To thee who couldst alone its lost Repute retrieve Thou the vast wide extremes didst reconcile The first almost e'er taught it was not to beguile To each thou didst distribute Right so equally Ev'n Justice might herself correct her Scales by thee And none did now regret Her once bewail'd Retreat Since all enjoy'd her better