Poetae Britannici.
A POEM, Satyrical and Panegyrical.
Primum ego me illorum dederim quibus esse Poetas
Excerpam numero.—
—Cui Mens divinior at
(que) Os
Magna locuturum, des Nominis hujus honorem.
Hor.
LONDON, Printed for A. Roper at the Black-Boy, and R. Basset at the Mitre, both in Fleetstreet; and Sold by Mr. Jefferies Bookseller in Cambridge, MDCC.
To his Friend, on the following POEM.
OThers their praise may gratefully bestow,
And pay that Debt, which they to merit owe:
But Im indebted on a double Score,
Much for your Verse, but for your Friendship more:
And who an equal recompence can tell,
For one who sings, and one who loves so well?
To praise your Verse, is what the most will do,
I would do something more, in praising you;
Not, how the Poet's for his Verse admir'd,
But how good Nature makes the Man desir'd.
And yet the Task's so great to praise a Friend,
That I much rather would your Verse commend.
I would indeed; but something in your Lines
So strange, so dazling, so peculiar Shines,
That loud-tongu'd praise must here be at a stand,
And Silent wonder only must commend.
Thus mighty Joy is by excess conceal'd,
Yet Shakes the breast, and fain would be reveal'd▪
Intranc'd in extasy, unmov'd it lies,
The
[...]ights too heavy, and it cannot rise.
W. DOVE.
To my Friend on his Characters of the English POETS.
AT last our
English Tongue is happy made,
And our Wit's grown industrious as our Trade;
The Rev'rend Prophet now with joy may see,
The utmost of his wish fullfill'd in Thee,
All Foreign Wit in
English dress display'd,
Without the help of any Foreign Aid:
Whatever Ancient
Greece or
Rome could Boast,
Is now Transported to the
British Coast:
Now all their bright perfections scatter'd shine
In ev'ry Poem, but Unite in Thine;
So the Sun yeilds a double Heat and Light,
When in a Glass his scatter'd Beams Unite:
Maeon's Great Son, no longer shall confine,
To his fam'd Verse the force of Heat Divine:
Our Godlike
Milton has as Nobly Wrote,
He Sings as boldly as his Angels fought!
Judicious
Dryden, may with
Virgil claim,
Of just, yet daring flights, the prudent Fame:
Waller in Verse as Tender as his Love,
Like soft
Catullus, does our passions move:
To
Horace and to
Cowly does belong,
The Boundless Fancy of the
Lyrick Song;
Bion and
Congreve, shall in Mournful Swains,
Lament Untimely Fate to Weeping strains:
Brave
Cutar, like
Tyrtaeus, shall Engage
The
Heroe's Courage, and the Poets Rage.
Oldham and
Juvenal in keenest Rhimes,
Shall lash the Follies of Degenerate Times.
Whither does Fancy hurry me along?
To you (my Friend) this Province does belong.
Your Copious Wit can only Theirs express,
For only Yours can Suit an equal dress.
Your flowing Numbers can alone dispense,
The warmest Fancy with the coolest sense.
Your heat of Youth can Tow'r a
Milton's flight,
And Judgment can like
Virgil steer it Right.
Oh may some Genius like your self arise,
Whose Wit and Learning may the World Surprise!
As you have giv'n each Tuneful Bard his due,
May he confer the same Reward on you,
W. Worts.
Poetae Britannici. A POEM.
SURE, when the Maker in his Heav'nly Breast
Design'd a Creature to command the rest,
Of all th' erected Progeny of Clay,
His Noblest Labour was his first Essay.
There shone th' Eternal Brightness, and a Mind
Proportion'd for the Father of Mankind.
The vigour of Omnipotence was seen.
In his high Actions, and imperial Mien.
Inrich'd with Arts unstudy'd, and untaught,
With loftiness of Soul, and dignity of Thought;
To rule the World, and what he rul'd to Sing,
And be at once the Poet, and the King.
Whether his Learning with his Breath he drew,
And saw the depth of Nature at a view:
Or, new descending from th' Angelick Race,
Retain'd some Tincture of his native place.
Fine was the matter of that curious Frame
Which lodg'd his Fiery Guest, and like the same.
Nor was a less resemblance in his Sense:
His Thoughts were lofty, just his Eloquence.
[Page 4]When e're he spoke, from his Seraphick Tongue
Ten thousand comely Graces, ever young
With new
Calliope's and
Clio's sprung.
No shackling Rhyme chain'd the free Poets mind;
Majestick was his Style, and unconfin'd.
Vast was each Sentence, and each wondrous strain
Sprung forth, unlabour'd, from his fruitful Brain.
But when he yielded to deluding Charms,
Th' harmonious Goddess shunn'd his empty Arms.
The Muse no more his sacred Breast inspir'd,
But to the Skies, her ancient Seat, retir'd.
Yet here and there Coelestial Seeds she threw,
And rain'd melodious Blessings, as she flew.
Which some receiv'd, whom gracious Heaven design'd
For high Employments, and their Clay refin'd.
Who, of a Species more sublime can tame
The rushing God, and stem the rapid Flame.
When in their Breasts th' impetuous
Numen rowls,
And with uncommon heaves swells their Diviner Souls.
Thus the Companion of the Godhead sung,
And wrote upon those Reeds from whence he sprung.
He, first of Poets, told how Infant light
Unknown before, dawn'd from the Womb of Night;
How Sin and Shame th' Unhappy Couple knew,
And through affrighted
Eden, more affrighted, flew.
How God advanc'd his Darling
Abram's fame
In the sure promise of his lengthn'd Name.
On
Horeb's top, or
Sina's flaming Hill,
Familiar Heav'n reveal'd his sacred Will.
Seth's Column then firm and unshaken stood,
And long out-liv'd the malice of the Flood.
His Father's fall was Letter'd on the Stone;
Thence Arts, Inventions, Sciences were known.
Thence Divine
Moses with exalted Thought
In
Hebrew Lines the Worlds beginning wrote.
The Gift of Verse descended to the
Jews,
Inspir'd with something nobler than a Muse.
Here
Deborah in fiery Rapture sings
The rout of Armies, and the fall of Kings.
[Page 5]Thy Torrent
Kison shall for ever flow,
Which trampl'd o'er the Dead, and swept away the Foe,
With Songs of Triumph, and the Maker's praise,
With sounding Numbers, and united lays
The Seed of
Judah to the Battle flew,
And Orders of destroying Angels drew
To their Victorious side; who marching round
Their Foes touch'd
Myriad's at the Signal sound,
By Harmony they fell, and dy'd without a Wound.
So strong is Verse Divine, when we proclaim
Thy Power, eternal Light, and sing thy Name!
Nor does it here alone its
Magick show,
But works in Hell, and binds the Fiends below.
So pow'rful is the Muse! when
David plaid
The Frantick Daemon heard him, and obey'd.
No noise, no hiss: the Dumb Apostate lay
Sunk in soft Silence, and dissolv'd away:
Nor was this Miracle of Verse confin'd
To
Jews alone; for in a Heathen mind
Some strokes appear: thus
Orpheus was inspir'd;
Inchanting Syrens at his Song retir'd.
To Rocks and Seas he the curst Maids pursu'd,
And their Strong charms by stronger charms subdu'd.
But
Greece was honour'd with a greater Name,
Homer is
Greece's Glory and her Shame.
How could Learned
Athens with Contempt refuse
Th' Immortal Labours of so vast a Muse?
Thee,
Colophon, his Angry Ghost upbraids,
While his loud numbers charm th' Infernal Shades.
Ungrateful Cities! which could vainly strive
For the dead
Homer, whom they scorn'd alive.
So strangely wretched is the Poet's doom,
To wither here and flourish in the Tomb.
His Fame, when living, does but slowly rise,
But stretches like his Body, when he dies.
Though
Virgil rising under happier Stars,
Saw
Rome succeed in Learning, as in Wars.
When
Pollio like a smiling Planet shone,
And
Caesar darted on him like the Sun.
[Page 6]The fam'd
Maecenas listen'd with desire,
When Tuneful
Flaccus touch'd the
Roman Lyre.
But when,
Maecenas, will thy Star appear
In our low Orb, and gild the
British Sphere?
Say, art thou come, and to deceive our Eyes,
Dissemble under
D—set's fair disguise?
If so; go on, Great
S—ckv—le, to regard
The Poet, and th' imploring Muse reward.
So to thy Fame a Pyramid shall rise,
Nor shall the Poet fix Thee in the Skies.
For if a Verse Eternity can claim
Thy own are able to preserve thy Name;
This Province all is Thine, o'er which in vain
Octavius hover'd long and sought to Reign.
This Sun prevail'd upon his Eagle's sight,
Glar'd in their Royal Eyes, and stop'd their flight.
Let Him his Title to such Glory bring,
You give as freely; and more nobly sing.
Reason will judge, when both their Claims produce,
He shall his Empire boast, and Thou the Muse.
Horace and He, are in thy Nature join'd,
The Patron's Bounty with the Poet's Mind.
O Light of
England, and her highest Grace,
Thou best and greatest of thy ancient Race!
Descend, when I invoke thy Name to shine,
(For 'tis thy praise on each unworthy Line.
While to the World unprejudic'd, I tell
Our
English Poets, and who most excel.
Thee with the foremost thro' the Globe I send
Far as the
British Arms or Memory extend.
But 'twould be vain and tedious to rehearse,
The meaner Crowd undignify'd for Verse.
On barren Ground who drag th' unwilling Plow,
And feel the sweat of Brain as well as Brow.
Yet since in Verse they covet to be known,
Nor feel the biting Satyr in their own:
Since in the Front th' Intruders will appear
And leave the noblest Poets in the rere.
With common Souldiers, let their Names be curst,
Plac'd foremost, only to be slain the first.
[Page 7]To save the Valiant from too quick a Fate,
Whose Silken Threads are spun for longer Date.
Whose Names in Brass, or Iron plough'd, shall brave
Oblivion, and th' inexorable Grave.
While that vile Crew, which soon as read, displease,
May slumber in Forgetfulness and Ease,
Till fresher dullness wakes their sleeping Memories.
Some stuff'd in Garrets dream for wicked Rhyme,
Where nothing but their Lodging is sublime,
Observe their twenty Faces, how they strain
To void forth Nonsense from their costive Brain▪
O'er
Darby-Ale maliciously they sit,
And, mellow, rail at VVoman, or at VVit.
The vainest labour to secure renown,
Tho' each could be a
P—tt—s, or a
B—
VVho in Burlesque, Mob-Poets have out-ran;
But what's a dapper Pigmy to a Man?
Lampoon and Satyr different skill betray,
Much as nice Fencing, and
Bear-Garden-Play.
The Satyr's push is Artful and Polite;
You must a pointed
Hudibras indite,
A
Fleckno, or a Dispensary write.
Like polish'd Steel, they glitter; while the worst
Must in Dishonour and Oblivion rust.
Tho'
D—y may grow troublesome to Fame,
Resolv'd to be Immortal to his Shame;
Let him with
Quixots cloy the sated Town,
And cram
Jack Straws, and
Massanello's Down
In Comedy Immodest, and Prophane,
And Comick only in the Tragick strain,
Impertinent, indecent, hardned, vain.
The tickl'd Rabble view him with surprize,
The Phantom dazles their deluded Eyes.
Unable the Judicious to perswade,
They know his Essence, and despise his Shade.
Nor can we
Ry—r's Memory forget,
VVho only wants good Nature and good VVit.
A more than
Scythian Heart, that could presume
To bite the Dead, and vex the peaceful Tomb.
[Page 8]Who talk'd to
Shakespear in Heroick Tone
Where lay a Genius; and produc'd his own.
As
Edgar with
Othello could be read,
And
Tom Tram's Story vy'd with
Holingshead.
But how could
W—st—y in Heroick Dream,
When
N—by stood by, and Christ's his Theme?
That Patron might encourage him to sing,
But sure the Saviour clip'd his daring Wing.
Expound his Doctrine, not his Life Expose,
Desist from
Epick, and exhort in Prose.
Next
M—rn suffers under Fortunes Curse,
Unhappy in his Judgment, and his Verse:
Art will no Succour to the Critick bring,
And Nature thwarts him, when he aims to sing
Cautiously resolute the Heat to shun,
He clap'd his Waxen Wings, and dar'd the Sun
Like
Icarus; but fell not from the Skies;
For he was prudent, and refus'd to rise.
Go, ply
Aquinas, and his Words maintain,
There in Divisions and Distinctions Reign.
Or if in Nobler Sense you would succeed,
Herculean St—fleet, and
S—ck, read.
Unwearied
B—y's Sense and Learning use
To wound the
Atheist, and the
Deist bruise.
Things should be suited to their proper Tribe,
Leave
S—er to plead, and
R—ffe to prescribe.
Let
Arthur's Critick on our
Virgil sit,
And
Covent-Garden be the Judge of Wit.
But, if you find a Thirst of being known
A Critick, in no Language but your own:
Then let the Poets a new
C—l—er feel,
Correct with Knowledge, and Reprove with Zeal.
Say now, whom next wilt thou,
Aonian Muse
Place in this Throng? place boldly next
M—x.
Delighting to be heard, as well as read,
He hums, and languishes with Hands and Head.
Ne'er destitute of Friends, (tho' all be gone)
Like
Scipio, the best Company alone.
But then, like Sullen
Timon, he's betray'd
To that dull Sollitude himself has made.
[Page 9]His soaring Muse might sometimes reach the Skies,
Did she not prate, and flutter as she flies.
And who can with his Poetry dispence,
Who joins
French Vanity with
English Sense?
Shall we now tell, how Beaus and Ladies write,
Beaus for Instruction, Ladies for Delight?
Who daily flock at
Will's to be inspir'd,
Who at the
Rose with generous Wine are fir'd?
Where the poor Muse pays Reck'nings with a Line,
And Barters her Divinity for Wine.
How Holy
G—n in mistaken Youth,
VVas led by
T—on the way to Truth.
How he a Christian, and a VVit became,
How
Blount, and
Phaeton at once Proclaim
His Muse, and his Religion, are the same?
How some, like
D—fy, with much ease Indite,
VVhile others with much pain, like
S—t—le VVrite,
VVho, when they've Murder'd so much costly Time,
Beat the vext Anvil with continual Chime,
And labour'd hard to Hammer Statutable Rhyme.
Create a
Howard's
B. P.
British Prince, as hard a Task,As might a
Cowley, or a
Milton ask
To build a Poem of the vastest price,
A
Davideis, or
[...]
lost Paradise.
So, tho' a Beauty of Imperial Mien,
May labour with a Heroe, or a Queen,
The
Dowdie's Off-spring of the freckl'd strain,
Shall cause like Travail, and as great a Pain,
Such to the Rabble shall appear inspir'd,
By Coxcombs envy'd, and by Fools admir'd.
Such we except, with those who make pretence,
Studious of Fame, but negligent of Sense.
VVe pity Madmen who attempt to fly,
And raise their Airy
Babel to the Sky.
VVho arm'd with Gabble to create a Name,
Design a Beauty, and a Monster frame.
Not so the Seat of
Phoebus rose, which lay
In Ruins buried, and a long decay.
To
Britany the Temple was convey'd
By Nature's utmost force, and more than Human Aid.
[Page 10]Built from its Basis by a Noble Few,
The stately Fabrick in perfection view.
While Nature gazes on the polish'd Piece,
The Work of many rowling Centuries.
For joyn'd with Art, she labour'd long to raise
An
English Poet meriting the Bays.
How vain a Toil! for Authors first were known
For
Greek and
Latin Tongues, but scorn'd their own.
As
Moors of old, near
Guinea's precious Shore,
For glittering Brass exchang'd their shining Ore.
Involving Darkness did our Language shroud,
Nor could we view the Goddess thro' the Cloud.
Sunk in a Sea of Ignorance we lay,
Till
Chaucer rose, and pointed out the Day.
A Joking Bard, whose Antiquated Muse,
In mouldy Words could solid Sense produce.
Our
English Ennius He, who claim'd his part
In wealthy Nature, tho' unskill'd in Art.
The sparkling Diamond on his Dung-hill shines,
And Golden Fragments glitter in his Lines.
Which
Spencer gather'd, for his Learning known,
And by successful Gleanings made his own.
So careful Bees, on a fair Summers Day,
Hum o'er the Flowers, and suck the Sweets away.
Of
Gloriana, and her Knights he sung,
Of Beasts, which from his pregnant Fancy sprung.
O had thy Poet,
Britany, rely'd
On Native Strength, and Foreign Aid deny'd,
Had not wild Fairies blasted his design,
Maeonides and
Virgil had been Thine!
Their finish'd Poems he exactly view'd,
But
Chaucer's Steps Religiously pursu'd.
He cull'd and pick'd, and thought it greater praise,
T' adore his Master, than improve his Phrase.
'Twas counted Sin to deviate from his Page;
So Sacred was th' Authority of Age!
The Coin must sure for currant Sterling pass,
Stamp'd with old
Chaucer's Venerable Face.
But
Johnson found it of a gross Allay,
Melted it down, and flung the Scum away.
[Page 11]He dug pure Silver from a
Roman Mine,
And prest his Sacred Image on the Coin.
We all rejoic'd to see the pillag'd Ore;
Our Tongue inrich'd, which was so poor before.
Fear not, Learn'd Poet, our impartial blame,
Such Thefts as these add lustre to thy Name.
Whether thy labour'd Comedies betray
The Sweat of
Terence, in thy glorious way:
Or
Catiline plots better in thy Play.
Whether his Crimes more excellently shine,
Whether we hear the Consul's Voice Divine,
And doubt which merits most,
Rome's
Cicero, or Thine.
All yield, consenting to sustain the Yoke,
And learn the Language which the Victor spoke.
So
Macedon's Imperial Heroe threw
His Wings abroad, and Conquer'd as he flew.
Great
Johnson's Deeds stand Parallel with His,
Are Noble Thefts, successful Piracies.
Souls of a Heroe's, or a Poet's frame
Are fill'd with larger Particles of flame.
Scorning Confinement, for more Lands they grone,
And stretch beyond the Limits of their own.
Fletcher, whose Wit, like some Luxuriant Vine,
Profusely wanton'd in each Golden Line:
Who, prodigal of Sense, by
B—mont's care,
Was prun'd so wisely, and became so fair:
Could from his copious Brain new Humours bring,
A bragging
Bessus, or inconstant King.
Could Laughter now, now melting Pity raise
In his
Amyntor's and
Aspasia's.
But
Rome and
Athens must the Plots produce,
With
France, the Handmaid of the
English Muse.
Ev'n
Shakespear sweated in his narrow Isle,
And Subject
Italy obey'd his Style.
Boccace and
Cynthio must a Tribute pay
T' inrich his Scenes, and furnish out a Play.
Tho' Art ne'er taught him how to write by Rules,
Or borrow Learning from
Athenian Schools:
Yet He with
Plautus could instruct and please,
And what requir'd long toil, perform with ease.
[Page 12]By Native Strength so
Theseus bent the Pine,
Which cost the Robber many years Design.
Tho' sometimes Rude, Unpolish'd and Undress'd
His Sentence flows more careless than the rest.
But when his Muse complying with his Will,
Deigns with informing heat his Breast to fill,
Then hear him Thunder in the pompous strain
Of
Aeschylus, or sooth in
Ovid's Vein.
Then in his Artless Tragedies I see,
What Nature seldom gives, Propriety.
I feel a Pity working in my Eyes
When
Desdemona by her Husband dies.
When I view
Brutus in his Dress appear,
I know not how to call him too severe.
His rigid Vertue There atones for all,
And makes a Sacrifice of
Caesar's Fall.
Nature wrought Wonders then; when
Shakespear dy'd
Her dearest
Cowley rose, drest in her gaudy Pride▪
So from great Ruines a new Life she calls,
And builds an
Ovid, when a
Tully falls.
With what delight he tunes his Silver strings,
And
David's toils, in
David's numbers sings.
Hark! how he Murmurs to the Fields and Groves
Her Rural Pleasures, and his Various Loves.
Yet every Line's so innocent and clear,
Hermits may read them to a Virgin's Ear.
The radiant Godhead in the Bush he found:
Fearless he saw, and trod the hallow'd Ground.
Then her soft Lute Converted
Clio strung,
While modestly the mingled
Graces sung.
Unstol'n
Promethean Fire informs his Song;
Rich is his Fancy, his Invention strong.
His Wit, unfathom'd, has a fresh supply,
Is always flowing out, but never dry.
Sure the profuseness of a boundless Thought,
And lavish'd Wit was ne'er allow'd a Fault.
A Spirit, that is unconfin'd and free,
Should hurry forward like the VVind or Sea,
[Page 13]VVhich laughs at Laws and Shackles, when a vain
Presuming
Xerxes shall pretend to Reign,
And on the fliting Air impose his pond'rous Chain.
If you who read him well, should chance to find
His Phrase too mean t' express his lofty mind,
His Turns too numerous, or too harsh his Rhyme,
Impute it to his Years, and Fortune's Crime.
He stood afar, and view'd the Promis'd Land;
But perish'd e'er he touch'd the Sacred Strand.
Thro' what Tempestuous Fo
[...]unes was he hurl'd!
What Troubles, which alarum'd all the World,
Frighted the Muses! nor was he inclin'd
To throw important Minutes to the Wind.
There let such Drudges study, who are paid,
Verse was his Recreation, not his Trade.
Immortal
Cowley! who alone could dare
With Wings well balanc'd tempt th' unbounded Air.
Who to his Lyre Pindarick Strains could call,
Nor fear'd the danger of a threatned Fall.
O had He liv'd to
Waller's Reverend Age,
Better'd his Measures, and Reform'd his Page!
Then
Britain's Isle might raise her Trophies high.
And solid
Rome, or witty
Greece out-vy.
The
Rhine, the
Tyber, and
Parisian Seyne,
When e'er they pay their Tribute to the Main
Should no kind Name more gratefully rehearse,
Than lofty
Cowley's never dying Verse.
The
Thames should sweep her Briny Way before,
And with his Fame salute each distant Shore.
Then He, like Glorious
Milton, had been known
To Lands, which Conquest has insur'd our own.
Milton! whose Muse kisses th' Embroider'd Skies,
VVhile Earth below grows little as she flies.
Thro' trackless Air she bends her winding flight,
Far as the Confines of retreating Light.
Tells the Sindg'd
Moors, how Scepter'd Death began
His lengthning Empire o'er offending Man.
Unteaches Conquer'd Nations to Rebel,
By Singing how their Stubborn Parents fell.
[Page 14]Now Seraphs Crown'd with Helmets I behold,
Helmets of substance more refin'd than Gold.
The Skies with an united Lustre shine,
And Face to Face th' Immortal Armies join.
God's plated Son, Majestically gay,
Urges's Chariot thro' the Chrystal way;
Breaks down their Ranks, and Thunders as he flies;
Arms in his Hands, and Terrour in his Eyes.
O'er Heav'ns wide Arch the routed Squadrons rore,
And transfix'd Angels gro
[...] upon the Diamond Floor.
Then, wheeling from
Olympus Snowy top,
Thro' redned Air the giddy Leaders drop
Down to th' Abyss of their allotted Hell,
And gaze on the lost Sky from whence they fell.
I see the Fiend, who, tumbl'd from his Sphere,
Once by the Victor God, begins to fear
New Lightning, and a second Thunderer.
I hear him yell, and argue with the Skies;
Wast not enough, Relentless Power, he cries,
Despair of better State, and loss of Light
Irreparable? was not loathsome Night,
And ever during dark, sufficient pain,
But Man must Triumph by our Fall, and Reign
To register the Fate which we sustain?
Hence Hell is doubly Seal'd: Almighty Name,
Hence after Thine we feel the Poet's flame,
And in Immortal Song renew reviving Shame.
O Soul Seraphick, teach us how we may
Thy Praise adapted to thy worth display:
For who can Merit more? or who enough can pay?
Earth was unworthy thy aspiring view,
Sublimer Objects were reserv'd for you.
Thence nothing mean obtrudes on thy design,
Thy Style is equal to thy Theme Divine,
All Heavenly great, and more than Masculine.
Tho' neither Vernal Bloom, nor Summer's Rose
Their opening Beauties could to Thee disclose:
Tho' Nature's curious Characters which we
Exactly view, were all eras'd to Thee.
[Page 15]Yet Heav'n stood Witness to thy piercing Sight;
Below was Darkness, but Above was Light.
Thy Soul was Brightness all; nor could he stay
In lower Night, and such a want of Day:
But wing'd aloft, from sordid Earth retires
To higher Glory, and his kindred Fires;
Like an unhooded Hawk, who loose to prey,
With open Eyes pursues the Aetherial way.
There, happy Soul, assume thy destin'd place,
And in you Sphere begin thy glorious race:
That Sphere, which
Lucifer did once Disgrace.
Or, if amongst the Laurell'd Heads there be,
A Mansion in the Sky reserv'd for Thee;
There, Ruler of thy Orb, aloft appear,
And rowl with
Homer in the brightest Sphere.
To whom
Calliope has joyn'd thy Name,
And recompenc'd thy Fortunes with his Fame:
Tho' she (forgive our freedom!) some times flows;
In Lines too rugged, and a-kin to Prose.
When Scope is granted to your Speech and Thought,
Verse with a lively smoothness should be Wrote.
Like some fair Planet thy Majestick Song,
Should move with ease and Sparkle as it rowl'd along.
Like
Waller's Muse, who, though inchain'd by Rhyme,
Taught Wondring Poets to keep even Chime.
Harmonious
Waller's praise inflames my Breast,
Waller, more sweet and Courtly than the rest
Of Poets, no unmanly Turns pursues,
Rash Errors of an injudicious Muse.
Such Wit, like Lightning, for a while looks gay;
Just gilds the place, and vanishes away.
In one continued blaze he upwards sprung,
Like those Seraphick Flames of which he Sung.
If,
Cromwell, he laments thy mighty Fall,
Nature attending Weeps at the great Funeral.
Or if his Muse with joyful Triumph brings,
The Monarch to his ancient Throne; or Sings
Batavians worsted on the Conquer'd Main,
Fleets flying, and Advent'rous
Opdam Slain;
With
Brittish Graces Smiling on his care,
Divinely Charming in a Dress so fair.
As Squadrons in well Marshal'd Order fill,
The
Flandrian Plains, and speak no vulgar Skill:
So rank'd is every line, each Sentence such,
No Word is wanting, and no Word's too much.
As Pearls in Gold with their own lustre shine,
The Substance precious, and the Work Divine.
So did his Words his beauteous Thoughts enchase,
Both shone and sparkled with unborrow'd Grace,
A mighty value in a little space.
So the
Venusian Clio sung of Old,
When lofty acts in well-chose Phrase she told.
But
Rome's aspiring
Lyrick mov'd us less,
Sung not so moving, tho' with more success.
O
Sacharissa, what could steel thy breast,
To rob the charming
Waller of his rest?
To send him murm'ring through the Cypress Grove,
In strains lamenting his Neglected Love.
The attentive Forest did his Grief partake,
And Sympathizing Okes their knotted Branches shake.
Each Nymph, tho' coy, to pity would incline,
And every stubborn Heart was mov'd but Thine.
Hence forth be thou to future Ages known,
Like
Niobe, a Monument of Stone.
Here could I dwell, like Bees on flowry Dew,
And
Waller's praise eternally pursue,
Could I like Him, in Harmony excell,
So sweetly tune the Lute, and sing so well.
But now my hasty Muse converts her Eye,
To see where
Denham and
Roscommon fly,
Cautiously daring and correctly high.
Both chief in Honour, and in Learning's Grace,
Of ancient Spirit, and of ancient race.
Who, when withdrawn from business and affairs,
Their Minds unloaded of tormenting cares,
With thoughts of Verse deceiv'd the sliding time,
And unrewarded sung in Noble Rhyme.
[Page 17]Not like those venal Bards, who write for Pence,
Above the Vulgar were their Names and Sense:
The Critick judges while the Muse indites,
And Rules for
Dryden, like a
Dryden Writes.
'Tis true their Lamps were of the smallest size,
But like the
Stoick's of prodigious price.
Roscommon's Rules shall o'er our Isle be read,
Nor dye, till Poetry it self be Dead.
Fam'd
Cooper's Hill, shall like
Parnassus stand,
And
Denham Reign the
Phoebus of the Land.
As long as Silver Thames shall flow, and joyn,
His blended Waters with the foamy Brine:
While his pure stream is so divinely Sung,
Be Thou, Great Poet, Father of our Tongue.
Among these sacred and immortal Names,
A Youth glares out, and his just honour Claims.
See, Circling Fires, instead of Laurel, play
Around his Head, and Sun the brighten'd way.
But misty Clouds of unexpected Night,
Cast their black Mantle o'er th' immoderate Light.
In her moist Grave the fainting Day's opprest,
And
Oldham lies extinguish'd in his West.
Here, pious Muse, lament a while, 'tis just
We pay some Tribute to his Sacred Dust.
O'er his fresh Marble strow the fading Rose
And
Lily, for his Youth resembled those.
The brooding Sun took care to dress him gay,
In all the Trappings of the flowry
May.
He set him out unsufferably bright,
And sow'd in every part his Beamy Light.
Th' unfinish'd Poet budded forth too soon,
For what the Morning warm'd, was scorch'd at Noon.
Did not the Laws of Fate so hard appear.
To thriving Youth unseas'nbaely severe,
What prodigies, what wonders had we seen,
In his late Autumn, when a Muse so green
Could
Homer praise, and
Johnson's happy toil,
VVhile
Horace ripen'd in the
British soil?
His careless Lines plain Nature's Rules obey,
Like Satyrs, rough; but not deform'd as they.
[Page 18]His Sense undrest, like
Adam, free from blame,
VVithout his Cloathing, and without his shame.
True VVit requires no Ornaments of Skill,
A Beauty Naked, is a Beauty still.
Heated with rage, he lash'd the Romish Crimes,
In rugged Satyr, and ill-sounding Rhymes.
All
Italy fear'd his imbitter'd Tongue,
And trembled less when sharp
Lucilius stung.
Here let us pass in Silence, nor accuse,
Th' extravagance of his unhallow'd Muse.
In
Jordan's Stream she wash'd the tainted Sore,
And rose more beauteous than she was before.
Then Fancy curb'd, began to lose her Rage,
And
Spark's of Judgment glimmer'd in his page.
VVhen the wild Fury did his breast inspire,
She rav'd, and set the Little VVorld on Fire.
Thus
L—gh by Reason strove not to controul,
The Powerful heat, which o'er-inform'd his Soul.
He took his Swinge, and Nature's bounds surpast,
Stretch'd her, and bent her, till she broke at last.
VVe scorn to Flatter, or the Dead defame;
But who will call a blaze a Lambent Flame?
Terror and Pity are allow'd to be,
The moving parts of Tragick Poetry.
If Pity sooths us,
Otway claims our praise;
If Terror strikes, then
L—gh deserves the Bays.
VVe grant a Genius shines in
Jaffeir's part,
And
Roman Brutus speaks a Master's Art.
But still we often Mourn to see their Phrase,
An Earthly Vapour, or a Mounting blaze.
A rising Meteor never was design'd,
T' amaze the sober part of Human kind.
Were I to write for Fame, I would not chuse,
A prostitute and mercenary Muse.
VVhich for poor gains, must in rich Trappings go,
Emptily gay, magnificently low,
Like ancient
Rome's Religion, Sacrifice and show.
Things fashion'd for Amusement and surprize,
Ne're move the Head, though they divert the Eyes.
[Page 19]The mouthing Actor's well-dissembled Rage,
May strike the young Sir
Foplings, on the Stage:
But, disingag'd, the swelling Phrase I find,
Like
Spencer's Gyant, sunk away in Wind.
It grates judicious Readers, when they meet,
Nothing but jingling Verse, and even feet:
Such false, such counterfeited Wings as these,
Forsake th' unguided Boy, and plunge him in the Seas.
L—gh aim'd to rise above great
Dr—n's height,
But lofty
Dr—n kept a steddy flight.
Like
Daedalus, he times with prudent care
His well-wax'd Wings, and waves in Middle-Air.
Crown'd with the sacred Snow of reverend Years,
Dr—n above th' ignobler Crowd appears.
Raises his laurell'd Head, and, as he goes
O'er-shoulders all, and like
Apollo shows.
The native Spark, which first advanc'd his Name,
By industry he kindled to a flame.
Then to a different Coast his Judgment flew,
He left th' Old World behind, and found a New.
On the strong Columns of his lasting Wit,
Instructive
Dr—n built, and peopled it.
In every Page Delight, and Profit shines;
Immortal Sense flows in his mighty Lines.
His Images so strong and lively be,
I hear not Words alone, but Substance see.
The proper Phrase of our exalted Tongue
To such perfection from his Numbers sprung.
His Tropes continu'd, and his Figures fine,
All of a piece throughout, and all Divine.
Adapted Words and sweet Expressions move
Our various passions, Pity, Rage and Love.
I weep to hear fond
Anthony complain
In
Sh—r's fancy, but in
Virgil's strain.
Tho for the Comick, others we prefer,
Himself the Judge: nor does his Judgment err.
But Comedy, 'tis thought, can never claim
The sounding Title of a Poem's name.
For Railery, and what creates a smile,
Betrays no lofty Genius, nor a Style.
[Page 20]That heav'nly heat refuses to be seen
In a Town-Character, and Comick Mein.
If we would do him right, we must produce
The Sophoclean Buskin; when his Muse
With her loud Accents fill'd the Listning Ear,
And Peals applauding shook the Theatre.
They fondly seek, Great Name, to blast thy Praise,
Who think that Foreign-banks produc'd thy Bays.
Is he oblig'd to
France, who draws from thence
By English energy, their captive sense?
Tho'
Edward, and fam'd
Henry war'd in vain,
Subduing what they could not long retain;
Yet now beyond our Arms, the Muse prevails,
And Poets conquer, when the Heroe fails.
This does superiour Excellence betray:
O could I write in thy immortal way!
If Art be Nature's Scholar, and can make
Such great improvements, Nature must forsake
Her ancient Style; and in some grand Design,
She must her own Originals decline,
And for the noblest Copies, follow Thine.
This all the World must offer to thy praise,
And this
Thalia sang in rural lays.
As sleep to weary Drovers on the Plain,
As a sweet River to a thirsty Swain;
Such Divine
Dr—n's charming Verses show,
Please like the River, like the River flow.
When his first years in mighty order ran,
And cradled Infancy bespoke the Man,
Around his Lips the waxen Artists hung,
And breath'd Ambrosial Odours as they sung.
In yellow Clusters from their Hives they flew,
And on his Tongue distill'd eternal Due:
Thence from his Mouth harmonious Numbers broke,
More sweet than Honey from the knotted Oke.
More smooth than streams, that from a Mountain glide,
Yet lofty as the Top, from whence they slide.
Long he possest th' Hereditary Plains,
Belov'd by all the Hersdmen, and the Swains,
[Page 21]Till he resign'd his Flock, opprest with fears,
And olden'd in his woe, as well as fears.
Yet still, like
Aetna's Mount, he kept his Fire,
And look'd, like beauteous Roses on a Brier:
He smil'd, like
Phoebus in a stormy Morn,
And sung, like
Philomel against a Thorn.
Here, Syren of sweet Poesy, receive
That little praise, my unknown Muse can give.
Be Thou immortal, nor harsh censure fear,
Tho' angry
Bl—re in Heroicks jear.
A Bard, who seems to challenge
Virgil's flame,
And next in height, would be the next in name.
With lofty
Maro he at first may please:
The Generous
Britain rises by degrees;
But once on Wing, through secret paths he rows,
And losing
Virgil's sight, in a main Ocean flows.
Then seeks his Pilot through the boundless Sky,
And sometimes soars too eager and too high.
The
Mantuan Bird keeps a soft gentle flight,
Is always lofty, and still plays in sight.
Calm and serene his Verse: his active Song
Runs smooth as
Thames's River, and as strong.
Like his own
Neptune, he commands the Waves;
Like
Aeolus, high
Bl—re sometimes raves.
We grant he labours with no want of Brains,
Or Fire, or Spirit; but he spares the pains.
One happy Thought, or two, may at a heat
Be struck; but Time and Study must compleat
A Verse, sublimely good, and justly great.
It call'd for an Omnipotence, to raise
The World's imperial Poem in Six Days.
But Man, that off-spring of corrupting Clay,
Subject to err, and subject to decay,
In hopes, desires, will, power, (a numerous Train)
Uncertain, fickle, impotent and vain,
Must tire the Heavenly Muse, with endless Prayer,
And call the smiling Angels to his care:
Must sleepless Nights,
Vulcanian Labours prove;
Like
Cyclops, forging Thunder for a
Jove.
[Page 22]With flame begin thy glorious Thoughts and Style,
Then cool, and bring them to the smoothing File,
If you design to make your Prince appear
As perfect, as Humanity can bear;
Whom Vertues at th' expence of danger please,
Deaf to the Syrens of alluring ease.
No Terrours Thee,
Achilles, could invade,
Nor Thee,
Ulysses, any charms persuade.
This must be done, if Poets would be read,
Who seek to aemulate the Sacred Dead.
This
Congreve follows in his deathless Line,
And the tenth hand is put to the Design.
The happy boldness in his finish'd toil,
Smells more than
Sh—r's Wit, or
J—n's Oil.
Sing, sing, harmonious Swan, in weeping Strains,
And tell
Pastora's Death to mournful Swains:
Or with more pleasing Charms, with softer Airs,
Sweeten our Passions, and delude our Cares.
To Noble
D—t bear thy Lyrick Song,
D—t, round whom the crouding Muses throng.
Or let thy Satyr grin with half a smile,
And jeer in easie
Eth—ge's style.
Let manly
W—ly chalk out the way,
While Art directs where Nature goes astray.
'Tis not for Thee to write of conquering Kings,
The noise of Arms will break thy Peaceful Strings.
The
Teian Muse invites Thee from above,
To lay thy Trumpet down, and sing of Love.
Let
M—gue describe
Boyne's swelling Flood,
And purple Fields fatned with hostile Blood.
O Heav'nly Patron of the needy Muse,
Whose powerful Name can nobler heat infuse.
When you
Nassaw's bright Actions dar'd to see,
You were the
Eagle, and
Apollo He.
But when he read Thee, and Thy Value knew,
He was the
Eagle, and
Apollo You.
Both spoke the Bird in her aethereal height,
The Majesty was His, and Thine the Flight.
Both did
Apollo in his Glory show:
The Silver Harp was Thine, and His the Bow.
[Page 23]So may
Pierian Clio cease to fear,
When Honour deigns to Sing, and Majesty to hear▪
So may she favour'd live, and ever please
Our
D—s, and judicious
N—bys!
Nor does the Coronet alone defend
The Muse's cause; the Mitre is her Friend.
Can we forget how
Damon's lofty Tongue,
Shook the glad Mountains, how the Valleys rung,
When
Rochester's Seraphick Shepherd Sung?
How
Mars and
Pallas wept to see the Day,
When
Athens by a Plague dispeopled lay.
What Learning perish'd, and what Lives it cost!
Sung with more Spirit than all
Athens lost.
Nor can the Mitre now conceal the Bays,
For still we view the Sacred Poets praise.
So, though
Eridanus becomes a Star,
Exalted to the Skies, and shines afar:
Below he loses nothing but his Name,
Still faithful to his Banks, his Stream's the same.
But Smile, my Muse, once more upon my Song;
Let
Creech be numbred with the Sacred Throng.
Whose daring Soul could with
Manilius fly,
And, like an Atlas, Shoulder up the Sky.
He's mounted, where no vulgar Eye can Trace,
His wondrous Footsteps, and mysterious Race.
See, how he Walks above in mighty strains,
And wanders o'er the wide Aetherial plains!
He Sings what Harmony the Spheres obey,
In Verse more Tuneful, and more sweet than they.
'Tis cause of Triumph when
Rome's Genius shines,
In Nervous
English, and well Worded Lines.
Two famous Latins our bright Tongue adorn,
And a new
Virgil is in
England Born.
An
Aeneid to Translate, and make a New,
Are Tasks of equal Labour to pursue.
For tho th' Invention of a God-like Mind,
Excells the Works of Nature and Mankind.
Yet a well Languag'd Version will require
An equal Genius, and as strong a Fire.
[Page 24]These claim at once our Study and our praise,
Fam'd for the Dignity of Sense and Phrase.
These are thy Eagles,
England, who alone
Soar high, and talk in an Imperial Tone,
Who bear not
Jove's loud Thunder, but their own.
Hail Glorious Titles, who have been my Theme!
O could I Write so well as I esteem!
From her low Nest, my humble Soul should rise,
As a Young Phoenix out of Ashes flies.
Above what
France or
Italy can show,
The Celebrated
Tasso, or
Boileau.
Come, come, who e're thou art that seek'st to fin
[...]
Something to pleasure and instruct thy Mind.
If, when retir'd from business or from Men,
You love the study'd Travels of the Pen,
Imploy the Minutes of your Vacant time,
On
C—y, or on
Dr—n's Noble Rhyme.
For these, if well observ'd, can strictly shew,
In charming Numbers what is false, what true,
And Teach more good than
Hobbs or
Locke can do.
Hail ye Poetick Dead! who wander now
In Fields of Light; at your fair Shrines we bow.
Freed from the Malice of injurious Fate,
Ye blest partakers of a happier State.
Whether Intomb'd with
English Kings you sleep,
Or common Urns your Sacred Ashes keep:
There, on each Dawning of the tender Day,
May chearful Birds their pious Offerings pay!
There may sweet Myrrh with balmy Tears perfume
The hallow'd ground, and Roses deck the Tomb!
But you who live, no cruel Tempest fear;
Sing on, let
Mo—gue and
D—t hear.
In stately Verse let
William's Praise be told,
William rewards with Honour, and with Gold.
No more of
Richlieu's worth; forget not, Fame,
To change
Augustus for Great
William's Name.
Who, (tho' like
Homer's
Jupiter he sate,
Musing on something eminently great,
And balanc'd in his Mind the World's important Fate)
[Page 25]Lays by the vast concern, and gladly hears,
The loud-sung Triumphs of his Warlike Years.
The Sleeping Dooms of Empires were delay'd,
And Fate stood silent while the Poet play'd.
The Double Vertue of
Nassovian Fire,
At once the Soldier and the Muse inspire.
The Heroe listen'd when the Thunder Rung
A fatal sound, or when the Harp was strung,
When
Mars has acted, or when
Phoebus Sung.
O could my Muse reach
M—n's Towering flight,
Or stretch her Wings to the
Maeonian height!
Thro' Air, and Earth, and Seas, I would disperse
His Fame, and sing it in the loudest Verse.
The Murm'ring Waves to hear me should grow tame,
And Winds should calm a Tempest with his Name.
The Docil Birds should the loud Lesson bear,
To farthest East and West, thro' Liquid Air.
Then should they warble in a Tyrant's Ear,
And with sweet Notes instruct him whom to fear.
But we must all decline; the Muse grows dumb,
Not weary with his Praise but overcome.
Who shall describe him? or what Eye can trace,
The Martial Glories of his Princely Race?
What Prince can equal what no Muse can praise?
No Land but
Britain, must pretend to shine
With Gods, and Heroes of an equal Line.
So may this Island a new
Delos prove,
And joyn
Apollo to the
Cretan Jove.
What bloom! what youth! what hopes of future fame!
How his Eyes sparkle with a Heav'nly flame!
Like two mild Stars, his glorious Fate they show,
But on his Enemies like Comets glow.
How swiftly
Glo'ster in his bud began!
How the green Heroe blossoms into Man!
Smit with the thirst of Fame, and Honour's Charms,
To tread his Uncle's Steps, and shine in Arms.
See how he Spurs and Rushes to the War!
Pale Legions view, and tremble from afar.
What Blood! what Ruin! Thrice unhappy they,
Who shall attempt him on that fatal Day!
In Warlike Forms, and shake the glitt'ring Spear.
At
Agincourt, so terrible they stood,
So, when
Pictavian Fields were dy'd with Blood.
The Royal Youth with
Aemulation glows,
And pours thick Vengeance on his gastly Foes.
Troops of Commission'd Angels from the Sky,
Unseen, above him, and about him, fly.
O'er
England's Hopes, their Flaming Swords they hold,
And Wave them, as o'er Paradise of Old.
Nor shall they cease a Nightly Watch to keep,
But, ever waking, bless him in his sleep.
Their Golden Wings for his
Pavilion spread,
Their softest Mantles for his Downy Bed,
Defend the Heroe, and protect his Head.
After whose Conquests, and the work of Fate,
The Arts, and Muses on his Triumph wait.
The Streams of
Thamisis, exulting Ring,
VVhen fair
Augusta's lofty
Clio's sing.
Granta, and
Rhedycina's Tuneful Throng,
Fill the resounding Vales with Learned Song.
Live, Heav'nly Youth, beyond invidious Time,
To shine in Annals, and immortal Rhyme.
Thy Glories, which no Malice can obscu
[...]e,
Bright as the Sun, shall, as the Sun endure.
But on thy Fame no envious spots shall Prey,
Till
English Sense, and Valour shall decay.
Till Learning, and the Muses Mortal grow,
Or
Cam, or
Isis shall forget to flow.
FINIS.