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there, without that order and method which Mr. Philips obferves, whofe whole third pastoral is an inftance how well he hath ftudied the fifth of Virgil, and how judiciously reduced Virgil's thoughts to the standard of Paftoral; as his contention of Colin Clout and the Nightingale fhows with what exactness he hath imitated every line in Strada.

6. When I remarked it as a principal fault, to introduce fruits and flowers of a foreign growth, in descriptions where the fcene lies in our own country, I did not defign that observation should extend alfo to animals, or the fenfitive life; for Mr. Philips hath with great judgment described Wolves in England in his first pastoral. Nor would I have a poet flavishly confine himself (as Mr. Pope hath done) to one particular Seafon of the year, one certain Time of the day, and one unbroken Scene in each eclogue. 'Tis plain Spencer neglected this pedantry, who in his pastoral of November mentions the mournful fong of the Nightingale,

Sad Philomel ker fong in tears doth fleep.

And Mr. Philips, by a poetical creation, hath raited up finer beds of flowers than the most induftrious gardiner; his rofes, endives, lilies, kingcups, and daffidils, blow all in the fame feafon. .. But the better to difcover the merits of our two contemporary Paftoral writers, I fhall endeaYour to draw a parallel of them, by fetting feveral

of their particular thoughts in the fame light, whereby it will be obvious how much Philips hath the advantage. With what fimplicity he introduces two fhepherds finging alternately?

Hobb Come, Rofalind, O come, for without thee What pleasure can the country have for me? Come, Rofalind, O come; my brinded kine, My fnowy sheep, my farm and all, is thine.

Lanq. Come, Rofalind, O come; here fhady bowers, Here are cool fountains, and here fpringing flowers.

Come, Rofalind; bere ever let us ftay,

And fweetly waft our live-long time away.

Our other pastoral writer, in expreffing the fame thought, deviates into downright Poetry :

Streph. In Spring the fields, in Autumn hills I love, At morn the plains, at noon the fhady grove, But Delia always; forc'd from Delia's fight, Nor plains at morn, nor groves at noon delight. Daph. Sylvia's like Autumn ripe, yet mild as May, More bright than noon, yet fresh as early day ; Ev'n Spring difpleafes, when she shines not here, But bleft with her, 'tis Spring throughout the

year.

In the first of these authors, two fhepherds thus innocently defcribe the behaviour of their mif.treffes :

Hobb. As Marian bath'd, by chance I passed by,
She blush'd, and at me çaft a fide-long eye :
Then fwift beneath the crystal wave she try'd
Her beauteous form, but all in vain, to hide.
Lang. As I to cool me bath'd one fultry day,
Fond Lydia lurking in the fedges lay.
The wanton laugh'd, and feem'd in hafte to fly;
Yet often flopp'd, and often turn'd her eye.

The other modern (who it must be confeffed hath a knack of verfifying) hath it as follows:

Streph. Me gentle Delia beckons from the plain,
Then, bid in fhades, eludes her eager fwain;
But feigns a Laugh, to fee me fearch arcund,
And by that Laugh the willing fair is found.

Daph. The Sprightly Sylvia trips along the green,
She runs, but hopes she does not run unseen ;
While a kind glance at her purfuer flies,
How much at variance are her feet and eyes!

There is nothing the writers of this kind of poetry are fonder of than defcriptions of pastoral Prefents. Philips fays thus of a Sheep-hook,

Of feafon'd elm; where ftuds of brass appear,
To fpeak the giver's name, the month and year;
The book of polish'd ftecl, the handle turn'd,
And richly by the graver's skill adorn'd.

The other of a bowl emboffed with figures: where wanton ivy twines,

And fwelling clusters bend the curling vines ;
Four figures rifing from the work appear,
The various feafons of the rolling year ;
And, what is that which binds the radiant sky,
Where twelve bright figns in beauteous order lie?

The fimplicity of the swain in this place, who forgets the name of the Zodiack, is no ill imitation of Virgil: but how much more plainly and unaffectedly would Philips have dreffed this thought in his Doric?

And what that bight, which girds the welkin fheen, Where twelve gay figns in meet array are feen?

If the reader would indulge his curiofity any further in the comparison of particulars, he may read the first pastoral of Philips with the second of his contemporary, and the fourth and fixth of the former with the fourth and firft of the latter; where feveral parallel places will occur to every

one.

Having now shown fome parts, in which these two writers may be compared, it is a justice I owe to Mr. Philips to discover those in which no man can compare with him. First, That beautiful rufticity, of which I fhall only produce two instances out of a hundred not yet quoted:

O woful day! O day of woe! quoth be, And woful I, who live the day to fee! The fimplicity of diction, the melancholy flowing of the numbers, the folemnity of the found, and the eafy turn of the words in this Dirge (to make ufe of our author's expreffion) are extremely elegant.

In another of his paftorals, a fhepherd utters a Dirge not much inferior to the former, in the following lines:

Ah me the while! ab me! the luckless day,
Ab luckless lad! the rather might I fay;
Ab filly 1 more filly than my sheep,

Which on the flow'ry plains I once did keep.

How he ftill charms the ear with thefe artful repetitions of the epithets; and how fignificant is the laft verfe! I defy the most common reader to repeat them, without feeling fome motions of compaffion.

In the next place I fhall rank his Proverbs, in which I formerly obferved he excells: For example:

A rolling one is ever bare of mofs;

And, to their caft, green years old proverbs cross. ---He that late lies down, as late will rife, And fluggard-like, till noon-day fnoaring lies.

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