There still we own the wise, the great, or good; And Cæsar there and Xenophon are seen,

As clear in spirit and sublime of mien,

As on Pharsalian plains, or by the Assyrian flood. II.

Say thou too, Frederic, was not this thy aim? Thy vigils could the student's lamp engage, Except for this? except that future fame Might read thy genius in the faithful page? That if hereafter envy shall presume With words irreverent to inscribe thy tomb, And baser weeds upon thy palms to fling, That hence posterity may try thy reign, Assert thy treaties, and thy wars explain, And view in native lights the hero and the king. III.

O evil foresight and pernicious care! Wilt thou indeed abide by this appeal? Shall we the lessons of thy pen compare With private honor or with public zeal? Whence then at things divine those darts of scorn? Why are the woes, which virtuous men have borne For sacred truth, a prey to laughter given? What fiend, what foe of nature urg'd thy arm The Almighty of his scepter to disarm? To push this earth adrift and leave it loose from heaven? IV.

Ye godlike shades of legislators old,

Ye who made Rome victorious, Athens wise, Ye first of mortals with the bless'd enroll'd, Say did not horror in your bosoms rise, When thus by impious vanity impell'd A magistrate, a monarch, ye beheld Affronting civil order's holiest bands? Those bands which ye so labor'd to improve? Those hopes and fears of justice from above, Which tam'd the savage world to your divine commands?

ODE XIV.

The Complaint.

AWAY! Away!

I.

Tempt me no more, insidious love:

Thy soothing sway

Long did my youthful bosom prove:
At length thy treason is discern'd,

At length some dear-bought caution earn'd:
Away! nor hope my riper age to move.

I know, I see

Her merit. Needs it now be shown,
Alas, to me?

How often, to myself unknown,
The graceful, gentle, virtuous maid
Have I admir'd! How often said,

What joy to call a heart like her's one's own!
III.

But, flattering god,

O squanderer of content and ease,
In thy abode

Will care's rude lesson learn to please?
O say, deceiver, hast thou won,

Proud fortune to attend thy throne,

Or plac'd thy friends above her stern decrees?

ODE XV.

On domestic Manners.

[Unfinished.]

I.

EEK honor, female shame,

O! whither, sweetest offspring of the sky,

From Albion dost thou fly;

Of Albion's daughters once the favorite fame?

O beauty's only friend,

Who giv'st her pleasing reverence to inspire;

Who selfish, bold desire

Dost to esteem and dear affection turn;

Alas, of thee forlorn

What joy, what praise, what hope can life pretend?

II.

Behold; our youths in vain
Concerning nuptial happiness enquire:
Our maids no more aspire
The arts of bashful Hymen to attain ;
But with triumphant eyes

And cheeks impassive, as they move along,
Ask homage of the throng.

The lover swears that in a harlot's arms
Are found the self-same charms,
And worthless and deserted lives and dies.
III.

Behold; unbless'd at home,

The father of the cheerless household mourns:
The night in vain returns,

For love and glad content at distance roam;
While she, in whom his mind

Seeks refuge from the day's dull task of cares,
To meet him she prepares,

Thro' noise and spleen and all the gamester's art,
A listless, harrass'd heart,

Where not one tender thought can welcome, find. IV..

"Twas thus, along the shore

Of Thames, Britannia's guardian Genius heard,
From many a tongue preferr'd,

Of strife and grief the fond invective lore:
At which the queen divine
Indignant, with her adamantine spear
Like thunder sounding near,

Smote the red cross upon her silver shield,
And thus her wrath reveal'd.

(I watch'd her awful words and made them mine.)

ARGUMENT.

The Nymphs, who preside over springs and rivulets, are addressed at day-break, in honor of their several func tions, and of the relations which they bear to the natural and to the moral world. Their origin is deduced from the first allegorical deities, or powers of nature; according to the doctrine of the old mythological poets, concerning the generation of the gods and the rise of things. They are then successively considered, as giving motion to the air and exciting summer-breezes; as nourishing and beautifying the vegetable creation; as contributing to the fulness of navigable rivers, and consequently to the maintenance of commerce; and by that means, to the maritime part of military power. Next is represented their favorable influence upon health, when assisted by rural exercise which introduces their connection with the art of physic, and the happy effects of mineral medicinal springs. Lastly, they are celebrated for the friendship which the Muses bear them, and for the true inspiration which temperance only can receive: in opposition, to the enthusiasm of the more licentious poets.

'ER yonder eastern hill the twilight pale

Walks forth from darkness; and the God of day, With bright Astræa seated by his side, Waits yet to leave the ocean. Tarry, Nymphs, Ye Nymphs, ye blue-ey'd progeny of Thames, Who now the mazes of this rugged heath Trace with your fleeting steps; who all night long Repeat, amid the cool and tranquil air, Your lonely murmurs, tarry: and receive My offer'd lay. To pay you homage due, I leave the gates of sleep; nor shall my lyre Too far into the splendid hours of morn Engage your audience: my observant hand Shall close the strain ere any sultry beam Approach you. To your subterranean haunts Ye then may timely steal; to pace with care

The humid sands; to loosen from the soil
The bubbling sources; to direct the rills
To meet in wider channels; or beneath
Some grotto's dripping arch, at height of noon
To slumber, shelter'd from the burning,heaven.
Where shall my song begin, ye Nymphs? or end?
Wide is your praise and copious-First of things,
First of the lonely powers, ere Time arose,
Were Love and Chaos. Love, the sire of Fate;
Elder than Chaos. Born of Fate was Time,.
Who many sons and many comely births
Devour'd, relentless father: 'till the child
Of Rhea drove him from the upper sky,
And quell'd his deadly might. Then social reign'd
The kindred powers, Tethys, and reverend Ops,
And spotless Vesta; while supreme of sway
Remain'd the cloud-compeller. From the couch
Of Tethys sprang the sedgy-crowned race,
Who from a thousand urns, o'er every clime,
Send tribute to their parent: and from them
Are ye, O Naiads: Arethusa fair,

And tuneful Aganippe; that sweet name,
Bandusia; that soft family which dwelt
With Syrian Daphne; and the honor'd tribes
Belov'd of Pæon. Listen to my strain,
Daughters of Tethys: listen to your praise.

You, Nymphs, the winged offspring, which of old Aurora, to divine Astræus bore,

Owns; and your aid beseecheth. When the might
Of Hyperion, from his noentide throne,
Unbends their languid pinions, aid from you
They ask Favonius and the mild South-west
From you relief implore. Your sallying streams
Fresh vigor to their weary wings impart.
Again they fly, disporting; from the mead
Half ripen'd and the tender blades of corn,
To sweep the noxious mildew; or dispel
Contagious steams, which oft the parched earth
Breathes on her fainting sons. From noon to eve,
Along the river and the paved brook,