Once, the Chaldean from his topmost tower Did watch the stars, and then assert their power Throughout the world: so, dear Giana, I And in the beauty and the spell that lies In the clear veins that wind thy neck beside, "Till in the white depths of thy breast they hide, And in thy polish'd forehead, and thy hair With flaggy wings fly heavily about, On bleating flocks, and on the lowing herds. Died at his master's feet; and next his master: For all those plagues which earth and air had brooded, First on inferior creatures tried their force, And last they seiz'd on man: Above the maidens of my age and rank; [mine. Still shunn'd their company, and still sought And then a thousand deaths at once advanc'd, den, That scarce a first man fell. One but began A troop of ghosts took flight together there! love. [woods, He pick'd the earliest strawberries in the $24. Description of a Person left on a desert Island. THOMSON. NEXT night-a dreary night! Cast on the wildest of the Cyclad Isles, Where never human foot had mark'd the These ruffians left me. [shore, Beneath a shade I sat me down, more heavily oppress'd, So large, he seem'd the tyrant of the woods, So the Eagle, With joy beholds his hardy youthful offspring | § 26. Filial Piety. MALLET. But first and ever nearest to my heart § 27. Bad Fortune more easily borne than WITH Such unshaken temper of the soul 30. Happiness the inseparable Companion To be good is to be happy; angels But rest in everlasting peace of mind, [ness. [breathe 31. The true End of Life. THOMSON. $32. The same. S. JOHNSON. REFLECT that life and death, affecting sounds, virtue. Are only varied modes of endless being. And virtue cheaply sav'd with loss of life. § 33. Character of an excellent Man. ROWE. How could my tongue $28. A Friend to Freedom can never be a Take pleasure, and be lavish in thy praise! Traitor. THOMSON. He who contends for freedom, How could I speak thy nobleness of nature! The soothing slave, the traitor in the bosom, THOMSON. I TELL thee, then, whoe'er amidst the sons honors ? 29. Description of a Hag. OTWAY. In a close lane, as I pursu'd my journey, I spied a wither'd hag, with age grown double, Picking dry sticks, and mumbling to herself; Her eyes with scalding rheum were gall'd and red, [wither'd, And such, in radiant bands, will rise again Cold palsy shook her head, her hand seem'd In yon immortal city; that, when most And on her crooked shoulders had she wrapp'd Deprest by fate, and near apparent ruin, The tatter'd remnants of an old strip'd hang- Returns, as with an energy divine, [her. ing, [cold: On her astonish'd foes, and shakes them from Which serv'd to keep her carcass from the And seem'd to speak variety of wretchedness. § 35. The happy Effects of Misfortune. THOMSON. IF misfortune comes, she brings along The bravest virtues. And so many great Illustrious spirits have convers'd with woe, Have in her school been taught, as are enough tune. 36. A Description of the Morning. OTWAY. WISH'D morning 's come; and now upon the plains, [flocks, And distant mountains, where they feed their The happy shepherds leave their homely huts, And with their pipes proclaim the new-born day: May darken reason and her course control; 40. The same. W. WHITEHEAD. LEARN hence, ye Romans! on how sure a base The patriot builds his happiness; no stroke, The lusty swain comes with his well-fill'd scrip Of healthful viands, which, when hunger But that alone by which his country falls. calls, With much content and appetite he eats, Grief may to grief in endless round succeed, To follow in the field his daily toil, [fruits: Yet still superior must that hero prove, up; And, looking tow'rds the neighboring pasTheir voice, and bid their fellow brutes good morrow: The cheerful birds too on the tops of trees 37. The charming Notes of the Nightin- 41. In what Philosophy really consists. THOMSON PHILOSOPHY consists not In airy schemes or idle speculations. And teach them to reform and bless mankind. All policy but hers is false and rotten; THUS, in some poplar shade, the nightingale All valor not conducted by her precepts With piercing moans does her lost young Is a destroying fury sent from hell," To plague unhappy man, and ruin nations. bewail: Which the rough hind observing, as they lay § 38. The same. RowE. $42. Scipio restoring the captive Princess to her Royal Lover. THOMSON. WHAT with admiration Struck every heart, was this: A noble virgin Conspicuous far o'er all the captive dames, Was mark'd the general's prize. She wept and blush'd, [An eye, Young, fresh, and blooming like the morn As when the blue sky trembles through a cloud So when the spring renews the flow'ry field, And warns the pregnant nightingale to build; She seeks the safest shelter of the wood, Where she may trust her little tuneful brood, Where no rude swains her shady cell may Of purest white. A secret charm combin'd [blow: Her features, and infus'd enchantment through know, By nature lavish'd on her, that mankind His only plot was this: that, much provok'd, [try: Dropp'd o'er her modest cheek a trickling tear, He rais'd his vengeful arm against his coun- The Roman legions languish'd, and hard war And lo! the righteous gods have now chas- Felt more than pity. E'en their chief him1 tis'd him [fought. As on his high tribunal rais'd he sat, [self, Even by the hands of those for whom he Turn'd from the dang'rous sight, and chiding Whatever private views and passions plead, His officers, if by this gift they meant [ask'd No cause can justify so black a deed: [soul, To cloud his virtue in its very dawn. These, when the angry tempest, clouds the She, question'd of her birth, in trembling ac- Whose out-blow'd bellies cut the yielding seas. cents, Restrain'd by kind humanity.-At once "We both are young, both charm'd. The right of war Montezuma. What divine monsters, O ye That float in air, and fly upon the seas? All turn'd their sides, and to each other spoke : And these the younger brothers of the sky : 45. Virtue preferable to Rank. RowE. WHAT tho' no gaudy titles grace my birth; Titles, the servile courtier's lean reward; Sometimes the pay of virtue, but more oft The hire which greatness gives to slaves and sycophants: Yet Heaven, that made me honest, made me He comes, and with a port so proud, As if he had subdu'd the spacious world: And all Sinope's streets are fill'd with such A glut of people, you would think some god Had conquer'd in their cause, and them thus rank'd, [heads! That he might make his entrance on their While from the scaffolds, windows, tops of houses, Are cast such gaudy show'rs of garlands down, That e'en the crowd appear like conquerors, And the whole city seems like one vast meadow Set all with flow'rs, as a clear heaven with The object I could first distinctly view, [flew: And prune their feathers in his golden beams; Was tall, straight trees, which on the water So did your subjects, in their gaudy trim, Wings on their sides instead of leaves did Upon the pendant branches speak his praise. grow, [blow: Mothers, who cover'd all the banks beneath, Which gather'd all the breath the winds could Did rob the crying infants of the breast, And at their roots grew floating palaces, Pointing Ziphares out, to make them smile; 1 And climbing boys stood on their fathers' 48. A Shepherd's Life happier than a Per. [Throwing off his cloak.] Pardon, gentle lady! Bold as may seem [here, audacious? El. Ha! do I wake ?-What dost thou At midnight!-Hence, rash youth! with speed, begone! [thou, slave, Hence or I wake the house. How darest TH' unbusied shepherd, stretch'd beneath Steal on the secrets of my worship ?—Fly! And idly waistling while his sheep feed round him, Enjoys a sweeter shade than that of canopies Hemm'd in with cares, and shook by storms of treason. $49. Virtue its own Reward. RowE. GREAT minds, like Heav'n, are pleas'd with doing good, Though the ungrateful subjects of their favors Thy very life may answer such an outrage. [so abased But, by my soul's eternal hope, I swear Per. No matter [above, when we meet againThou 'lt better know me. God be with you lady. [Takes his lamp, going. El. Nay, now, I know not what thou Per. Sweet saint, [meanest. I would have told thee. El. Goest thou from our service? [urge Per. Thus to interpret !-Sooner would I Guilt to a glowing Cherub, perish in his glance, § 50. No Difficulties insuperable to the Pru-Than sully, but in thought, thy purity. dent and Brave. RowE. THE wise and active conquer difficulties By daring to attempt them: sloth and folly Shiver and shrink at sight of toil and hazard, And make th' impossibility they fear. 51. Percy and Elinor.-From Percy's Masque. HILLHOUSE. An oratory opening into Elinor's chamber. A missal spread upon the altar, before a crucifix: over it a large picture of the Virgin. Elinor kneeling, and singing to her harp. Elinor. O, holy Virgin, call thy child, Her spirit longs to be with thee, O, holy Virgin, call thy child. And haggard phantoms hunt me wild; Despair assails, and hope is dead : O, holy Virgin, call thy child. [As the sound of her harp ceases, the picture Per. Fear not, lady; angel guardians El. What apparition ?— El. If I have done injustice- El. What canst thou have to say? Altho' thy beauty I behold no more. Per. My heart is full-yet scarce→→→→ In the wide earth alone. So far, thou heard'st |