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Dropt the dull lumber of the Latin store,
Spoil'd his own language, and acquir'd no more;
All classic learning lost on classic ground;

And last turn'd Air, the echo of a sound!
See now, half-cur'd, and perfectly well-bred,
With nothing but a solo in his head;
As much estate, and principle, and wit,

As Jansen, Fleetwood, Cibber shall think fit;
Stol'n from a duel, follow'd by a nun,

321

325

And, as if a borough choose him, not undone;
See, to my country happy I restore

This glorious youth, and add one Venus more.
Her too receive, (for her my soul adores)

330

So may the sons of sons of sons of whores,

Prop thine, O Empress! like each neighbour throne, And make a long posterity thy own.

Pleas'd, she accepts the hero, and the dame,

335

Wraps in her veil, and frees from sense of shame,
Then look'd, and saw a lazy lolling scrt,
Unseen at church, at senate, or at court,

REMARKS,

r. 326.---Jansen, Fleetwood, Cibber. Three very eminent persons, all managers of plays, who, though not governors by profession, had, each in his way, concerned themselves in the education of youth, and regulated their wits, their morals, or their finances, at that period of their age which is the most important, their entrance into the polite world. Of the last of these, and his talents for this end, see Book 1. ver. 199, &c.

IMITATIONS.

v. 332. So may the sons of sons, &c.]

"Et nati natorum, et qui nascentur ab illis." Virg.

Of ever-listless loit'rers, that attend

No cause, no trust, no duty, and no friend.
Thee too, my Paridel! she mark'd thee there,
Stretch'd on the rack of a too easy chair,
And heard thy everlasting yawn confess
The pains and penalties of idleness.
She pity'd! but her pity only shed
Benigner influence on the nodding head.

But Annius, crafty seer, with ebon wand,
And well-dissembled em'rald on his hand,
False as his gems, and canker'd as his coins,

340

355

Came, cramm'd with capon, from where Pollio dines. Soft, as the wily fox is seen to creep,

Where bask on sunny banks the simple sheep,

351

Walk round and round, now prying here, now there, So he, but pious, whisper'd first his pray'r:

Grant, gracious Goddess! grant me still to cheat! O may thy cloud still cover the deceit ! Thy choicer mists on this assembly shed, But pour them thickest on the noble head.

IMITATIONS.

v. 342. Stretch'd on the rack----
And beard, &c.]
Sedet, æternumque sedebit!

"Infelix Theseus, Phlegyasque miserrimus omnes

"Admonet."---

v. 355.--grant me still to cheat!

O may thy cloud still cover the deceit !]

"Da, pulchra Laverna,

"Da mihi fallere---

Virg.

"Noctem peccatis et fraudibus objice nubem." Hor.

So shall each youth, assisted by our eyes,
See other Cæsars, other Homers rise;
Thro' twilight ages hunt th' Athenian fowl,
Which Chaleis gods, and mortals call an owl.
Now see an Attys, now a Cecrops clear,
Nay, Mahomet! the pigeon at thine ear;
Be rich in ancient brass, tho' not in gold,
And keep his lares, tho' his house be sold;
To headless Phoebe his fair bride postpone,
Honour a Syrian prince above his own;
Lord of an Otho, if I vouch it true;

360

365

369

Bless'd in one Niger, till he knows of two.

Mummius o'erheard him; Mummius, fool renown'd,

Who like his Cheops, stinks above the ground,

Fierce as a startled adder, swell'd, and said,
Rattling an ancient sistrum at his head:

Speak'st thou of Syrian Princes? traitor base!
Mine, Goddess! mine is all the horned race.
True, he had wit to make their value rise;
From foolish Greeks to steal them, was as wise;
More glorious yet, from barb'rous hands to keep,
When Sallee rovers chas'd him on the deep.
Then tought by Hermes, and divinely bold,
Down his own throat he risk'd the Grecian gold,
Receiv'd each demigod, with pious care,
Deep in his entrails---I rever'd them there,

376

380

IMITATIONS.

v. 383. Receiv'd each demigod.]

66

Emissumque ima de sede Typhoea terrae "Coelitibus fecisse metum' cunctosque dedisse,

385

I bought them, shrowded in that living shrine,
And, at their second birth, they issue mine.
Witness great Ammon! by whose horns I swore,
(Reply'd soft Annius) this our paunch before
Still bears them, faithful! and that thus I eat,
Is to refund the medals with the meat.
To prove me, Goddess! clear of all design,
Bid me with Pollio sup as well as dine.
There all the learn'd shall at the labour stand,
And Douglas lend his soft obstetric hand.

390

395

The Goddess smiling seem'd to give consent; So back to Pollio hand in hand they went. Then thick as locusts black'ning all the ground, A tribe, with weeds and shells fantastic crown'd, Each with some wondrous gift approach'd the Pow's, A nest, a toad, a fungus, or a flow'r.

But far the foremost, two, with earnst zeal,

And aspect ardent, to the throne appeal.

The first thus open'd: Hear thy suppliant's call, Great Queen, and common mother of us all!

400

405

Fair from its humble bed I rear'd this flow'r, Suckl'd, and cheer'd, with air, and sun, and show'r.

IMITATIONS.

"Terga fugae: donec fessos Egyptia tellus
"Coeperit.'

Ovid.

v. 405, &c. Fair from its humble bed, &c.----nam'd it

Caroline!

Each maid cry'd, Courming! and each youth Divine!
Now prostrate! dead! behold that Caroline:

No maid cries charming! and no youth divine!]

Soft on the paper ruff its leaves I spread,

Bright with the gilded button tipt its head.
Then thron'd in glass, and nam'd it Caroline:

Each maid cry'd, Charming! and each youth Divine!

Did Nature's pencil ever blend such rays,

411

Such vary'd light in one promiscuous blaze?

Now prostrate! dead! behold that Caroline:

No maid cries charming! and no youth divine!
And lo the wretch! whose vile, whose insect lust 415
Laid this gay daughter of the Spring in dust,

Oh punish him, or to th' Elysian shades
Dismiss my soul, where no carnation fades.

He ceas'd, and wept. With innocence of mien

Th' accus'd stood forth, and thus address'd the Queen:

Of all th' enamel'd race, whose silv'ry wing Waves to the tepid zephyrs of the spring,

Or swims along the fluid atmosphere,

Once brightest shin'd this child of heat and air.

421

IMITATIONS.

These verses are translated from Catullus, Epith.
"Ut flos in septis secretus nascitur hortis,
"Quam mulcet aurae, firmat Sol, educat imber
"Multi illum pueri, multae optavere puellae:
"Idem quum tenui carptus defloruit ungui,
"Nulli illum pueri, nullae optavere puellae," &c.
v. 421. Of all th' enamel'd race] The Poet seems to
have an eye to Spencer, Muiopotmos.

"Of all the race of silver-winged flies
"Which do possess the empire of the air.

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