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WINTE R.

The ARGUMENT.

The fubject propofed. Addrefs to the earl of WILMINGTON. First approach of Winter. According to the natural course of the feafon, various forms defcribed. Rain. Wind. Snow. The driving of the fnows: A Man perifbing among them; whence reflections on the wants and miseries of human life. The wolves defcending from the Alps and Apennines. A winterevening described: as spent by philofopbers; by the country people; in the city. Froft. A view of Winter within the polar Circle. A thaw. The whole concluding with moral reflections on a future fiate.

WINT E R.

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EE, WINTER comes, to rule the varied year,
Sullen, and fad, with all his rifing train;
Vapours, and Clouds, and Storms. Be these my theme,
These, that exalt the foul to folemn thought,
And heavenly mufing. Welcome, kindred glooms! 5
Cogenial horrors, hail! with frequent foot,
Pleas'd have I, in my chearful morn of life,
When nurs'd by careless folitude I liv'd,
And fung of Nature with unceafing joy,

Pleas'd have I wander'd thro' your rough domain; 10
Trod the pure virgin-fnows, myself as pure;
Heard the winds roar, and the big torrent burft;
Or feen the deep fermenting tempeft brew'd,
In the grim evening fky. Thus pafs'd the time,
Till thro' the lucid chambers of the fouth
Look'd out the joyous SPRING, look'd out and smil'd;

To thee, the patron of this first essay,
The Muse, O WILMINGTON! renews her fong.
Since has the rounded the revolving year:

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Skim'd the gay Spring; on eagle-pinions borne, zo
Attempted through the fummer-blaze to rife;
Then fwept o'er Autumn with the shadowy gale;
And now among the wintry clouds again,
Roll'd in the doubling ftorm, fhe tries to foar;
To fwell her note with all the rushing winds;
To fuit her founding cadence to the floods;
As is her theme, her numbers wildly great:
Thrice happy! could the fill thy judging ear
With bold defcription, and with manly thought.
Nor art thou skill'd in awful schemes alone,
And how to make a mighty people thrive:
But equal goodnefs, found integrity,
A firm unshaken uncorrupted foul
Amid a fliding age, and burning strong,
Not vainly blazing for thy country's weal,
A steady spirit regularly free;

Thefe, each exalting each, the statesman light
Into the patriot; thefe, the publick hope
And eye to thee converting, bid the Mufe
Record what envy dares not flattery call.

Now when the chearless empire of the sky
To Capricorn the Centaur-Archer yields,
And fierce Aquarius, ftains th' inverted year;
Hung o'er the fartheft verge of heaven, the fun
Scarce Spreads o'er ether the dejected day.
Faint are his gleams, and ineffectual shoot

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