No tyranny like thine we know,
That half fo cruel e'er appear'd,
And yet thou'rt lov'd as well as fear'd,
Perhaps the only tyrant that is fo.

II.

Long have I been thy votary,

Thou'ft led me out to woods and groves,
Mad'ft me defpife all other loves,

And give up all my paffions, all my foul to thee.
Thee for my first companion did I chufe,
Firft, even before my darling Mufe;
And yet I know of thee no more
Than those who never did thy fhrine adore.
III.

Thou'rt Myftery and Riddle all,

Like thofe thou infpireft, thou lov't to be
In darkness and obscurity.

[call.

Even learned Athens thee an unknown God might
Strange contraries in thee combine,
Both Hell and Heaven in thee meet,
Thou greatest Bitter, greatest Sweet.

No pain is like thy pain, no pleasure too like thine.

IV.

'Tis the grave doctrine of the schools,
That contraries can never be

Confiftent in th' high'it degree,

[rules.

But thou must ftand exempt from their dull narrow

And yet 'tis faid, the brighteft mind

Is that which is by thee refin'd.\

See here a greater mystery,

Thou mak'ft us wife, yet ruin'ft our philofophy.

N

The DISCONTENT.

I.

TOT that it is not made my fate [state.
To ftand upon the dangerous heights of
Nor that I cannot be poffeft

Of th' hidden treasures of the East,

Nor that I cannot bathe in pleasures fpring,
And rifle all the fweets which Nature's gardens bring,
Do I repine, my destiny,

I can all these defpife as well as you deny.

II.

It fhall not difcompofe my mind

Though not one Star above to me prove kind.
Their influence may sway the fea,

But make not the leaft change in me.
They neither can afflict my ftate, nor blefs;
Their greatest gifts are finall, and my defires are
My veffel bears but little fail,

What need I then a full and fwelling gale?

III.

And yet I'm difcontented too, Perhaps, y' afpiring fouls, as much as you; We both in equal trouble live,

[lefs.

But for much different caufes grieve; You, that thefe gilded joys you can't obtain; And I, because I know they're empty all and vain, You ftill purfue in hopes to find, I ftand and dare not flatter on my mind.

IV.

This Tree of Knowledge is, I fee,
Still fatal to poor man's felicity.

That which yields others great repaft,
Can't please my now enlighten'd tafte.

Before, tho' I could nothing folid find,

[mind.

Yet ftill with fpecious profpects I could pleafe my
Now all the fartheft I can fee
Is one perpetual round of vanity.

BEAUTY.

I.

BE

EST object of the paffion moft divine,
What excellence can Nature fhew
In all her various ftore below,

Whofe charms may be compar'd to thine?

Even light it felf is therefore fair Only because it makes thy fweets appear.

II.

Thou ftreaming splendor of the Face divine,
What in the regions above,

Do Saints, like thee, adore or love,
What excellence is there like thine?
I except not the Divinity;

That great and fovereign good, for thou art He.

III.

He's Beauties vaft abyfs and boundless fea,
The primitive and greatest Fair,
All his perfections Beauties are,
Beauty is all the Deity.

Some ftreams from this vaft ocean flow,
And that is all that pleases, all that's fair below,

IV.

Divine Perfection, who alone art all
That various fcene of Excellence
Which pleases either mind or fense,
Tho' thee by different names we call!
Search Nature through, thou ftill wilt be
The fun of all that's good in her variety.

V.

Love, that moît active paffion of the mind,
Whofe roving flame does traverse o'er
All Natures good, and reach for more,
Still to thy magick sphere's confin'd.
'Tis Beauty all we can defire,

Beauty's the native mansion of Love's fire.

VI.

Those finer fpirits who from the croud retire
To ftudy Nature's artful fcheme,
Or fpeculate a theorem,

What is't but Beauty they admire?

And they too who enamour'd are

Of virtue's face, love her because she's fair.

VII.

No Empire, fovereign Beauty, is like thine,
Thou reign't unrivall'd and alone,
And univerfal is thy throne,
Stoicks themselves to thee refign.

E 4

From

From paffions be they ne'er fo free, Something they needs must love, and that is thee.

VIII.

He whom we all adore; that mighty He,
Owns thy fupreme dominion,
And happy lives in thee alone,

We 're bleft in him, and he in thee:
In thee he's infinitely bleft,

Thou art the inmoft center of his reft.

IX.

Pleas'd with thy form which in his effence shin'd,
Th' Almighty chofe to multiply
This flower of his Divinity

And leffer beauties foon defign'd.

The unform'd Chaos he remov❜d,

Tinctur'd the mafs wtih thee, and then it lov'd.
X.

But do not thou, my foul, fixt here remain,
All ftreams of Beauty here below
Do from that immenfe ocean flow,
And thither they should lead again.
Trace then thefe ftreams, till thou shalt be

At length o'erwhelm'd in Beauty's boundless fea.

GGG

GGGG

LOVE.

I.

Mperial paffion! facred fire?
we of meaner fubjects fing,

Thou tun'ft our harps, thou doft our fouls
infpire,

'Tis Love directs the quill, 'tis Love strikes every

ftring,

But where's another Deity

T'infpire the man that fings of thee?

11. Ware

II.

Ware by mistaken Chymifts toid,
That the most active part of all
The various compound caft in Nature's mould,
Is that which they mercurial fpirit call.

But fure 'tis Love they fhould have faid,
Without this even their spirit is dead.

III.

Love's the great spring of Nature's wheel,
Love does the mafs pervade and move,
What 'fcapes the Sun's, does thy warm influence feel,
The Univerfe is kept in tune by Love..
Thou Nature giv'ft her sympathy,
The center has its charm from thee.
IV.

Love did great nothing's barren womb
Impregnate with his genial fire;

From this first parent did all creatures come,
Th' Almighty will'd, and made all by defire.
Nay more, among the facred Three,
The third fubfiftence is from thee.

V.

The happiest order of the bleft

Are thofe whofe tide of Love's most high, The bright feraphick hoft; who're more poffeft of good, because more like the Deity.

T'him they advance as they improve
Their noble heat, for God is Love.
VI.

Shall then a paffion fo divine

Stoop down and mortal beauties know?
Nature's great ftatute law did ne'er defign
That Heavenly fire fhould kindle here below;
Let it afcend and dwell above,
The proper element of Love,