THE

PROGRESS OF LOVE,.

IN FOUR ECLOGUE S..

1. UNCERTAINTY.

To Mr. PoP E.

II. HOPE. To the Hon. GEORGE DODDINGTON. III. JEALOUSY. TO EDWARD WALPOLE, Efq; IV. POSSESSION. To the Right Hon. the Lord Viscount COBHAM.

UNCERTAINTY. ECLOGUE I. To Mr. Por E

OPE, to whofe reed beneath the beachen fhade, The Nymphs of Thames a pleas'd attention paid; While yet thy Muse, content with humbler praise, Warbled in Windfor's grove her fylvan lays; Though now, fublimely borne on Homer's wing Of glorious wars and godlike chiefs she fing: Wilt thou with me revifit once again The crystal fountain, and the flowery plain? Wilt thou, indulgent, hear my verse relate The various changes of a lover's state; And, while each turn of paffion I pursue, Afk thy own heart if what I tell be true?

Το

To the green margin of a lonely wood,

Whofe pendent shades o'erlook'd a filver flood,
Young Damon came, unknowing where he ftray'd,
Full of the image of his beauteous maid:
His flock, far off, unfed, untended, lay,
To every favage a defenceless prey;

No fenfe of intereft could their mafter move,
And

every care feem'd trifling now but love.

A while in penfive filence he remain❜d,

But, though his voice was mute, his looks complain'd; At length the thoughts within his bofom pent Forc'd his unwilling tongue to give them vent. "Ye nymphs, he cried, ye Dryads, who fo long "Have favor'd Damon, and infpir'd his fong; "For whom, retir'd, I fhun the gay reforts "Of fportful cities, and of pompous courts; "In vain I bid the restlefs world adieu, "To feek tranquility and peace with you.

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Though wild Ambition and deftructive Rage, "No factions here can form, no wars can wage:

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Though Envy frowns not on your humble shades, "Nor Calumny your innocence invades :

"Yet cruel Love, that troubler of the breaft, "Too often violates your boasted reft;

With inbred storms difturbs your calm retreat, "And taints with bitterness each rural fweet. "Ah lucklefs day! when firft with fond furprize "On Delia's face I fix'd my eager eyes! “Then in wild.tumults.all my foul was toft, “Then reason, liberty, at once were loft:

"And

And every wish, and thought, and care, was gone, • But what my heart employ'd on her alone.

Then too fhe fmil'd: can fimiles our peace deftroy, Thofe lovely children of Content and Joy! "How can soft pleasure and tormenting woe "From the fame spring at the fame moment flow: Unhappy boy! these vain enquiries cease, "Thought could not guard, nor will reftore, thy peace: Indulge the frenzy that thou must endure,

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chain.

"And footh the pain thou know'ft not how to cure, "Come, flattering Memory! and tell my heart "How kind she was, and with what pleasing art "She ftrove its fondeft wishes to obtain, "Confirm her power, and faster bind my "If on the green we danc'd, a mirthful band; "To me alone she gave her willing hand: "Her partial taste, if e'er I touch'd the lyre, "Still in my song found fomething to admire.. "By none but her my crook with flowers was crown'd, "By none but her my brows with ivy bound: "The world that Damon, was her choice believ'd, "The world, alas! like Damon, was deceiv'd. "When laft I faw her, and declar'd my fire " In words as foft as paffion could inspire,

Coldly fhe heard, and full of fcorn withdrew, "Without one pitying glance, one sweet adieu. "The frighted hind, who fees his ripen'd corn

Up from the roots by fudden tempefts torn, "Whose faireft hopes deftroy'd and blasted lie, "Feels not fo keen a pang of grief as I.

"Ah, how have I deferv'd, inhuman maid,

To have my faithful service thus repaid? "Where all the marks of kindness I receiv'd,

"But dreams of joy, that charm'd me and deceiv'd? "Or did you only nurfe my growing love,

"That with more pain I might your hatred prove? "Sure guilty treachery no place could find "In fuch a gentle, fuch a generous mind :

"A maid brought up the woods and wilds among "Could ne'er have learnt the art of courts fo young: "No; let me rather think her anger feign'd, "Still let me hope my Delia may be gain'd; " "Twas only modefty that feem'd disdain, “And her heart fuffer'd when she gave me pain.”

Pleas'd with this flattering thought, the love-fick boy Felt the faint dawning of a doubtful joy;

Back to his flock more chearful he return'd,

When now the setting fun more fiercely burn'd,
Blue vapours rofe along the mazy rills,

And light's laft blushes ting'd the diftant hills.

HOPE. ECLOGUE II.

To Mr. DODDINGTON.

[Afterwards LORD MELCOMBE REGIS.]

HEAR, Doddington, the notes that shepherds fing,

Like thofe that warbling hail the genial spring. Nor Pan, nor Phœbus, tunes our artless reeds: From Love alone their melody proceeds.

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