Wise niggard of his strength. Yet all thy care,
O Hobbinol! availed not to prevent

One hapless blow; o'er his strong guard the plant
Lapped pliant, and its knotty point impressed
His nervous chine; he wreathed him to and fro
Convolved; yet, thus distressed, intrepid bore
His hilts aloft, and guarded well his head.
So when the unwary clown, with hasty step,
Crushes the folded snake, her wounded parts
Grovelling she trails along, but her high crest
Erect she bears; in all its speckled pride
She swells inflamed, and with her forky tongue
Threatens destruction. With like eager haste,
The impatient Hobbinol, whom excessive pain
Stung to his heart, a speedy vengeance vowed;
Nor wanted long the means: a feint he made
With well-dissembled guile, his battered shins
Marked with his eyes, and menaced with his plant.
Gorgonius, whose long-suffering legs scarce bore
His cumbrous bulk, to his supporters frail
Indulgent, soon the friendly hilts opposed;
Betrayed, deceived, on his unguarded crest
The stroke delusive fell; a dismal groan
Burst from his hollow chest; his trembling hands
Forsook the hilts; across the spacious ring
Backward he reeled; the crowd affrighted fly
To escape the falling ruin.

TWANGDILLO'S MISHAP. RUIN OF HIS FIDDLE.
But, alas!

'Twas thy hard fate, Twangdillo ! to receive
His ponderous trunk on thee, on helpless thee,
Headlong and heavy the foul monster fell.

Beneath a mountain's weight, the unhappy bard Lay prostrate, nor was more renowned thy song, O seer of Thrace! nor more severe thy fate. His vocal shell, the solace and support Of wretched age, gave one melodious scream, And in a thousand fragments strewed the plain. The nymphs, sure friends to his harmonious mirth, Fly to his aid, his hairy breast expose

To each refreshing gale, and with soft hands
His temples chafe; at their persuasive touch
His fleeting soul returns; upon his rump
He sat disconsolate; but when, alas!
He viewed the shattered fragments, down again
He sunk expiring: by their friendly care
Once more revived, he thrice essayed to speak,
And thrice the rising sobs his voice subdued, -
Till thus, at last, his wretched plight he mourned:
TWANGDILLO'S LAMENT FOR HIS FIDDLE.
'Sweet instrument of mirth! sole comfort left
To my declining years! whose sprightly notes
Restored my vigor and renewed my bloom;
Soft healing balm to every wounded heart!
Despairing, dying swains, from the cold ground
Upraised by thee, at thy melodious call,
With ravished ears received the flowing joy.
Gay pleasantry, and care-beguiling joke,

1 Orpheus.

Thy sure attendants were, and at thy voice
All nature smiled. But, O, this hand no more
Shall touch thy wanton strings; no more with lays
Alternate, from oblivion dark redeem

The mighty dead, and vindicate their fame.
Vain are thy toils, O Hobbinol! and all
Thy triumphs vain. Who shall record, brave man!
Thy bold exploits? who shall thy grandeur tell,
Supreme of Kiftsgate? See thy faithful bard,
Despoiled, undone. O cover me, ye hills!
Whose vocal cliffs were taught my joyous song.
Or thou, fair nymph, Avona, on whose banks
The frolic crowd, led by my numerous strains,
Their orgies kept, and frisked it o'er the green,
Jocund and gay, while thy remurmuring streams
Danced by, well pleased. O! let thy friendly waves
O'erwhelm a wretch, and hide this head accursed !'
So plains the restless Philomel, her nest
And callow young, the tender growing hope
Of future harmony, and frail return
For all her cares, -to barbarous churls a prey;
Darkling she sings, the woods repeat her moan.

CANTO III.

ARGUMENT.

Good eating expedient for heroes. Homer praised for keeping a table. Hobbinol triumphant. Ganderetta's bill of fare. Panegyric upon ale. Gossiping over a bottle. Compliment to Mr. John Philips. Ganderetta's perplexity discovered by Hobbinol; his consolatory speech; compares himself to Guy, Earl of Warwick. Ganderetta encouraged; strips for the race; her amiable figure. Fusca, the Gypsy; her dirty figure. Tabitha; her great reputation for speed. Tabitha carries weight. The smock race. Tabitha's fall. Fusca's short triumph; her humiliation. Ganderetta's matchless speed. Hobbinol lays the prize at her feet. Their mutual triumph. The vicissitude of human affairs experienced by Hobbinol. Mopsa, formerly his servant, with her two children, appears to him. Mopsa's speech; assaults Ganderetta; her flight. Hobbinol's prodigious fright; is taken into cus tody by constables, and dragged to Sir Rhadamanth's.

GOOD EATING EXPEDIENT FOR HEROES. — AGAMEMNON.

Though some of old, and some of modern date, Penurious, their victorious heroes fed With barren praise alone; yet thou, my muse ! Benevolent, with more indulgent eyes Behold the immortal Hobbinol; reward With due regalement his triumphant toils. Let Quixote's hardy courage and renown With Sancho's prudent care be meetly joined. O thou, of bards supreme, Mæonides !1 What well-fed heroes grace thy hallowed page! Laden with glorious spoils, and gay with blood Of slaughtered hosts, the victor chief returns. Whole Troy before him fled, and men and gods Opposed in vain for the brave man, whose arm Repelled his country's wrongs, ev'n he, the great Atrides, king of kings, ev'n he prepares With his own royal hand the sumptuous feast. Full to the brim, the brazen cauldrons smoke, Through all the busy camp the rising blaze

Attests their joy; heroes and kings forego
Their state and pride, and at his elbow wait
Obsequious. On a polished charger placed,
The bulky chine, with plenteous fat inlaid
Of golden hue, magnificently shines,
The choicest morsels severed to the gods.
The hero next, well paid for all his wounds,
The rich repast divides with Jove; from out
The sparkling bowl he draws the generous wine,
Unmixed, unmeasured; with unstinted joy
His heart o'erflows.

THE MAY-DAY FEAST. RURAL CHEER.

In like triumphant port
Sat the victorious Hobbinol; the crowd
Transported view, and bless their glorious chief:
All Kiftsgate sounds his praise with joint acclaim.
Him every voice, him every knee confess,
In merit, as in right, their king. Upon
The flowery turf, earth's painted lap, are spread
The rural dainties; such as Nature boon
Presents with lavish hand, or such as owe
To Ganderetta's care their grateful taste
Delicious. For she long since prepared
To celebrate this day, and with good cheer
To grace his triumphs. Crystal gooseberries
Are piled on heaps; in vain the parent tree
Defends her luscious fruit with pointed spears.
The ruby-tinctured corinth clustering hangs,
And emulates the grape; green codlings float
In dulcet creams: nor wants the last year's store;
The hardy nut, in solid mail secure,
Impregnable to winter's frosts, repays
Its hoarder's care. The custard's jellied flood,
Impatient youth, with greedy joy, devours.
Cheesecakes and pies, in various forms upraised,
In well-built pyramids aspiring stand. [suade
Black hams and tongues, that speechless can per-
To ply the brisk carouse, and cheer the soul
With jovial draughts. Nor does the jolly god
Deny his precious gifts; here jocund swains,
In uncouth mirth delighted, sporting quaff
Their native beverage; in the brimming glass
The liquid amber smiles.

AN OUTBURST OF PATRIOTISM UPON THE FRENCH. THE
SPANISH ARMADA. BRITAIN SALVABLE BY BEER.
Britons, no more
Dread your invading foes; let the false Gaul,
Of rule insatiate, potent to deceive,

And great by subtile wiles, from the adverse shore
Pour forth his numerous hosts; Iberia! join
Thy towering fleets; once more aloft display
Thy consecrated banners; fill thy sails
With prayers and vows, most formidably strong
In holy trumpery; let old Ocean groan
Beneath the proud Armada, vainly deemed
Invincible; yet fruitless all their toils,
Vain every rash effort, while our fat glebe,
Of barley grain productive, still supplies
The flowing treasure, and with sums immense
Supports the throne; while this rich cordial warms
The farmer's courage,-arms his stubborn soul

With native honor, and resistless rage.

Thus vaunt the crowd, each freeborn heart o'erflows With Britain's glory and his country's love.

THE REVELRY. — MEAD; GIRLS, WOMEN, SCANDAL, WANTONNESS. CIDER; PHILIPS.

Here, in a merry knot combined, the nymphs Pour out mellifluous streams, the balmy spoils Of the laborious bee. The modest maid But coyly sips, and blushing drinks, abashed: Each lover with observant eye beholds Her graceful shame, and at her glowing cheeks Rekindles all his fires; but matrons sage, Better experienced, and instructed well In midnight mysteries, and feast-rites old, Grasp the capacious bowl; nor cease to draw The spumy nectar. Healths of gay import Fly merrily about; now scandal sly, Insinuating, gilds the specious tale With treacherous praise, and with a double face Ambiguous wantonness demurely sneers: Till circling brimmers every veil withdraw, And dauntless impudence appears unmasked. Others apart, in the cool shade retired, Silurian cider quaff, by that great bard Ennobled, who first taught my grovelling muse To mount aerial. O could I but raise My feeble voice to his exalted strains, Or to the height of this great argument, The generous liquid in each line should bound Spirituous, nor oppressive cork subdue Its foaming rage; but, to the lofty theme Unequal, muse, decline the pleasing task. Thus they luxurious, on the grassy turf, Revelled at large; while naught around was heard But mirth confused, and undistinguished joy, And laughter far resounding.

HOPES AND FEARS OF AMBITION.

Serious care

Found here no place, to Ganderetta's breast
Retiring; there with hopes and fears perplexed
Her fluctuating mind. Hence the soft sigh
Escapes unheeded, spite of all her art;
The trembling blushes on her lovely cheeks
Alternate ebb and flow; from the full glass
She flies abstemious, shuns the untasted feast.
But careful Hobbinol, whose amorous eye
From hers ne'er wandered, haunting still the place
Where his dear treasure lay, discovered soon
Her secret woe, and bore a lover's part.
Compassion melts his soul; her glowing cheeks
He kissed, enamored, and her panting heart
He pressed to his; then with these soothing words,
Tenderly smiling, her faint hopes revived.

'Courage, my fair! the splendid prize is thine.
Indulgent fortune will not damp our joys,
Nor blast the glories of this happy day.
Hear me, ye swains! ye men of Kiftsgate! hear :
Though great the honors by your hands conferred,
These royal ornaments, though great the force
Of this puissant arm, as all must own,
Who saw this day the bold Gorgonius fall;

Yet were I more renowned for feats of arms,
And knightly prowess, than that mighty Guy,
Do famed in antique song, Warwick's great eail,
Who slew the giant Colbrand, in fierce fight
Maintained a summer's day, and freed this realm
From Danish vassalage; - his ponderous sword,
And massy spear, attest the glorious deed;
Nor less his hospitable soul is seen

In that capacious cauldron, whose large freight
Might feast a province; - yet were I like him,
The nation's pride, like him I could forego
All earthly grandeur, wander through the world
A jocund pilgrim in the lonesome den,
And rocky cave, with these my royal hands
Scoop the cold streams with herbs and roots content,
Mean sustenance; could I by this but gain
For the dear fair, the prize her heart desires.
Believe me, charming maid! I'd be a worm,
The meanest insect, and the lowest thing
The world despises, to enhance thy fame.'
So cheered he his fair queen, and she was cheered.

GANDERETTA PREPARES FOR THE RACE. HER BEAUTY.

Now with a noble confidence inspired Her looks assure success, now stripped of all Her cumbrous vestments, beauty's vain disguise, She shines unclouded in her native charms. Her plaited hair behind her in a brede Hung careless; with becoming grace each blush Varied her cheeks, than the gay rising dawn More lovely, when the new-born light salutes The joyful earth, impurpling half the skies.

Her heaving breast, through the thin covering viewed,

Fixed each beholder's eye; her taper [limbs],
And lineaments exact, would mock the skill
Of Phidias; nature alone can form
Such due proportion. To compare with her,
Oread, or Dryad, or of Delia's train,
Fair virgin huntress for the chase arrayed
With painted quiver and unerring bow,—
Were but to lessen her superior mien,
And goddess-like deport. The master's hand,
Rare artisan! with proper shades improves
His lively coloring; so here, to grace
Her brighter charms, next her upon the plain,

FUSCA AND TABITHA, HER COMPETITORS, described.

Fusca the brown appears, with greedy eye Views the rich prize, her tawny front erects Audacious, and with her legs unclean, Booted with grim, and with her freckled skin, Offends the crowd. She of the gypsy train Had wandered long, and the sun's scorching rays Imbrowned her visage grim; artful to view The spreading palm, and with vile cant deceive The lovesick maid, who barters all her store For airy visions and fallacious hope. Gorgonius, if the current fame say true,

1 Oreads were mountain-nymphs; Dryads, wood-nymphs; Delia was a name for Diana, born in the isle of Delos.

Her comrade once, they many a merry prank
Together played, and many a mile had strolled,
For him fit mate. Next Tabitha the tall
Strode o'er the plain, with huge gigantic pace,
And overlooked the crowd; known far and near
For matchless speed, she many a prize had won ;
Pride of that neighboring mart,1 for mustard famed,
Sharp-biting grain, where amicably join
The sister floods, and with their liquid arms
Greeting, embrace.? *

THE MASTER OF THE RING, MILONIDES; HIS PROCESSION,
MUSIC, AND ARRANGEMENTS.

Room for the master of the ring; ye swains! Divide your crowded ranks. See! there on high The glittering prize, on the tall standard borne, Waving in air; before him march in files The rural minstrelsy, the rattling drum Of solemn sound, and th' animating horn, Each huntsman's joy; the tabor and the pipe, Companion dear at feasts, whose cheerful notes Give life and motion to the unwieldy clown. Even age revives, and the pale, [puling] maid Feels ruddy health rekindling on her cheeks, And with new vigor trips it o'er the plain; Counting each careful step, he paces o'er Th' allotted ground, and fixes at the goal His standard; there himself majestic swells.

THE SMOCK-RACE.

Stretched in a line, the panting rivals wait
Th' expected signal, with impatient eyes
Measure the space between, and in conceit
Already grasp the warm contested prize.
Now all at once rush forward to the goal!
And step by step, and side by side, they ply
Their busy feet, and leave the crowd behind.
Quick heaves each breast, and quick they shoot
along

Through the divided air, and bound it o'er the plain.
To this, to that, capricious fortune deals
Short hopes, short fears, and momentary joy.
The breathless throng, with open throats, pursue,
And broken accents shout imperfect praise.
Such noise confused is heard, such wild uproar,
When on the main the swelling surges rise,
Dash on the rocks, and, hurrying through the flood,
Drive on each other's backs, and crowd the strand.
Before the rest tall Tabitha was seen
Stretching amain, and whirling o'er the field;
Swift as the shooting star that gilds the night
With rapid, transient blaze, she runs, she flies ;
Sudden she stops, nor longer can endure
The painful course, but, drooping, sinks away,
And like that falling meteor, there she lies,
A jelly cold on earth. Fusca with joy
Beheld her wretched plight; o'er the pale corse
Insulting bounds; hope gave her wings, and now,
Exerting all her speed, step after step,

1 Tewksbury, in the vale of Evesham, where the Avon runs into the Severn.

2 The author's vulgar fling at the dissenters, and their school at Tewksbury, some thirty-one lines, is omitted. J.

At Ganderetta's elbow urged her way,
Her shoulder pressing, and with poisonous breath
Tainting her ivory neck. Long while had held
The sharp contest, had not propitious [fate],
With partial hands, to such transcendant charms
Dispensed its favors. For as o'er the green
The careless gypsy, with incautious speed,
Pushed forward, and her rival fair had reached,
With equal pace, and only not o'erpassed—
Haply she treads where late the merry train,
In wasteful luxury and wanton joy,
Lavish had spilt the cide.'s frothy flood,
And mead with custard mixed. Surprised, appalled,
And in the treacherous puddle struggling long,
She slipped, she fell; upon her back, supine,
Extended lay; the laughing multitude,
With noisy scorn, approved her just disgrace.

THE TRIUMPH OF GANDERETTA.

As the sleek leveret skims before the pack, So flies the nymph, and so the crowd pursue. Borne on the wings of wind the dear one flies, Swift as the various goddess, nor less bright In beauty's prime; when through the yielding air She darts along, and with refracted rays Paints the gay clouds; celestial messenger, Charged with the high behests of heaven's great queen.2

Her at the goal with open arms received Fond Hobbinol; with active leap he seized The costly prize, and laid it at her feet, Then pausing stood, dumb with excess of joy. Expressive silence! for each tender glance Betrayed the raptures that his tongue concealed. Less mute the crowd, in echoing shouts, applaud Her speed, her beauty, his obsequious love.

THE KING AND QUEEN OF THE MAY; THEIR THRONES.

Upon a little eminence, whose top O'erlooked the plain, a steep, but short ascent, Placed in a chair of state, with garlands crowned, And loaded with the fragrance of the spring, Fair Ganderetta shone; like mother Eve In her gay sylvan lodge, delicious bower! Where Nature's wanton hand, above the reach Of rule, or art, had lavished all her store To deck the flowery roof; and at her side Imperial Hobbinol, with front sublime, Great as a Roman consul, just returned From cities sacked, and provinces laid waste, In his paternal wicker sat enthroned.

PUBLIC APPLAUSE. ITS HOLLOWNESS.

With eager eyes the crowd about them press, Ambitious to behold the happy pair. Each voice, each instrument proclaims their joy With loudest vehemence such noise is heard, Such a tumultuous din, when, at the call Of Britain's sovereign, the rustic bands O'erspread the fields; the subtle candidates Dissembled homage pay, and court the fools Whom they despise; each proud majestic clown

1 Iris, the rainbow, messenger of the gods. 2 Juno.

Looks big and shouts amain, mad with the taste
Of power supreme, frail empire of a day!
That with the setting sun extinct is lost.

FORTUNE IS CAPRICIOUS. REVERSES.-HOBBINOL'S SIN

FINDS HIM OUT.

Nor is thy grandeur, mighty Hobbinol ! Of longer date. Short is, alas! the reign Of mortal pride; we play our parts a while, And strut upon the stage; the scene is changed, And offers us a dungeon for a throne. Wretched vicissitude! for, after all His tinsel dreams of empire and renown, Fortune, capricious dame, withdraws at once The goodly prospect, to his eyes presents Her, whom his conscious soul abhorred and feared!

APPARITION OF THE INJURED MOPSA AND HER BABES.

Lo! pushing through the crowd, a meagre form With hasty step, and visage incomposed! Wildly she stared: rage sparkled in her eyes, And poverty sat shrinking on her cheeks. Yet through the cloud that hung upon her brows A faded lustre broke, that dimly shone, Shorn of its beams, the ruins of a face, Impaired by time, and shattered by misfortunes. A froward babe hung at her flabby breast, And tugged for life; but wept, with hideous moan, His frustrate hopes, and unavailing pains. Another o'er her bending shoulder peeped, Swaddled around with rags of various hue. He kens his comrade twin with envious eye, As of his share defrauded; then amain He also screams, and to his brother's cries In doleful concert joins his loud laments.

THE STORY OF SIN. SIMILE OF THE PIRATE SHIP. — HOBBINOL'S DISMAY.

O, dire effects of lawless love! O sting Of pleasure past! As when a full-freight ship, Blest in a rich return of pearls or gold, Of fragrant spice, or silks of costly dye, Makes to the wished-for port with swelling sails, And all her gaudy trim displayed; o'erjoyed The master smiles; but if from some small creek A lurking corsair the rich quarry spies, With all her sails bears down upon her prey, And peals of thunder from her hollow sides Check his triumphant course, aghast he stands Stiffened with fear, unable to resist, And impotent to fly; all his fond hopes Are dashed at once! naught now, alas! remains But the sad choice of slavery or death! So fared it with the hapless Hobbinol, In the full blaze of his triumphant joy Surprised by her, whose dreadful face alone Could shake his steadfast soul. In vain he turns And shifts his place averse; she haunts him still, And glares upon him with her haggard eyes, That fiercely spoke her wrongs.

MOPSA'S INVECTIVE. - STORY OF HER SEDUction. Words swelled with sighs At length burst forth, and thus she storms enraged:

'Know'st thou not me? false man! not to know me
Argues thyself unknowing of thyself,
Puffed up with pride, and bloated with success.
Is injured Mopsa then so soon forgot?
Thou knew'st me once, ah! woe is me! thou didst.
But if laborious days and sleepless nights;
If hunger, cold, contempt, and penury,
Inseparable guests, have thus disguised
Thy once-beloved, thy handmaid dear; if thine
And fortune's frowns have blasted all my charms;
If here no roses grow, no lilies bloom,
Nor rear their heads on this neglected face;
If through the world I range a slighted shade,
The ghost of what I was, forlorn, unknown;
At least know these. See! this sweet simpering
Dear image of thyself; see! how it sprunts [babe,
With joy at thy approach! see, how it gilds
Its soft, smooth face, with false paternal smiles!
Native deceit, from thee, base man, derived!
Or view this other elf, in every art
Of smiling fraud, in every treacherous leer,
The very Hobbinol! ah! cruel man!
Wicked, ingrate! and couldst thou then so soon,
So soon forget that ** fatal [hour] when me **
Thy artful wiles betrayed? was there a star,

By which thou didst not swear? was there a curse,
A plague on earth, thou didst not then invoke
On that devoted head, if e'er thy heart
Proved haggard to my love, if e'er thy hand
Declined the nuptial bond? but, O! too well,
Too well, alas! my throbbing breast perceived
The black impending storm; the conscious moon
Veiled in a sable cloud her modest face,

GANDERETTA ESCAPES AND FIDES HERSELF. HOBBINOL IS
ARRESTED AND CONVEYED TO JUDGMENT.

Borne on the wings of fear, away she bounds,
And in the neighboring village pants forlorn.
So the coursed hare to the close covert flies,
Still trembling, though secure. Poor Hobbinol
More grievous ills attend: around him press
A multitude, with huge, herculean clubs,
Terrific band! the royal mandate these
Insulting show: arrested and amazed,

Half dead he stands; no friends dare interpose,
But bow dejected to the imperial scroll:
Such is the force of law. While conscious shame
Sits heavy on his brow, they view the wretch
To Rhadamanth's august tribunal dragged.
Good Rhadamanth! to every wanton clown
Severe indulgent only to himself.