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Tais poem was written at two different times: the first part of it, which relates to the country, in the year 1704, at the fame time with the pastorals: the latter part was not added till the year 1713, in which it was published.

TAY forefts, Windfor! and thy green retreats,
At once the monarch's and the mufe's feats,
Invite my lays. Be present, Sylvan maids!
Unlock your fprings, and open all your fhades.
Granville commands; your aid, O muses, bring!
What mufe for Granville can refuse to fing?

The groves of Eden, vanish'd now fo long,
Live in defcription, and look green in fong;
Thefe, were my breast infpir'd with equal flame,
Like them in beauty, should be like in fame, 10
Here hills and vales, the woodland and the plain,
Here earth and water seem to strive again;
Not chaos-like together crush'd and bruis'd,
But, as the world, harmoniously confus'd;
Where order in variety we fee,

And where, though all things differ, all agree. Here waving groves a chequer'd fcene difplay, And part admit, and part exclude the day;

20

As fome coy nymph her lover's warm address
Nor quite indulges, nor can quite reprefs.
There, interfpers'd in lawns and opening glades,
Thin trees arife that fhun each other's fhades.
Here in full light the ruffet plains extend;
There, wrapt in clouds, the bluish hills afcend.
Ev'n the wild heath displays her purple dies,
And 'midst the defert, fruitful fields arife, [corn,
That, crown'd with tufted trees and fpringing
Like verdant ifles the fable wafte adorn.
Let India boast her plants, nor envy we
The weeping amber, or the balmy tree,
While by our oaks the precious loads are borne,
And realms commanded which those trees adorn
Nor proud Olympus yields a nobler fight,
Though gods affembled grace his towering height,
Than what more humble mountains offer here,
Where, in their bleffings, all those gods appear.

30

VARIATIONS.

Ver. 3, &c. Originally thus:

Chafte goddess of the woods,

Nymphs of the vales, and Naiads of the floods,
Lead me through arching bow're, and glimm'ring
glades,
Walock your fprings-

VARIATIONS.

Ver. 25. Originally thus:

Why fhould I fing our better funs or air,
Whofe vital draughts prevent the leach's care,
While through fresh fields th' enliv'ning odours
breathe,

Or spread with vernal blooms the purple heath?

Se Pan with flocks, with fruits Pomona crown'd
Here blufhing Flora paints th' enamell'd ground,
Here Ceres' gifts in waving profpect stand,
And nodding tempt the joyful reaper's hand; 40
Rich Industry fits fmiling on the plains,
And peace and plenty tell, a Stuart reigns.
Not thus the land appear'd in ages past,
A dreary defert, and a gloomy waste,
To favage beafts and favage laws a prey,
And kings more furious and fevere than they;
Who claim'd the skies, difpeopled air and floods,
The lonely lords of empty wilds and woods:
Cities laid wafte, they storm'd the dens and caves
(For wifer brutes were backward to be flaves). 50
What could be free, when lawless beasts obey'd,
And ev'n the elements a tyrant fway'd?
In vain kind seasons fwell'd the teeming grain,
Soft fhowers diftill'd, and funs grew warm in vain ;
The fwain with tears his fruftrate labour yields,
And famim'd dies amidst his ripen'd fields.
What wonder then, a beaft or fubject flain
Were equal crimes in a defpotic reign?
Both doom'd alike for sportive tyrants bled,
But, while the fubject starv'd, the beast was fed.
Proud Nimrod first the bloody chace began, 61
A mighty hunter, and his prey was man :
Our haughty Norman boasts that barbarous name,
And makes his trembling flaves the royal game.
The fields are ravifh'd from th' induftrious
fwains,

70

From men their cities, and from gods their fanes :
The levell'd towns with weeds lie cover'd o'er;
The bollow winds through naked temples roar;
Round broken columns clafping ivy twin'd;
O'er heaps of ruin ftalk'd the ftately hind;
The fox obfcene to gaping tombs retires,
And favage howlings fill the facred quires.
Aw'd by his nobles, by his commons curft,
Th' Oppreflor rul'd tyrannic where he durft,
Stretch'd o'er the poor and church his iron rod,
And ferv'd alike his vaffals and his God.
Whom ev'n the Saxon fpar'd, and bloody Dane,
The wanton victims of his sport remain.
But fee, the man who fpacious regions gave
A wafte for beafts, himfelf deny'd a grave!

80

Stretch'd on the lawn his fecond hope furvey,
At once the chacer, and at once the prey:
Lo! Rufus, tugging at the deadly dart,
Bleeds in the foreft like a wounded hart.
Succeeding monarchs heard the subjects cries,
Nor faw difpleas'd the peaceful cottage rife.
Then gathering flocks on unknown mountains fed,
O'er fandy wilds were yellow harvests spread,
The forefts wonder'd at th' unusual grain,
And fecret tranfport touch'd the conscious swain.
Fair Liberty, Britannia's goddess, rears
91
Her cheerful head, and leads the golden years.
Ye vigorous fwains! while youth ferments your
blood,

And purer fpirits fwell the sprightly flood,
Now range the hills, the gameful woods befet,
Wind the fhrill horn, or spread the waving net.
When milder autumn fummer's heat fucceeds,
And in the new-fhorn field the partridge feeds;
Before his the ready spaniel bounds,
Panting with hope, hetries the furrow'dgrounds;10
But when the tainted gales the game betray,
Couch'd close he lies, and meditates the prey :
Secure the truft th' unfaithful field befet,
Till hovering o'er them fweeps the swelling net.
Thus (if fmall things we may with great compare)
When Albion fends her eager fons to war,
Some thoughtless town, with ease and plenty bleft,
Near and more near, the clofing lines invest,
Sudden they feize th' amaz'd defenceless prize,
And high in air Britannia's ftandard flies.
See! from the brake the whirring pheasant
fprings,

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And mounts exulting on triumphant wings : Short is his joy; he feels the fiery wound, Flutters in blood, and panting beats the ground. Ah! what avail his gioffy varying dies,

His purple creft, and scarlet circled eyes,
The vivid green his fhining plumes unfold,
His painted wings, and breaft that flames with
gold?

Nor yet when moist Arcturus clouds the sky, The woods and fields their pleasing toils deny. 120

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To plains with well-breath'd beagles we repair,
And trace the mazes of the circling hare
(Beafts, urg'd by us, their fellow beafts pursue,
And learn of man each other to undo):
With flaughtering guns th'anweary'd fowler roves,
When frofts have whiten'd all the naked groves;
Where doves in flocks the leaflefs trees o'ershade,
And lonely woodcocks haunt the watery glade.
He lifts the tube, and levels with his eye;
Strait a fhort thunder breaks the frozen fky: 130
Oft, as in airy rings they skim the heath,
The clamorous lapwings feels the leaden death;
Oft, as the mounting larks their notes prepare,
They fall, and leave their little lives in air.

In genial fpring, beneath the quivering shade,
Where cooling vapours breathe along the mead,
The patient fisher takes his filent stand,
Intent, his angle trembling in his hand :
With looks unmov'd, he hopes the scaly breed,
And eyes the dancing cork and bending reed, 140
Our plenteous ftreams a various race fupply,
The bright-ey'd perch with fins of Tyrian dye,
The filver eel, in fhining volumes roll'd,
The yellow carp, in fcales bedropp'd with gold,
Swift trouts, diverfify'd with crimson stains,
And pikes, the tyrants of the watery plains.

Now Cancer glows with Phabus' fiery car: The youth rush eager to the Sylvan war, Swarm o'er the lawns, the foreft walks furround, Rouze the fleet hart, and cheer the opening hound.

150

Th' impatient courfer pants in every vein,
And, pawing, feems to beat the diftant plain :
Hills, vales, and floods, appear already crofs'd,
And, ere he starts, a thousand steps are loft.
See the bold youth ftrain up the threat'ning fteep,
Ruth through the thickets, down the vallies fweep,
Hang o'er their courfers heads with eager fpeed,
And earth rolls back beneath the flying steed.
Let old Arcadia boast her ample plain,
Th' immortal huntress, and her virgin-train; 160
Nor envy, Windfor! fince thy fhades have seen
As bright a goddess, and as chaste a queen;
Whofe care, like her's, protects the Sylvan reign,
The earth's fair light, and emprefs of the main.

Here, too, 'tis fung, of old Diana ftray'd,
And Cynthus top forfook for Windsor shade;
Here was the feen o'er airy wastes to rove,
Seek the clear fpring, or haunt the pathlefs
grove;

170

Here arm'd with filver bows, in early dawn, Her bufkin'd virgins trac'd the dewy lawn, Above the reft a rural nymph was fam'd, Thy offspring, Thames! the fair Lodona nam'd (Lodona's fate, in long oblivion cast,

The mufe fhall fing, and what she fings shall laft).

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Scarce could the goddess from her nymph be known,

But by the crefcent and the golden zone.
She scorn'd the praise of beauty, and the care;
A belt her waist, a fillet binds her hair;
A painted quiver on her fhoulder founds,
And with her dart the flying deer she wounds. 180
It chanc'd, as, eager of the chace, the maid
Beyond the foreft's verdant limits stray'd,
Pan faw and lov'd, and burning with defire
Purfu'd her flight; her flight increas'd'his fire.
Not half fo fwift the trembling doves can fly,
When the fierce eagle cleaves the liquid fky;
Not half fo fwiftly the fierce eagle moves,
When through the clouds he drives the trembling
doves;

As from the god fhe flew with furious pace,
Or as the god, more furious, urg'd the chace. 190
Now fainting, finking, pale, the nymph appears;
Now close behind, his founding sleps the hears;
And now his fhadow reach'd her as the run,
His fhadow lengthen'd by the setting fun;
And now his fhorter breath, with fultry air,
Pants on her neck, and fans her parting hair.
In vain on father Thames fhe calls for aid,
Nor could Diana help her injur'd maid.
Faint, breathlefs, thus the pray'd, nor pray'd in
vain;

“Ah, Cynthia! ah-though banish'd from thy "train,

200

"Let me, O let me, to the shades repair,
"My native fhades!-there weep and murmur
"there!"

She faid, and, melting as in tears fhe lay,
In a foft filver ftream diffolv'd away.
The silver stream her virgin coldness keeps,
For ever murmurs, and for ever weeps;
Still bears the name the hapless virgin bore,
And bathes the foreft where the rang'd before.
In her chafte current oft the goddess laves,
And with celeftial tears augments the waves. 210
Oft in her glass the mufing fhepherd fpies
The headlong mountains and the downward skies,
The watery landskip of the pendant woods,
And abfent trees that tremble in the floods;
In the clear azure gleam the flocks are seen,
And floating forefts paint the waves with green;
Through the fair fcene roll flow the lingering
streams,

Then foaming pour along, and rush unto the
Thames.

Thou, too, great father of the British floods!
With joyful pride furvey'ft our lofty woods; 220
Where towering oaks their growing honours rear,
And future navies on thy fhores appear.
Not Neptune's feif from all her streams receives
A wealthier tribute, than to thine he gives.
No feas fo rich, fo gay no banks appear,
No lake fo gentle, and no fpring fo clear.
Nor Po fo fwells the fabling poet's lays,
While led along the fkies his current strays,
As thine, which vifits Windfor's fam'd abodes,
To grace the manfion of our earthly gods:
Nor all his ftars above a luftre fhow,
Like the bright beaucics on thy banks below;

230

Where Jove, fubdu'd by mortal paffion still,
Might change Olympus for a nobler hill.
Happy the man whom this bright court ap-
proves,

His fovereign favours, and his country loves :
Happy next him, who to these fhades retires,
Whom nature charms, and whom the muse in-

fpires;

Whom humbler joys of home-felt quiet please,
Succeffive ftudy, exercife, and cafe.

He gathers health from herbs the foreft yields,
And of their fragrant physic spoils the fields;
With chemic art exalts the mineral powers,
And draws the aromatic souls of flowers:
Now marks the course of rolling orbs on high;
O'er figur'd worlds now travels with his eye;
Of ancient writ unlocks the learned store,
Confults the dead, and lives paft ages o'er :
Or wandering thoughtful on the filent wood,
Attends the duties of the wife and good,
'T" obferve a mean, be to himself a friend,
To follow nature, and regard his end;

240

250

Or looks on heaven with more than mortal eyes,
Bids his free foul expatiate in the skies,
Amid her kindred stars familiar roam,
Survey the region, and confefs her home!
Such was the life great Scipio once admir'd,
Thus Atticus and Trumbull thus retir'd.

Ye facred nine! that all my foul poffefs,
Whose raptures fire me, and whofe vifions blefs, 260
Bear me, oh bear me to fequefter'd scenes,
The bowery mazes, and furrounding greens;
To Thames's banks which fragrant breezes fill,
Or where the mufes fport on Cooper's Hill
(On Coopers Hill eternal wreaths fhall grow,
While lafts the mountain, or while Thames fhall
flow):

I seem through confecrated walks to rove,
I hear foft mufic die along the grove :
Led by the found, I roam from fhade to shade,
By god-like poets venerable made:
Here his first lays majestic Denham fung;
There the laft numbers flow'd from Cowley's
tongue.

O carly loft! what tears the river shed,
When the fad pomp along his banks was led !

VARIATIONS.

Ver. 233. It flood thus in the MS. And force great Jove, if Jove's a lover ftill, To change Olympus, &c.

270

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His drooping fwans on every note expire,
And on his willows hung each mufe's lyre.

Since fate relentless stopp'd their heavenly voice,
No more the forefts ring, or groves rejoice;
Who now fhall charm the fhades, where Cowley
ftrung

280

His living harp, and lofty Denham fung
But hark! the groves rejoice, the forest rings!
Are thefe reviv'd? or is it Granville fings!
'Tis yours, my Lord, to blefs our soft retreats,
And call the mufes to their ancient feats;
To paint anew the flowery Sylvan scenes,
To crown the foreft with immortal greens,
Make Windfor hills in lofty numbers rise,
And lift her turrets nearer to the skies;
To fing those honours you deferve to wear,
And add new luftre to her filver ftar.
Here noble Surrey felt the facred rage,
Surrey, the Granville of a former age:
Matchlefs his pen, victorious was his lance,
Bold in the lifts, and graceful in the dance:
In the fame fhades the Cupids tun'd his lyre,
To the fame notes, of love, and soft defire:
Fair Geraldine, bright object of his vow,
Then fill'd the groves, as heavenly Mira now.
Oh wouldst thou fing what heroes Windfor
bore,

29

What king first breath'd upon her winding fhore,

300

Or raise old warriors, whose ador'd remains
In weeping vaults her hallow'd earth contains!
With Edward's acts adorn the shining page,
Stretch his long triumphs down through every age;
Draw monarchs chain'd, and Creffi's glorious field,
The lilies blazing on the regal fhield:

Then, from her roofs when Verrio's colours fall,
And leave inanimate the naked wall,
Still in thy song should vanquish'd France appear,
And bleed for ever under Britain's fpear.

310

Let fofter ftrains ill-fated Henry mourn, And palms eternal flourish round his urn. Here o'er the martyr-king the marble weeps, And, faft behind him, once-fear'd Edward fleeps:

VARIATIONS. Ver. 275.

What fighs, what murmurs, fill'd the vocal fhore ! His tuneful fwans were heard to fing no more.

Ver. 290. her filver ftar.] All the lines that follow were not added to the poem till the year 1710. What immediately followed this, and made the conclufion, were these :

My humble mufe, in unambitious strains,
Paints the green forefts and the flowery plains;
Where I obfcurely pafs my careless days,
Pleas'd in the filent fhade with empty praise,
Enough for me that to the listening fwains
First in these fields 1 fung the Sylvan strains.

Ver. 307. Originally thus in the MS. When brafs decays, when trophies lie o'erthrown, And mouldering into duft drops the proud stone.

Whom not th' extended Albion could contain,
From old Belerium to the northern main,
The grave unites; where ev'n the great find reft,
And blended lie th' oppreffor and th' oppreft!

Make facred Charles's tomb for ever known (Obfcure the place, and uninfcrib'd the stone); 320 Oh fact accurs'd! what tears has Albion shed! Heavens, what new wounds! and how her old have bled!

She faw her fons with purple deaths expire,
Her facred domes involv'd in rolling fire,
A dreadful series of inteftine wars,
Inglorious triumphs, and dishonest scars.
At length great Anna faid, "Let difcord cease!"
She faid, the world obey'd, and all was peace!
In that bleft moment from his oozy bed
Old father Thames advanc'd his reverend head.
His treffes dropp'd with dews, and o'er the ftream
His faining horns diffus'd a golden gleam:
Grav'd on his urn appear'd the moon, that guides
His fwelling waters, and alternate tides;
The figur'd ftreams in waves of filver roll'd,
And on their banks Augusta rose in gold;
Around his throne the fea-born brothers ftood
Who fwell with tributary urns his flood!
Firft the fam'd authors of this ancient name,
The winding Ifis, and the fruitful Thame :
The Kennet fwift, for filver eels renown'd;
The Loddon flow, with verdant alders crown'd;
Cole, whofe dark streams his flowery islands lave;
And chalky Wey, that rolls a milky wave;
The blue, tranfparent Vandalis appears;
The gulfy Lee his fedgy treffes rears;
And fullen Mole, that hides his diving flood;
And filent Darent, ftain'd with Danish blood.
High in the midft, upon his urn reclin'd,
(His fea-green mantle waving with the wind) 350
The god appear'd: he turn'd his azure eyes
Where Windfor-domes and pompous turrets rife ;

VARIATIONS.

Ver. 321. Originally thus in the MS. Oh fact accurs'd! oh facrilegious brood, Sworn to rebellion, principled in blood!

340

Then bow'd, and fpoke; the winds forget to roar, And the hufh'd waves glide foftly to the shore.

Hail, facred peace! hail, long-expected days, That Thames's glory to the stars fhall raife! Though Tiber's ftreams immortal Rome behold, Though foaming Hermus fwells with tides of gold, From heaven itself the feven-fold Nilas flows, And harvests on a hundred realms bestows; 36 Thefe now no more fhall be the mufes' themes, Loft in my fame, as in the sea their streams. Let Volga's banks with iron fquadrons shine, And groves of lances glitter on the Rhine; Let barbarous Ganges arm a fervile train: Be mine the bleflings of a peaceful reign. No more my fons fhall die with British blood, Red Iber's fands, or Ifter's foaming flood; Safe on my fhore each unmolefted fwain Shall tend the flocks, or reap the bearded grain; 370 The fhady empire shall retain no trace Of war or blood, but in the Sylvan chace; The trumpet fleep, while cheerful horns are blown, And arms employ'd on birds and beafts alone. Behold th' afcending villas on my fide, Project long shadows o'er the crystal tide. Behold! Augufta's glittering fpires increase, And temples rife, the beauteous works of peace. I fee, I fee, where two fair cities bend Their ample bow, a new Whitehall afcend! 380 There mighty nations fhall inquire their doom, The world's great oracle in times to come; There kings fhall fue, and fuppliant states be seen Once more to bend before a British queen.

Thy trees, fair Windfor! now fhall leave their

woods,

394

And half thy forests rush into thy floods;
Bear Britain's thunder, and her cross display,
To the bright regions of the rifing day:
Tempt icy feas, where scarce the waters roll,
Where clearer flames glow round the frozen pole;
Or under fouthern skies exalt their fails,
Led by new ftars, and borne by spicy gales!
For me the balm fhall bleed, and amber flow,
The coral redden, and the ruby glow,
The pearly fhell its lucid globe unfold,
And Phoebus warm the ripening ore to gold.
The time fhall come, when free as feas or wind

Since that dire morn, what tears has Albion fhed: Unbounded Thames fhall flow for all mankind,

Gods what new wounds, &c.

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Whole nations enter with each swelling tide, And feas but join the regions they divide;

VARIATIONS.

400

Ver. 363. Originally thus in the MS. Let Venice boast her towers amidst the main, Where the rough Adrian fwells and roars in vain: Here not a town, but spacious realm shall have A fure foundation on the rolling wave.

Ver. 385, &c. were originally thus in the MS.
Now fhall our fleets the bloody cross display
To the rich regions of the rifing day,

Or thofe green ifles, whore headlong Titan steeps
His hiffing axle in th' Atlantic deeps:
Tempt icy feas, &c.

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