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In air felf-balanc'd hung the globe below,
Where mountains rife, and circling oceans flow,
Here naked rocks, and empty wastes were seen;
There towery cities, and the forests green :
Here failing fhips delight the wandering eyes;
There trees and intermingled temples rife :
Now a clear fun the fhining scene displays;
The tranfient landscape now in clouds decays.
O'er the wide profpect as I gaz'd around,
Sudden I heard a wild promifcuous found,
Like broken thunders that at distance roar,
Or billows murmuring on the hollow fhore:
Then gazing up, a glorious pile beheld,
Whole towering fummit ambient clouds conceal'd,
High on a rock of ice the ftructure lay,
Steep its afcent, and flippery was the way;
The wonderous rock like Parian marble shone,
And feem'd, to distant fight, of solid stone.
Infcriptions here of various names I view'd,
The greater part by hostile time subdu'd ;
Yet wide was fpread their fame in ages past;
And poets once had promis'd they should laft.
Some fresh engrav'd appear'd of wits renown'd;
I look'd again, nor could their trace be found.
Crities I faw, that other names deface,
And fix their own, with labour, in their place;
Their own, like others, foon their place refign'd,
Or disappear'd, and left the first behind.
Nor was the work impair'd by ftorms alone,
But felt th' approaches of too warm a fun;

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Now towns, now great trees,

Now shippes fayling in the fee.

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For Fame, impatient of extremes, decays
Not more by envy, than excess of praife.
Yet part no injuries of heaven could feel,
Like cryftal faithful to the graving fteel:
The rock's high fummit, in the temple's fhade,
Nor heat could melt, nor beating storm invade.
Their names infcrib'd unnumber'd ages paft
From time's first birth, with time itself shall laft; 50
Thefe ever new, nor fubject to decays,

Spread, and grow brighter with the length of days.

So Zembla's rocks (the beauteous work of froft) Rife white in air, and glitter o'er the coast; Pale funs, unfelt, at diftance roll away, And on th' impaffive ice the lightnings play; Eternal fnows the growing mass supply,

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Till the bright mountains prop th' incumbent sky
As Atlas fix'd, each hoary pile appears,
The gather'd winter of a thousand years.
On this foundation Fame's high temple ftands;
Stupendous pile! not rear'd by mortal hands.
Whate'er proud Rome or artful Greece beheld,
Or elder Babylon, its frame excell'd.
Four faces had the dome, and every face
Of various structure, but of equal grace!
Four brazen gates, on columns lifted high,
Salute the different quarters of the sky.
Here fabled chiefs in darker ages born,
Or worthies old, whom arms or arts adorn,
Who cities rais'd, or tam'd a monstrous race,
The walls in venerable order grace:
Heroes in animated marble frown,
And legislators feem to think in stone.

Weftward, a fumptuous frontispiece appear'd,
On Doric pillars of white marble rear'd,
Crown'd with an architrave of antique mold,
And sculpture rifing on the roughen'd gold.
In fhaggy spoils here Thefeus was beheld,

70

Ver. 27. High on a rock of ice, &c.] Chaucer's And Perfeus dreadful with Minerva's fhield: 80

third book of Fame.

It flood upon fo high a rock,
Higher standeth none in Spayne
What manner ftone this rock was,
For it was like a lymed glass,
But that it fhone full more clere ;
But of what congeled matere
It was, I nifte redily;
But at the last efpied I,

And found that it was every dele,
A rock of ice, and not of stele.
Ver. 31. Inferiptions here, &c.]

Though faw I all the hill y-grave With famous folkes names fele, That had been in much wele And her fames wide y-blow; But well unneth might I know, Any letters for to rede Their names by, for out of drede They weren almost off-thawen fo, That of the letters one or two Were molte away of every name, So unfamous was wore her fame; But men faid what may ever laft? Ver. 41. Nor was the work impair'd, &c.] Though gan I in myne harte caft,

There great Alcides, stooping with his toi!,
Rests on his club, and holds th' Hefperian spoil:
Here Orpheus fings; trees moving to the found
Start from their roots, and form a fhade around:
Amphion there the loud creating lyre
Strikes, and behold a fudden Thebes afpire!

IMITATIONS.

That they were molte away for heate,
And not away with ftormes beate.
Ver. 45. Yet part no injuries, &c.]

For on that other fide I fey
Of that hill which northward ley,
How it was written full of names
Of folke, that had afore great fames,
Of old time, and yet they were

As fresh as men had written hem there
That felf day, or that houre

That I on hem gan to poure;
But well I wifte what it made;
It was conferved with the shade
(All the writing that I fye)
Of the caftle that floode on high,
And flood eke in fo cold a piace,
That heat might it not deface.

Cytheron's echoes answer to his call,
And half the mountain rolls into a wall:
There might you fee the lengthening fpires afcend,
The domes (well up the widening arches bend, 90
The growing towers like exhalations rife,
And the huge columns heave into the skies.
The caftern front was glorious to behold,
With diamond flaming, and Barbaric gold.
There Ninus fhone, who spread th' Affyrian fame,
And the great founder of the Perfian name:
There in long robes the royal Magi stand,
Grave Zoroafter waves the circling wand:
The fage Chaldeans rob'd in white appear'd,
And Brachmans, deep in defert woods rever'd. roo
Thefe ftopp'd the moon, and call'd th' unbody'd
fhades

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To midnight banquets in the glimmering glades;
Made vifionary fabrics round them rife,
And airy fpe&res fkim before their eyes;
Of Falifmans and Sigils knew the power,
And careful watch'd the planetary hour.
Superior, and alone, Confucius ftood,
Who taught that useful science to be good.
But on the fouth, a long majeftic race
Of Egypt's priests the gilded niches grace,
Who measur'd earth, defcrib'd the ftarry spheres,
And trac'd the long records of lunar years.
High on his car Şefoftris ftruck my view,
Whom fcepter'd flaves in golden harnefs drew:
His hands a bow and pointed javelin hold;
His giant limbs are arm'd in chains of gold.
Between the ftatues obelisks were plac'd,
And the learn'd walls with hieroglyphics grac'd.
Of G thic ftructure was the northern fide,
O'erwrought with ornaments of barbarous pride. 120
There huge Coloffus rofe, with trophies crown'd,
And Runic characters were grav'd around.
There fate Zamolxis with erected eyes,
And Odin here in mimic trances dies.
There on rude iron columns, fmear'd with blood,
The horrid forms of Scythian heroes stood.
Druids and Bards (their once loud harps unftrung)
And youths that dy'd to be by poets fung.
Thefe and a thousand more of doubtful fame,
To whom old fables gave a lafting name.
In ranks adorn'd the temple's outward face;
The wall in loftre and effect like glass,
Which, o'er each obje& cafting various dyes,
Enlarges fome, and others multiplies:
Nor void of emblem was the mystic wall,
For thus romantic Fame increases all.

130

The temple shakes, the founding gates unfold, Wide vaults appear, and roofs of fretted gold: Rais'd on a thousand pillars wreath'd around With laurel-foliage, and with eagles crown'd: 140 Of bright transparent beryl were the walls, The freezes gold, and gold the capitals :

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As heaven with stars, the roof with jewels glows,
And ever-living lamps depend in rows.
Full in the paffage of each spacious gate,
The fage hiftorians in white garments wait;
Grav'd o'er their feats the form of time was found
His fey the revers'd, and both his pinions bound
Within flood heroes, who through loud alarms
In bloody fields purfued renown in arms.
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High on a throne with trophies charg'd I view'd
The youth that all things but himself fubdu'd;
His feet on fceptres and tiaras tred,
And his horn'd head bely'd the Libyan god.
There Cæfar, grac'd with both Minervas fhone;
Cæfar, the world's great master, and his own;
Unmov'd, fuperior still in every ftate,
And scarce detefted in his country's fate.
But chief were thofe, who not for empire fought,
But with their toils their people's fafety bought:16
High o'er the reft Epaminondas ftood;
Timoleon, glorious in his brother's blood;
Bold Scipio, faviour of the Roman state;
Great in his triumphs, in retirement great;
And wife Aurelius, in whofe well-taught mind'
With boundless power unbounded virtue join'd,
His own ftrict judge, and patron of mankind.

170

Much fuffering heroes next their honours claim, Thofe of lefs noify, and lefs guilty fame, Fair virtue's filent train: fupreme of these Here ever fhines the godlike Socrates; He whom ungrateful Athens could expell, At all times juft, but when he fign'd the shell: Here his abode the martyr'd Phocion claims, With Agis, not the last of Spartan names: Unconquer'd Cato fhews the wound he tore, And Brutus his ill genius meets no more.

But in the centre of the hollow'd choir, Six pompous columns o'er the rest aspire; Around the thrine itself of fame they ftand, 180 Hold the chief honours, and the fame command. High on the first, the mighty Homer fhone; Eternal Adamant compos'd his throne, Father of verfe in holy fillets dreft, His filver beard wav'd gently o'er his breaft; Though blind, a boldness in his looks appears; In years he seem'd, but not impair'd by years.

IMITATIONS.

Ver. 179. Six pompous columns, &c.]
From the dees many a pillere,
Of metal that fhone not full clere, &c.
Upon a pillere faw I ftonde
That was of lede and iron fine,
Him of the feet Saturnine,

The Ebraicke Jofephus the old, &c.
Upon an iron pillere ftrong,
That painted was all endlong,
With tigers' blood in every place,

The Tholofan that hight Stace,

That bear of Thebes up the name, &c.

Ver. 182.

Full wonder high on a pillere

Of iron, he the great Omer,

And with him Dares and Titus, &c.

190

The wars of Troy were round the pillar feen :
Here fierce Tydides wounds the Cyprian queen;
Here Hector glorious from Patroclus' fall,
Here dragg'd in triumph ronnd the Trojan wall.
Motion and life did every part inspire,
Bold was the work, and prov'd the master's fire;
A ftrong expreffion moft he feem'd t' affect,
And here and there difclos'd a brave neglect.

A golden column next in rank appear'd.
On which a shrine of pureft gold was rear'd;
Finish'd the whole, and labour'd every part,
With patient touches of unwearied art:
The Mantuan there in fober triumph fat,
Compos'd his posture, and his look fedate;
On Homer still he fix'd a reverend eye,
Great without pride, in modeft majesty.
In living sculpture on the fides were spread
The Latian wars, and haughty Turnus dead;
Eliza ftretch'd upon the funeral pyre,

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Here, like fome furious prophet, Pindar rode,
And feem'd to labour with th' infpiring God.
Across the harp a careless hand he flings,
And boldly finks into the founding ftrings,
The figur'd games of Greece the column grace,
Neptune and Jove survey the rapid race.
The youths hang o'er their chariots as they run;
The fiery feeds seem starting from the stone;
The champions in diftorted postures threat;
And all appear'd irregularly great.

Here happy Horace tun'd th' Ausonian lyre
To fweeter founds, and temper'd Pindar's fire:
Pleas'd with Alceæus' manly rage t' infuse
The fofter fpirit of the Sapphic muse.
The polifh'd pillar different fculptures grace;
A work outlasting monumental brass.

IMITATIONS.

Ver. 196, &c.

There faw I ftand on a pillere
That was of tired iron clecre,
The Latin peet Virgilye,

That hath bore up of a great while
The fame of pious Æneas:

And next him on a pillere was
Of copper, Venus' clerke Ovide,
That hath fowen wondrous wide
The great god of love's fame-
Tho faw I on a pillere by
Of iron wrought full fternly,
The great poet Dan Lucan,
That on his fhoulders bore up then
As hye as that I might fee,
The fame of Julius and Pompce.

And next him on a pillere trode
Of fu phure, like as he were wode,
Dan Cudian, fo the for to teil,
That bare up all the fame of heil, &c.

220

Here smiling Loves and Bacchanals appear,
The Julian ftar and great Augustus here.
The doves that round the infant poet spread 230
Myrtles and bays, hung hovering o'er his head.
Here, in a fhrine that caft a dazzling light,
State fix'd in thought the mighty Stagyrite;
His facred head a radiant Zodiac crown'd,
And various animals his fides furround;
His piercing eyes, erect, appear to view
Superior worlds, and look all nature through.

With equal rays immortal Tully fhone,
The Roman roftra deck'd the conful's throne:
Gathering his flowing robe, he feem'd to stand 240
In act to speak, and graceful stretch'd his hand.
Behind, Rome's genius waits with civic crowns,
And the great father of his country owns.

These maffy columns in a circle rife,
O'er which a pompous dome invades the skies:
Scarce to the top I ftretch'd my aching fight,
So large it spread, and fwell'd to fuch a height.
Full in the midft proud Fame's imperial feat
With jewels blaz'd, magnificiently great;
The vivid emeralds there revive the eye,

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| The flaming rubies fhew their fanguine dye,
Bright azure rays from lively sapphires stream,
And lucid amber cafts a golden gleam.
With various-colour'd light the pavement shone,
And all on fire appear'd the glowing throne;
The dome's high arch reflects the mingled blaze,
And forms a rainbow of alternate rays.
When on the goddess first I caft my fight,
Scarce feem'd her ftatue of a cubit's height;
But fwell'd to larger fize, the more I gaz'd, 26@.
Till to the roof her towering front she rais'd.
With her, the Temple every moment grew,
And ampler viftas open'd to my view:
Upward the columns fhoot, the roofs afcend,
And arches widen, and long aifles extend.
Such was her form, as ancient bards have told,
Wings raife her arms, and wings her feet infold;
A thousand busy tongues the goddefs bears,
And thousand open eyes, and thousand liftening ears.
Beneath, in order rang'd, the tuneful nine
(Her virgin handmaids) ftill attend the fhrine:
With eyes on Fame for ever fix'd, they fing;
For Fame they raife the voice, and tune the string,
With time's first birth began the heavenly lays.
And laft, eternal, through the length of days.

IMITATIONS.

Ver. 259. Scarce feem'd her stature, &c.
Methought that fhe was fo lite,
That the length of a cubite
Was longer than the feemed be;
But thus foone in a while fhe,
Her felfe tho wonderly ftraight,
That with her feet the the earth right,
And with her head the touchyd heaven-
Ver. 270. Beneath, in order rang'd, &c.]
I heard about her throne y-fung
That all the palays wails rung,
So fung the mighty mufe, the
That clped is Calliope,
And her feven fifers cke--

270

Around these wonders as I caft a look, The trumpet founded, and the temple shook, And all the nations, fummon'd at the call, From different quarters fill the crowded hall : Of various tongues the mingled founds were heard; 280

la various garbs promifcuous throngs appear'd;
Thick as the bees, that with the spring renew
Their flowery toils, and sip the fragrant dew,
When the wing'd colonies firft tempt the sky,
O'er dufky fields and fhaded waters fly,
Or, fettling, feize the fweets the bloffoms yield,
And a low murmur runs along the field.
Millions of fuppliant crowds the shrine attend,
And all degrees before the goddess bend;
The poor, the rich, the valiant, and the fage, 290
And boasting youth, and narrative old age.
Their pleas were different, their requeft the fame;
For good and bad alike are fond of Fame.
Some the difgrac'd, and fome with honours crown'd;
Unlike fucceffes equal merits found.
Thus her blind fifter, fickle Fortune, reigns,
And undiscerning scatters crowns and chains.

Firft at the fhrine the learned world appear,
And to the goddess thus prefer their prayer.
Long have we fought t' instruct and please man-
kind,

With studies pale, with midnight vigils blind;
But thank'd by few, rewarded yet by none,
We here appeal to thy fuperior throne:
On wit and learning the just prize bestow,
For Fame is all we must expect below.

320

Next these the good and juft, an awful train, Thus on their knees addrefs the facred fane. Since living virtue is with envy curs'd, And the best men are treated like the worst, Do thou, juft goddess, call our merits forth, And give each deed th' exact intrinfic worth. Not with bare juftice fhall your act be crown'd, (Said Fame) but high above desert renown'd: Let fuller notes th' applauding world amaze, And the loud clarion labour in your praife.

This band difmifs'd, behold another crowd Preferr'd the fame request, and lowly bow'd; The conftant tenor of whofe well-fpent days 330 No lefs deferv'd a juft return of praise. But straight the direful trump of flander founds; Through the big dome the doubling thunder bounds; Loud as the burst of cannon rends the fkies, The dire report through every region flies, In every ear incessant rumours rung, And gathering fcandals grew on every tongue. From the black trumpet's rufty concave broke Sulphureous flames, and clouds of rolling smoke: The poisonous vapour blots the purple fkies, 340 And withers all before it as it flies.

A troop came next, who crowns and armour

wore,

300 And proud defiance in their looks they bore:

The goddess heard, and bade the muses raise The golden trumpet of eternal praise : From pole to pole the winds diffuse the found, That fills the circuit of the world around; Not all at once, as thunder breaks the cloud; 310 The notes at firft were rather fweet than loud : By juft degrees they every moment rife, Fill the wide earth, and gain upon the skies. At every breath were balmy odours fhed, Which ftill grew fweeter, as they wider spread; Lela fragrant fcents th' unfolding rofe exhales, Or fpices breathing in Arabian gales.

IMITATIONS.

Ver. 276. Around thefe wonders, &c.]
I heard a noife approachen blive,
That far'd as bees done in a hive,
Against her time of out-flying,
Right fuch a manere murmuring,
For all the world it feemed me,
Tho gan I look about and fee

That there came entering into th' hall,
A right great company withal;
And that of fundry regions,
Of all kind of conditions, &c.-
Ver. 294. Some the difgrac'd, &c.]

And fome of them the granted fone,
And fome the warned well and fair,
And fonie the granted the contrair-
Right as her fifter dame Fortune
Is wont to ferve in commune.

IMITATIONS.

Ver. 318. The good and juft, &c.]
Tho came the third companye,
And gan up to the dees to hye,
And down on knees they fell anone,
And faiden: We been everichone
Folke that han full truely
Deferved fame right-fully,
And prayen you it might be knowe
Right as it is, and forth blowe.

grant, quoth fhe, for now we lift
That your good works fhall be wist.
And yet ye fhall have better loos,
Right in defpite of all, your foos,
Than worthy is, and that anone.
Let now (quoth fhe) thy trump gone-
And certes all the breath that went
Out of his trump's mouth fmel'd
As men a pot of baume held
Among a basket full of rofes.-
Ver. 328, 338. Behold another crowd, &c.-
From the black trumpet's rufty, &c.]
Therewithal there came anone
Another huge companye

Of good folke

What did this Eolus, but he
Took out his trump of brass,
That fouler than the devil was:
And gan his trump for to blowe,
As all the world fhould overthrowe.
Throughout every regione
Went this foul trumpet's foune
Swift as a pellet out of a gunne,
When fire is in the powder runne.
And fuch a fmoke gan out wende,
Out of the foul trumpet's ende-&e

For thee (they cry'd) amidst alarms and strife,
We fail'd in tempefts down the ftream of life;
For thee whole nations fill'd with flames and blood.
And fwam to empire through the purple flood.
Thofe ills we dar'd, thy inspiration own;
What virtue feem'd was done for thee alone.
Ambitious fools! (the queen reply'd, and frown'd)
Be all your acts in dark oblivion drown'd;
351
There fleep forgot, with mighty tyrants gone,
Your ftatues moulder'd, and your names unknown!
A fudden cloud ftraight fnatch'd them from my
fight,

And each majeftic phantom funk in night.

Then came the fmalleft tribe I yet had seen ; Plain was their drefs, and modeft was their mien. Great idol of mankind! we neither claim The praife of merit, nor aspire to fame!

Ours is the place at banquets, balls, and plays;
Sprightly our nights, polite are all our days;
Courts we frequent, where 'tis our pleafing care
To pay due vifits, and addrefs the fair:
In fact, 'tis true, no nymph we could perfuade,
But still in fancy vanquish'd every maid;
Of unknown ducheffes lewd tales we tell,
Yet, would the world believe us, all were well.
The joy let others have, and we the name, 389
And what we want in pleasure, grant in fame.
The queen affents, the trumpet rends the skies,
And at each blast a lady's honour dies. [prent
Pleas'd with the ftrange fuccefs, vaft mumbers
Around the fhrine, and made the fame request:
What you (fhe cry'd), unlearn'd in arts to pleafe,
Slaves to yourselves, and even fatigued with cafe,
Who lofe a length of undeferving days,

400

But, fafe in deferts from th' applaufe of men, 360 Would you ufurp the lover's dear-bought praife?
Would die unheard-of, as we liv'd unseen.
'Tis all we beg thee, to conceal from fight
Thofe acts of goodnefs which themselves requite.
O let us ftill the fecret joy partake,
To follow virtue ev'n for virtue's fake:

And live there men, who flight immortal fame? Who then with incenfe fhall adore our name? But, mortals! know, 'tis ftill our greatest pride, To blaze those virtues which the good would hide. Rife! mules, rife! add all your tuneful breath; 370 These must not fleep in darkness and in death. She faid in air the trembling mufic floats, And on the winds triumphant fwell the notes; So foft, though high, fo loud, and yet fo clear, Ev'n liftening angels lean from heaven to hear: To fartheft fhores th' ambrofial fpirit Alles, Sweet to the world, and grateful to the skies. Next these a youthful train their vows exprefs'd, With feathers crown'd, with gay embroidery drefe'd:

Hither, they cry'd, direct your eyes, and fee 380 The men of pleasure, drefs, and gallantry;

To juft contempt, ye vain pretenders, fall,
The people's fable, and the fcorn of all.
Straight the black clarion fends a horrid found,
Loud laughs burft out, and bitter fcoffs fly round,
Whispers are heard, with taunts reviling loud,
And fcoruful hiffes run through all the crowd.

Laft, thofe who boast of mighty mischiefs done,
Enflave their country, or ufurp a throne;
Or who their glory's dire foundation lay'd
On fovereigns ruin'd, or on friends betray'd;
Calm, thinking villains, whom no faith could
fix,

410

Of crooked counfels and dark politics;
Of these a gloomy tribe furround the throne,
And beg to make th' immortal treasons known.
i ne trumpet roars, long flaky flames expire,
With fparks that feem'd to fet the world on fire.
At the dread found, pale mortais ftood aghaft,
And ftartled nature trembled with the blaft.

This having heard and feen, fome power un known [the throne. Straight chang'd the fcene, and fnatch'd me from

IMITATIONS.

Yer. 356. Then came the fmalleft, &c.]
I faw anone the fifth route,
That to this lady gan loute,
And downe on knees anone to fall,
And to her they besoughten all,
To hiden their good works cke.
And faid, they yeve not a leke
For no fame ne such renowne;
For they for contemplacyoune,
And Goddes love had it wrought,
Ne of fame would they ought.

What, quoth fhe, and be ye wood?
And ween ye for to do good,
And for to have it of no fame?
Have ye defpite to have my name?
Nay ye fhall lien everichone:
Blow thy trump, and that anone
(Quoth the) thou Eolus, I hote,
And ring thefe folks works by rote,
That all the world may of it heare;
And he gan blow their loos fo cleare,

IMITATIONS.

In his golden clarioune,

Through the world went the fonne,
All fo kindly, and eke so soft,

That ther fame was blown aloft.

Ver. 406. Laft, those who boast of mighty, &c.] Tho came another companye,

That had y-done the treachery, &c.

Ver. 418. This having heard and feen. &c.] The scene here changes from the Temple of Fame, to that of Rumour, which is almost entirely Chaucer's. The particulars follow.

Tho faw I ftonde in a valey,
Under the castle fast by
A house, that Domus Dedali
That Labyrinthus cleped is,
Nas made fo wonderly I wis,
Ne half fo queintly y-wrought!
And evermo as fwift as thought,
This queint house about went,
That never more it still stent-
And eke this house hath of entrees,
As many as leaves are on trees

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