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OF

ENGLISH VERSE.

BY MR. WALLER.

OETS may boaft, as safely vain,

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Their works fhall with the world remain :

Both bound together, live or die;

The verfes, and the prophesy.

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This was the gen'rous poet's fcope, WAHE
And all an English pen can hope;

To make the FAIR approve his flame,

That can fo far extend their fame.

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Ipfa varietate tentamus efficere ut alia aliis; quædam fortaffe omnibus placeant.

PLIN. EPIST.

S when some skilful cook, to please each guest,

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Would in one mixture comprehend a feast,

With due proportion and judicious care,

He fills his difh with diff'rent forts of fare;
Fishes and fowls deliciously unite,

To feast at once the tafte, the smell, and fight
So, Bernard! must a Miscellany be,
Compounded of all kinds of poetry;
The Mufes olio, which all taftes may fit,
And treat each reader with his darling wit.
Wouldst thou for miscellanies raise thy fame,
And bravely rival Jacob's mighty name,
Let all the Muses in the piece confpire:

The Lyrick Bard muft ftrike th' harmonious lyre;
Heroick ftrains muft here and there be found,

And nervous fenfe be fung in lofty found.

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Let Elegy in moving numbers flow,

And fill fome pages with melodious woe:

Let not your am'rous fongs too num'rous prove,
Nor glut thy reader with abundant love.
Satire must interfere, whofe pointed rage
May lafh the madness of a vicious age:
Satire, the Mufe that never fails to hit;
For if there's scandal, to be fure there's wit.
Tire not our patience with Pindarick lays ;
Thofe fwell the piece, but very rarely please:
Let fhort-breath'd Epigram it's force confine,
And ftrike at follies in a fingle line.

Translations fhould throughout the work be fown,
And Homer's godlike Mufe be made our own :
Horace in ufeful numbers should be fung,
And Virgil's thoughts adorn the British tongue.
Let Ovid tell Corinna's hard disdain,

And at her door in melting notes complain :
His tender accents pitying virgins move,
And charm the fift'ning ear with tales of love.
Let ev'ry claffick in the volume shine,
And each contribute to thy great defign:
Thro' various fubjects let the reader range,
And raise his fancy with a grateful change.
Variety's the fource of joy below,
From whence still fresh-revolving pleasures flow.
In books and love the mind one end pursues,
And only change th' expiring flame renews.

Where Buckingham will condefcend to give,
That honour'd piece to distant times muft live:
When noble Sheffield strikes the trembling strings,
The little loves rejoice, and clap their wings

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< Anacreon fives !' they cry; th' harmonious swain • Retunes the lyre, and tries his wonted ftrain :

'Tis he-our loft Anacreon lives again !»

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But

But when th' illuftrious poet foars above
The sportive revels of the god of love,
Like Maro's Mufe he takes a loftier flight,
And tow'rs beyond the wond'ring Cupid's fight.
If thou wouldst have thy volume ftand the test,
And of all others be reputed best,

Let Congreve teach the lift'ning groves to mourn,
As when he wept o'er fair Paftora's urn.

Let Prior's Mufe with foft'ning accents move,
Soft as the strains of conftant Emma's love;
Or let his fancy chufe fome jovial theme,
As when he told Hans Carvel's jealous dream :
Prior th' admiring reader entertains

With Chaucer's humour and with Spencer's ftrains.
Waller in Granville lives: when Mira fings,
With Waller's hand he ftrikes the founding strings;
With sprightly turns his noble genius fhines,
And manly sense adorns his easy lines.

On Addison's sweet lays attention waits,
And filence guards the place while he repeats:
His Mufe alike on ev'ry fubje&t charms,
Whether fhe paints the god of love or arms:
In him pathetick Ovid fings again,
And Homer's Iliad fhines in his Campaign.
Whenever Garth fhall raise his fprightly song,
Senfe flows in easy numbers from his tongue;
Great Phoebus in his learned fon we fee,

Alike in phyfick as in poetry.

When Pope's harmonious Mufe with pleasure roves
Amidst the plains, the murm'ring ftreams and groves,
Attentive Echo, pleas'd to hear his fongs,

Thro' the glad fhade each warbling note prolongs;
His various numbers charm our ravish'd ears,
His fteady judgment far outfhoots his years,

And early in the youth the god appears.

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From

From thefe fuccefsful bards collect thy ftrains, And praise with profit fhall reward thy pains : Then, while calves-leather binding bears the fway, And sheep-skin to it's fleeker glofs gives way; While neat old Elzivir is reckon'd better Than Pirate Hill's brown fheets and scurvy letter; While print-admirers careful Aldus chufe, Before John Morphew, or the weekly news; So long shall live thy praise in books of fame, And Tonfon yield to Lintott's lofty name.

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

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