That not in Fancy's Maze he wander'd long but stoopd to Truth and moralizd his long.
Ep. to D. Arbinhnot
To the Right Honourable
GEORGE Lord LANSDOWN.
TH
HY forefts, Windfor! and thy green retreats,
At once the Monarch's and the Mufe's feats,
Invite my lays. Be prefent, fylvan maids!
Unlock your fprings, and open all your fhades.
GRANVILLE Commands; your aid, O Muses, bring!
What Mufe for GRANVILLE can refufe to fing?
The Groves of Eden, vanish'd now fo long,
Live in defcription, and look green in fong:
Thefe, were my breaft infpir'd with equal flame,
Like them in beauty, fhould be like in fame.
Here hills and vales, the woodland and the plain,
Here earth and water feem to strive again;
Not Chaos like together crush'd and bruis'd,
But, as the world, harmoniously confus'd:
NOTES.
This 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 Paftorals: the latter part was not added till the year 1713, in which it was published.
VER. 3. etc. Originally thus,
Chafte goddess of the woods,
Nymphs of the vales, and Naïads of the floods,,
Lead me thro' arching bow'rs, and glimm'ring glades,
Unlock your springs —
neget quis carmina Gallo? Virg.
Where order in variety we see,
And where, tho' all things differ, all agree.
Here waving groves a chequer'd fcene difplay,
And part admit, and part exclude the day;
As fome coy nymph her lover's warm address
Nor quite indulges, nor can quite reprefs.
There, interfpers'd in lawns and op'ning 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 difplays her purple dyes,
And 'midit the defert, fruitful fields arife,
That crown'd with tufted trees and springing corn,
Like verdant ifles the fable waste adorn.
Let India boaft her plants, nor envy we
The weeping amber, or the balmy tree,
While by our oaks the precious loads are born,
And realms commanded which those trees adorn.
Not proud Olympus yields a nobler fight,
Tho' Gods affembled grace his tow'ring height,
Than what more humble mountains offer here,
Where, in their bleffings, all thofe Gods appear.
See Pan with flocks, with fruits Pomona crown'd,
Here blushing Flora paints th' enamel'd ground,
Here Ceres' gifts in vaving profpect ftand,
And nodding tempt the joyful reaper's hand;
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 wafte,
VER. 25. Originally thus ;
Why fhould I fing our better funs or air,
Whofe vital draughts prevent the leach's care,
While thro' fresh fields th' enliv'ning odours breathe,
Or fpread with vernal blooms the purple heath?
To favage beafts and favage laws a prey,
And kings more furious and fevere than they;
Who claim'd the fkies, difpeopled air and floods,
The lonely lords of empty wilds and woods:
Cities laid walle, they ftorm'd the dens and caves
(For wifer brutes were backward to be flaves).
What could be free, when lawless beafts obey'd,
And ev'n the elements a Tyrant sway'd?
55
In vain kind feafons fwell'd the teeming grain,
Soft show'rs diftill'd, and funs grew warm in vain;
The swain with tears his fruftrate labour yields,
And famish'd dies amidst his ripen'd fields.
What wonder then, a beast or fubject flain
Were equal crimes in a defpotic reign?
Both doom'd alike for fportive Tyrants bled,
But while the fubject flarv'd, the beaft was fed.
Proud Nimrod first the bloody chafe began,.
A mighty hunter, and his prey was man:
Our haughty Norman boats that barb'rous name,
And makes his trembling flaves the royal game.
The fields are ravifh'd from th' induftrious fwains, 65
From men their cities, and from Gods their fanes:
VARIATION S.
VER. 49. Originally thus in the MS,
From towns laid wafte, to dens and caves they ran
(For who first stoop'd to be a slave was man).
NOTES.
VER. 45. favage laws] The Foreft Laws.
VER. 65. The fields are ravifh'd, etc.] Alluding to the deftruction made in the New Foreft, and the tyrannies exercised there by William I.
VER. 57, etc.
No wonder favages cr fubjects flain
But fubjects ftarv'd, while favages were fed.
It was originally thus, but the word savages is not properly applied to beafts but to men; which occafioned the alteration.
IMITATIONS.
VER. 65. The fields are ravish'd from th' induftrious frains, From men their cities, and from Gods their fanes :] Tranflated from
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