V.

E. of ROCHESTER.

On SILENCE,

I.

ILENCE! coeval with Eternity;

Thou wert, ere Nature's felf began to be, "Twas one vaft Nothing, all, and all flept faft in thee.

II.

Thine was the fway, ere heav'n was form'd, or earth,

Ere fruitful Thought conceiv'd creation's birth, Or midwife Word gave aid, and spoke the infant

forth.

III.

Then various elements, against thee join'd,
In one more various animal combin'd,

And fram'd the clam'rous race of bufy Human-kind.

IV.

The tongue mov'd gently firft, and speech was low, 'Till wrangling Science taught it noise and show, And wicked Wit arose, thy most abusive foe.

V.

But rebel Wit deferts thee oft' in vain;

Loft in the maze of words he turns again, And fecks a furer ftate, and courts thy gentle reign. 15

VI.

Afflicted Senfe thou kindly doft fet free,
Opprefs'd with argumental tyranny,

And routed Reafon finds a fafe retreat in thee.

VII. With thee in private modeft Dulness lies, And in thy bofom lurks in Thought's difguife; Thou varnisher of Fools, and cheat of all the Wise!

VIII.
Yet thy indulgence is by both confeft;
Folly by thee lies fleeping in the breaft,
And 'tis in thee at laft that Wisdom feeks for reft.

IX.

Silence the knave's repute, the whore's good name, The only honour of the wishing dame;

Thy very want of tongue makes thee a kind of Fame.

X. But could't thou feize fome tongues that now are free,

How Church and State should be oblig'd to thee? At Senate, and at Bar, how welcome would'ft thou be?

XI.

Yet speech ev'n there, fubmiffively withdraws, From rights of fubjects, and the poor man's cause : Then pompous Silence reigns, and ftills the noify Laws.

XII. Paft fervices of friends, good deeds of foes, What Fav'rites gain, and what the Nation owes, Fly the forgetful world, and in thy arms repofe.

XIII.

The country wit, religion of the town,

The courtier's learning, policy o'th' gown,

Are best by thee exprefs'd; and fhine in thee alone.

XIV.

The parfon's cant, the lawyer's fophiftry, Lord's quibble, critic's jeft; all end in thee, All reft in peace at last, and fleep eternally.

VI.

E. of DORSET.

ARTEMISIA.

T

HO' Artemifia talks, by fits,
Of councils, claffics, fathers, wits;
Reads Malbranche, Boyle, and Locke:
Yet in fome things methinks fhe fails,
Twere well if she would
her nails,
pare
And were a cleaner fmock.

Haughty and huge as High-Dutch bride,
Such naftiness, and fo much pride

Are oddly join'd by fate:

On her large fquab you find her fpread,
Like a fat corpfe upon a bed,

That lies and ftinks in ftate.

She wears no colours (fign of grace)
On any part except her face;

All white and black befide:
Dauntless her look, her gefture proud,
Her voice theatrically loud,
And mafculine her stride.

5

10

15

So have I feen, in black and white
A prating thing, a Magpye hight,
Majestically stalk;

A ftately, worthlefs animal,

That plies the tongue, and wags the tail,
All flutter, pride, and talk.

20