Great idol of mankind! we neither claim
The praise of merit, nor afpire to fame!
But fafe in defarts from th' applause of men,
Would die unheard of, as we liv'd unseen.
'Tis all we beg thee, to conceal from fight
Those acts of goodness, 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?
To hiden their good workes eke;
And faid, they yeve not a leke
For no fame ne fuch 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 of it no fame?
Have ye defpite to have my name?
Nay ye shall lien everichone:
Blowe thy trump, and that anone
(Quoth he) thou Eolus, I hote,
And ring thefe folkes workes by rote,
That all the world may of it heare;
And he gan blow their loos fo cleare,
In his golden clarioune,
Through the world went the foune,
All fo kindly, and eke fo foft,
That their fame was blowen aloft.
But mortals! know, 'tis still our greatest pride
To blaze thofe virtues which the good would hide.
Rife! Muses, rife, add all your tuneful breath,
These must not fleep in darkness and in death.
She said: in air the trembling music floats,
And on the winds triumphant swell the notes ;
So foft, tho' high, fo loud, and yet fo clear,
Ev'n lift'ning Angels lean'd from heav'n to hear;
To fartheft shores th' Ambrofial spirit flies,
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 drefs'd;
Hither, they cry'd, direct your eyes, and see
The men of pleasure, drefs, and gallantry;
Ours is the place at banquets, balls, and plays,
Sprightly our nights, polite are all our days;
Courts we frequent, where 'tis our pleasing care
Το pay due vifits, and address the fair:
In fact, 'tis true, no nymph we could perfuade,
But still in fancy vanquish'd ev'ry maid;
Of unknown Ducheffes leud tales we tell,
Yet would the world believe us, all were well.
VER. 378. Next thefe a youthful train, &c.] The reader may compare these twenty eight lines following, which contain the fame matter with eighty four of Chaucer, beginning thus,
Tho came the fixth companye,
And gan fafte to Fame crye, &c, being too prolix to be here inferted.
The joy let others have, and we the name,
And what we want in pleasure, grant in fame.
The Queen affents, the trumpet rends the fies,
And at each blast a Lady's honour dies.
Pleas'd with the ftrange fuccefs, vast numbers preft
Around the fhrine, and made the fame request :
What you (the cry'd) unlearn'd in arts to please,
Slaves to yourselves, and ev'n fatigu'd with ease,
Who lofe a length of undeferving days,
Would you ufurp the lover's dear-bought praise?
To juft contempt, ye vain pretenders, fall,
The people's fable, and the fcorn of all,
Strait the black clarion fends a horrid found,
Loud laughs burit out, and bitter fcoffs fly round,
Whifpers are heard, with taunts reviling loud,
And fcornful hiffes run thro' all the croud.
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 Sov'reigns ruin'd, or on friends betray'd:
Calm, thinking villains, whom no faith could fix, 410
Of crooked counfels and dark politicks;
Of thefe, a gloomy tribe furround the throne,
And beg to make th' immortal treasons known.
The trumpet roars, long flaky flames expire,
With fparks, that seem'd to fet the world on fire. 415
VER. 406. Laft, those who boast of mighty, &c.]
Tho came another companye,
That had y-done the treachery, &c.
At the dread found, pale mortals ftood aghaft,
And startled nature trembled with the blast.
This having heard and seen, some pow'r unknown Strait chang'd the scene,and fnatch'd me from the throne. Before my view appear'd a structure fair, 420
Its fite uncertain, if in earth or air;
VER. 418. Thus having heard and feen, &c.] The Scene here changes from the temple of Fame to that of Rumour, which is almoft entirely Chaucer's. The particulars follow.
Tho faw I ftonde in a valey,
Under the caftle faft by
A boufe, 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 houfe about went,
That nevermore it fill fent-
And eke this house bath of entrees
As many as leaves are on trees,
In fummer, when they ben
grene;
And in the roof yet men may fene
A thoufand holes and well mo,
To letten the foune out go ;
And by day in every tide
Ben all the doors open wide,
And by night each one unfhet;
No porter is there one to let,
No manér tydings in to pace;
Ne never reft is in that place.
With rapid motion turn'd the manfion round;
With ceaseless noise the ringing walls refound:
Not lefs in number were the spacious doors,
Than leaves on trees, or fands upon the shores;
Which still unfolded ftand, by night, by day,
Pervious to winds, and open ev'ry way.
As flames by nature to the skies ascend,
As weighty bodies to the centre tend,
As to the fea returning rivers roll,
And the touch'd needle trembles to the pole ;
Hither, as to their proper place, arise
All various founds from earth, and feas, and skies,
Or spoke aloud, or whisper'd in the ear;
Nor ever filence, reft, or peace is here.
As on the smooth expanfe of crystal lakes,
The finking stone at first a circle makes;
The trembling surface, by the motion ftir'd,
Spreads in a fecond circle, then a third;
Wide, and more wide, the floating rings advance, 440
Fill all the wat❜ry plain, and to the margin dance.
Thus ev'ry voice and found, when first they break,
On neighb'ring air a foft impreffion make;
Another ambient circle then they move;
That, in its turn, impels the next above;
VER. 428. As Flames by nature to the, &c.] This thought is transferr'd hither out of the third book of Fame, where it takes up no lefs than 120 Verses, beginning thus,
Geffray, thou wotteft well this, &c.
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