Germania too, with cluster'd vines o'erfpread;
And lovely Albion from her watery bed,
Beauteous above the rest, rears her aufpicious head.
Beneath her chalky cliffs, fea-nymphs refort,
And awful Neptune keeps his reedy court;
His darling Thames, rich prefents in his hand
Of bounteous Ceres, traverses the land;
And feems a mighty fnake, whofe shining pride
Does through the meads in finuous volumes glide.
Ah, charming ifle! faireft of all the main !
Too long thou doft my willing eye detain.
For fee a hero on the adverse strand!
And, lo! a blooming virgin in his hand!
All hail, celeftial pair! -a goddefs fhe,
Of heavenly birth confeft, a more than mortal, He! 35-
Victorious laurels on his brows he wears;
Th' attending fair a branching Olive bears;
Slender her shape, in filver bands confin'd;
Her fnowy garments loosely flow behind,
Rich with embroider'd stars,and ruffle in the wind. 40
But once fuch differing beauty met before,
When warrior Mars did Love's bright queen adore
Ev'n Love's bright queen might feem lefs winning fair,
And Mars fubmit to his heroic air.
Not Jove himself, imperial Jove can show
A nobler Mien, or more undaunted brow,
When his strong arm, through heav'n's ætherial plains," Compels the kindled bolt, and awful rule maintains. And now embark'd they feek the British Isles. leas'd with the charge, propitious Ocean fimiles. 50
Before, old Neptune finooths the liquid way;
Obfequious Tritons on the surface play ;
And sportful dolphins, with a nimble glance,
To the bright fun their glittering fcales advance.
In oozy beds profound, the billows fleep,
No clamorous winds awake the filent deep;
Rebuk'd, they whisper in a gentle breeze,
And all around is univerfal peace.
Proceed, my Mufe! The following pomp declare; Say who, and what, the bright attendants were!· 60 First Ceres, in her chariot feated high,
By harness'd dragons drawn along the sky;
A Cornucopia fill'd her weaker hand,
Charg'd with the various offspring of the land,
Fruit, flowers, and corn; her right a fickle bore; 65
A yellow wreath of twisted wheat she wore.
Next father Bacchus with his tigers grac'd
The show, and, squeezing clusters as he pass'd,
Quaff'd flowing goblets of rich-flavour'd wine.
In order, laft fucceed the tuneful Nine;
Apollo too was there; behind him hung
His ufelefs quiver, and his bow unftrung;
He touch'd his golden lyre, and thus he fung.
"Lead on, great WILLIAM! in thy happy reign
"Peace and the Mufes are reftor'd again.
"War, that fierce lion, long difdaining law,
"Rang'd uncontrol'd, and kept the world in awe,
"While trembling kingdoms crouch'd beneath his
F
ROM thy long languishing, and painful ftrife
Of breath and labour drawn, and wasting life,
Accomplish'd fpirit! thou at length art free,
Born into blifs and immortality!
Thy struggles are no more; the palm is won;
Thy brows encircled with the victor's crown ;
While lonely left, and desolate below,
Full grief I feel, and all a BROTHER's woe!
Yet would I linger on, a little space,
Before I close my quick-expiring race,
Till I have gather'd up, with grateful pains,
Thy WORKS, thy dear unperishing remains;
An undecaying MONUMENT to ftand,
Rais'd to thy name by thy own skilful hand.
Then let me wing from earth my willing way,
To meet thy foul in blaze of living day,
Rapt to the skies, like thee, with joyful flight,
An inmate of the heavens, adopted into light!
30 March, 1720.
JABEZ HUGHES..
Ob. 17 Jan. 1731.
Anno Et. 46.
IMMORTAL Bard! though from the world retir'd,
Still known to fame, ftill honour'd, and admir'd! While, fill'd with joy, in happier realms you stray, And dwell in manfions of eternal day;
While you, confpicuous through the heavenly choir, 5
With fwelling rapture tune the chosen lyre ;
Where echoing angels the glad notes prolong,
Or with attentive filence crown your fong;
Forgive the Mufe that in unequal lays
Offers this humble tribute of her praise.
Loft in thy works, how oft I pass the day,
While the swift hours fteal unperceiv'd away;
There, in fweet union, wit and virtue charm,
And nobleft fentiments the bofom warm;
The brave, the wife, the virtuous, and the fair,
May view themselves in fadeless colours there.
Through every polish'd piece correctness flows.
Yet each bright page with sprightly fancy glows;
Oh! happy elegance, where thus are join'd
A folid judgment, and a wit refin'd!
Here injur❜d Phocyas and Eudocia claim
A lafting pity and a lafting fame :
Thy heroine's fofter virtues charm the fight,
And fill our fouls with ravishing delight.
Exalted love and dauntless courage meet,
To make thy hero's character compleat.
This finish'd piece the nobleft pens commend ;
And ev❜n the critics are the poet's friend.
Led on by thee, those * flowery paths I view,
For ever lovely, and for ever new,
Where all the Graces with joint force engage,
To ftem th' impetuous follies of the age:
Virtue, there deck'd in ever-blooming charms,
With fuch refiftlefs rays of beauty warms,
That Vice, abafh'd, confounded, skulks away,
As night retires at dawn of rofy day.
Struck with his guilt, the hardy Atheist dreads
Approaching fate, and trembles as he reads:
Vanquifi'd by reason, yet afham'd to fly,
He dares not own a God, nor yet deny:
Convinc'd, though late, forgiveness he implores;
Shrinks from the jaws of hell, and heaven adores.
Hither the wild, the frolick, and the gay,
As thoughtless through their wanton rounds they stray,
Compell'd by fame, repair with curious eye,
And their own various forms with wonder fpy.
The cenfor fo polite, fo kindly true,
They fee their faults, and ficken at the view.
Hence trifling Damon ceases to be vain ;
And Cloe fcorns to give her lover pain:
Strephon is true, who ne'er was true before;
And Cælia bids him love, but not adore.
Though ADDISON and STEELE the honour claim,
Here to stand foremost on the lift of fame;
Yet ftill the traces of thy hand we see,
Some of the brighteft thoughts are due to thee.
Alluding to the Spectators written by Mr. Hughes.
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