Her fifter Anna hovering o'er her stands,
Accufes Heaven with lifted eyes and hands,
Upbraids the Trojan with repeated cries,
And mixes curfes with her broken fighs.
View this, ye maids; and then each fwain believe:
They're Trojans all, and vow but to deceive.
Here draw Oenone in the lonely grove,
Where Paris first betray'd her into love:
Let wither'd garlands hang on every bough,
Which the falfe youth wove for Oenone's brow;
The garlands lofe their sweets, their pride is fhed,
And like their odours all his vows are fled.
On her fair arm her penfive head fhe lays,
And Xanthus' waves with mournful look furveys;
That flood which witness'd his inconftant flame,
When thus he swore, and won the yielding dame:
"Thefe ftreams fhall fooner to their fountain
"move,

"Than I forget my dear Oenone's love."

Roll back, ye ftreams; back to your fountain run! Paris is falfe; Oenone is undone.

Ah, wretched maid! think how the moments flew, Ere you the pangs of this curft paffion knew, When groves could please, and when you lov'd the plain,

Without the presence of your perjur'd swain.
Thus may the nymph, whene'er the fpreads the
Fan,

In his true colours view perfidious man ;
Pleas'd with her virgin ftate, in forests rove,
And never trust the dangerous hopes of Love.

The Goddess ended; merry Momus rose,
With smiles and grins he waggifh glances throws;
Then with a noify laugh foreftalls his joke,
Mirth flashes from his eyes while thus he fpoke;
Rather let heavenly deeds be painted there,
And by your own examples teach the fair.
Let chafte Diana on the piece be seen,
And the bright crefcent own the Cynthian Queen.
On Latmos' top fee young Endymion lies,
Feign'd fleep has cloe'd the bloomy lover's eyes:
See, to his foft embraces how fhe steals,
And on his lips her warm careffes feals;
No more her hand the glittering javelin holds,
But round his neck her eager arms the folds.
Why are our fecrets by our blufhes shown?
Virgins are virgins ftill-while 'tis unknown.
Here let her on fome flowery bank be laid,
Where meeting beeches weave a graceful fhade;
Her naked bofom wanton treffes grace,
And glowing expectation paints her face;
O'er her fair limbs a thin loofe veil is spread,
(Stand off ye shepherds; fear Adæon's head)!
Let vigorous Pan th' unguarded minute feize,
And in a fhaggy goat the virgin please.
Why are our fecrets by our blushes fhown?
Virgins are virgins still-while 'tis unknown.
There with just warmth Aurora's paffion trace,
Let fpreading crimson stain her virgin face.
See Cephalus her wantom airs defpife,
While the provokes him with defiring eyes;
To raise his paflions, the difplays her charms,
His modeft hand upon her bofom warms; [fuade;
Nor looks, nor prayers, nor force, his heart per-
But with difdain he quits the rofy maid.

Here let diffolving Leda grace the toy, Warm cheeks and heaving breafts reveal her joy! Beneath the preffling fwan the pants for air, While with his fluttering wings he fans the fair. There let all-conquering gold exert its power, And foften Danaë in a glittering fhower.

Would you warn beauty not to cherish pride, Nor vainly in the treacherous bloom confide, On the machine the fage Minerva place, With lineaments of wifdom mark her face. See, where the lies near fome transparent flood, And with her pipe cheers the refounding wood: Her image in the floating glafs fhe fpies, Her bloated cheeks, worn lips, and thrivel'd eyes; She breaks the guiltless pipe, and with difdain Its shatter'd ruins flings upon the plain; With the loud reed no more her cheek fhall fwell, What spoil her face! No. Warbling ftrains,

farewell.

Shall arts, shall sciences, employ the fair?
Thofe trifles are beneath Minerva's care.
From Venus let her learn the married life,
And all the virtuous duties of a wife.
Here on a couch extend the Cyprian dame,
Let her eye sparkle with the glowing flame;
The god of war within her clinging arms
Sinks on her lips, and kindles all her charms.
Paint limping Vulcan with a husband's care,
And let his brow the cuckold's honours wear;
Beneath the net the captive lovers place,
Their limbs entangled in a close embrace.
Let thefe amours adorn the new machine,
And female nature on the piece be feén;
So fhall the fair, as long as Fans shall last,
Learn from your bright examples to be chafte.

BOOK III.

THUS Momus fpoke. When fage Minerva rose;
From her fweet lips fmooth elocution flows;
Her skilful hand an ivory pallet grac'd,
Where fhining colours were in order plac'd.
As gods are blefs'd with a fuperior skill,
And, fwift as mortal thought, perform their will;
Straight the propofes, by her art divine,
To bid the paint exprefs her great defign.
Th' affembled powers confent. She now began,
And her creating pencil ftain'd the Fan.
O'er the fair field trees fpread, and rivers flow,
Towers rear their heads, and diftant mountains

grow;

Life feens to move within the glowing veins
And in each face fome lively paffion reigns.
Thus have I feen woods, hills, and dales appear,
Flocks graze the plains, birds wing the filent air,
In darken'd rooms, where light can only pass
Through the small circle of a convex glafs;
On the white sheet the moving figures rife,
The forest waves, clouds float along the fkies.
She various fables on the piece defign'd,
That fpoke the follies of the female kind.
The fate of pride in Niobe the drew
(Be wife, ye nymphs, that fcornful vice fübdue
In a wide plain th' imperious mother stood,
Whose distant bounds rofe in a winding wood

Upon her fhoulder flows her mantling hair,
Pride marks her brow, and elevates her air;
A purple robe behind her fweeps the ground,
Whofe fpacious border golden flowers surround;
She made Latona's altars cease to flame,
And of due honours robb'd her facred name;
To her own charms fhe bade fresh incenfe rife,
And adoration own her brighter eyes.

Seven daughters from her fruitful loins were born,
Seven graceful fons her nuptial bed adorn,
Who, for a mother's arrogant difdain,
Were by Latona's double offspring flain.
Here Phoebus his unnerring arrow drew,
And from his rifing fteed her first-born threw;
His opening fingers drop the flacken'd rein,
And the pale corfe falls headlong to the plain.
Beneath her pencil here two wrestlers bend,
See, to the grafp their swelling nerves diftend;
Diana's arrow joins them face to face,
And death unites them in a strict embrace.
Another here flics trembling o'er the plain
(When Heaven purfues, we fhun the stroke in
vain) :

This lifts his fupplicating hands and eyes,
And 'midst his humble adoration dies.

As from his thigh this tears the barbed dart,
A furer weapon ftrikes his throbbing heart:
While that to raife his wounded brother tries,
Death blafts his bloom, and locks his frozen eyes.
The tender fifters, bath'd in grief, appear
With fable garments and difhevel'd hair,
And o'er their gafping brothers weeping stood;
Some with their treffes ftopt the guthing blood;
They ftrive to ftay the fleeting life too late,
And in the pious action share their fate.
Now the proud dame, o'ercome by trembling fear,
With her wide robe protects her only care;
To fave her only care in vain fhe tries,
Clofe at her feet the latest victim dies.
Down her fair cheek the trickling forrow flows,
Like dewy fpangles on the blushing rofe;
Fixt in aftonishment the weeping flood,
The plain all purple with her children's blood;
She fliffens with her woes; no more her hair
In eafy ringlets wantons in the air;

Motion forfakes her eyes; her veins are dry'd,
And beat no longer with the fanguine tide;
All life is fled; firm marble now she grows,
Which ftill in tears the mother's anguifh fhows.
Ye haughty fair, your painted Fans display,
And the just fate of lofty pride furvey.
Though lovers oft extol your beauty's power,
And in celeftial fimilies adore;

Though from your features Cupid borrows arms,
And goddeffes confefs inferior charms;
Do not, vain maid, the flattering tale believe,
Alike thy lovers and thy glass deceive.
Here lively colours Procris' paflion tell,
Who to her jealous fears a victim fell.
Here kneels the trembling hunter o'er his wife,
Who rolls her fickening eyes, and gasps for life;
Her drooping head upon her shoulder lies,
And purple gore her fnowy bofom dyes.
What guilt, what horror, on his face appears!
Sce, bis red eye-lid feems to fwell with tears

With agony his wringing hands he strains,
And ftrong convulfions ftretch his branching veins.
Learn hence, ye wives! bid vain suspicion cease,
Lofe not, in fullen difcontent, your peace:
For, when fierce love to jealoufy ferments,
A thousand doubts and fears the foul invents;
No more the days in pleasing converse flow,
And nights no more their foft endearments know.
There on the piece the Volfcian queen expir'd,
The love of spoils her female bosom fir'd.
Gay Chloreus' arms attract her longing eyes,
And for the painted plume and helm the fighe;
Fearless the follows, bent on gaudy prey,
Till an ill-fated dart obftructs her way;
Down drops the martial maid; the bloody ground
Floats with a torrent from the purple wound;
The mournful nymphs her drooping head fuftain,
And try to stop the gushing life in vain.

Thus the raw maid fome tawdry coat furveys,
Where the fop's fancy in embroidery plays;
His fnowy feather, edg'd with crimson dyes,
And his bright fword-knot, lure her wandering

eyes;

Fring'd gloves and gold brocade confpire to move,
Till the nymph falls a facrifice to love.

Here young Narciffus o'er the fountain flood,
And view'd his image in the crystal flood:
The crystal flood reflects his lovely charms,
And the pleas'd image ftrives to meet his arms.
No nymph his unexperienc'd breast fubdued,
Echo in vain the flying boy pursued,

Himself alone the foolish youth admires,
And with fond look the fmiling fhade defires:
O'er the fmooth lake with fruitlefs tears he grieve
His fpreading fingers shoot in verdant leaves,
Through his pale veins green fap now gently flows,
And in a fhort-liv'd flower his beauty blows.

Let vain Narciffus warn each female breast,
That beauty's but a tranfient good at best.
Like flowers it withers with th' advancing year;
And age, like winter, robs the blooming fair.
Oh, Aramiata! cease thy wonted pride,
Nor longer in thy faithlefs charms confide;
Ev'n while the glafs reflects thy fparkling eyes,
Their luftre and thy rofy colour flies!

Thus on the Fan the breathing figures fhine, And all the powers applaud the wife defign. The Cyprian queen the painted gift receives, And with a grateful bow the fynod leaves. To the low world fhe bends her steepy way, Where Strephon pafs'd the folitary day. She found him in a melancholy grove, His down caft eyes betray'd defponding love; The wounded bark confefs'd his flighted flame, And every tree bore falfe Corinna's name : In a cool fhade he lay with folded arms, Curfes his fortune, and upbraids her charms; When Venus to his wondering eyes appears, And with these words relieves his amorous cares: Rife happy youth; this bright machine furvey, Whofe rattling fticks my bufy fingers fway; This present shall thy cruel charmer move, And in her fickle bofom kindle love.

The Fan fhall flutter in all female hands, And various fashions learn from various landa.

GAY

That queen, who eas'd our tax of late,
Was dead, alas! and lay in ftate.

At this, in tears was Cicely feen,
Buxoma tore her pinners clean,
In doleful dumps ftood every clown,
The parfon rent his bend and gown.

For me, when as I heard that death
Had fnatch'd queen Anne to Elizabeth,
I broke my reed, and fighing, fwore
I'd weep for Blouzelind no more.

While thus we ftood as in a found,
And wer with tears, like dew the ground,
Full foon by bouefire and by bell
We learnt our liege was paffing well.
A fkilful leach (fo God him ípeed)
They faid had wrought this bleffed deed.
This leach Arbuthnot was yclept,
Who many a night not once had slept ;
But watch'd our gracious fovereign ftill;
For who could reft when she was ill?
Oh, may'st thou henceforth fweetly fleep!
Sheer, fwains, ch fheer your fofteft sheep,
To fwell his couch; for well I ween,
He lav'd the realm, who fav'd the queen.
Quoth I, please God, I'll hye with glee
To court, this Arbuthnot to fee.
I fold my fheep and lambkins too,
For filver loops and garment blue;
My boxen hautboy, fweet of found,
For lace that edg'd mine hat around;
For Lightfoot and my fcrip, I got
A gorgeous fword and eke a knot.

So forth I far'd to court with fpeed, Of foldier's drum withouten dreed; For peace allays the fhepherd's fear Of wearing cap of grenadier.

There faw I ladies all a-row, Before their queen in feemly fhow. No more I'll fing Buxoma brown, Like goldfinch in her Sunday gown; Ner Clumfilis, nor Marian bright, Nor danfel that Hobnelia hight. "

But Lanfdowne, fresh as flower of May, And Berkeley. lady blithe and gay; And Anglefea, whose speech exceeds The voice of pipe, or oaten reeds; And blooming Hyde, w th eyes fo rare; And Montague beyond compare : Such ladies fair would I depaint, 20 In roundelay or fonnet quaint.

30

There many a worthy wight I've seen,
In ribbon blue and ribbon green:
As Oxford, who a wand doth bear,
Like Mofes, in our bibles fair;
Who for our traffic forms defigns,
And gives to Britain Indian mines.
Now, fhepherds, clip your fleecy care;

Ye maids, your fpinning-wheels prepare;
Ye weavers, all your fhuttles throw,
And bid broad cloths and ferges grow;
For trading free fhall thrive again,
Nor leafings lewd affright the swain.

There faw I St. John, fweet of mien,
Full fledfaft both to church and queen;
With whofe fair name I'll deck my strain;
St. John, right courteous to the fwain.
For thus he told me on a day,
Trim are thy fonnets, gentle Gay;
And, certes, mirth it were to fee
40 Thy joyous madrigals twice three,
With preface meet, and notes profound,
Imprinted fair, and well y bound.
All fuddenly then home I sped,
And did ev'n as my lord had said.

Lo, here thou haft mine cclogues fair, But let not these detain thine ear. Let not th' affairs of states and kings Wait, while our Bowzybeus fings. Rather than verfe of fimple swain 50 Should ftay the trade of France or Spain; Or for the plaint of parfon's maid, Yon emperor's packets be delay'd; In footh, I fwear by holy Paul, I'd burn book, preface, notes, and all.