Infpir'd, fublime, on Pegafean wing,
By thee upborne, I draw Miltonick air.
When fumy vapours clog our loaded brows
With furrow'd frowns, when stupid downcaft eyes,
Th' external symptoms of remorfe within,
Express our grief, or when in fullen dumps,
With head incumbent on expanded palm,
Moping we fit, în filent forrow drown'd;
Whether inveigling Hymen has trepann'd
Th' unwary youth, and ty'd the Gordian knot
Of jangling wedlock not to be diffolv'd;
Worry'd all day by loud Xantippe's din,
Who fails not to exalt him to the ftars,
And fix him there among the branched crew,
(Taurus, and Aries, and Capricorn,
'The greatest monfters of the Zodiack)
Or for the lofs of anxious worldly pelf,
Or Celia's fcornful flights, and cold difdain,
Which check'd his am'rous flame with coy repulse,
The worst events that mortals can befall;
By cares deprefs'd, in penfive hippish mood,
With flowest pace the tedious minutes roll,
Thy charming fight, but much more charming guft,
New life incites, and warms our chilly blood.
Straight with pert looks we raise our drooping fronts,
And pour in cryftal pure thy parer juice; —
With cheerful countenance and fleady hand
Raife it lip-high, then fix the fpacious rim
To the expecting mouth :—with grateful taste :
The ebbing wine glides fwiftly o'er the tongue;
The circling blood with quicker motion flies:
Such is thy powerful influence, thou straight
Difpell'ft those clouds that, louring dark, eclips'd
The wnilom glories of the gladsome face;~~~
While dimpled cheeks, and sparkling rolling eyes,
Thy cheering virtues, and thy worth proclaim.
So mifts and exhalations that arise
From "hills or steamy lake, dusky or gray,”
Prevail, till Phœbus fheds Titanian rays,
And paints their fleecy fkirts with fhining gold:
Unable to refift, the foggy damps,
That veil'd the furface of the verdant fields,
At the god's penetrating beams disperse;
The earth again in former beauty fmiles,
In gaudieft-livery dreft, all gay and clear.
When disappointed Strephon meets repulse,
Scoff'd at, defpis'd, in melancholick mood
Joylefs he waftes in fighs the lazy hours,
Till reinforc'd by thy most potent aid
He ftorms the breach, and wins the beauteous fort.
To pay thee homage, and receive thy blessing,
The British feaman quits his native shore,
And ventures thro' the trackless, deep abys3,
Ploughing the ocean, while the upheav'd oak,
"With beaked prow, rides tilting o'er the waves;"
Shock'd by tempeftuous jarring winds, the rolls
In dangers imminent, till the arrives
At those bleft climes thou favour'ft with thy prefence. Whether at Lufitania's fultry coaft,
Or lofty Teneriff, Palmo, Ferrog
Provence, or at the Celtiberian shores,
With gazing pleasure and astonishment,
At Paradife (feat of our ancient fire)
He thinks him felf arriv'd: the purple grapes,
In largest clusters pendant, grace the vines
Innumerous: in fields grotesque and wild,
They with implicit curls the oak entwine,
And load with fruit divine his fpreading boughs:
Sight moft delicious! not an irksome thought,
Or of left native ifle, or abfent friends,
Or dearest wife, or tender fucking babe,
His kindly treachirous mem'ry now prefents;
The jovial God has left no room for cares.
Celestial Liquor! thou that didst infpire Maro and Flaccus, and the Grecian bard, With lofty numbers, and heroick ftrains Unparallell'd, with eloquence profound, And arguments convictive, didit enforce Fam'd Tully, and Demofthenes renown'd: Ennius*, firft fam'd in Latin fong, in vain Drew Heliconian ftreams, ungrateful whet To jaded Mufe, and oft', with vain attempt,
An old Latin poet, of whom a more modern Roman bard,
when reading his works, made ufe of this expreffion, " I have 65 been seeking for pearls in Ennius' dunghill."
Heroick acts, in flagging numbers dull,
With pains effay'd; but, abject still and low,
His unrecruited Mufe could never reach
The mighty theme, till, from the purple fount
Of bright Lenaan fire, her barren drought
He quench'd, and with inspiring nect'rous juice
Her drooping fpirits cheer'd:aloft fhe tow'rs,
Borne on fliff pennons, and of war's alarms,
And trophies won, in loftieft numbers fings.
'Tis thou the hero's breaft to martial acts,
And refolution hold, and ardour brave,
Excit'ft: thou check'ft inglorious lolling eafe,
And fluggish minds with gen'rous fires inflam'ft.
O Thou! that first my quick'ned foul didft warm,
Still with thy aid affift me, that thy praife,
Thy univerfal fway o'er all the world,
In everlafting numbers, like the theme,
I may record, and fing thy matchlefs worth.
Had the Oxonian hard thy praise rehears'd,
His Mufe had yet retain'd her wonted height: 115
Such as of late o'er Blenheim's field fhe foar'd
Aerial; now in Ariconian bogs
She lies inglorious, flound'ring, like her theme,
Languid and faint, and on damp wing, immerg'd
In acid juice, in vain attempts to rise.
With what fublimeft joy from noisy town,
At rural feat, Lucretius retir'd:
Flaccus, untainted by perplexing cares,
Where the white poplar and the lofty pine
Join neighb'ring boughs, sweet hospitable fhade, 125
Creating, from Phæbean rays fecure,
A cool retreat, with few well-chofen friends,
On flowery mead recumbent, spent the hours
In mirth innocuous, and alternate verse !
With roles interwoven, poplar wreaths,
Their temples bind, dress of sylvestrian gods!
Choiceft nectarian juice crown'd largest bowls,
And overlook'd the brim, alluring fight,
Of fragrant fcent, attractive, tafte divine!
Whether from Formain grape depress'd, Falern, 135
Or Setin, Maffick, Gauran, or Sabine,
Lesbian, or Cœcuban, the cheering bowl
Mov'd brifkly round, and spurr'd their heighten'd wit
To fing Mecanas' praise, their patron kind.
But we not as our priftine fires repair
Tumbrageous grot or vale; but when the fun
Faintly from western skies his rays oblique
Darts floping, and to Thetis' wat'ry lap
Haftens in prone career, with friends felect
Swiftly we hie to Devil*, young or old,
Jocund and boon; where at the entrance ftands
A ftripling, who with scrapes and humil cringe
Greets us in winning speech, and accent bland :
With lightest bound, and safe unerring step,
He skips before, and nimbly climbs the stairs.
The Devil-tavern, Temple-bar, frequented by his friends.
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