}

Nor did fhe there with Epimetheus dwell,
Shut up and cloifter'd in a lonely Cell,
As old Greek Tales of dreaming Hefiod tell.
But bounteous of Delight and unconfin'd,
She made the Bleffing common to Mankind,
Defign'd a publick Good ftill paffing on,
On undistinguish'd Crouds alike fhe fhone.

2

THE ftupid Herd wirh pleafing Dread amaz❜d,
Dumb with Attention, ftood, and gladfome gaz'd;
Some ravifh'd with her Mien fo graceful were,
Some with the Ringlets of her Amber Hair,
Some with her Iv'ry Front, and Face so heavenly Fair.
From her each Part Ambrofial Odours flow'd,

And breath'd a balmy Bleffing on the Croud;

While her bright Eyes (which scarce, the Mufe had told, Unless by facred Infpiration bold)

With Light effulgent, darted forth a Ray,

That chear'd Mankind, and made the World look gay.

So when Aurora in the rofy Eaft,

Lifts her fair Head, with radiant Honours drefs'd,
O'er Nature's Face a various Smile she spreads,
And paints a-new the Fields and flow'ry Meads,
Ten thousand colour'd Eyes her Beams unfold,
The limpid Stream in filver Waves is roll'd,

And all the Green-Wood Shade is burnifh'd o'er with 'Gold.

SUCH Beauty was in our firft Fathers time, While yet the youthful World was in its Prime;

The

The mingling Graces of the Sexes met,

bi

And full Perfection made the Form complete;
While Man free from Avarice or Pride,

yet

The ways of Wickedness had never try'd,

Nor warping from the Right, perversly turn'd aside.

BUT when pernicious Change invading spread,
And Error blind mistaken Reason led,

The swift Contagion reach'd the lovely Maid.
Pandora tainted by an impious Age,

Purfu'd each fond Defire, and each fantastick Rage:
Curious to know, the Box difturb'd her Reft,
Jove's hard Commands fat heavy on her Breast,
And Woman, Woman the frail Nymph confeft:
Refolv'd at length, whatever Jove forbid,
She eas'd her longing Mind, and broke the Lid:
When, fteaming, ftrait a deadly Vapour rofe,
Long Trains of waiting Plagues it did disclose,
Difeafes, Miferies, and mortal Woes.

First the fell Poifon feiz'd the curious Maid,

First on her Youth, her blooming Rofes prey'd ;
Her Eyes no more their ftarry Fires could boast,
But dim and dull in cloudy Mifts were loft;
No Part was left untainted in the whole,

307

But all that once was fair, was loathfome now and foul.
Nor ftop'd the Ruin with the wretched Maid,
But growing ftill, around diffufive ftray'd;
Error, Difeafe, and Death, like Victors dread,
Wide-wafting, o'er the World their Legions fpread,
And vanquish'd Minds and Bodies captive led.

ملة

Hid

Hid in deep Shades benighted Reafon lay,
Shut from the Beams of Truth's Ethereal Day.
From that faid Era Ignorance begun,
Thence a dull Train of doubting Ages run,
And Beauty's facred Form remains unknown.
Oh then, to guide the wand'ring Mufe aright,
To pierce the Shades of this fubftantial Night;
Phoebus be kind, to thee for Aid we bow,
Thou Joy of Gods above, and Men below!
Patron of Verfe, and Ruler of the Day;
Do thou shoot swift before thy Golden Ray,
At once infpire her Flight, and point her out the way.

THO all around the wide Contagion spread, Like Streams far ftretching from fome fatal Head; Yet was it various in its baleful Courfe,

4 (

And now renew'd, and now repreft its Force.
Where round the Poles the frozen Circles turn,
Or where near neighb'ring Suns too fiercely burn,
There Nature's Shame, mifhapen Forms abound,
And Monsters people the devoted Ground.
Far in the North, where Winter's hoary Bed
Is with eternal Snows and Ice difpread;
Or where the fam'd Magellan's Southern Tide
Does barbarous Patagonian Shores divide;
Nations deform'd, fierce falvage Tribes are feen,
Of Bulk unwieldy and gigantick Mien;
Each a huge heavy lazy Mafs of Might,
Unfit for Ufe, and loathfome to the Sight:
While in the Regions of the burning Zone,
No Vifage but the footy Black is known;

}

Short

Short woolly Locks their horrid Fronts embrace,

Thick Lips grin fearful with a Fiend-like Grace,
And Night, the Beldam, broods on each Barbarian Face.

NOR here unfitly to my Verfe belong,
Arts which were once the Princely Arab's Song.
Long fince the Bard in native Numbers taught,
How the mid Globe, with temp'rate Regions fraught,
Feels not the dire. Extremes of Cold and Hot;
Where in the midft the juft Equator lies,
Sweet is the Air, and undisturb'd the Skies;
There, Heav'n's bright Scale well-blended Seafons weighs,
Nature the Poles at equal Distance lays,

And righteously divides the Nights and Days:
There nor the Sun's bright Flames malignant burn,
Nor chilly Moons with nipping Frofts return;
Thence, with luxurious Births each pregnant Year,
Twin Seafons does, and double Plenties bear:
Thrice yellow Ceres crowns the Summer Fields,
And twice his rich Increase ripe Autumn yields.
Twice gentle Winter comes with fober Grace,
And twice the blooming Spring renews her blissful Face.
Here, if aright the Poet's Song divin'd,

The jufteft Forms of Beauty might we find :
From Conftitutións rightly temper'd, here
Fair Harmony and Order fhould appear,
And all Mankind be lovely like the Year.

But the known Clime muft o'er the Verse prevail,
And Truth refute the false Arabian Tale:

Since black Deformity ufurps alone

The Sultry Regions of the Torrid Zone,

}

The

The fiery God too near 'em runs his Race,

And leaves his footy Marks on ev'ry hideous Face.

THEN, Oh my Mufe, forfake the fcorching Line,
And to the cooler Pole thy Flight incline;
Seek in the midway Space fome balmy Air,
A Land delightful, and a People fair;
Where Beauty long her Refidence has plac'd,
And reign'd in Sovereign State for Ages past.
Nor ceafe thy curious Search, nor yet remain
Fix'd in warm Italy, or fwarthy Spain:

Still fpread thy Wing, and reach that happy Coast,
Where Europe does her Fav'rite Country boaft,
Where sweetest Airs, and kindest Heav'ns fhe yields,
Where Gallia fpreads her fair Elyfian Fields.
But thee, Turonia, chief I would select,

Thy pleafing Soil with various Profpect deck'd,
Where winding Vales run rich with frequent Rills,
And verdant Plains are crown'd with rifing Hills ;
Where gentle Liger flowly feeks the Sea,

Scatt'ring full Plenty in his peaceful way,

Where near proud Angier's Walls his Waves are roll'd,
And thro their Chrystal clear difplay the fandy Gold.
Here lovely Maids of Form Divine abound,
With ev'ry Grace and juft Perfection crown'd;
Here still the Marks of Heav'n's firft Work they wear,
And, like the firft Pandora, ftill are faultlefs fair.

MARK how their Statures due Proportion know,
Nor rife too high, nor fink too meanly low;
No meager bony Jaws deform the Face,

Nor puffy Sides the taper Shape disgrâce,moilu 1430 e
Bu ev'ry Part alike becomes its place.

Behold