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Then ofter to thy name attun'd,
And rifing to diviner found,
I'll wake the free Horatian fong:
Old Tyne shall liften to my tale,
And echo, down the bordering vale,
The liquid melody prolong.

THE

And the rafh fool, who scorn'd the beaten road,
Dares quake at thunder, and confefs his God.
The brainless stripling, who, expell'd the town,
Damn'd the stiff college and pedantic gown,
Aw'd by thy name, is dumb, and thrice a week
Spells uncouth Latin, and pretends to Greek.
A fauntring tribe! fuch born to wide estates,
With yea and no in fenates hold debates:
At length defpis'd, each to his fields retires,
Firft with the dogs, and king amidst the 'fquires;
From pert to ftupid finks fupinely down,

In youth a coxcomb, and in age a clown.

Such readers fcorn'd, thou wing'ft thy daring flight
Above the stars, and tread'ft the fields of light;
Fame, heav'n and hell, are thy exalted theme,
And vifions fuch as Jove himself might dream;
Man funk to flavery, tho' to glory born,
Heav'n's pride when upright, and deprav'd his fcorn.
Such hints alone could British Virgil lend,
And thou alone deserve from fuch a friend:
A debt fo borrow'd, is illuftrious shame,

And fame when fhar'd with him is double fame.
So flush'd with fweets, by beauty's queen bestow'd,
With more than mortal charms Æneas glow'd.
Such generous ftrife Eugene and Malbro' try,
And as in glory, so in friendship vie.
Permit these lines by thee to live- nor blame
A mufe that pants and languishes for fame;

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That fears to fink when humbler themes fhe fings,
Loft in the mafs of mean forgotten things:
Receiv'd by thee, I prophefy, my rhimes

The praise of virgins in fucceeding times :
Mixt with thy works, their life no bounds shall see,
But ftand protected, as infpir'd, by thee.

So fome weak shoot, which elfe would poorly rife,
Jove's tree adopts, and lifts him to the skies;
Thro' the new pupil foftering juices flow,

Thruft forth the gems, and give the flowers to blow
Aloft; immortal reigns the plant unknown,
With borrow'd life, and vigour not his own.

ΤΟ

TO MR. ADDISON,

ON HIS OPERA OF ROSAMOND.

BY THE SAME.

Ne forte pudori

Sit tibi mufa lyræ folers, & cantor Apello.

HE opera firft Italian masters taught,

TH

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Enrich'd with fongs, but innocent of thought;

Britannia's learned theatre difdains

Melodious trifles, and enervate strains;
And blushes, on her injur'd ftage to fee
Nonfenfe well-tun'd, and sweet stupidity.
No charms are wanting to thy artful fong,
Soft as Corelli, and as Virgil strong.

From words fo fweet new grace the notes receive,
And mufic borrows helps, fhe us'd to give.
Thy ftyle has match'd what antient Romans knew,
Thy flowing numbers far excel the new.
Their cadence in fuch eafy found convey'd,
That height of thought may seem fuperfluous aid;
Yet in fuch charms the noble thoughts abound,
That needless seem the sweets of easy found.
Landscapes how gay the bowery grotto yields,
Which thought creates, and lavish fancy builds!

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What art can trace the visionary scenes,
The flowery groves, and everlasting greens,
The babling founds that mimic echo plays,
The fairy fhade, and its eternal maze ?
Nature and art in all their charms combin'd!
And all Elyfium to one view combin'd!
No farther could imagination roam,

Till Vanbrugh fram'd, and Marlbro' rais'd the dome.
Ten thousand pangs my anxious bofom tear,
When drown'd in tears I fee th' imploring fair;
When bards lefs foft the moving words fupply,
A feeming justice dooms the nymph to die;
But here fhe begs, nor can fhe beg in vain;
In dirges thus expiring fwans complain;
Each verfe fo fwells expreffive of her woes,
And every tear in lines fo mournful flows;
We, spite of fame, her fate revers'd believe,
O'erlook her crimes, and think the ought to live.
Let joy falute fair Rofamonda's fhade,

And wreaths of myrtle crown the lovely maid.
While now perhaps with Dido's ghost she roves,
And hears and tells the ftory of their loves,
Alike they mourn, alike they bless their fate,
Since love, which made 'em wretched, makes 'em
Nor longer that relentless doom bemoan,
Which gain'd a Virgil, and an Addison.
Accept, great monarch of the British lays,
The tribute fong an humble fubje&t pays.

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