66

a

Stout once a month they march, a blustering band, But here I stop, not daring to proceed,
And ever, but in times of need, at hand;

Yet blush to flatter an unrighteous deed :
This was the morn when, issuing on the guard, For crimes are but permitted, not decreed.
Drawn up in rank and file they stood prepar'd Resolv'd on force, his wit the pretor bent,
Of seeming arms to make a short essay,

To find the means that might secure th'event: Then hasten to be drunk, the business of the day.. Nor long he labor'd, for his lucky thought

The cowards would have fled, but that they knew In captive Cymon found the friend he sought; Themselves so many, and their foes so few: Th' example pleas'd: the cause and crime the same; But, crowding on, the last the first impel;

An injur'd lover, and a ravish'd dame. Till overborne with weight the Cyprians fell. How much he durst he knew by what he dard, Cymon enslav'd, who first the war begun,

The less he had to lose, the less he card And Iphigene once more is lost and won.

To manage lothesome life, when love was the reward. Deep in a dungeon was the captive cast,

This ponder'd well, and fix'd on his intent, Depriv'd of day, and held in fetters fast:

In depth of night he for the prisoner sent; His life was only spar'd at their request,

In secret sent, the public view to shun, Whom taken he so nobly had releas'd :

Then with a sober smile he thus begun.
But Iphigenia was the ladies' care,

The powers above, who bounteously bestow
Each in their turn address'd to treat the fair; Their gifts and graces on mankind below,
While Pasimond and his the nuptial feast prepare. Yet prove our merit first, nor blindly give
Her secret soul to Cymon was inclin'd,

To such as are not worthy to receive.
But she must suffer what her Fates assign'd; For valor and for virtue they provide
So passive is the church of woman-kind.

Their due reward, but first they must be tried : What worse to Cymon could his fortune deal, These fruitful seeds within your mind they sow'd; Rolld to the lowest spoke of all her wheel? 'Twas yours t' improve the talent they bestow'd: It rested to dismiss the downward weight, They gave you to be born of noble kind, Or raise him upward to his former height; They gave you love to lighten up your mind, The latter pleas’d; and Love (concern'd the most) And purge the grosser parts; they gave you care Prepar’d th' amends, for what by love he lost. To please, and courage to deserve the fair. The sire of Pasimond had left a son,

“ Thus far they tried you, and by proof they found Though younger, yet for courage early known, The grain intrusted in a grateful ground: Ormisda call'd, to whom, by promise tied, But still the great experiment remain'd, A Rhodian beauty was the destin'd bride;

They suffer'd you to lose the prize you gain d, Cassandra was her name, above the rest

That you might learn the gift was theirs alone, Renown'd for birth, with fortune amply bless'd. And when restor'd, to them the blessing own. Lysimachus, who ruld the Rhodian state,

Restor’d it soon will be; the means prepar'd, Was then by choice their annual magistrate : The difficulty smooth'd, the danger shar'd : He lov'd Cassandra too with equal fire,

Be but yourself, the care to me resign, But Fortune had not favor'd his desire;

Then Iphigene is yours, Cassandra mine. Cross'd by her friends, by her not disapprov'd,

Your rival Pasimond pursues your life,
Nor yet preferr’d, or like Ormisda lov'd :

Impatient to revenge his ravish'd wife,
So stood th' aflair : some little hope remain'd, But yet not his ; to-morrow is behind,
That, should his rival chance to lose, he gain'd. And Love our fortunes in one band has joind:

Meantime young Pasimond his marriage press'd, Two brothers are our foes, Ormisda mine,
Ordain'd the nuptial day, prepar'd the feast; As much declar'd as Pasimond is thine:
And frugally resolv'd (the charge to shun,

To-morrow must their common vows be tied : Which would be double should he wed alone) With Love to friend, and Fortune for our guide. To join his brother's bridal with his own.

Let both resolve to die, or each redeem a bride. Lysimachus, oppress'd with mortal grief,

Right I have none, nor hast thou much to plead; Receiv'd the news, and studied quick relief: "Tis force, when done, must justify the deed: The fatal day approach'd ; if force were us'd, Our task perform’d, we next prepare for flight: The magistrate his public trust abus'd;

And let the losers talk in vain of right :
To justice liable, as law required;

We with the fair will sail before the wind,
For, when his office ceas'd, his power expir'd : If they are griev'd, I leave the laws behind.
While power remain'd, the means were in his hand Speak thy resolves: if now thy courage droop,
By force to seize, and then forsake the land : Despair in prison, and abandon hope :
Betwixt extremes he knew not how to move, But if thou dar'st in arms thy love regain,
A slave to fame, but more a slave to love: (For liberty without thy love were vain.)
Restraining others, yet himself not free,

Then second my design to seize the prey, (way."
Made impotent by power, debas'd by dignity. Or lead to second rape, for well thou know'st the
Both sides he weigh’d; but, after much debate, Said Cymon overjoy'd, “ Do thou propose
The man prevail'd above the magistrate.

The means to fight, and only show the foes :
Love never fails to master what he finds, For from the first, when love had fir'd my mind,
But works a different way in different minds, Resolv'd I left the care of life behind."
The fool enlightens, and the wise he blinds.

To this the bold Lysimachus replied,
This youth, proposing to possess and 'scape,

Let Heaven be neuter, and the sword decide :
Began in murder, to conclude in rape : [bless The spousals are prepar'd, already play
Unprais'd by me, though Heaven sometimes may The minstrels, and provoke the tardy day:
An impious act with undeserv'd success :

By this the brides are wakid, their grooms are dress'd; The great it seems are privileg'd alone

All Rhodes is summond to the nuptial feast, To punish all injustice but their own.

All but mysell, the sole unbidden guest.

l'nbidden though I am, I will be there,

The troop retires, the lovers close the rear, And, join'd by thee, intend to joy the fair.

With forward faces not confessing fear: * Now hear the rest; when Day resigns the light, Backward they move, but scorn their pace to And cheerful torches gild the jolly Night,

mend, Be ready at my call; my chosen few

Then seek the stairs, and with slow haste descend. With arms administer'd shall aid thy crew.

Fierce Pasimond, their passage to prevent, Then, entering unexpected, will we seize

Thrust full on Cymon's back in his descent; Our destin'd prey, from men dissolv'd in ease, The blade return'd unbath'd, and to the handle By wine disabled, unprepar'd for fight,

bent, And hastening to the seas, suborn our flight: Stout Cymon soon remounts, and cleft in two The seas are ours, for I command the fort,

His rival's head with one descending blow: A ship well-mann'd expects us in the port : And as the next in rank Ormisda stood, If they, or if their friends, the prize contest, He turn'd the point; the sword, inur'd to blood, Death shall attend the man who dares resist." Bor'd his unguarded breast, which pour'd a purple It pleas'd: the prisoner to his hold retir'd,

food. His troop with equal emulation fir’d,

With vow'd revenge the gathering crowd pursues, All fir’d to fight, and all their wonted work requir’d. The ravishers turn head, the fight reneus; The Sun arose; the streets were throng’d around, The hall is heap'd with corps; the sprinkled gore The palace open'd, and the posts were crown'd, Besmears the walls, and floats the marble floor. The double bridegroom at the door attends Dispers'd at length the drunken squadron flies, Th' expected spouse, and entertains the friends : The victors to their vessel bear the prize ; They meet, they lead to church, the priests invoke And hear behind loud groans and lamentable cries. The powers, and feed the flames with fragrant smoke. The crew with merry shouts their anchors weigh, This done, they feast, and at the close of night Then ply their oars, and brush the buxom sea, By kindled torches vary their delight,

While troops of gather'd Rhodians crowd the key : These lead the lively dance, and those the brimming What should the people do when left alone? bowls invite.

The governor and government are gone. Now at th' appointed place and hour assign'd, The public wealth to foreign parts convey'd ; With souls resolv'd the ravishers were join'd: Some troops disbanded, and the rest unpaid. Three bands are form’d; the first is sent before Rhodes is the sovereign of the sea no more ; To favor the retreat, and guard the shore; Their ships unrigg'd, and spent their naval store, The second at the palace-gate is plac'd,

They neither could defend, nor can pursue, And up the lofty stairs ascend the last :

But grinn'd their teeth, and cast a helpless view; A peaceful troop they seem with shining vests, In vain with darts a distant war they try, But coats of mail beneath secure their breasts. Short, and more short, the missive weapons fly.

Dauntless they enter, Cymon at their head, Meanwhile the ravishers their crimes enjoy, And find the feast renew'd, the table spread : And flying sails and sweeping oars employ : Sweet voices, mixd with instrumental sounds, The cliffs of Rhodes in little space are lost, Ascend the vaulted roof, the vaulted roof rebounds. Jove's isle they seek; nor Jove denies his coast. When like the harpies rushing through the hall In safety landed on the Candian shore, The sudden troop appears, the tables fall,

With generous wines their spirits they restore : Their smoking load is on the pavement thrown; There Cymon with his Rhodian friend resides, Each ravisher prepares to seize his own;

Both court, and wed at once the willing brides. The brides, invaded with a rude embrace,

A war ensues, the Cretans own their cause,
Shriek out for aid, confusion fills the place. Stiff to defend their hospitable laws:
Quick to redeem the prey their plighted lords Both parties lose by turns; and neither wins,
Advance, the palace gleams with shining swords. Till peace propounded by a truce begins.
But late is all defence, and succor vain;

The kindred of the slain forgive the deed,
The rape is made, the ravishers remain :

But a short exile must for show ecede : Two sturdy slaves were only sent before

The term expir'd, from Candia they remove; To bear the purchas'd prize in safety to the shore. And happy each, at home, enjoys his love.

JOHN PHILIPS.

John Philips, an English poet, was the son of His didactic poem on Cider, published in 1706, is Dr. Stephen Philips, archdeacon of Salop. He was considered as his principal performance, and is that born at Bampton, in Oxfordshire, in 1676, and re- with which his name is chiefly associated. It be ceived his classical education at Winchester school. came popular, and raised him to eminence among He was removed to Christ-Church college, in Ox- the poets of his age and class. This, and his ford, in 1694, where he fully maintained the dis-- Splendid Shilling," are the pieces by which he tinction he had already acquired at school, and ob- will chiefly deserve to be remembered. Philips tained the esteem of several eminent literary char- died of a pulmonary affection, in February 1708. acters. In 1703 he made himself known by his at his mother's house in Hereford, greatly regretted poem of “The Splendid Shilling.” a pleasant bur- by his friends, to whom he was endeared by the lesque, in which he happily initated the style of modesty, kindness, and blamelessness of his characMilton. The reputation he acquired by this piece ter. Besides a tablet, with a Latin inscription, caused him to be selected by the leaders of the in Hereford cathedral, he was honored with a monuTory party to celebrate the victory of Blenheim, ment in Westminster Abbey, erected by Lord in competition with Addison, an attempt which, Chancellor Harcourt, with a long and classical however, seems to have added little to his fame. epitaph, composed by Atterbury.

THE SPLENDID SHILLING.

Sing, heavenly Muse! Thinge unattempted yet, in prose or rhyme," A shilling, breeches, and chimeras dire.

Happy the man, who, void of cares and strife,
In silken or in leather purse retains
A Splendid Shilling : he nor hears with pain
New oysters cried, nor sighs for cheerful ale ;
But with his friends, when nightly mists arise,
To Juniper's Magpie, or Town-hall* repairs :
Where, mindful of the nymph, whose wanton eye
Transfix'd his soul, and kindled amorous flames,
Chloe, or Phillis, he each circling glass
Wisheth her health, and joy, and equal love.
Meanwhile, he smokes, and laughs at merry tale,
Or pun ambiguous, or conundrum quaint.
But I, whom griping penury surrounds,
And Hunger, sure attendant upon Want,
With scanty offals, and small acid tiff,
(Wretched repast !) my meagre corpse sustain:
Then solitary walk, or doze at home
In garret vile, and with a warming puff

Regale chill'd fingers: or from tube as black
As winter-chimney, or well-polish'd jet,
Exhale mundungus, ill-perfuming scent:

Not blacker tube, nor of a shorter size,
Smokes Cambro-Briton (vers'd in pedigree,
Sprung from Cadwallador and Arthur, kings
Full famous in romantic tale) when he,
O'er many a craggy hill and barren cliff,
Upon a cargo of fam‘d Cestrian cheese,
High over-shadowing rides, with a design
To vend his wares, or at th' Arvonian mart,
Or Maridunum, or the ancient town
Yclep'd Brechinia, or where Vaga's stream
Encircles Ariconium, fruitful soil !
Whence flow nectareous wines, that well may vie
With Massic, Setin, or renown'd Falern.

Thus while my joyless minutes tedious flow,
With looks demure, and silent pace, a Dun,
Horrible monster! hated by gods and men,
To my aërial citadel ascends,
With vocal heel thrice thundering at my gate,
With hideous accent thrice he calls; I know
The voice ill-boding, and the solemn sound.

What should I do? or whither turn! Amaz'd,
Confounded, to the dark recess I fly
Of wood-hole ; straight my bristling hairs erect
Through sudden fear ; a chilly sweat bedews

A POEM, IN TWO BOOKS.

My shuddering limbs, and (wonderful to tell !) Nor 'aste the fruits that the Sun's genial rays My tongue forgets her faculty of speech;

Mature, john-apple, nor the downy peach,
So horrible he seems! His faded brow,

Nor walnut in rough-furrow'd coat secure,
Intrench'd with many a frown, and conic beard, Nor medlar, fruit delicious in decay ;
And spreading band, admir'd by modern saints, Amictions great! yet greater still remain :
Disastrous acts forbode ; in his right hand

My galligaskins, that have long withstood
Long scrolls of paper solemnly he waves, The winter's fury, and encroaching frosts,
With characters and figures dire inscrib'd,

By time subdued (what will not time subdue !) Grievous to mortal eyes; (ye gous, avert

An horrid chasm disclos'd with orifice Such plagues from righteous men!) Behind him stalks Wide, discontinuous; at which the winds Another monster, not unlike himself,

Eurus and Auster, and the dreadful force Sullen of aspect, by the vulgar callid

Of Boreas, that congeals the Cronian waves, A catchpole, whose polluted hands the gods, Tumultuous enter with dire chilling blasts, With force incredible, and magic charms,

Portending agues. Thus a well-fraught ship, First have endued : if he his ample palm

Long sail'd secure, or through th' Ægean deep, Should haply on ill-fated shoulder lay

Or the Ionian, till cruising near Of debtor, straight his body, to the touch

The Lilybean shore, with hideous crush Obsequious (as whilom knights were wont) On Scylla, or Charybdis (dangerous rocks!) To sorne enchanted castle is convey'd,

She strikes rebounding; whence the shatler'd oak, Where gates impregnable, and coercive chains, So fierce a shock unable to withstand, In durance strict detain him, till, in form

Admits the sea: in at the gaping side Of money, Pallas sets the captive free.

The crowding waves gush with impetuous rage, Beware, ye debtors! when ye walk, beware, Resistless, overwhelming ; horrors seize Be circumspect; oft with insidious ken

The mariners; Death in their eyes appears, The caitiff eyes your steps aloof, and oft They stare, they lave, they pump, they swear, they Lies perdue in a nook or gloomy cave,

pray:
Prompt to enchant some inadvertent wretch (Vain efforts !) still the battering waves rush in,
With his unhallow'd touch. So (poets sing) Implacable, till, delug'd by the foam,
Grimalkin, to domestic vermin sworn

Tho ship sinks foundering in the vast abyss.
An everlasting foe, with watchful eye
Lies nightly brooding o'er a chinky gap,
Protending her fell claws, to thoughtless mice
Sure ruin. So her disembowell’d web

CIDER.
Arachne, in a hall or kitchen, spreads
Obvious to vagrant flies : she secret stands
Within her woven cell: the humming prey,

Honos erit huic quoque Pomo! Virg. Regardless of their fate, rush on the toils

Воок І.
Inextricable, nor will aught avail
Their arts, or arms, or shapes of lovely hue; What soil the apple loves, what care is duo
The wasp insidious, and the buzzing drone, To orchats, timeliest when to press the fruits,
And butterfly, proud of expanded wings

Thy gift, Pomona, in Miltonian verse
Distinct with gold, entangled in her snares, Adventurous I presume to sing; of verse
l'seless resistance make; with eager strides, Nor skill’d, nor studious: but my native soil
She towering flies to her expected spoils;

Invites me, and the theme as yet unsung.
Then, with envenom'd jaws, the vital blood

Ye Ariconian knights, and fairest dames, Drinks of reluctant foes, and to her cave

To whom propitious Heaven these blessings grants, Their bulky carcasses triumphant drags.

Attend my lays, nor hence disdain to learn, So pass my days. But when nocturnal shades How Nature's gifts may be improv'd by art. This world envelop, and th’inclement air

And thou, O Mostyn, whose benevolence, Persuades men to repel benumbing frosts

And candor, oft experienc'd, me vouchsaf'd With pleasant wines, and crackling blaze of wood; To knit in friendship, growing still with years, Me, lonely sitting, nor the glimmering light Accept this pledge of gratitude and love. Of make-weight candle, nor the joyous talk May it a lasting monument remain Of loving friend, delights : distress'd, forlorn, Of dear respect; that when this body frail Amidst the horrors of the tedious night,

Is moulder'd into dust, and I become Darkling I sigh, and feed with dismal thoughts As I had never been, late times may know My anxious mind : or sometimes mournful verse I once was bless'd in such a matchless friend! Indite, and sing of groves and myrtle shades, Whoe'er expects his laboring trees should bend Or desperate lady near a purling stream,

With fruitage, and a kindly harvest yield, Or lover pendent on a willow-tree.

Be this his first concern, to find a tract Meanwhile I labor with eternal drought,

Impervious to the winds, begirt with hills And restless wish, and rave; my parched throat That intercept the Hyperborean blasts Finds no relief, nor heavy eyes repose :

Tempestuous, and cold Eurus' nipping force, But if a slumber haply does invade

Noxious to feeble buds : but to the west My weary limbs, my fancy's still awake,

Let him free entrance grant, let zephyrs bland Thoughtful of drink, and eager, in a dream, Administer their tepid genial airs; Tipples imaginary pots of ale,

Nought fear he from the west, whose gentle warmth In vain ; awake I find the settled thirst

Discloses wel the Earth's all-teeming womb, Still gnawing, and the pleasant phantom curse. Invigorating tender seeds; whose breath Thus do I live, from pleasure quite debarr’d, Nurtures the orange, and the citron groves,

:

Hesperian fruits, and wafts their odors sweet To deck this rise with fruits of various tastes, Wide through the air, and distant shores perfumes. Fail not by frequent vows t' implore success ; Nor only do the hills exclude the winds :

Thus piteous Heaven may fix the wandering glebs But, when the blackening clouds in sprinkling But if (for Nature doth not share alike showers

Her gifts) an happy soil should be withheld; Distil, from the high summits down the rain If a penurious clay should be thy lot, Runs trickling ; with the fertile moisture cheer'd, Or rough unwieldy earth, nor to the plow, The orchats smile; joyous the farmers see Nor to the cattle kind, with sandy stones Their thriving plants, and bless the heavenly dew. And gravel o'er-abounding, think it not

Next let the planter, with discretion meet, Beneath thy toil ; the sturdy pear-tree here The force and genius of each soil explore;

Will rise luxuriant, and with toughest root To what adapted, what it shuns averse :

Pierce the obstructing grit, and restive marle. Without this necessary care, in vain

Thus nought is useless made ; nor is there land, He hopes an apple-vintage, and invokes

But what, or of itself, or else compellid, Pomona's aid in vain. The miry fields,

Affords advantage. On the barren heath Rejoicing in rich mould, most ample fruit

The shepherd tends his flock, that daily crop of beauteous form produce; pleasing to sight, Their verdant dinner from the mossy turf, But to the tongue inelegant and flat.

Sufficient; after them the cackling goose, So Nature has decreed ; so oft we see

Close-grazier, finds wherewith to ease her want. Men passing fair, in outward lineaments

What should I more? Ev'n on the cliffy height Elaborate; less, inwardly, exact.

Of Penmenmaur, and that cloud-piercing hill, Nor from the sable ground expect success,

Plinlimmon, from afar the traveller kens Nor from cretaceous, stubborn and jejune :

Astonish'd, how the goats their shrubby browse The Must, of pallid hue, declares the soil

Gnaw pendent; nor untrembling canst thou see, Devoid of spirit; wretched he, that quaffs

How from a scraggy rock, whose prominence Such wheyish liquors; oft with colic pange,

Half overshades the ocean, hardy men,
With pungent colic pangs distress'd he'll roar, Fearless of rending winds, and dashing waves,
And toss, and turn, and curse th' unwholesome Cut samphire, to excite the squeamish gust
draught.

Of pamper'd luxury. Then, let thy ground
But, farmer, look where full-ear'd sheaves of rye Not lie unlabord; is the richest stem
Grow wavy on the tilth, that soil select

Refuse to thrive, yet who would doubt to plant For apples: thence thy industry shall gain Somewhat, that may to human use redound, Ten-fold reward : thy garners, thence with store

And penury,

the worst of ills, remore? Surcharg'd, shall burst; thy press with purest juice There are, who, fondly studious of increase, Shall flow, which, in revolving years, may try

Rich foreign mould on their ill-natur'd land Thy feeble feet, and bind thy faltering tongue. Induce laborious, and with fattening muck Such is the Kent-church, such Dantzeyan ground, Besmear the roots; in vain! the nursling grove Such thine, O learned Broome, and Capel such, Seems fair awhile, cherish'd with foster earth; Willisian Burlton, much-lov'd Geers his Marsh, But when the alien compost is exhaust, And Sutton-acres, drench'd with regal blood Its native poverty again prevails. Of Ethelbert, when to th' unhallow'd feast

Though this art fails, despond not; little pains, Of Mercian Ofa he invited came,

In a due hour employ’d, great profit yield. To treat of spousals : long connubial joys

Th’industrious, when the Sun in Leo rides, He promis'd to himself, allur'd by fair

And darts his sultriest beams, portending drought, Elfrida's beauty: but, deluded, died

Forgets not at the foot of every plant
In height of hopes oh! hardest fate, to fall To sink a circling trench, and daily pour
By show of friendship, and pretended love! A just supply of alimental streams,
I nor advise, nor reprehend the choice

Exhausted sap recruiting; else false hopes
Of Marcley-hill; the apple nowhere finds

He cherishes, nor will his fruit expect A kinder mould: yet'tis unsafe to trust

Th’autumnal season, but, in summer's pride, Deceitful ground : who knows but that, once more, When other orchats smile, abortive fail. This mount may journey, and, his present site Thus the great light of Heaven, that in his course Forsaking, 10 thy neighbor's bounds transfer Surveys and quickens all things, often proves The goodly plants, affording matter strange

Noxious to planted fields, and often men
For law-debates ?* If therefore thou incline Perceive his influence dire ; sweltering they run

To grots, and caves, and the cool umbrage seek
Of woven arborets, and oft the rills

Still streaming fresh revisit, to allay
* February the seventh, 1571, at six o'clock in the Thirst inextinguishable : but if the spring
evening, this hill roused itself with a roaring noise, and Preceding should be destitute of rain,
by seven the next morning had moved forty paces; it
kept moving for three days together, carrying with it

Or blast septentrional with brushing wings sheep in their cotes, hedgerows and trees, and in its pas: Sweep up the smoky mists, and vapors damp, sage overthrew Kinnaston Chapple, and turned two high

Then woe to mortals! Titan then exerts ways near an hundred yards from their former position. His heat intense, and on our vitals preys; The ground thus moved was about twenty-six acres, Then maladies of various kinds and names which opened itself, and carried the earth before it for Unknown, malignant fevers, and that foe four hundred yards' space, leaving that which was pasture To blooming beauty, which imprints the face in the place of the tillage, and the tillage overspread of fairest nymph, and checks our growing love,

See Speed's Account of Herefordslıire, Reign far and near; grim Death in different shapes page 49, and Camden's Britannia.

Depopulates the nations ; thousands fall

with pasture.