cave. What can from such be hop'd, but a base brood The panting wretch ; till, breathless and astunn'd, Of coward curs, a frantic, vagrant race ? Stretch'd on the turf he lie. Then spare not thou When now the third revolving Moon appears, The twining whip, but ply his bleeding sides With sharpen'd horns, above th' horizon's brink, Lash after lash, and with thy threatening voice, Without Lucina's aid, expect thy hopes Harsh-echoing from the hills, inculcate loud Are amply crown'd; short pangs produce to light His vile offence. Sooner shall trembling doves The smoking litter; crawling, helpless, blind, Escap'd the hawk's sharp talons, in mid air, Nature their guide, they seek the pouting teat Assail their dangerous foe, than he once more That plenteous streams. Soon as the tender dam Disturb the peaceful flocks. In tender age Has form’d them with her tongue, with pleasure Thus youth is train'd; as curious artists bend view The taper pliant twig, or potters form The marks of their renown'd progenitors, Their soft and ductile clay to various shapes. Sure pledge of triumphs yet to come. All these Nor is 't enough to breed ; but to preserve, Select with joy; but to the merciless flood Must be the huntsman's care. The staunch old Expose the dwindling refuse, nor o'erload hounds, Th’indulgent mother. If thy heart relent, Guides of thy pack, though but in number few, Unwilling to destroy, a nurse provide, Are yet of great account; shall oft untie And to the foster-parent give the care The Gordian knot, when reason at a stand Of thy superfluous brood; she'll cherish kind Puzzling is lost, and all thy art is vain. The alien offspring; pleas'd thou shalt behold O'er clogging fallows, o'er dry plaster'd roads, Her tenderness, and hospitable love. O'er floated meads, o'er plains with flocks distain'd If frolic now and playful they desert Rank-scenting, these must lead the dubious, Their gloomy cell, and on the verdant turf, As party-chiefs in senates who preside, With nerves improv'd, pursue the mimic chase, With pleaded reason and with well-turn'd speech, Coursing around ; unto the choicest friends Conduct the staring multitude; so these Commit thy valued prize : the rustic dames Direct the pack, who with joint cry approve, Shall at thy kennel wait, and in their laps And loudly boast discoveries not their own. Receive thy growing hopes, with many a kiss Unnumber'd accidents, and various ills, Caress, and dignify their little charge Attend thy pack, hang hovering o'er their heads, With some great title, and resounding name And point the way that leads to Death's dark Of high import. But cautious here observe To check their youthful ardor, nor permit Short is their span; few at the date arrive The unexperienc'd younker, immature, of ancient Argus, in old Homer's song Alone to range the woods, or haunt the brakes So highly honor'd : kind, sagacious brute ! Where dodging conies sport; his nerves unstrung, Not ev'n Minerva's wisdom could conceal And strength unequal; the laborious chase Thy much-lov'd master from thy nicer sense. Shall stint his growth, and his rash forward youth Dying his lord he own'd, view'd him all o'er Contract such vicious habits, as thy care With eager eyes, then clos'd those eyes, well pleas'd. And late correction never shall reclaim. Of lesser ills the Muse declines to sing, When to full strength arriv’d, mature and bold, Nor stoops so low; of these each groom can tell Conduct them to the field ; not all at once, The proper remedy. But O! what care, But as thy cooler prudence shall direct, What prudence, can prevent madness, the worst Select a few, and for them by degrees Of maladies ? Terrific pest! that blasts To stricter discipline. With these consort The huntsman's hopes, and desolation spreads The staunch and steady sages of thy pack, Through all th' unpeopled kennel unrestrain'd, By long experience vers'd in all the wiles More fatal than th' envenom'd viper's bite; And subtle doublings of the various Chase. Or that Apulian spider's poisonous sting, Easy the lesson of the youthful train Heal’d by the pleasing antidote of sounds. When instinct prompts, and when example guides. When Sirius reigns, and the Sun's parching beams If the too forward younker at the head Bake the dry gaping surface, visit thou Press boldly on in wanton sportive mood, Each ev'n and morn, with quick observant eye, Correct his haste, and let him feel abash'd Thy panting pack. If, in dark sullen mood, The ruling whip. But if he stoop behind The glouting hound refuse his wonted meal, In wary modest guise, to his own nose Retiring to some close, obscure retreat, Confiding sure ; give him full scope to work Gloomy, disconsolate; with speed remove Ilis winding way, and with thy voice applaud The poor infectious wretch, and in strong chains His patience, and his care: soon shalt thou view Bind him suspected. Thus that dire disease The hopeful pupil leader of his tribe, Which art can't cure, wise caution may prevent. And all the listening pack attend his call. But, this neglected, soon expect a change, Distilling fall; and from his lungs inflam'd, Dumb, spiritless, benumb'd; till Death at last The wound ; spare not thy flesh, nor dread th' event: Here should the knowing Muse recount the means A yet more dreadful scene; his glaring eyes To stop this growing plague. And here, alas! Redden with fury, like some angry boar Each hand presents a sovereign cure, and boasts Churning he foams; and on his back erect Infallibility, but boasts in vain. His pointed bristles rise; his tail incury'd On this depend, each to his separate seat He drops, and with harsh broken howlings rends Confine, in fetters bound; give each his mess The poison-tainted air; with rough hoarse voice A part, his range in open air; and then Incessant bays, and snuffs the infectious breeze; If deadly symptoms to thy grief appear, This way and that he stares aghast, and starts Devote the wretch, and let him greatly fall, At his own shade : jealous, as if he deem'd A generous victim for the public weal. The world his foes. If haply towards the stream Sing, philosophic Muse, the dire effects He cast his roving eye, cold horror chills of this contagious bile on hapless man. His soul; averse he flies, trembling, appall'd. The rustic swains, by long tradition taught Now frantic to the kennel's utmost verge Of leeches old, as soon as they perceive Raving he runs, and deals destruction round. The bite impress'd, to the sea-coasts repair. The pack fly diverse ; for whate'er he meets Plung'd in the briny flood, th' unhappy youth Vengeful he bites, and every bite is death. Now journeys home secure ; but soon shall wish If now perchance through the weak fence escap'd The seas as yet had cover'd him beneath Far up the wind he roves, with open mouth The foaming surge, full many a fathom deep. Inhales the cooling breeze; nor man, nor beast, A fate more dismal, and superior ills, He spares implacable. The hunter-horse, Hang o'er his head devoted. When the Moon, Once kind associate of his sylvan toils, Closing her monthly round, returns again (Who haply now without the kennel's mound To glad the night; or when full-orb'd she shines Crops the rank mead, and listening hears with joy High in the vault of Heaven; the lurking pest The cheering cry, that morn and eve salutes Begins the dire assault. The poisonous foam His raptur'd sense,) a wretched victim falls. Through the deep wound instillid with hostile rage, Unhappy quadruped ! no more, alas! And all its fiery particles saline, Shall thy fond master with his voice applaud Invades th' arterial fluid: whose red waves Thy gentleness, thy speed; or with his hand Tempestuous heave, and their cohesion broke, Stroke thy soft dappled sides, as he each day Fermenting boil; intestine war ensues, Visits thy stall, well pleas'd; no more shalt thou And order to confusion turns embroil'd. With sprightly neighings, to the winding horn, Now the distended vessels scarce contain And the loud opening pack in concert joind, The wild uproar, but press each weaker part Glad his proud heart. For oh! the secret wound Unable to resist: the tender brain Rankling inflames, he bites the ground, and dies ! And stomach suffer most; convulsions shake Hence to the village with pernicious haste His trembling nerves, and wandering pungent pains Baleful he bends his course : the village flies Pinch sore the sleepless wretch; his fluttering pulse Alarm'd ; the tender mother in her arms Oft intermits; pensive, and sad, he mourns Hugs close the trembling babe; the doors are barr'd, His cruel fate, and to his weeping friends And flying curs, by native instinct taught, Laments in vain; to hasty anger prone, Shun the contagious bane; the rustic bands Resents each slight offence, walks with quick step, Hurry to arms, the rude militia seize And wildly stares; at last with boundless sway Whate'er at hand they find; clubs, forks, or guns, The tyrant frenzy reigns : for as the dog From every quarter charge the furious foe, (Whose fatal bite convey'd th' infectious babe) In wild disorder, and uncouth array: Raving he foams, and howls, and barks, and bites; Till, now with wounds on wounds oppress'd and Like agitations in his boiling blood gor'd, Present like species to his troubled mind; At one short poisonous gasp he breathes his last. His nature and his actions all canine. Hence to the kennel, Muse, return, and view So (as old Homer sung) th' associates wild With heavy heart that hospital of woe; Of wandering Ithacus, by Circe's charms (grores, Where Horror stalks at large! insatiate Death To swine transformid, ran grunting through the Sits growling o'er his prey: each hour presents Dreadful example to a wicked world! A different scene of ruin and distress. See there distress'd he lies! parch'd up with thirt, How busy art thou, Fate! and how severe But dares not drink. Till now at last bis soul Thy pointed wrath! the dying and the dead Trembling escapes, her noisome dungeon leaves, Promiscuous lie; o'er these the living fight And to some purer region wings away. In one elernal broil; not conscious why One labor yet remains, celestial Maid! Nor yet with whom. So drunkards, in their cups, Another element demands thy song. Spare not their friends, while senseless squabble No more o'er craggy steep, through coverts thick reigns. With pointed thorn, and briers intricate, Huntsman! it much behoves thee to avoid Urge on with horn and voice the painful pack: The perilous debate! Ah! rouse up all But skim with wanton wing the irriguous vale, Thy vigilance, and tread the treacherous ground Where winding streams amid the flowery meads With careful step. Thy fires unquench'd preserve, Perpetual glide along; and undermine As erst the vestal flames; the pointed stcel The cavern'd banks, by the tenacious roots In the hot embers hide; and if surpris'd of hoary willows arch'd; gloomy retreat Thou feel'st the deadly bite, quick urge it home of the bright scaly kind; where they at will Into the recent sore, and cauterize On the green watery reed their pasture graze, : Suck the moist soil, or slumber at their ease, That with its hoary head incurv'd salutes They put him down. See, there he drives along ! Into the sheltering deeps. Ah! there he vents ! Th'amphibious otter feasis. Just is his fate The pack plunge headlong, and protended spears Desery'd: but tyrants know no bounds ; nor spears Menace destruction: while the troubled surge That bristle on his back, defend the perch Indignant foams, and all the scaly kind, From his wide greedy jaws; nor burnish'd mail Affrighted, hide their heads. Wild tumult reigns, The yellow carp; nor all his arts can save And loud uproar. Ah, there once more he vents! Th'insinuating eel, that hides his head See, that bold hound has seiz'd him! down they sink, Beneath the slimy mud; nor yet escapes Together lost : but soon shall he repent The crimson-spotted trout, the river's pride, His rash assault. See, there escap'd, he flies And beauty of the stream. Without remorse, Half-drown'd, and clambers up the slippery bank This midnight pillager, ranging around, With ooze and blood distain'd. Of all the brutes, This artful diver best can bear the want At proper intervals. Again he vents ; Bear the cold stream. Lo! to yon sedgy bank The busy spreading pack, that fearless plunge He creeps disconsolate : his numerous focs Into the flood, and cross the rapid stream. Surround him, hounds, and men. Pierc'd through Bid rocks and caves, and each resounding shore, and through, Proclaim your bold defiance; loudly raise On pointed spears they lift him high in air; Each cheering voice, till distant hills repeat Wriggling he hangs, and grins, and bites in vain: The triumphs of the vale. On the soft sand Bid the loud horns, in gaily-warbling strains, See there his seal impress'd! and on that bank Proclaim the felon's fate; he dies, he dies. Behold the glittering spoils, half-eaten fish, Rejoice, ye scaly tribes, and leaping dance Scales, fins, and bones, the leavings of his feast. Above the wave, in sign of liberty Ah! on that yielding sag-bed, see, once more Restor'd ; the cruel tyrant is no more. His seal I view. O'er yon dank rushy marsh Rejoice secure and bless'd; did not as yet The sly goose-footed prowler bends his course, Remain some of your own rapacious kind; And seeks the distant shallows. Huntsman, bring And man, fierce man, with all his various wiles. Thy eager pack, and trail him to his couch. O happy! if ye knew your happy state, Hark! the loud peal begins, the clamorous joy, Ye rangers of the fields; whom Nature boon The gallant chiding, loads the trembling air. Cheers with her smiles, and every element Ye Naiads fair, who o'er these floods preside, Conspires to bless. What, if no heroes frown Raise up your dripping heads above the wave, From marble pedestals; nor Raphael's works, And hear our melody. Th' harmonious notes Nor Titian's lively tints, adorn our walls ? Float with the stream; and every winding creek Yet these the meanest of us may behold; And hollow rock, that o'er the dimpling flood And at another's cost may feast at will Nods pendent, still improve from shore to shore Our wondering eyes; what can the owner more? Our sweet reiterated joys. What shouts! But vain, alas! is wealth, not grac'd with power. What clamor loud! What gay heart-cheering sounds The flowery landscape, and the gilded dome, Urge through the breathing brass their mazy way! And vistas opening to the wearied eye, Nor quires of Tritons glad with sprightlier strains Through all his wide domain; the planted grove, The dancing billows, when proud Neptune rides The shrubby wilderness, with its gay choir In triumph o'er the deep. How greedily of warbling birds, can't lull to soft repose They snuff the fishy steam, that to each blade Th' ambitious wretch, whose discontented soul Rank-scenting clings! See! how the morning dews Is harrow'd day and night; he mourns, he pines, They sweep, that from their feet besprinkling drop Until his prince's favor makes him great. Dispers’d, and leave a track oblique behind. See, there he comes, th' exalted idol comes ! Now on firm land they range; then in the flood The circle's form'd, and all his fawning slaves They plunge tumultuous; or through reedy pools Devoutly bow to earth ; from every mouth Rustling they work their way: no hole escapes The nauseous flattery flows, which he returns Their curious search. With quick sensation now With promises, that die as soon as born. The fuming vapor stings; flutter their hearts, Vile intercourse! where virtue has no place. And joy redoubled bursis from every mouth Frown but the monarch ; all his glories fade ; In louder symphonies. Yon hollow trunk, He mingles with the throng, outcast, undone, The pageant of a day; without one friend Spoke forth the wondrous scene. But if my soul Not such our friends; for here no dark design, And view with piercing eyes the grand machine, No wicked interest, bribes the venal heart; Worlds above worlds ; subservient to his voice, But inclination to our bosom leads, Who, veil'd in clouded majesty, alone And weds them there for life; our social cups Gives light to all; bids the great system move, Smile, as we smile; open, and unreserv'd, And changeful seasons in their turns advance, We speak our inmost souls; good-humor, mirth, Unmoy'd, unchang'd, himself: yet this at least Soft complaisance, and wit from malice free, Grant me propitious, an inglorious life, Smooth every brow, and glow on every cheek. Calm and serene, nor lost in false pursuits O happiness sincere! what wretch would groan Of wealth or honors; but enough to raise Beneath the galling load of power, or walk My drooping friends, preventing modest Want Upon the slippery pavements of the great, That dares not ask. And if, to crown my joys, Who thus could reign, enenvied and secure! Ye grant me health, that, ruddy in my cheeks, Ye guardian powers who make mankind your care, Blooms in my life's decline; fields, woods, and Give me to know wise Nature's hidden depths, Trace each mysterious cause, with judgment read Each towering hill, each humble vale below, Th' expanded volume, and submiss adore Shall hear my cheering voice, my hounds shall wake That great creative Will, who at a word The lazy Morn, and glad th' horizon round. streams, ALEXANDER POPE. Alexander Pore, an English poet of great emi- ample remuneration for his labor. This noble work nence, was born in London in 1688. His father, was published in separate volumes, each containwho appears to have acquired wealth by trade, was ing four books; and the produce of the subscripa Roman Catholic, and being disaffected to the tion enabled him to take that house at Twickpolitics of King William, he retired to Binfield, in enham which he made so famous by his residence Windsor Forest, where he purchased a small house and decorations. He brought hither his father and with some acres of land, and lived frugally upon mother; of whom the first parent died two years the fortune he had saved. Alexander, who was from afterwards. The second long survived, to be cominfancy of a delicate habit of body, after learning to forted by the truly filial attentions of her son. About read and write at home, was placed about his eighth this period he probably wrote his Epistle from year under the care of a Romish priest, who taught " Eloisa to Abelard," partly founded upon the exhim the rudiments of Latin and Greek. His nat- tant letters of these distinguished persons. He has ural fondness for books was indulged about this rendered this one of the most impressive poems of period by Ogilby's translation of Homer, and San- which love is the subject; as it is likewise the dy's of Ovid's Metamorphoses, which gave him most finished of all his works of equal length, in so much delight, that they may be said to have made point of language and versification. The exaghim a poet. He pursued his studies under different geration, however, which he has given to the most priests, to whom he was consigned. At length he impassioned expressions of Eloisa, and his deviabecame the director of his own pursuits, the variety tions from the true story, have been pointed out by of which proved that he was by no means deficient Mr. Berrington in his lives of the two lovers. in industry, though his reading was rather excursive During the years in which he was chiefly engaged than methodical. From his early years poetry was with the Iliad, he published several occasional adopted by him as a profession, for his poetical works, to which he usually prefixed very elegant reading was always accompanied with attempts at prefaces; but the desire of farther emolument inimitation or translation; and it may be aflirmed duced him to extend his translation to the Odyssey, that he rose at once almost to perfection in this walk. in which task he engaged two inferior hands, His manners and conversation were equally beyond whom he paid out of the produce of a new subhis years; and it does not appear that he ever cul- scription. He himself, however, translated twelve tivated friendship with any one of his own age or books out of the twenty-four, with a happiness not condition. inferior to his Iliad; and the transaction, conducted Pope's Pastorals were first printed in a volume in a truly mercantile spirit, was the source of conof Tonson's Miscellanies in 1709, and were generally siderable profit to him. After the appearance of admired for the sweetness of the versification, and the Odyssey, Pope almost solely made himself the lustre of the diction, though they betrayed a known as a satirist and moralist. In 1728 he pubwant of original observation, and an artificial cast lished the three first books of the “Dunciad,” a of sentiment: in fact, they were any thing rather kind of mock-heroic, the object of which was to than real pastorals. In the mean time he was exer- overwhelm with indelible ridicule all his antagocising himself in compositions of a higher class; nists, together with some other authors whom spleen and by his “Essay on Criticism,” published two or party led him to rank among the dunces, though years afterwards, he obtained a great accession of they had given him no personal offence. Notwithreputation, merited by the comprehension of thought, standing that the diction and versification of this the general good sense, and the frequent beauty of poem are labored with the greatest care, we shall illustration which it presents, though it displays borrow nothing from it. Its imagery is often exmany of the inaccuracies of a juvenile author. In tremely gross and offensive; and irritability, ill. 1712 his Rape of the Lock," a mock-heroic, nature, and partiality, are so prominent through the made its first appearance, and conferred upon him whole, that whatever he gains as a poet he loses as the best title he possesses to the merit of invention. a man. He has, indeed, a claim to the character of The machinery of the Sylphs was afterwards added, a satirist in this production, but none at all to that an exquisite fancy-piece, wrought with unrivalled of a moralist. skill and beauty. The “ Temple of Fame," altered The other selected pieces, though not entirely from Chaucer, though partaking of the embarrass- free from the same defects, may yet be tolerated; ments of the original plan, has many passages which and his noble work called the “ Essay on Man," may rank with his happiest efforts. which may stand in the first class of ethical poems, In the year 1713, Pope issued proposals for pub- does not deviate from the style proper to its topic. lishing a translation of Homer's Iliad, the success This piece gave an example of the poet's extraorof which soon removed all doubt of its making an dinary power of managing argumentation in verse, accession to his reputation, whilst it afforded an and of compressing his thoughts into clauses of 45 2 E 2 56 |
