Trophies and triumphs by Mantegna's hand
In martial order on the canvas stand;
With hints of glory fire the warlike soul,
And bid like motions in our bosoms roll:
Here Verrio's colors glow expos'd to sight,
And sky-dipp'd pencils stream with liquid light;
Thy art, O Kneller! asks a sister's praise,
So may thy paintings beautify my lays;
Whether young blushes ripen in thy lines,]
Or verdant landskips wave in green designs,
Through which the sun, emerging from the main,
In floods of purple drowns the leafy scene,
A mimic visto stretches wide between,
Where gold appears diversified with green;
Shades rise on shades, on colors colors flow,
And transient shadows undulate below.
So when Aurora mounts the
And Light's warm blushes redden o'er her breast;
A thousand suns her orient rays unfold,
And every leaf is sprinkled o’er with gold;
The glittering spangles burn the woodland shade,
Tree, stream, and bush, in Nature's gold array'd:
The burnish'd rills in softer silver show,
And, dash'd with purple, glance their waves below;
Ten thousand shadows skim the color'd stream,
And o'er the silver shoots the crimson gleam.
Next let Prometheus boast his godlike art,
And let a wonder from his fingers start;
An angel's form by every poet sung,
Love in her looks, and music in her tongue.
So when the sun with all-enlivening ray
On Memnon's lips first strikes the golden day;]
The hard flint utters melancholy sounds,
And from the stone sweet harmony rebounds.
Before Lysippus' courser neighs the steed,
And fond Pygmalion clasps his ivory maid;]
Where Niobe, in beauteous sorrow shown,
Melts into tears, and hardens into stone.—300
Beside his chisel let Mount Athos stand,
Heave into form, and groan beneath his hand,
While on one spacious palm he pours the sea,
And his broad fingers form an ample bay;
The other grasps a wide-extended town,
Whose regal walls unnumber'd turrets crown:
Thus was this son of earth suppos'd to rise,
O'er-look the globe, and climb into the skies,
To scare the Gods with his enormous height,
A second Titan soaring out of sight.
So near proud Rhodes, across the sounding main, The world's just wonder brav'd the winds and rain, While round his head the rattling tempests blow, And watery mountains break in foam below; On Neptune's back, the proud Colossus rides, I Deaf to the roarings of the winds and tides.
There Phidias bids the breathing statue move
In living sculpture not unworthy Jove;
From age to age Cleomenes shall charm,
And his carv'd Venus future warriors warm,
In fair proportion from beholders turn,
And o'er her cheeks the blushing marble burn.
See with Silenus youthful Bacchus vie,
And the flint sparkling in his jovial eye;
Round his full temples grapes luxuriant spread,
Vine leaves, and clusters, dangle o'er his head:
On a tame tiger, taught his load to bear,
He rides in rock, and shakes his ivy spear.
There good Aurelius almost looks a groan!
And thunder-bolts descend in figur'd stone ;-
Great Alexander weeps his ensigns furl'd,
And bids his sire create another world.
Here let thy graver through rock-diamond run,
The heaven-hued sapphire sparkle in the sun;
The wounded ruby ope its bleeding vein,
And the red streams the virgin paper stain ;
Here link your jewels in a blazing string,
Let the green emerald look like smiling spring,]
The yellow topaz boast a golden hue,
And slippery agate shine in veins of blue;
Let these in chrystal caskets charm the sight,
Terrestrial stars, and children of the light!
Like the rich bow athwart th' aetherial plain,
That burns in showers and fire imbibes from rain.
Now let your Muse to architecture change,
Plunge in the bath, or through the palace range,
Heave the huge mole, or bid the column rise,
Or point the obelisk to pierce the skies:
Palladio here must think in every line,
And deep Vitruvius scan the whole design; _
The works of Solomon and him of Tyre
Direct the plan, and all your taste inspire:
In due proportion every pillar rear,
Nor let the orders be confounded there :
Where the Corinthian stands in fluted rows,
Let not the martial Doric interpose ;
Nor, where the Tuscan lifts th' imperial urn,
Suffer the neat Ionic shaft to turn:
But chief that chaos call'd Composite shun,
Which begs from all, and yet belongs to none.
So Babel's battlements began to rise,
Left earth below, and labor'd up the skies;
The mighty bulwark threaten'd Heaven's abode,
And bade the mounting world ascend to God:
And they had now been there-but Heaven look'd
Their skills confounded, and their tower o'erthrown ;
Tongues, pillars, orders, to confusion turn,
And mankind disappointed seem'd to mourn.
Here Egypt's pyramids must heave sublime, And blunt the teeth of all-decaying Time; Beneath whose weight, the burthen'd earth
A ponderous pile in monumental stone;
Strong bars of adamant the marble lock,
And links of iron chain the solid rock;
Beneath whose summit towering eagles fly,
A pointed mountain ending in the sky.
Proud Babylon with brazen gates behold, And proud Euphrates in her bosom roll'd; Walls, which Semiramis with turrets crown'd, And color'd brick with black bitumen bound; A second Eden here Nitocris trod,
In pensile gardens worthy of a God;
So grand the costly structure hung in air,
It seem'd not built, but first created there:
Here trees and flowers in watery figures rise,
And fruitage ripen nearer to the skies;
Fair fountains fall in silver-streaming floods,
And artificial rainbows paint the clouds;
With various-color'd light the water burn'd,
Against the sun in artful arches turn'd ;
Nor were the golden pipes by Sirius dried,
The river still the water-works supplied.
Here let the boaster fall from man to beast, Eat grass with brutes, or on rude acorns feast,
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