ΤΟ APOLLO MAKING LOVE. FROM MONS. FONTENELLE. 'I AM,' cried Apollo, when Daphne he woo'd, And panting for breath the coy virgin pursued, When his wisdom, in manner most ample, express'd The long list of the graces his godship possess'd: 'I'm the god of sweet song, and inspirer of lays;'Nor for lays nor sweet song the fair fugitive stays: 'I'm the god of the harp-stop, my fairest!'—in vain; Nor the harp nor the harper could fetch her again. 'Every plant,every flower, and their virtues, I know; God of Light I'm above, and of Physic below:At the dreadful word Physic the nymph fled more fast; At the fatal word Physic she doubled her haste. Thou fond god of Wisdom! then altar thy phrase, Bid her view thy young bloom and thy ravishing [charms, rays; Tell her less of thy knowledge and more of thy And, my life for't, the damsel will fly to thy arms. EPISTLES. TO THE SUPPOSED AUTHOR OF THE SPECTATOR. IN courts licentious and a shameless stage Our youth run headlong in the fatal snare; [hear, Nor harsh thy precepts, but infused by stealth, And, with his tailor, share the fopling's heart; TO THE AUTHOR OF THE SPECTATOR. 211 The brainless stripling who, expell'd the Town, Damn'd the stiff college and pedantic gown, Awed by thy name is dumb, and thrice a-week Spells uncouth Latin, and pretends to Greek. A sauntering tribe! such born to wide estates With Yea and No in senates hold debates; At length, despised, each to his fields retires, First with the dogs, and king amidst the squires; From pert to stupid sinks supinely down, In youth a coxcomb, and in age a clown. [flight Such readers scorn'd, thou wing'st thy daring Above the stars, and treadst the fields of light: Fame, Heaven, and Hell, are thy exalted theme, And visions such as Jove himself might dream; Man sunk to slavery, though to glory born, Heaven's pride when upright, and depraved his scorn. Such hints alone could British Virgil lend, And thou alone deserve from such a friend: A debt so borrow'd is illustrious shame, And fame, when shared with him, is double fame. So flush'd with sweets by Beauty's queen bestow'd, With more than mortal charms Æneas glow'd; Such generous strifes Eugene and Marlborough try, And as in glory, so in friendship vie. Permit these lines by thee to live-nor blame A Muse that pants and languishes for fame, That fears to sink when humbler themes she sings, Lost in the mass of mean forgotten things. Received by thee, I prophecy my rhymesThe praise of virgins in succeeding times: Mix'd with thy works their life no bounds shall see, But stand protected, as inspired, by thee. So some weak shoot, which else would poorly rise, Jove's tree adopts, and lifts him to the skies; Through the new pupil fostering juices flow, Thrust forth the gems and give the flowers to blow Aloft; immortal reigns the plant unknown, With borrow'd life and vigour not his own. TO MR. ADDISON, ON HIS OPERA OF ROSAMOND. Ne forte pudori Sit tibi Musa lyræ solers, et cantor Apollo. Hor. THE Opera first Italian masters taught, No charms are wanting to thy artful song, [dome. Landscapes how gay the bowery grotto yields, Accept, great Monarch of the British lays! |