On Stentor's crest the useful crystal breaks,
And tears of amber gutter'd down his cheeks:
But whilst the champion, as late rumours tell,
Design'd a sure decisive stroke, he fell;
And as the victor hovering o'er him stood,
With arms extended, thus the suppliant sued:
'When honour's lost, 'tis a relief to die;
Death's but a sure retreat from infamy.
But to the lost, if pity might be shown,
Reflect on young Querpoïdes, thy son;
Then pity mine, for such an infant grace
Smiles in his eyes, and flatters in his face.
If he was near, compassion he'd create,
Or else lament his wretched parent's fate.
Thine is the glory, and the field is thine;
To thee the loved Dispensary 6 I resign.'
At this the victors own such ecstasies,
As Memphian priests, if their Osiris sneeze:
Or champions, with Olympic clangor fired;
Or simpering prudes, with sprightly Nantz inspired;
Or Sultans raised from dungeons to a crown;
Or fasting zealots, when the sermon's done.
Awhile the chief the deadly stroke declined,
And found compassion pleading in his mind:
But whilst he view'd with pity the distress'd,
He spy'd Signetur " writ upon his breast.
Then towards the skies he toss'd his threatening And fired with more than mortal fury, said: [head, Sooner than I'll from vow'd revenge desist,
His Holiness shall turn a Quietist;
16 See the allusion, Virg. Æn.
17 Those members of the college that observe a late statute, are called by the apothecaries, Signetur men.
Jansenius and the Jesuits agree,
The inquisition wink at heresy
Warm convocations own the church secure,
And more consult her doctrine than her
With that he drew a lancet in his rage,
To puncture the still supplicating sage:
But while his thoughts that fatal stroke decree,
Apollo interposed in form of fee.
The chief great Pæan's golden tresses knew,
He own'd the god, and his raised arm withdrew.
Thus often at the Temple Stairs we've seen
Two tritons, of a rough athletic mien,
Sourly dispute some quarrel of the flood,
With knuckles bruised, and face besmear'd in blood;
But at the first appearance of a fare,
Both quit the fray, and to their oars repair.
The hero so, his enterprise recalls,
His fist unclinches, and the weapon falls.
WHILE the shrill clangor of the battle rings,
Auspicious Health appear'd on zephyr's wings;
She seem'd a cherub most divinely bright,
More soft than air, more gay than morning light.
A charm she takes from each excelling fair,
And borrows Carlisle's shape, and Grafton's air;
Her eyes like Ranelagh's their beams dispense,
With Churchill's bloom, and Berkeley's innocence:
On Iris thus the differing beams' bestow
The dye, that paints the wonders of her bow.
1 See Newton, of Colours.
* Faith stand unmoved, through Stillingfleet's defence, And Locke for mystery abandon sense.
From the fair nymph a vocal music falls,
As to Machaon thus the goddess calls: [shown,
Enough the' achievement of your arms you've
You seek a triumph you should blush to own.
'Haste to the' Elysian Fields, those bless'd
abodes
Where Harvey sits among the demi-gods.
Consult that sacred sage, he'll soon disclose
The method that must mollify these woes.
Let Celsus for that enterprise prepare,
His conduct to the shades shall be my care.'
Aghast the heroes stood, dissolved in fear,
A form so heavenly bright they could not bear;
Celsus, alone unmoved, the sight beheld,
The rest in pale confusion left the field.
So when the pigmies, marshall'd on the plains,
Wage puny war against the' invading cranes;
The poppets to their bodkin spears repair,
And scatter'd feathers flutter in the air:
But when the bold imperial bird of Jove
Stoops on his sounding pinions from above,
Among the brakes the fairy nation crowds,
And the Strymonian squadron seeks the clouds.
And now the delegate prepares to go
And view the wonders of the realms below:
Then takes Amomum for the golden bough.
Thrice did the goddess with her sacred wand
The pavement strike; and straight at her command
The willing surface opens, and descries
A deep descent that leads to nether skies.
Hygeia 3 to the silent region tends;
And with his heavenly guide the charge descends.
3 Health, celebrated by the ancients as a goddess.
Thus Numa, when to hallow'd caves retired,
Was by Ægeria guarded and inspired.
Within the chambers of the globe they spy
The beds, where sleeping vegetables lie,
Till the glad summons of a genial ray
Unbinds the glebe, and calls them out to day.
Hence pansies trick themselves in various hue,
And hence jonquils derive their fragrant dew;
Hence the carnation and the bashful rose
Their virgin blushes to the morn disclose;
Hence the chaste lily rises to the light,
Unveils her snowy breasts, and charms the sight;
Hence arbours are with twining greens array'd,
To' oblige complaining lovers with their shade;
And hence on Daphne's laurel'd forehead grow
Immortal wreaths, for Phœbus and Nassau.
The insects here their lingering trance survive :
Benumb'd they seem, and doubtful if alive.
From winter's fury hither they repair,
And stay for milder skies and softer air.
Down to these cells obscener reptiles creep,
Where hateful newts and painted lizards sleep.
Where shivering snakes the summer solstice wait,
Unfurl their painted folds, and slide in state.
Here their new form the numb'd erucæ hide,
Their numerous feet in slender bandage tied :
Soon as the kindling ear begins to rise,
This upstart race their native clod despise,
And, proud of painted wings, attempt the skies.
Now those profounder regions they explore,
Where metals ripen in vast cakes of ore.
" See Godort, of Caterpillars and Butterflies.
Here, sullen to the sight, at large is spread
The dull unwieldy mass of lumpish lead.
There, glimmering in their dawning beds, are seen
The light aspiring seeds of sprightly tin.
The copper sparkles next, in ruddy streaks,
And in the gloom betrays its glowing cheeks.
The silver then with bright and burnish'd grace,
Youth and a blooming lustre in its face,
To the' arms of those more yielding metals flies,
And in the folds of their embraces lies.
So close they cling, so stubbornly retire,
Their love's more violent than the chemist's fire.
Near these the delegate with wonder spies
Where floods of living silver serpentise:
Where richest metals their bright looks put on,
And golden streams through amber channels run,
Where light's gay god descends to ripen gems,
And lend a lustre brighter than his beams.
Here he observes the subterranean cells,
Where wanton nature sports in idle shells.
Some helicoeids, some conical appear:
These, mitres emulate, those turbans are.
Here marcasites in various figure wait,
To ripen to a true metallic state:
Till drops, that from impending rocks descend,
Their substance petrify, and progress end.
Nigh, livid seas of kindled sulphur flow,
And, whilst enraged, their fiery surges glow,
Convulsions in the labouring mountains rise,
And hurl their melted vitals to the skies.
He views with horror next the noisy cave, Where with hoarse dins imprison'd tempests rave; Where clamorous hurricanes attempt their flight, Or, whirling in tumultuous eddies, fight.
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