235

And look'd, and saw a sable sorc'rer rise,
Swift to whose hand a winged volume flies:
All sudden, gorgons hiss, and dragons glare,
And ten-horn'd fiends and giants rush to war.
Hell rises, heav'n descends, and dance on earth;
Gods, imps, and monsters, music, rage, and mirth,
A fire, a jig, a battle, and a ball,

'Till one wide conflagration swallows all.

Thence a new world to Nature's laws unknown,

240

Breaks out refulgent, with a heav'n its own:
Another Cynthia her new journey runs,

And other planets circle other suns.

The forests dance, the rivers upward rise,

245

Whales sport in woods, and dolphins in the skies;
And last, to give the whole creation grace,
Lo! one vast egg produces human race.

Joy fills his soul, joy innocent of thought;

What pow'r, he cries, what pow'r these wonders wrought?

Son, what thou seek'st is in thee! look and find
Each monster meets his likeness in thy mind.
Yet would'st thou more? in yonder cloud behold,
Whose sarsenet skirts are edg'd with flamy gold,

--Solemque suum, sua sidera norunt.

250

Virg. Æn. VI. v. 246. Whales sport in woods, and dolphins in the skies.] "Delphinum sylvis appingit, fluctibus aprum."Hor. . 251. Sn, what thou seekest is in thee! %6 Quod petis in te est----"Ne te quaesiveris extra."

A matchless youth! his nod these worlds controls,
Wings the red lightning, and the thunder rolls.
Angel of Dulness, sent to scatter round
Her magic charms o'er all unclassic ground:
Yon' stars, yon' suns, he rears at pleasure higher,
Illumes their light, and sets their flames on fire.
Immortal Rich! how calm he sits at ease,
Midst Snows of paper, and fierce hail of pease!
And proud his mistress' orders to perform,
Rides in the whirlwind, and directs the storm.
But lo! to dark encounter in mid air
New wizards rise; I see my Cibber there!
Booth in his cloudy tabernacle shrin'd,

On grinning dragons thou shalt mount the wind.

REMARKS.

256

260

265

v. 161. Immortal Rich!] Mr. John Rich, master of the theatre-roval in Covent-garden, was the first that excelled this way.

v. 266, 267.] Booth and Cibber were joint managers of the theatre in Drury-lane.

IMITATIONS.

v. 256. Wings the red lightning, &c.] Like Salmoneus in Ab. VI.

"Dum flammas Jovis, et sonitus imitatur Olympi. ---Nimbos, et non imitabile fulmen, "Aere et cornipedum cursu simularet equorum." v. 258. --o'er all unclassic ground.] Alludes to Mr. Addison's verse in the praise of Italy:

"Poetic fields encompass me around,

"And still I seem to tread on classic ground." As ver. 264, is a parody on a noble one of the same author in the Campaign: and ver. 259, 260, on two sublime verses of Dr. Y.

Dire is the conflict, dismal is the din,

Here shouts all Drury, there all Lincoln's-inn; 270 Contending theatres our empire raise,

Alike their labours, and alike their praise.

And are these wonders, Son, to thee unknown?
Unknown to thee! these wonders are thy own.
These Fate reserv'd to grace thy reign divine,
Foreseen by me, but, ah! with-held from mine.
In Lud's old walls, though long I rul'd renown'd
Far as loud Bow's stupendous bells resound;
Though my own aldermen conferr'd the bays,
To me committing their eternal praise,
Their full-fed heroes, their pacific may'rs,
Their annual trophies, and their monthly wars:
Though long my party built on me their hopes,
For writing pamphlets, and for roasting Popes;
Yet lo! in me what authors have to brag on
Reduc'd at last to hiss in my own dragon.
Avert in Heav'n! that thou, my Cibber, e'er
Shouldst wag a serpent-tail in Smithfield fair!
Like the vile straw that's blown about the streets,
The needy poet sticks to all he meets,
Coach'd, carted, trod upon, now loose, now fast,
And carry'd off in some dog's tail at last.

VARIATIONS.

275

282

285

After v. 274. in the former edit. followed,
For works like these let deathless Journals tell,
None but thyself can be thy parallel.

After v. 284. in the former edit. followed,
Diff'rent our parties, but with equal grace
The Goddess smiles on Whig and Tory race,

290

A matchless youth! his nod these worlds controls, Wings the red lightning, and the thunder rolls. 256 Angel of Dulnes, sent to scatter round

Her magic charms o'er all unclassic ground:

Yon' stars, yon' suns, he rears at pleasure higher,
Illumes their light, and sets their flames on fire. 260
Immortal Rich! how calm he sits at ease,

Midst Snows of paper, and fierce hail of pease!
And proud his mistress' orders to perform,
Rides in the whirlwind, and directs the storm.
But lo! to dark encounter in mid air
New wizards rise; I see my Cibber there!
Booth in his cloudy tabernacle shrin'd,

On grinning dragons thou shalt mount the wind.

REMARKS.

265

v. 161. Immortal Rich!] Mr. John Rich, master of the theatre-roval in Covent-garden, was the first that excelled this way..

v. 266, 267.] Booth and Cibber were joint managers of the theatre in Drury-lane.

IMITATIONS.

v. 256. Wings the red lightning, &c.] Like Salmoneus in Ab. VI.

"Dum flammas Jovis, et sonitus imitatur Olympi. -----Nimbos, et non imitabile fulmen,

"Aere et cornipedum cursu simularet equorum." v. 258. - -o'er all unclassic ground. Alludes to Mr. Addison's verse in the praise of Italy:

"Poetic fields encompass me around,

"And still I seem to tread on classic ground." As ver. 264, is a parody on a noble one of the same author in the Campaign: and ver. 259, 260, on two sublime verses of Dr. Y.

Dire is the conflict, dismal is the din,

Contending theatres cur empire raise,

175

320

r!

Here shouts all Drury, there all Lincoln's-inn; 270

Alike their labours, and alike their praise.

And are these wonders, Son, to thee unknown?
Unknown to thee! these wonders are thy own.
These Fate reserv'd to grace thy reign divine,
Foreseen by me, but, ah! with-held from mine.
In Lud's old walls, though long I rul'd renown'd
Far as loud Bow's stupendous bells resound;
Though my own aldermen conferr'd the bays,
To me committing their eternal praise,
Their full-fed heroes, their pacific may'rs,
Their annual trophies, and their monthly wars:
Though long my party built on me their hopes,
For writing pamphlets, and for roasting Popes;
Yet lo! in me what authors have to brag on!
Reduc'd at last to hiss in my own dragon.
Avert in Heav'n! that thou, my Cibber, e'er
Shouldst wag a serpent-tail in Smithfield fair!

Like the vile straw that's blown about the streets,

The needy poet sticks to all he meets,
Coach'd, carted, trod upon, now loose, now fast,
And carry'd off in some dog's tail at last.

VARIATIONS.

After v. 274. in the former edit. followed,

ys!

325

275

283

W---m

esty King heir house mmediate in a com

while the roposed to hey found this, were

edit.

285

bays,

For works like these let deathless Journals tell,
None but thyself can be thy parallel.

After v. 284. in the former edit. followed,
Diff'rent our parties, but with equal grace
The Goddess smiles on Whig and Tory race.
: Piij

290