And, if it happen as I did forecast,

The daintiest dishes shall be serv'd up last. thee then deny me not thy aid

I

15

20

pray For this same small neglect that I have made : But haste thee straight to do me once a pleasure, And from thy wardrobe bring thy chiefest treasure, Not those new fangled toys, and trimming slight Which takes our late fantastics with delight, But cull those richest robes, and gay'st attire Which deepest spirits, and choicest wits desire : I have some naked thoughts that rove about, And loudly knock to have their passage out; And weary of their place do only stay Till thou hast deck'd them in thy best array; That so they may without suspect or fears Fly swiftly to this fair assembly's ears;

25

Yet I had rather, if I were to choose,
Thy service in some graver subject use,

30

Such as may make thee search thy coffers round,
Before thou clothe my fancy in fit sound:
Such where the deep transported mind may soar
Above the wheeling poles, and at Heav'n's door
Look in, and see each blissful Deity

How he before the thunderous throne doth lie,

35

30 graver] An anticipation of the subject of Par. Lost, if we substitute Christian for Pagan ideas. Warton.

36 thunderous] Jortin proposed 'thunderer's throne;' but see P. L. x. 702, thunderous clouds; and Sylvester's Du Bartas, p. 420, 'rushing with thundrous roar.' Warton and Todd.

List'ning to what unshorn Apollo sings

To th' touch of golden wires, while Hebe brings Immortal nectar to her kingly sire :

45

Then passing through the spheres of watchful fire, 40
And misty regions of wide air next under,
And hills of snow, and lofts of piled thunder,
May tell at length how green-ey'd Neptune raves,
In Heav'n's defiance mustering all his waves;
Then sing of secret things that came to pass
When beldam Nature in her cradle was;
And last of kings and queens and heroes old,
Such as the wise Demodocus once told,
In solemn songs at king Alcinous' feast,
While sad Ulysses' soul, and all the rest,
Are held with his melodious harmony,

In willing chains and sweet captivity.
But fie, my wand'ring Muse, how thou dost stray!
Expectance calls thee now another way,
Thou know'st it must be now thy only bent.
To keep in compass of thy predicament:
Then quick about thy purpos'd business come,
That to the next I may resign my room.

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55

37 unshorn] Hor. Od. i. xxi. 2. Intonsum, pueri, dicite Cynthium.' And Pind. Pyth. Od. iii. 26. Newton.

40 watchful] Vigiles flammas.' Ov. Art. Am. iii. 463. 'Vigil flamma.' Trist. iii. v. 4. Warton.

52 sweet] Tasso, Gier. Lib. c. vi. st. 84. 'Giogo di servitu dolce e leggiero.' Du Bartas, p. 997. The willing chains of my captivitie.' Warton and Todd.

Then ENS is represented as father of the Predicaments his ten sons, whereof the eldest stood for Substance with his canons, which ENs, thus speaking, explains.

60

Good luck befriend thee, Son; for at thy birth
The fairy ladies danc'd upon the hearth;
Thy drowsy nurse hath sworn she did them spy
Come tripping to the room where thou didst lie,
And sweetly singing round about thy bed
Strow all their blessings on thy sleeping head.
She heard them give thee this, that thou shouldst still
From eyes of mortals walk invisible:

Yet there is something that doth force my fear,
For once it was my dismal hap to hear

A Sibyl old, bow-bent with crooked age,
That far events full wisely could presage,
And in time's long and dark prospective glass
Foresaw what future days should bring to pass;
Your son, said she (nor can you it prevent),
Shall subject be to many an Accident.

O'er all his brethren he shall reign as king,
Yet every one shall make him underling,
And those that cannot live from him asunder
Ungratefully shall strive to keep him under;
In worth and excellence he shall out-go them,
Yet being above them, he shall be below them;
From others he shall stand in need of nothing,
Yet on his brothers shall depend for clothing.

70

115

75

80

To find a foe it shall not be his hap,

And peace shall lull him in her flow'ry lap;
Yet shall he live in strife, and at his door
Devouring war shall never cease to roar;
Yea it shall be his natural property

To harbour those that are at enmity.

What pow'r, what force, what mighty spell, if not Your learned hands, can loose this Gordian knot?

85

The next QUANTITY and QUALITY spake in prose; then RELATION was called by his name.

RIVERS arise; whether thou be the son
Of utmost Tweed, or Oose, or gulphy Dun,
Or Trent, who like some earth-born giant spreads
His thirty arms along th' indented meads,
Or sullen Mole that runneth underneath,
Or Severn swift, guilty of maiden's death,
Or rocky Avon, or of sedgy Lee,

Or coaly Tine, or ancient hallow'd Dee,

Or Humber loud that keeps the Scythian's name,
Or Medway smooth, or royal tower'd Thame.

[The rest was prose.]

94 indented] Sylvester's Du Bartas, D. iii. W. 1.

'Our silver Medway which doth deepe indent

The flowerie meadowes of my native Kent.' Warton.

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100

98 hallow'd] 'holy Dee.' Randolph's Poems, p. 48, ed. 1640. Todd.

ON THE MORNING OF CHRIST'S NATIVITY.

I.

THIS is the month, and this the happy morn,
Wherein the Son of heav'n's eternal king,
Of wedded Maid, and Virgin Mother born,
Our great redemption from above did bring;
For so the holy sages once did sing,

That he our deadly forfeit should release,
And with his Father work us a perpetual peace.

II.

That glorious form, that light unsufferable,
And that far beaming blaze of majesty,

5

Wherewith he wont at heav'n's high council-table 10 To sit the midst of Trinal Unity,

He laid aside; and here with us to be,

Forsook the courts of everlasting day,

And chose with us a darksome house of mortal clay.

III.

Say, heav'nly Muse, shall not thy sacred vein
Afford a present to the Infant God?
Hast thou no verse, no hymn, or solemn strain,
To welcome him to this his new abode,

Now while the heav'n by the sun's team untrod,

15

19 sun's team] Henry IV. P. I. act iii. sc. 4. 'heavenly-harness'd team.' Todd.