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Here might be seen that Beauty, Wealth, and Wit,
And Prowess, to the Pow'r of Love fubmit;
The fpreading Snare for all Mankind is laid,
And Lovers all betray, and are betray'd.

The Goddefs-felf fome noble Hand had wrought,
Smiling the feem'd, and full of pleafing Thought;
From Ocean as fhe firft began to rife,

And smooth'd the ruffled Seas, and clear'd the Skies;
She trod the Brine, all bare below the Breast,
And the green Waves but ill conceal'd the reft:
A Lute the held; and on her Head was feen
A Wreath of Rofes red, and Myrtles green:
Her Turtles fann'd the buxom Air above,
And, by his Mother, ftood an infant Love,
With Wings display'd, his Eyes were banded o'er,
His Hand a Bow, his Back a Quiver bore

(Pal. & Arc. Supply'd with Arrows bright and keen, a deadly Store. Dryd.) VERSE. See Poets and Poetry.

Well-founding Verfes are the Charms we ufe,
Heroick Thoughts, and Virtue to infufe.
Things of deep Senfe we may in Profe unfold,
But they move more in lofty Numbers told.

Not the foft Whispers of the Southern Wind,
That play thro' trembling Trees delight me more,
Nor murm'ring Billows on the fandy Shore,
Nor winding Streams that thro' the Valley glide,
And the fcarce-cover'd Pebbles gently chide :
For fuch thy Verfe appears,

So fweet, fo charming to my ravish'd Ears,
As to the weary Swain with Cares oppreft,
Beneath the fylvan Shade refreshing Reft:
As to the fev'rifh Traveller, when first
He finds a-chrystal Stream, to quench his Thirft.
Not Winds to Voyagers at Sea,

Nor Show'rs to Earth more neceffary be,

Than Verfe to Virtue, which can do
The Midwife's Office, and the Nurfe's too.
It feeds it ftrongly, and it cloaths it gay;
And when it dies, with comely Pride,

Embalms it, and erects a Pyramid,

That never will decay,

Wall.

Dryd. Virg.

Till Heav'n it felf fhall melt away,

And nought behind it stay.

Cowl.

For ev'n when Death diffolves our human Frame,

The Soul returns to Heav'n from whence it came,

Earth keeps the Body, Verfe preferves the Fame.
Begin the Song, and ftrike the living Lyre!

Dryd.

Lo! how the Years to come, a num'rous and well-fitted Quire,

All

All Hand in Hand do decently advance,

And to my Song with fmooth and equal Meafures dance;
While the Dance lafts, how long foe'er it be,
My Mufick's Voice fhall bear it Company.
Till all gentle Notes be drown'd

In the laft Trumpet's dreadful Sound.

That to the Spheres themselves fhall Silence bring,
Untune the univerfal String.

Then all the wide extended Sky,

And all th'harmonious Worlds on high,
And Virgil's facred Work fhall die :

And he himself. fhall fee in one Fire fhine,

Rich Nature's antient Troy, tho' built by Hands divine. Cowl.
VESUVIUS.

As high Vefuvius, when the Ocean laves
His fiery Roots with fubterranean Waves;
Difturb'd within, does in Convulfions roar,
And cafts on high his undigefted Oar;
Discharges maffy Surfeit on the Plains,
And empties all his rich metallick Veins;
His ruddy Entrails; Cinders,' pitchy Smoke,
And intermingled Flames the Sun-beams choak.

VICISSITUDE.

Good unexpected, Evil unforeseen,

Appear by Turns, as Fortune shifts the Scene:
Some, rais'd aloft, come tumbling down amain,

Then fall fo hard, they bound and rife again.

Blac:

Dryd. Virg.

Short is th'uncertain Reign and Pomp of mortal Pride;
New Turns and Changes ev'ry Day

Are of inconftant Chance the conftant Arts;
Soon the gives, foon takes away,

She comes, embraces, naufeates you, and parts:
But if the ftays, or if the goes,

The wife Man little Joy or little Sorrow fhows.
For over all Men hangs a doubtful Fate,

One gains by what another is bereft ;

The frugal Deftinies have only left

A common Bank of Happiness below,

Maintain'd, like Nature, by an Ebb and Flow. How. Ind; Queen.

The lowest and most abject Thing of Fortune

Stands ftill in Hope, lives not in Fear:

The lamentable Change is from the best,

The worst returns to better.

There is a Tide in the Affairs of Men, Which taken at the Flood leads on to Fortune; Omitted, all the Voyage of their Life,

Is bound in Shallows and in Miferies.

Hh

Shak. K. Lear.

Shak. Jul. Cæf
Whas

What God, alas! will Caution be
For living Man's Security,

Or will enfure his Veffel in this faithlefs Sea?

Where Fortune's Favour, and her Spight,
Roll with alternate Waves like Day and Night.
He various Changes of the World had known,
And ftrange Viciffitudes of humane Fate:
Still alt'ring, never in a steady State.
Good after Ill, and after Pain Delight,
Alternate, like the Scenes of Day and Night.
Since ev'ry Man who lives is born to die,
And none can boaft fincere Felicity;

With equal Mind what happens let us bear,

Cowl. Pind.

Not joy nor grieve too much, for things beyond our Care:
Like Pilgrims, to th'appointed Place we tend,

The World's an Inn, and Death the Journey's End:

Ev'n Kings but play, and when their Part is done,

Some other, worfe or better, mount the Throne.Dryd.Pal.& Arc. What then remains, but after past Annoy

To take the good Viciffitude of Joy:

To thank the gracious Gods for what they give,

Poffefs our Souls, and while we live, to live. Dryd. Pal.& Arc. VINE. See Embraces.

They led the Vine

To wed her Elm: She, fpous'd, about him twines,

Her marriageable Arms; and with her brings

Her Dower, th'adopted Clufters, to adorn

His barren Leaves.

Th'afpiring Vines

Mik

Embrace their Husband Elms in am'rous Twines. Dryd. Virg. Once like a Vine I flourish'd, and was young,

Rich in my ripening Hopes that fpoke me ftrong:

Otw. Don Carl.

But now a dry and wither'd Stock am grown,
And all my Clufters, and my Branches gone.
VIR AGO. See Amazon.
A Warriour Dame,
Unbred to Spinning, in the Loom unskill'd,
She chofe the nobler Pallas of the Field;
Mix'd with the first the fierce Virago fought,
Suftain'd the Toils of Arms, the Danger fought:
Out-ftript the Winds in Speed upon the Plain,
Flew o'er the Fields, nor hurt the bearded Grain.
She fwept the Seas, and as the skimm'd along,
Her flying Feet unbath'd on Billows hung:
Men, Boys, and Women, ftupid with Surprize,
Where'er fhe paffes, fix their wond'ring Eyes.

Longing

Longing they look, and gaping at the Sight,
Devour her o'er and o'er with vaft Delight.
Her purple Habit fits with fuch a Grace,
On her fmooth Shoulders, and fo fuits her Face :
Her Head with Ringlets of her Hair is crown'd,
And in a golden Caul the Curls are bound.
She shakes her Myrtle Jav'lin, and behind
Her Lycian Quiver dances in the Wind.

Next Trulla came; Trulla more bright
Than burnish'd Armour of her Knight.
A bold Virago, ftout and tall,
As Joan of France, or English Moll:
Thro' Perils both of Wind and Limb,
Thro' thick and thin fhe follow'd him :
At Breach of Wall, or Hedge Surprize,
She fhar'd i'th'Hazard and the Prize:
At beating Quarters up, or Forrage,
Behav'd herself with matchlefs Courage ;
And laid about in Fight more bufily
Than th' Amazonian Pen-Thefily.
But here fome Criticks do cry fhame,
And fay our Authors are to blame,
That fpite of all Philofophers,

Who hold no Females ftout but Bears,"
Make feeble Ladies in their Works
To fight like Termagants and Turks;
To lay their native Arms afide,
Their Modefty, and ride aftride;
To run a-Tilt at Men, and wield
Their naked Tools in open Field,
As ftout Armida, bold Thaleftris,

And the that should have been the Mistress
Of Gondibert; but he had Grace,
And rather took a Country-Lafs.
VIRTUE.

Virtue, the noble Cause for which you're made!
Improperly we measure Life by Breath,
Those do not truly live who merit Death.
Our Life is fhort, but to extend that Span

To vaft Eternity, is Virtue's Work.

Dryd. Virg.

Hud.

Stepn. Ju.

Shak. Troil. & Cref.

He lives in Fame that dies in Virtue's Caufe. Shak Tit. Andron.
How vain is Virtue which directs our Ways

Through certain Dangers to uncertain Praife!
Barren and airy Name! Thee Fortune flies,
With thy lean Train, the pious and the wife.
Heav'n takes thee at thy Word, without Regard,
And lets thee poorly be thy own Reward.

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The World is made for the bold impious Man,
Who ftops at nothing, fiezes all he can;
Juftice to Merit does weak Aid afford,

She trufts her Ballance, and neglects her Sword:
Virtue is nice to take what's not her own,

And while fhe long confults, the Prize is gone.

Dryd. Auren. Great Minds, like Heav'n, are pleas'd with doing Good, Tho' the ungrateful Subjects of their Favours Are barren in Return. Virtue does still With Scorn the mercenary World regard, Where abje& Souls do Good, and hope Reward: Above the worthless Trophies Men can raise, She feeks not Honours, Wealth, nor airy Praife, But with herfelt, herfelf the Goddess pays.

But few are virtuous when Reward's away. For who would Vittue for herself regard, Or wed, without the Portion of Reward?

Row. Tamerl..
Dryd.

Hence with this peevish Virtue, 'tis a Cheat,
And they who taught it firft were Hypocrites.
Would't thou to Honours and Preferments climb ?
Be bold in Mifchief, dare fome mighty Crime;
Which Dangers, Death, or Banifhment deferves,
For Virtue is but dryly prais'd and starves:
Great Men to great Crimes owe their Plate imbofs'd,
Fair Palaces, and Furniture of Coft,

Dryd. Juv.

Otw. Orph.

Dryd. Juv.

And high Commands: A fneaking Sin is loft.
Torment of Mind! O feeble Virtue, hence :
I blow thee from the Palace to the Cottage,
To build in Hearts of Hinds; blefs their rude Hands,
With thy lean Recompence of endless Labour :
For me, fince I have burft th'ungrateful Chain,
That held me to thee like a fhackled Slave,
I will enjoy whate'er the Gods have given,
And furfeit on the Beauties of Semandra.

Lee Mithrid.

Dryd. Cong. of Gran.

If when a Crown and Mistress are in Place,
Virtue intrudes with her lean holy Face;
Virtue's then mine, and I not Virtue's Foe:
Why does the come where the bas nought to do?
Let her with Anch'rets, not with Lovers lie,
Statefmen and they keep better Company.
Virtue and Vice are never in one Soul;
A Man is wholiy wif, or wholly is a Fool.
How ftrange a Riddle Virtue is!
They never miss it, who poffefs it not;
And they who have it, ever find a Want.
Virtue, the more it is expos'd,
Like pureft Linnen, laid in open Air,

Dryd. Perf

Roch, Valent.

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