[v] PART I. the word; the cruel arrow fped; FAT E gave anghy Refign'd he fell; fuperior to the dart, That quench'd its rage in YOURS and BRITAIN'S Heart: You mourn but BRITAIN, lull'd in reft profound, 5 (Unconscious BRITAIN ! ) flumbers o'er her wound. Exulting Dulness ey'd the setting Light, And flapp'd her wing, impatient for the Night : And Snake-hung ENVY hiffes o'er his Urn: But You, O WARBURTON! whofe eye You vifit oft his awful Page with Care, refin'd 15. And view that bright affemblage treasur'd there; 20 You trace the Chain that links his deep defign, And pour new luftre on the glowing Line. Yet deign to hear the efforts of a Muse, Whose eye, not wing, his ardent flight pursues: 25 SATIRE'S bright Form, and fix her equal Law; Pleas'd if from hence th' unlearn'd may comprehend, And rev'rence HIS and SATIRE'S gen'rous End. In ev'ry Breast there burns an active flame, 30 And Youth and Manhood feel the heart-born fire: She, Pow'r refiftlefs, rules the wife and great; Thus Heav'n in Pity wakes the friendly Flame, 40 45 Eager to catch the vifionary Prize, In queft of Glory plunges deep in Vice; 'Till madly zealous, impotently vain, He forfeits ev'ry Praise he pants to gain. Thus ftill imperious NATURE plies her part; may corrupt, but Man can ne'er destroy. 50 55 And drown those Virtues which they fed before. 60 And fure, the deadlieft Foe to Virtue's flame, Our worst of Evils, is perverted Shame. Beneath this load, what abject numbers groan, Th' entangled Slaves to folly not their own! Meanly by fashionable fear opprefs'd, We feek our Virtues in each other's breast; Blind to ourselves, adopt each foreign Vice, Another's weakness, int'reft, or caprice. Each Fool to low Ambition, poorly great, That pines in fplendid wretchedness of state, Tir'd in the treach'rous Chafe, would nobly yield, And, but for fhame, like SYLLA, quit the field: The Dæmon Shame paints ftrong the ridicule, And whispers close, "the World will call you Fool." 65 70 Behold yon Wretch, by impious fashion driv'n, 75. Believes and trembles, while he fcoffs at Heav'n. By weakness strong, and bold thro' fear alone, He dreads the fneer by fhallow Coxcombs thrown; Dauntless pursues the path Spinoza trod; To man a Coward, and a Brave to God. 80 Faith, Juftice, Heav'n itself now quit their hold, When to falfe Fame the captiv'd Heart is fold: Hence, blind to truth, relentless Cato dy'd ; Nought could fubdue his Virtue, but his Pride. Hence chafte Lucretia's Innocence betray'd Fell by that Honour which was meant its aid. Thus Virtue finks beneath unnumber'd woes, When Paffions, born her friends, revolt her foes. 85 90* Hence SATIRE'S pow'r: "Tis her corrective part, To calm the wild disorders of the heart. She points the arduous height where Glory lies, And teaches mad Ambition to be wife: IMITATIONS. VER. 80. To Man a Coward, etc.] Vois tu ce Libertin en public intrepide, Qui preche contre un Dieu que dans fon Ame il croit ? Mais de fes faux Amis il craint la Raillerie, Boileau, Ep. iii. In the dark bofom wakes the fair defire, Nor boafts the Mufe a vain imagin'd Pow'r, 95 100 ; Smarts, Pedants, as fhe fmiles, no more are vain ; IMITATIONS. 110 VER. 110. From pois'nous Vice, etc.] Alluding to these Lines of Mr. Pope; In the nice Bee what Art so subtly true, From pois'nous Herbs extracts a healing Dew? |