Outlives them all; and from his bury'd flock
Retiring, full of rumination fad,

Laments the weakness of these latter times.

BUT if the rougher fex by this fierce sport
Is hurry'd wild, let not fuch horrid joy
E'er ftain the bofom of the BRITISH FAIR.
Far be the fpirit of the chace from them!

570

Uncomely courage, unbefeeming skill;

To fpring the fence, to rein the prancing steed;

575

The cap, the whip, the mafculine attire ;

In which they roughen to the sense, and all

The winning foftnefs of their fex is loft.

In them 'tis graceful to diffolve at woe ;

With ev'ry motion, ev'ry word, to wave

580

Quick o'er the kindling cheek the ready blush;
And from the smallest violence to shrink

Unequal, then the lovelieft in their fears;

And by this filent adulation, soft,

To their protection more engaging Man.

585.

O may their eyes no miferable fight,

Save weeping lovers, fee! a nobler game,

Thro' Love's enchanting wiles purfu'd, yet fled,
In chace ambiguous. May their tender limbs.

Float in the loofe fimplicity of drefs!
And, fashion'd all to harmony, alone

Know they to feize the captivated foul,

In rapture warbled from love-breathing lips;
To teach the lute to languifh; with finooth step,,

590

Difclofing motion in its ev'ry charm,

To fwim along, and fwell the mazy dance;
To train the foliage o'er the fnowy lawn;

To guide the pencil, turn the tuneful page;
To lend new flavour to the fruitful year,

595

And heighten Nature's dainties: in their race

600

To rear their graces into fecond life;

To give Society its highest taste;

Well-order'd home Man's beft delight to make;
And by fubmiffive wifdom, modest skill,

605

With ev'ry gentle care-eluding art,

To raife the virtues, animate the bliss,
And fweeten all the toils of human life:
This be the female diguity, and praife.

YE fwains now haften to the hazel-bank;

609

Where, down yon dale, the wildly-winding brook
Falls hoarfe from steep to fleep. In close array,
Fit for the thickets and the tangling fhrub,
Ye virgins come. For you their latest fong
The woodlands raife; the cluft'ring nuts for you
The lover finds amid the secret shade;
And, where they burnish on the topmost bough,
With active vigour cruthes down the tree;
Or fhakes them ripe from the refigning hufk,
A gloffy fhow'r, and of an ardent brown,
As are the ringlets of Melinda's hair:

MELINDA! form'd with ev'ry grace complete,

615

620

3

Yet these neglecting, above beauty wise,
And far tranfcending fuch a vulgar praise.

HENCE from the bufy joy-refounding fields,
In cheerful error, let us tread the maze
Of Autumn, unconfin'd ; and tafte, reviv'd,
The breath of orchard big with bending fruit.
Obedient to the breeze and beating ray,
From the deep-loaded bough a mellow fhow'r
Inceffant melts away. The juicy pear
Lies, in a foft profufion, scatter'd round.
A various sweetness fwells the gentle race; -
By Nature's all-refining hand prepar'd;
Of temper'd fun, and water, earth, and air,
In ever-changing compofition mixt.
Such, falling frequent thro' the chiller night,
The fragrant ftores, the wide-projected heaps ·
Of apples, which the lufty-handed year,
Innum'rous, o'er the blufhing orchard fhakes.
A various fpirit, fresh, delicious, keen,

625

630

635

640

Dwells in their gelid pores; and, active, points

And tasteful fome, to cool the fummer-hours.

The piercing cyder for the thirsty tongue :
Thy native theme, and boon infpirer too,
PHILIPS, Pomona's bard, the fecond thou
Who nobly durft, in rhyme-unfetter'd verfe,
With BRITISH freedom fing the BRITISH fong:
How, from Silurian vats, high-fparkling wines
Foam in transparent floods; fome ftrong, to cheer
The wintry revels of the lab'ring hind;

6454

650

655

In this glad feafon, while his sweetest beams The fun fheds equal o'er the meeken'd day; Oh lofe me in the green delightful walks Of, DODINGTON, thy feat, ferene and plain; Where fimple Nature reigns; and ev'ry view, Diffufive, fpreads the pure Dorfetian downs, In boundless profpect; yonder fhagg'd with wood, Here rich with harvest, and there white with flocks! Mean time the grandeur of thy lofty dome, Far-fplendid, feizes on the ravifh'd eye. New beauties rife with each revolving day;. New columns fwell; and ftill the freth fpring finds New plants to quicken, and new groves to green. Full of thy genius all! the Mufes' feat:

бба

Where in the fecret bow'r, and winding walk,

665

For virtuous YOUNG and thee they twine the bay.
Here wand'ring oft, fir'd with the reftlefs thirft
Of thy applause, I folitary court

Th' infpiring breeze: and meditate the book
Of Nature ever open; aiming thence,

670

Warm from the heart, to learn the moral fong.
Here, as I fteal along the funny wall,
Where Autumn bafks, with fruit empurpled deep,
My pleafing theme continual prompts my thought:
Prefents the downy peach; the fhining plumb;
The ruddy, fragrant nectarine; and dark,
Beneath his ample leaf, the luscious fig.
The vine too here her curling tendrils fhoots;
Hangs out her clusters, glowing to the fouth;
And scarcely wishes for a warmer sky.

675

680

686

TURN we a moment Fancy's rapid flight To vig'rous foils, and climes of fair extent; Where, by the potent fun elated high, The vineyard fwells refulgent on the day; Spreads o'er the vale; or up the mountain climbs, Profufe; and drinks amid the funny rocks, From cliff to cliff encreas'd, the heighten'd blaze. Low bend the weighty boughs. The cluflers clear, Half thro' the foliage feen, or ardent flame, Or fhine tranfparent; while perfection breathes 690 White o'er the turgent film the living dew. As thus they brighten with exalted juice, Touch'd into flavour by the mingling ray; The rural youth and virgins o'er the field,. Each fond for each to cull th' autumnal prime, Exulting rove, and speak the vintage nigh. Then comes the crushing fwain; the country floats,.. And foams unbounded with the mashy flood; That by degrees fermented, and refin’d, Round the rais'd nations pours the cup of joy: The claret finooth, red as the lip we press In fparkling fancy, while we drain the bowl; The mellow-tafted burgundy; and quick, As is the wit it gives, the gay champaign.

695.

700

Now, by the cool declining year condens'd,

705

Defcend the copious exhalations, check'd
As up the middle fky unfeen they stole,
And roll the doubling fogs around the hill.
No more the mountain, horrid, vaft, fublime,