If hap'ly Abra's will be now inclin'd
To range the woods or chafe the flying hind,
Soon as the fun awakes, the fprightly court
Leave their repofe, and haften to the sport.
In leffen'd royalty, and humble ftate,
Thy king, Jerufalem! defcends to wait
Till Abra comes. She comes; a milk-white steed,
Mixture of Perfia's and Arabia's breed,
Suftain's the nymph: her garments flying loose,
(As the Sydonian maids or Thracian ufe)
And half her knee and half her breast appear
By art, like negligence, difclos'd and bare.
Her left hand guides the hunting courfer's flight,
A filver bow fhe carries in her right,
And from the golden quiver at her fide
Ruftles the ebon arrow's feather'd pride;
Saphires and diamonds on her front display
An artificial moon's increafing ray.
Diana, huntress, miftrefs of the groves,
The fav'rite Abra fpeaks, and looks, and moves. 630
Her, as the prefent goddefs, I obey,
Beneath her feet the captive game I lay ;
The mingled Chorus fing Diana's fame,
Clarions and horns in louder peals proclaim
Her myftic praife, the vocal triumphs bound
Againit the hills; the hills reflect the found.
If tir'd this ev'ning with the hunted woods,
To the large fish-pools or the glaffy floods
Her mind to-morrow points a thousand hands
To-night employ'd obey the king's commands; 640
Upon the wat'ry beach an artful pile
Of planks is join'd, and forms a moving ifle;
A golden chariot in the midft is fet,
And filver cygnets feem to feel its weight.
Abra, bright queen, afcends her gaudy throne, 645
In femblance of the Grecian Venus known;
Tritons and fea-green naiads round her move,
And fing in moving ftrains the force of love;
Whilft, as th' approaching pageant does appear,
And echoing crowds fpeak mighty Venus near, 650
I her adorer, too devoutly stand
Faft on the utmoft margin of the land,
With arms and hopes extended, to receive
The fancy'd goddefs rifing from the wave.
O fubject Reason! O imperious Love!
Whither yet further would my folly rove?
Is it enough that Abra should be great
In the wall'd palace or the rural feat;
That masking habits and a borrow'd name
Contrive to hide my plenitude of shame?
No, no: Jerufalem combin'd must see
My open fault and regal infamy.
Solemn a month is deftin'd for the feast;
Abra invites; the nation is the guest.
To have the honour of each day sustain'd
The woods are travers'd, and the lakes are drain'd: Arabia's wilds and Egypt's are explor'd;
The edible creation decks the board:
Hardly the phenix 'scapes
The men their lyres, the maids their voices raife, 670 To fing my happiness and Abra's praise,
And flavish bards our mutual loves rehearse
In lying trains and ignominious verfe;
While from the banquet leading forth the bride,
Whom prudent love from public eyes fhould hide,
I fhow her to the world, confefs'd and known
Queen of my heart, and partner of my throne.
And now her friends and flatt'rers fill the court;
From Dan and from Beersheba they refort;
They barter places and difpofe of grants,
Whole provinces unequal to their wants;
They teach her to recede or to debate ;
With toys of love to mix affairs of state;
By practis'd rules her empire to fecure,
And in my pleasure make my ruin fure.
They gave and the transferr'd the curs'd advice,
That monarchs fhould their inward foul disguife,
Diffemble and command, be falfe and wife;
By ignominious arts, for fervile ends,
Should compliment their foes and fhun their friends.
VOL. II.
L
And now I leave the true and just fupports
Of legal princes and of honeft courts,
Barzillai's and the fierce Benaiah's heirs,
Whofe fires, great partners in my father's cares,
Saluted their young king, at Hebron crown'd,
Great by their toil, and glorious by their wound :
And now unhappy countel, I prefer
Those whom my follies only made me fear,
Old Corah's brood and taunting Shimei's race,
Mifcreants who ow'd their lives to David's grace, 700
Tho' they had ipuin'd his rule and curs'd him to his face.
Still Abra's pow'r, my scandal, ftill increas'd;
Justice fubmitted to what Abra pleas'd :
Her will alone could fettle or revoke,
And law was fixt by what the latest spoke.
Ifrael neglected, Abra was my care;
I only acted, thought, and liv'd for her.
I durft not reafon with my
wounded heart;
Abra poffefs'd; he was its better part.
Q! had I now review'd the famous caufe
Which gave my righteous youth fo just applause,
In vain on the diff mbled mother's tongue
Had cunning art and fly perfuafion hung,
And real care in vain, and native love,
In the true parent's panting breaft had strove,
While both deceiv'd had feen the deftin'd child
Or flain, or fav'd, as Abra frown'd or fmil'd.
Unknowing to command, proud to obey,
A lifeless king, a royal shade I lay.
Unheard the injur'd orphans now complain;
The widow's cries addrefs the throne in vain.
Caufes unjudg'd difgrace the loaded file,
And fleeping laws the king's neglect revile.
No more the Elders throng'd around my throne
To hear my maxims, and reform their own;
No more the young nobility were taught
How Mofes govern'd and how David fought.
Loofe and undifciplin'd the foldier lay,
Of lost in drink and game the solid day ;
Porches and fchools, defign'd for public good,
Uncover'd, and with fcaffolds cumber'd itood,
Or nodded, threat'ning ruin-
Half pillars wanted their expected height,
And future mischiefs of a finking state.
Is this, the ferious faid, is this the man,
Whofe active foul thro' ev'ry science ran?
Who by just rule and elevated skill
Prefcrib'd the dubious bounds of good and ill?
Whofe golden fayings and inmortal wit
On large phylacteries expreffive writ,
Were to the forehead of the Rabbins ty'd,
Our youth's inftruction and our age's pride?
Could not the wife his wild defires reftrain?
Then was our hearing and his preaching vain !
What from his life and letters were we taught
But that his knowledge aggravates his fault?
In lighter mood, the hum'rous and the gay
(As crown'd with rofes at their feafts they lay)
Sent the full goblet charg'd with Abra's name,
And charms fuperior to their master's fame.
Laughing, fome praise the king, who let 'em fee
How aptly luxe and empire might agree:
Some glofs'd how love and wisdom were at ftrife,
And brought my proverbs to confront my life.
However, friend, here's to the king, one cries:
To him who was the king, the friend replies.
The king, for Judah's and for wildom's curfe
To Abra yields: could I or thou do worfe?
Our loofer lives let Chance or Folly fteer,
If thus the prudent and determin'd err.
Let Dinah bind with flow'rs her flowing hair,
And touch the lute and found the wanton air,
Let us the blifs without the fting receive,
Free as we will or to enjoy or leave.
Pleasures on levity's fmooth furface flow;
Thought brings the weight that finks the foul to woe.
Now be this maxim to the king convey'd,
And added to the thousand he has made.
Sadly, O Reason, is thy pow'r expreft,
Thou gloomy tyrant of the frighted breast!
And harsh the rules which we from thee receive,
If for our wisdom we our pleasure give,
And more to think be only more to grieve:
If Judah's king, at thy tribunal try'd,
Forfakes his joy to vindicate his pride,
And, changing forrows, I am only found
Loos'd from the chains of love, in thine more strictly
But do I call thee tyrant, or complain
How hard thy laws, how abfolute thy reign?
While thou, alas! art but an empty name,
To no two men who e'er difcours'd the fame;
The idle product of a troubled thought,
In borrow'd shapes and airy colours wrought;
A fancy'd line, and a reflected shade;
A chain which man to fetter man has made,
By artifice impos'd, by fear obey'd.
Yet, wretched name, or arbitrary thing,
Whence-ever I thy cruel effence bring,
I own thy influence, for I feel thy fting.
Reluctant I perceive thee in my soul,
Form'd to command, and deftin'd to control.
Yes, thy infulting dictates fhall be heard ;
Virtue for once fhall be her own reward:
Yes, rebel Ifrael, this unhappy maid
Shall be difmifs'd; the crowd fhall be obey'd:
The king his paffion and his rule fhall leave,
No longer Abra's but the people's flave:
My coward foul fhall bear its wayward fate;
I will, alas! be wretched to be great,
And figh in royalty, and grieve in state.
I faid, refolv'd to plunge into my grief
At once, fo far as to expect relief
From my defpair alone→
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