I chose to write the thing I durft not speak
To her I lov'd, to her I must forfake.
The harsh epiftle, labour'd much to prove
How inconfiftent majefty and love.
I always fhould, it said, efteem her well,
But never fee her more: it bid her feel
No future pain for me; but inftant wed
A lover more proportion'd to her bed,
And quiet dedicate her remn nt life
To the juft duties of an humble wife.
She read, and forth to me the wildly ran,
To the ease of all her former pain.
She kneel'd, entreated, itruggled, threaten'd, cry'd,
And with alternate paffion liv'd and dy'd;
Till now deny'd the liberty to mourn,
And by rude fury from my prefence torn,
This only object of my real care
Cut off from hope, abandon'd to despair,
In fome few posting fatal hours is hurl'd
From wealth, from pow'r, from love, and from the Here tell me, if thou dar'ft, my conscious foul,
What diff'rent forrows did within thee roll?
What pangs, what fires, what racks, didst thou sustain ?
What fad viciffitudes of fmarting pain?
How oft' fr m pomp and itate did I remove,
To feed defpair, and cherish hopeless love?
How oft all day recall'd I Abra's charms,
Her beauties prefs'd, and panting in my arms?
How oft with fighs view'd ev'ry female face
Where mimic Fancy might her likeness trace?
How oft defir'd to fly from Ifrael's throne,
And live in fhades with her and love alone?
How oft all night pursu’d her in my dreams,
O'er flow'ry vallies and thro' crystal streams,
And waking, view'd with grief the rifing fun,
And fondly mourn'd the dear delufion gone?
When thus the gather'd storms of wretched love 845 In my fwoll'n bofom with long var had strove,
At length they broke their boun; at length their force Bore down whatever met its stronger courie;
Laid all the civil bonds of manhood waste,
And scatter'd ruin as the torrent past.
So from the hills, whofe hollow caves contain
The congregated fnow and fwelling rain,
Till the full ftores their ancient bounds difdain,
Precipitate the furious torrent flows:
In vain would fpeed avoid or ftrength oppofe:
Towns, forests, herds, and men, promifcuous drown'd,
With one great death deform the dreary ground;
The echo'd woes from diftant rocks refound.
And now what impious ways my wishes took,
How they the monarch and the man forfook,
And how I follow'd an abandon'd will
Thro' crooked paths and fad retreats of ill;
How Judah's daughters now, now foreign flaves,
By turns my proftituted bed receives,
Thro' tribes of women how I loosely rang'd
Impatient, lik'd to-night, to-morrow chang'd,
And by the inftinct of capricious luft
Enjoy'd, difdain'd, was grateful or unjust ;
O, be thefe fcenes from human eyes conceal'd,
In clouds of decent filence justly veil'd!
O, be the wanton images convey'd
To black oblivion and eternal fhade !
Or let their fad epit. me alone
And outward lines to future age be known,
Enough to propagate the fure belief
That vice engenders fhame, and folly broods o'er grief.
Bury'd in floth and loft in eafe I lay;
The night I revell'd, and I flept the day.
New heaps of fuel damp'd my kindling fires,
And daily change extinguifl'd young defires.
By its own force deftroy'd, fruition ceas'd;
And always weary'd, I was never pleas'd.
No longer now does my neglected mind
Its wonted ftores and old ideas find.
Fix'd judgment there no longer does abide
To take the true or fet the falfe afide,
No longer does fwift Mem 'ry trace the cells
Where pringing Wit or young Invention dwells,
Frequent debauch to habitude prevails;
Patience of toil and love of virtue fails.
By fad degrees impair'd my vigour dies,
Till I command no longer e'en in vice.
The women on my dotage build their sway:
They ask; I grant: they threaten; I obey.
In regal garments now I gravely ftride,
Aw'd by the Perfian damfels' haughty pride;
Now with the loofer Syrian dance and fing,
In robes tuck'd up, opprobrious to the king.
Charm'd by their eyes, their manners I acquire,
And fhape my foolishness to their defire ;
Seduc'd and aw'd by the Philiftine dame,
At Dagon's fhrine I kindle impious flame.
With the Chaldeans charms her rites prevail,
And curling frankincenfe afcends to Baal.
To each new harlot I new altars dress,
And ferve her god whofe perfon I carefs.
Where, my deluded fenfe, was reafon flown?
Where the high majesty of David's throne?
Where all the maxims of eternal truth,
With which the living God inform'd my youth, 10
When with the lewd Egyptian I adore
Vain idols, deities that ne'er before
In Irael's land had fix'd their dire abodes,
Beaftly divinities, and droves of gods;
Ofiris, Apis, pow'rs that chew the cud,
And dog Anubis, flatt'rer for his food?
When in the woody hills forbidden fhade
I carv'd the marble and invok'd its aid :
When in the fens to fnakes and flies, with zeal
Unworthy human thought, I proftrate fell;
To fhrubs and plants my vile devotion paid,
And fet the bearded leek to which I pray'd;
When to all beings facred rites were giv'n,
Forgot the Arbiter of earth and heav'n ?
Thro' these fad fhades, this chaos in my foul,
Some feeds of light at length began to roll :
The rifing motion of an infant ray
Shot glimm'ring thro' the cloud, and promis'd day.
And now one moment able to reflect,
I found the king abandon'd to neglect,
Seen without awe, and ferv'd without refpect.
I found my fuhjects amicably join
To leffen their defects by citing mine.
The pricft with pity prays for David's race,
And left his text to dwell on my difgrace.
The father, whilft he warn'd his erring fon,
The fad examples which he ought to shun
Defcrib'd, and only nam'd not, Solomon,
Each bard, each fire, did to his pupil fing,
A wife child better than a foolish king.
Into myself my reafon's eye I turn'd,
And as I much reflected much I mourn'd.
A mighty king I am, an earthly god;
Nations obey my word and wait my nod:
I raise or fink, imprifon or fet free,
And life or death depends on my decree.
Fond the idea, and the thought is vain ;
O'er Judah's king ten thousand tyrants reign,
Legions of luft and various pow'rs of ill
Infult the mafter's tributary will;
And he from whom the nations fhould receive
Juftice and freedom, lies himself a flave,
Tortur'd by cruel change of wild defires,
Lafh'd by mad rage, and fcorch'd by brutal fires.
O Reafon! once again to thee I call;
Accept my forrow and retrieve my fall.
Wifdom, thou fay'ft, from heav'n receiv'd her birth,
Her beams tranfmitted to the subject earth:
Yet this great emprefs of the human foul
Does only with the imagin'd pow'r control,
If reftlefs paffion, by rebellious fway,
Compels the weak ufurper to obey.
O troubled, weak, and coward, as thou art,
Without thy poor advice the lab'ring heart
To worse extremes with fwifter steps would run, 965 Not fav'd by virtue, yet by vice undone.
Oft have I faid, The praife of doing well
s to the ear as ointment to the fiell.
Now if fome flies perchance, however small,
Into the alabafter urn fhould fall,
The odours of the fweets enclos'd would die,
And french corrupt (fad change!) their place fupply:
So the leaft faults, if mix'd with faireft deed,
Of future ill become the fatal feed;
Into the balm of pureft virtue caft,
Annoy all life with one contagious blast.
Loft Solomon! purfue this thought no more;
Of thy paft errors recollect the ftore;
And filent weep, that while the deathlefs Mufe
Shall fing the juft, fhall o'er their head diffufe
Perfumes with lavish hand, the fhall proclaim
Thy crimes alone, and to thy evil fame
Impartial, fcatter damps and poifons on thy name.
Awaking therefore, as who long had dream'd,
Much of my women and their gods asham'd,
From this abyfs of exemplary vice
Refolv'd, as time might aid my thought, to rife,
Again I bid the mournful goddefs write
The fond purfuit of fugitive delight;
Bid her exalt her melancholy wing,
And, rais'd from earth, and fav'd from paffion, fing
Of human hope by crofs event deftroy'd,
Of ufelefs wealth and greatnefs unenjoy'd;
Of luft and love, with their fantastic train,
Their wishes, fmiles, and looks, deceitful all and vain.
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