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THE BIRTH OF THE MUSE.

To the Right Honourable

CHARLES LORD HALIFAX.

"Dignum laude virum Mufa vetat mori."

DESCEND, celeftial Mufe! thy fon infpire
Of thee to fing; infufe thy holy fire.

Belov'd of gods and men, thyfelf disclose;
Say, from what fource thy heavenly power arofe,
Which, from unnumber'd years delivering down
The deeds of heroes deathlefs in renown,
Extends their life and fame to ages yet unknown.
Time and the Mufe fet forth with equal pace;
At once the rival started to the race:

And both at once the deftin'd courfe fhall end,
Or both to all eternity contend.

One to preferve what t' other cannot fave,
And rescue virtue rifing from the grave.

To thee, O Montague, these strains are fung,

HOR.

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For thee my voice is tun'd, and speaking lyre is ftrung;
For every grace of every Mufe is thine

In thee their various fires united fhine,
Darling of Phoebus and the tuneful Nine!
To thee alone I dare my fong commend,
Whose nature can forgive, and power defend,
And fhew by turns the patron and the friend.

Begin, my Muse, from Jove derive thy fong,
Thy fong of right does firft to Jove belong :
For thou thyself art of celestial feed,

Nor dare a fire inferior boast the breed.

When first the frame of this vaft ball was made,
And Jove with joy the finish'd work survey'd;
Viciffitude of things, of men and states,

Their rife and fall were deftin'd by the Fates.
Then Time had firft a name; by firm decree
Appointed lord of all futurity,

Within whofe ample bofom fates repose
Caufes of things, and fecret feeds inclose,
Which, ripening there, shall one day gain a birth,
And force a paffage through the teeming earth.
To him they give to rule the spacious light,
And bound the yet unparted day and night;
To wing the hours that whirl the rolling fphere,
To fhift the feafons, and condu&t the year,
Duration of dominion and of power
To him prescribe, and fix each fated hour.
This mighty rule to Time the Fates ordain,
But yet to hard conditions bind his reign;
For every beauteous birth he brings to light,
(How good foe'er and grateful in his fight,)
He must again to native earth restore,
And all his race with iron teeth devour.

Nor good nor great fhall 'fcape his hungry maw,
But bleeding Nature prove the rigid law.

Not yet the loofsen'd earth aloft was flung,

Or pois'd amid the skies in balance hung;

Nor yet did golden fires the fun adorn,
Or, borrow'd luftre filver Cynthia's horn;
Nor yet had Time commiffion to begin,
Or fate the many twisted web to spin;
When all the heavenly hoft affembled came
To view the world yet refting on its frame
Eager they prefs, to see the fire dismiss,
And roll the globe along the vast abyfs.

When deep revolving thoughts the god retain,
Which for a space suspend the promis'd scene,
Once more his eyes on Time intentive look,
Again infpect Fate's univerfal book.
Abroad the wondrous volume he displays,
And prefent views the deeds of future days.

A beauteous fcene adorns the foremost page,
Where Nature's bloom prefents the golden age.
The golden leaf to filver foon refigns,

And fair the fheet, but yet more faintly, fhines.
Of bafer brafs, the next denotes the times.
An impious page deform'd with deadly crimes.
The fourth yet wears a worfe and browner face,
And adds to gloomy days an iron race.

He turns the book, and every age reviews,
Then all the kingly line his eye pursues:
The first of men, and lords of earth defign'd,
Who under him should govern human-kind.
Of future heroes, there, the lives he reads,
In fearch of glory spent, and godlike deeds;
Who empires found, and goodly cities build,
And favage men compel to leave the field.

All

All this he faw, and all he faw approv'd;
When lo! but thence a narrow space remov'd,
And hungry Time has all the scene defac'd,

The kings deftroy'd, and laid the kingdoms waste :
Together all in common ruins lie,

And but anon and ev'n the ruins die.

Th' Almighty, inly touch'd, compaffion found,
To fee great actions in oblivion drown'd;
And forward fearch'd the roll, to find if Fate
Had no referve to fpare the good and great.
Bright in his view the Trojan heroes fhine,
And Ilian ftructures rais'd by hands divine;
But Ilium foon in native duft is laid,
And all her boasted pile a ruin made :
Nor great Æneas can her fall withstand,
But flies, to fave his gods, to foreign land.
The Roman race fucceed the Dardan ftate,
And firft, and fecond Cæfar, godlike great.
Still on to after-days his eyes descend,
And rifing heroes ftill the fearch attend.
Proceeding thus, he many empires pafs'd;
When fair Britannia fix'd his fight at last.

Above the waves fhe lifts her filver head,
And looks a Venus born from Ocean's bed.
For rolling years, her happy fortunes fimile,
And fates propitious blefs the beauteous ifle;
To worlds remote the wide extends her reign,
And wields the trident of the ftormy main.
Thus on the base of empire firm she stands,
While bright Eliza rules the willing lands.

But foon a lowering fky comes on apace,
And fate revers'd fhews an ill-omen'd face.
The void of heaven a gloomy horror fills;
And cloudy veils involve her fhining hills;
Of greatnefs pafs'd no footsteps fhe retains,
Sunk in a feries of inglorious reigns.

She feels the change, and deep regrets the shame
Of Konours loft, and her diminifh'd name:
Confcious, the feeks from day to fhrowd her head,
And glad would shrink beneath her oozy bed.
Thus far, the facred leaves Britannia's woes
In fhady draughts and dufky lines difclofe.
Th' enfuing fcene revolves a martial age,
And ardent colours gild the glowing page.
Behold! of radiant light an orb arise,
Which, kindling day, restores the darken'd skies:
And fee! on feas the beamy ball defcends,
And now its courfe to fair Britannia bends:
Along the foamy main the billows bear

The floating fire, and waft the shining sphere.
Hail, happy omen! Hail, aufpicious fight!
Thou glorious guide to yet a greater light.
For fee a prince, whom dazzling arms array,
Purfuing clofely, plows the watery way,
Tracing the glory through the flaming sea.

Britannia, rife; awake, O fairest isle,
From iron fleep; again thy fortunes fmile.
Once more look up, the mighty man behold,
Whofe reign renews the former age of gold.

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