From diftant fhires repair the noble youth,
And find report for once had leffen'd truth.
By wonder firft, and then by paffion mov❜d,

They came; they faw; they marvel'd; and they lov'd, By public praifes, and by fecret fighs,

Each own'd the general power of Emma's eyes.

In tilts and tournaments the valiant strove,

By glorious deeds to purchafe Emma's love.
In gentle verfe the witty told their flame,

And grac'd their choiceft fongs with Emma's name.
In vain they combated, in vain they writ :
Useless their strength, and impotent their wit.
Great Venus only must direct the dart,

Which elfe will never reach the fair-one's heart,
Spight of th' attempts of force, and soft effects of art.
Great Venus muft prefer the happy one :

In Henry's cause her favour must be shown:
And Emma, of mankind, must love but him alone.
While these in public to the castle came,

And by their grandeur juftified their flame;
More fecret ways the careful Henry takes;
His fquires, his arms, and equipage forfakes :
In borrow'd name and false attire array'd,
Oft' he finds means to fee the beauteous maid.
When Emma hunts, in huntsman's habit dreft,
Henry on foot purfues the bounding beast.
In his right hand his beechen pole he bears :
And graceful at his fide his horn he wears.
Still to the glade, where the has bent her way,
With knowing skill he drives the future prey;

Bids her decline the hill, and fhun the brake;
And fhews the path her fteed may safest take;
Directs her fpear to fix the glorious wound;
Pleas'd in his toils to have her triumph crown'd;
And blows her praises in no common found.

A falconer Henry is, when Emma hawks :
With her of tarfels and of lures he talks.
Upon his wrift the towering merlin stands,
Practis'd to rife, and stoop at her commands.
And when fuperior now the bird has flown,
And headlong brought the tumbling quarry down;
With humble reverence he accofts the fair,
And with the honour'd feather decks her hair.
Yet ftill, as from the sportive field she goes,
His down-caft eye reveals his inward woes;
And by his look and forrow is expreft,
A nobler game pursued than bird or beast.

}

A fhepherd now along the plain he roves;
And, with his jolly pipe, delights the groves.
The neighbouring fwains around the ftranger throng,
Or to admire, or emulate his fong:

While with soft forrow he renews his lays,
Nor heedful of their envy, nor their praise.
But, foon as Emma's eyes adorn the plain,
His notes he raises to a nobler ftrain,
With dutiful refpect and ftudious fear;
Left any careless found offend her ear.

A frantic Gipfey now, the house he haunts,
And in wild phrases speaks diffembled wants.

With the fond maids in palmistry he deals:
They tell the fecret first, which he reveals;
Says who shall wed, and who shall be beguil'd;
What groom
fhall get, and squire maintain the child.
But, when bright Emma would her fortune know, ́
A fofter look unbends his opening brow;

With trembling awe he
gazes on her
eye,
And in foft accents forms the kind reply;
That the fhall prove as fortunate as fair;

And Hymen's choiceft gifts are all referv'd for her..
Now oft' had Henry chang'd his fly disguise,
Unmark'd by all but beauteous Emma's eyes;
Oft' had found means alone to fee the dame,
And at her feet to breathe his amorous flame;
And oft' the pangs of abfence to remove
By letters, foft interpreters of love :
Till Time and Industry (the mighty two
That bring our wishes nearer to our view)
Made him perceive, that the inclining fair
Receiv'd his vows with no reluctant ear;
That Venus had confirm'd her equal reign,
And dealt to Emma's heart a share of Henry's pain.
While Cupid fmil'd, by kind occafion bless'd,
And, with the fecret kept, the love increas'd;
The amorous youth frequents the filent groves;
And much he meditates, for much he loves.
He loves 'tis true; and is belov❜d again :
Great are his joys: but will they long remain ?
Emma with fmiles receives his present flame;
But, fimiling, will fhe ever be the fame ?

Beautiful

Beautiful looks are rul'd by fickle minds;

And fummer feas are turn'd by fudden winds.
Another Love may gain her eafy youth:

Time changes thought; and flattery conquers truth.
O impotent estate of human life!

Where Hope and Fear maintain eternal ftrife;
Where fleeting joy does lafting doubt infpire;
And most we queftion, what we most defire !
Amongst thy various gifts, great Heaven, bestow
Our cup of Love unmix'd; forbear to throw
Bitter ingredients in; nor pall the draught
With nauseous grief: for our ill-judging thought
Hardly enjoys the pleasurable tafte;

Or deems it not fincere ; or fears it cannot laft.
With wishes rais'd, with jealoufies oppreft,
(Alternate tyrants of the human breast)
By one great trial he refolves to prove
The faith of woman, and the force of love.
If scanning Emma's virtues he may find
That beauteous frame inclose a steady mind,
He'll fix his hope, of future joy fecure;
And live a flave to Hymen's happy power.
But if the fair-one, as he fears, is frail;
If, pois'd aright in Reason's equal fcale,
Light fly her merit, and her faults prevail;
His mind he vows to free from amorous care,
The latent mischief from his heart to tear,
Resume his azure arms, and shine again in war.
South of the castle in a verdant glade

A fpreading beech extends her friendly fhade:

}

}

Here

Here oft' the Nymph his breathing vows had heard;
Here oft' her filence had her heart declar'd.

As active fpring awak'd her infant buds,
And genial life inform'd the verdant woods;
Henry, in knots involving Emma's name,
Had half exprefs'd and half conceal'd his flame
Upon this tree; and, as the tender mark
Grew with the year, and widen'd with the bark,
Venus had heard the virgin's foft address,

That, as the wound, the paffion might increase.
As potent Nature thed her kindly showers,
And deck'd the various mead with opening flowers;
Upon this tree the Nymph's obliging care
Had left a frequent wreath for Henry's hair;
Which as with gay delight the lover found,
Pleas'd with his conqueft, with her prefent crown'd,
Glorious through all the plains he oft' had gone,
And to each Swain the mystic honour shown;
The gift ftill prais'd, the giver ftill unknown.
His fecret note the troubled Henry writes ;
To the known tree the lovely maid invites:
Imperfect words and dubious terms exprefs,
That unforeseen mifchance difturb'd his peace;
That he muft fomething to her ear commend,
On which her conduct and his life depend.

Soon as the fair-one had the note receiv'd,
The remnant of the day alone fhe griev'd:
For different this from every former note,
Which Venus dictated, and Henry wrote;

VOL. I.

}

Which