To ravish her! that thought was foon depress'd,
Which muft debafe the Monarch to the Beast.
To fend her back! O whither, and to whom?
To lands where Solomon must never come?
To that infulting rival's happy arms,
For whom, difdaining me, the keeps her charms?
Fantastic tyrant of the amorous heart,
How hard thy yoke! how cruel is thy dart!
Thofe 'fcape thy anger, who refuse thy fway;
And thofe are punish'd moft, who most obey.
See Judah's King revere thy greater power:
What canft thou covet, or how triumph more?
Why then, O Love, with an obdurate ear,
Does this proud Nymph reject a Monarch's prayer? 315
Why to fome fimple Shepherd does she run
From the fond arms of David's favourite fon?
Why flies the from the glories of a court,
Where wealth and pleasure may thy reign fupport,
To fome poor cottage on the mountain's brow,
Now bleak with winds, and cover'd now with fnow;
Where pinching want must curb her warm defires,
And household cares fupprefs thy genial fires?
Too aptly the afflicted Heathens prove
Thy force, while they erect the shrines of Love;
His myftic form the artizans of Greece
In wounded stone, or molten gold, express:
And Cyprus to his Godhead pays her vow:
Faft in his hand the idol holds his bow:
A quiver by his fide fuftains his store
Of pointed darts; fad emblems of his power:
A pair of wings he has, which he extends
Now to be gone; which now again he bends
Prone to return, as beft may ferve his wanton ends.
Entirely thus I find the fiend pourtray'd,
Since first, alas! I faw the beauteous maid:
I felt him ftrike; and now I fee him fly:
Curs'd Dæmon! O! for ever broken lie
Thofe fatal fhafts, by which I inward bleed!
O can my wishes yet o'ertake thy speed!
Tir'd may'st thou pant, and hang thy flagging wing;
Except thou turn'ft thy courfe, refolv'd to bring
The Damfel back, and fave the love-fick King!
My foul thus ftruggling in the fatal net,
Unable to enjoy, or to forget;
I reafon'd much, alas! but more I lov'd;
Sent and recall'd, ordain'd and disapprov'd;
Till, hopelefs, plung'd into an abyfs of grief,
I from neceffity receiv'd relief:
Time gently aided to affwage my pain;
And Wifdom took once more the flacken'd rein.
But O, how short my interval of woe!
Our griefs how swift! our remedies how flow!
Another Nymph (for fo did Heaven ordain,
To change the manner, but renew the pain);
Another Nymph, amongst the many fair,
That made my fofter hours their folemn care,
Before the reft affected ftill to stand;
And watch'd my eye, preventing my command.
Abra, fhe fo was call'd, did foonest hafte
To grace my prefence; Abra went the last:
Abra was ready ere I call'd her name;
And, though I call'd another, Abra came.
Her equals firft obferv'd her growing zeal; And laughing gloss'd, that Abra serv'd so well. "To me her actions did unheeded die,
Or were remark'd but with a common eye;
Till, more appriz'd of what the rumour faid,
More I obferv'd peculiar in the Maid.
The Sun declin'd had shot his western ray;
When, tir'd with bufinefs of the folemn day,
I purpos'd to unbend the evening hours,
And banquet private in the women's bowers.
I call'd before I fat to wash my hands
>(For fo the precept of the law commands):
Love had ordain'd, that it was Abra's turn
To mix the fweets, and minifter the urn.
With awful homage, and fubmiffive dread,
The Maid approach'd, on my declining head
To pour the oils: fhe trembled as she pour'd;
With an unguarded look fhe now devour'd
My nearer face; and now recall'd her eye,
And heav'd, and ftrove to hide, a sudden sigh.
And whence, faid I, canft thou have dread or pain?
What can thy imagery of forrow mean?
Secluded from the world and all its care,
Haft thou to grieve or joy, to hope or fear?
For fure, I added, fure thy little heart
Ne'er felt Love's anger, nor receiv'd his dart.
Abash'd she blush'd, and with disorder spoke :
Her rifing shame adorn'd the words it broke.
If the great Mafter will defcend to hear The humble series of his hand-maid's care; O! while fhe tells it, let him not put on
The look that awes the nations from the throne !
O! let not death severe in glory lie
In the King's frown, and terror of his eye!
Mine to obey; thy part is to ordain ;
And, though to mention be to fuffer pain,
If the King fmile whilst I my woe recite,
If weeping I find favour in his fight,
Flow faft, my tears, full rifing his delight.
O! witness Earth beneath, and Heaven above!
For can I hide it? I am fick of Love:
If madness may the name of paffion bear;
Or Love be call'd what is indeed Defpair.
Thou Sovereign Power! whofe fecret will controls
The inward bent and motion of our fouls!
Why haft thou plac'd such infinite degrees
Between the cause and cure of my disease?
The mighty object of that raging fire,
In which unpity'd Abra must expire,
Had he been born fome fimple Shepherd's heir,
The lowing herd or fleecy fheep his care;
At morn with him I o'er the hills had run,
Scornful of winter's frost and summer's fun,
Still asking where he made his flock to rest at noon.
For him at night, the dear expected guest,
I had with hafty joy prepar'd the feast;
And from the cottage, o'er the distant plain,
Sent forth my longing eye to meet the Swain;
Wavering, impatient, tofs'd by hope and fear,
Till he and joy together should appear,
And the lov'd dog declare his master near.
On my declining neck and open breast
I should have lull'd the lovely youth to reft;
And from beneath his head, at dawning day,
With fofteft care have ftol'n my arm away;
To rife and from the fold release the sheep,
Fond of his flock, indulgent to his fleep.
Or if kind Heaven, propitious to my flame
(For fure from Heaven the faithful ardor came),
Had bleft my life, and deck'd my natal hour
With height of title, and extent of power;
Without a crime my paffion had aspir'd,
Found the lov'd Prince, and told what I'defir'd.
Then I had come, preventing Sheba's Queen,
To fee the comelieft of the Sons of Men;
To hear the charming Poet's amorous fong,
And gather honey falling from his tongue;
To take the fragrant kiffes of his mouth,
Sweeter than breezes of her native South;
Likening his grace, his perfon, and his mien,
To all that great or beauteous I had seen.
Serene and bright his eyes, as folar beams
Reflecting temper'd light from crystal streams;
Ruddy as gold his cheek; his bofom fair
As filver; the curl'd ringlets of his hair
Black as the raven's wing; his lip more red,
Than Eastern coral, or the scarlet thread;
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