 | Tales, epistles, odes, fables |  |
39
TO Dr. WOODWARD, ON HIS Philosophical Writings.
Some, to enhance a Friend, or Patron's Fame,
Borrow a Greecian or a Roman Name;
How oft, has Tully with such Views been rais'd!
And modern Quacks in Galen's Name been prais'd!
Let Me the just and nobler Task pursue,
To give Applause to whom Applause is due.
Let Galen Galen, Ætius Ætius, be,
To mention either is to lessen Thee.
Borrow a Greecian or a Roman Name;
How oft, has Tully with such Views been rais'd!
And modern Quacks in Galen's Name been prais'd!
Let Me the just and nobler Task pursue,
To give Applause to whom Applause is due.
Let Galen Galen, Ætius Ætius, be,
To mention either is to lessen Thee.
Should Fortune ever dart a kindly Ray,
To crown my Studys with a happyer Day;
Might no intruding Cares my Thoughts molest,
And should the Muse reign stronger in my Breast,
Thy learned Precepts should my Genius guide,
And thou the Guardian o'er my Song preside:
Then to the wond'ring World I would disclose,
In Words beyond the feebler Powr of Prose,
The Wreck of Nature, the prodigious Day,
When adamantine Rocks dissolv'd away;
Nor should the Muse the arduous Work decline,
Would'st thou assist the Poet's great Design,
Thro unfrequented Paths her Flight to wing,
Where never Muse before would dare to sing;
She with the morning Sun should mount the Sky,
And round the Globe in Search of Knowledge fly.
Boldly she would the glorious Work pursue,
And by thy Doctrines trace all Nature thro;
Whence the loud Thunders roar, and Zephyrs blow,
And forked Light'nings fright the World below,
Travel the various Seasons of the Year,
Describe the great Abyss, that liquid Sphere,
The Source of Rivers, and whence Fountains rise,
What drains their Springs, and what their Springs supplys,
Whence Plants receive their vegetable Birth,
And whence the dread Convulsions of the Earth.
Thus should the Muse at once instruct and please;
But these are Subjects for a Mind at Ease.
To crown my Studys with a happyer Day;
Might no intruding Cares my Thoughts molest,
And should the Muse reign stronger in my Breast,
40
And thou the Guardian o'er my Song preside:
Then to the wond'ring World I would disclose,
In Words beyond the feebler Powr of Prose,
The Wreck of Nature, the prodigious Day,
When adamantine Rocks dissolv'd away;
Nor should the Muse the arduous Work decline,
Would'st thou assist the Poet's great Design,
Thro unfrequented Paths her Flight to wing,
Where never Muse before would dare to sing;
She with the morning Sun should mount the Sky,
And round the Globe in Search of Knowledge fly.
Boldly she would the glorious Work pursue,
And by thy Doctrines trace all Nature thro;
Whence the loud Thunders roar, and Zephyrs blow,
And forked Light'nings fright the World below,
Travel the various Seasons of the Year,
Describe the great Abyss, that liquid Sphere,
The Source of Rivers, and whence Fountains rise,
What drains their Springs, and what their Springs supplys,
41
And whence the dread Convulsions of the Earth.
Thus should the Muse at once instruct and please;
But these are Subjects for a Mind at Ease.
May Heav'n thy Life, great Friend of Arts, prolong,
To find new Subjects for the Poet's Song;
If Ought in Nature yet unknown there be,
From whom can we expect to know but Thee?
'Tis thine, my Friend, her Secrets to explore,
And 'tis from what thou'st done we hope for more:
Nor is thy Soul to this one Gift confin'd,
Thy Study's to improve, and bless, Mankind.
To find new Subjects for the Poet's Song;
If Ought in Nature yet unknown there be,
From whom can we expect to know but Thee?
'Tis thine, my Friend, her Secrets to explore,
And 'tis from what thou'st done we hope for more:
Nor is thy Soul to this one Gift confin'd,
Thy Study's to improve, and bless, Mankind.
Thus, Sir, a grateful Muse her Tribute pays,
Whose highest Merit is she knows to praise;
Where Worth distinguish'd shines the Muse can see,
Who, proud to tell it, views that Worth in Thee.
Whose highest Merit is she knows to praise;
Where Worth distinguish'd shines the Muse can see,
Who, proud to tell it, views that Worth in Thee.
Jan. 1726.
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