University of Virginia Library

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TO Mr. R. C. and His LADY, ON THE Birth of Their First Child; Born in the SPRING.

I.

The Mother's and Lucina's Labours past,
The Pledge of mutual Love's disclos'd at last;

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The Birth that in the Womb obscurely lay
In pregnant Darkness, and prolifick Night,
Now vig'rously breaks into Day,
And struggling darts into the Light.
Smile then, Auspicious Infant, smile
Upon Thy Mother, to reward Her Toil;
One chearful Look, one gleaming Ray
Will chase the flying Clouds of Grief away,
Will well atone for what She did sustain,
Her nauseous Qualms, her Throws, and all her Nine Months Pain.

II.

See now the Priests devout! and lo!
They all in long Procession go,
To solemnize the publick Show.

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Each Oratory, and each Shrine,
With more than Earthly Honours shine,
In Consecrated Glories, and a Pomp Divine.
The Rites begin, the Choirs now raise
Their Voice to Heav'n in Sacred Hymns of Praise,
While from the loaded Altars come
Rich curling Clouds of od'rous Fume:
On trembling Flames the Spicy Vapours rise,
And all along perfume the Skies;
On gilded Roofs the blazing Altars play,
And down in streaming Gold reflect a burnish'd Day.

III.

The wanton Zephyrs, dancing Hours,
With various Dye retouch the Flow'rs:

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The purple Bramble, ruddy Bush,
Glowing with Syrian Roses blush,
The Trees fresh Honours wear;
And Buds unfurling clothe the Earth,
To celebrate the double Birth
Of This young Fav'rite, and the new-born Year.
For Nature, Madam, as she knew
Your Time approach'd, in Compliment to You
In Labour falls, and brings forth too:
The Birds in Songs salute the Lovely Boy,
And the well-pleas'd Creation seems to smile for Joy.

IV.

Now Flora, and the Wood-Nymphs bring
The blooming Beauties of the Spring,
A suitable, a gay, and fragrant Offering.
Over his Head the Goddess stands,
And scatters Presents from her lavish Hands:

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From her full Lap her gaudy Wealth she pours,
And wraps his fragrant Limbs in Wreaths of Flow'rs.
And lo! the Flow'rs, as if they took
New Order, Life, and Beauty from his Look,
Like some well-marshall'd Band about Him grow,
At once to guard Him, and to grace Him too.
Each Blossom, and each swelling Bud
Bend down their Heads, and in Obedience nod;
To pay their Homage they around Him bow,
And Lillies drop their Leaves, like silent Flakes of Snow.
The mingling Vi'lets here, and Daysies meet:
He more than bright-ey'd Daysies fair, and more than Vi'lets sweet.

V.

Love's beauteous Goddess from afar
Drawn in her bright triumphant Car,
Glides like a falling Meteor thro' the Air:

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Smiles, Mirth, and young Desires about Her fly,
Laugh on Her Cheeks, and revel in Her Eye.
Fair Venus does the Infant dress
With ev'ry Beauty, ev'ry Grace;
To Him She ev'ry Charm applies,
And breathes a tender Glory round his scarce enlighten'd Eyes.

VI.

When first the Mother's Plastick Womb began
To mould the Rudiments of future Man,
A vig'rous Nature rang'd with wond'rous Art
The proper Seeds design'd for ev'ry Part;
Temper'd by Her, the Elements agree,
In Symmetry advance, and decent Harmony.
The Matter thus dispos'd, there wanted yet
A Form to make the Work compleat.
When lo! an Agent free, and rational,
The breathing Soul, diffus'd it self thro' all:

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The well-acquainted Stranger, knowing Guest,
The bubbling Spring of Life possess't,
And flutt'ring in its new-born Seat,
Bid the unpractis'd Blood to leap, and taught the Heart to beat.
At once the nimble Spirits ran
Thro' all the winding Mazes of the Brain:
They thro' each Limb the Flow of Life maintain,
And trace the blue Meanders of each branching Vein,
Thus Chaos in her Universal Womb
Prepar'd the Seeds of all Things yet to come.
Then o're the Mass a Spirit brooding sate,
Scatt'ring thro' all a vital Heat,
And as it did the Genial Warmth dispose,
A beauteous, new, and perfect World arose.

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VII.

Well fare the Hand that did the Child enlarge,
And brought forth the important Charge.
Thus with much Pains, and Skill, the Indians hew
From Eastern Quarries harden'd Pearly Dew,
And as they downward go,
Disclose another Firmament below:
The flaming Rock of Gems looks gay and bright,
Of Beams condens'd, and fix'd substantial Light.
Say (Muse) for sure Thou know'st it, say,
Which was the Happy Day?
And let it be recorded straight
In th' Adamantine Book of Fate;
Let it some Mark peculiar wear,
Distinct from vulgar Days that crowd the Year.

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From Me it always shall receive
The Noblest Present that the Muse can give,
The Muse his growing Virtues shall rehearse,
And Yearly Homage pay in Tributary Verse.

VIII.

The Muse, with her all-darting Eye,
Commands the Prospect of Futurity;
And soaring on a Wing sublime,
Peeps down into the dusky Nest of Time;
Does there with curious Search survey
The Seedlings of first Moments thinly wrought,
That scarce admit of Human Thought;
Hid in their secret Cell, their Womb, and Grave;
That when in Being, scarce a Being have:
With Minutes yet unborn, and Hours that forming lie.

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Here some with new-fledg'd Pinions painted gay,
Wing thro' the yawning Egg their silent Way;
While Part like Embrio's in the Womb,
Yet immature for Motion, dwell
In their unextended Shell,
And ripen there to fashion Years to come.
Now with the Sun their airy Course they take
Obliquely thro' the figur'd Zodiack,
And as along they smiling go,
The nimble-footed Hours bestow
New Blessings on the Joyful World below.
Methinks I see Thessalian Tempe raise
Its lofty Head with never-dying Bays;
The Learned Springs o'reflow with Joy,
And, in as unconfin'd a Course
As the licentious Numbers of my Verse,
Run prattling thro' the Fields in wanton Play,
And flow'ry Garlands roll to paint His bright triumphant Way.

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IX.

The Eaglet patient of God Phœbus Ray,
That dares the open Flames of Day,
That with an undisturb'd, and stedfast Sight
Provokes the dazzling Beams of Empyreal Light,
The Royal Eagle will vouchsafe to own;
Instructed by the Judgment of the Sun:
When by his ordeal Fire's decisive Blaze,
The Testimony's given
Of a sincere, ingenuous Race,
And the young Prince has stood the Test of Heav'n.
This the apparent Heir his Rays declare,
By Patent of Inheritance to bear
The dreadful Engine of the Thunderer.

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Nor need You (Sir) your genuine Issue try
By any other Sun, or Sky
Than that of his own Mother's brighter Eye.
And thus your Offspring may like Honours know,
And weild the Thunder of our Jove below.

X.

Rash were the Task, shou'd I attempt to draw
Those matchless Features which I never saw,
Shou'd I design th'imperfect Draught,
By the wild Pencil of the Fancy taught.
All vulgar Forms You must transcend,
The Noble Choice of my Judicious Friend.
The Youth at Court had scarcely been,
E're He had your surprizing Graces seen;
With One swift Glance his Heart was won:
He came, He saw, and was undone.

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Here Thousand Beauties might demand His Love,
Beauties more Heav'nly, more Divine
Than those that Glorious Stars now shine,
And reign o're Men below, and Gods above.
With a regardless Look He These did view,
They suffer'd in Comparison with You;
Your Eyes directed where the Prize shou'd fall,
And loudly claim'd His Present of the Golden Ball.
And now You were by Hymen led
A blushing Virgin to the Genial Bed;
While Heav'n, your Nuptial Joys to crown,
At length has bless'd You with a Son,
Sent from Paternal Sky, His native Home;
An Earnest of the Pledges yet to come.

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