University of Virginia Library

The force of Beauty, and the signal hour,
When Love's great goddess evidenc'd her pow'r;
How Grandeur, Valour, Wisdom, Beauty, strove,
In brightest charms, th'ascendency to prove;
The spleen-sprung motive, emulative scene,
The judge, the vanquish'd, and the victor-queen,
My song proclaims!—Ye Fair of british birth!
Sweet pride of Albion! fam'd throughout the earth!
Whom nature stamps with ev'ry grace refin'd,
To fix the fancy, to exalt the mind,
Improve content, repel the shafts of woe,
Insure us heav'n, and lengthen life below;
Who bid the patriot glow, the warriour arm,
The merchant traffic, and the poet charm;
For You! my muse attunes her artless lyre;
Glows as you fan; exults as you inspire:
Blind to the gleam that lights the classic lore,
Undestin'd at the midnight lamp to pore;
Whence sons of science catch th'impulsive ray,
Like Cynthia from the monarch of the day;
A volunteer, at youthful fancy's call,
I court your smiles; the source, the end of all.
Hear, soft enchantresses! your herald sing,
Whom Greatness shelters with expanded wing:
Ye milder judges! bless your vot'ry's cause,
Smooth Censure's brow, and bribe the world's applause.

In those far-distant times, as records say,
When All acknowledg'd delegated sway;
Then Jove, th'eternal arbiter of all,
Who but in mandate rul'd this pensile ball,
To gentler joys his mighty heart inclin'd;
Beauty usurp'd dominion o'er his mind,
And taught the god each varied form to wear,
That charm'd the fancy of the fav'rite Fair:
At length sincerity his soul imprest,
And virtue join'd the passion in his breast;
Thetis, whose will the surging waves obey,
Chac'd from his heart variety away.
Thus soon as Sol reveals the morning light,
Vanquish'd are all the fainter fires of night.

He, at whose nod peal thunders through the sky,
Vibrates the earth, and livid lightnings fly;
Who bids confusion through the orbs be hurl'd,
Or smiles on high, to chear the nether world;
Th'Imperial! now the god of love subjects;
He sees, adores; he wishes, and expects:
That warmth which drinks from fancy's glow its ray,
And shed its gleam ere nature's primal day;
That taught crude atoms to condense in one;
Diffus'd through life, and center'd in the sun,
The monarch feels!—No artful form he tries;
A gen'rous passion's stranger to disguise;
Thetis he woos connubial bliss to share,
Nor frown'd reluctance in the regal fair:
She sooths with hope th'almighty soul of pow'r,
Wings ev'ry thought, and 'raptures ev'ry hour.
Shall fate, as in the mortal, dare arrest
The resolutions of th'immortal breast?
'Twas so ordain'd:—Prometheus, from his cliff,
Th'Eternal hail'd, and thus enforc'd belief:
Oh, thou! whose just decree I undergo,
Link'd to this rock of never-ceasing woe,
List' what from Themis' oracle I've learn'd!
What thou, Omniscient, hast not yet discern'd;
Thee I revere, tho' tortur'd by thine ire;
“The son shall prove more pow'rful than the sire
“Of Thetis born.”—So breath'd the sacred sound:
While this he spake, Jove heard with brow profound;
The truths prophetic on his mind imprest,
And love and reason war'd within his breast:
That prompts the pow'r a regal right t'assume,
The goddess wed, and 'joy her virgin bloom;
This bids him shun the source of future harms;
Nor trust the dear illusion of her charms:
At length 'tis fix'd; from reason passion flies;
Kindness survives, but soft sensation dies.
Prometheus, lo, thy doom repeal'd! he cries,
Thy shackles break; to pristine freedom rise;
Thy tyrant bleeds!—Swift, at the royal word,
Alcides shot th'unsatiated Bird;
The god resigns, as jealous of his reign,
And Peleus wins the empress of the main.

Ye youths! to whom love's tender dart is known,
Whose soul indulges meltings not its own,
Touch'd with the trickling smart, the pang sincere,
Tho' sweet, yet painful; and tho' soft, severe;
What tho' th'inspirer, conscious of her sway,
Join wish to wish, uniting ray with ray,
Yet if some adverse planet threat your loves,
If prudence speak what passion disapproves,
Oh, hear like Jove! revere the sacred voice,
And give to fortune, whom you'd take by choice.
Nor you, ye Fair! the disappointment grieve,
Whose heart, reluctant, whom it loves must leave;
Shield pale despondence from the blooming cheek,
Nor let the look the secret mind bespeak;
Recall your charms, relume the brilliant eye,
And lend love's keener lightning wings to fly;
Like Thetis, thus enkindling new desire,
Another youth shall fan another fire.

Now Fame extends her silver trump on high;
Peleus and Thetis, eccho through the sky;
Thessalia's plain's proclaim'd the nuptial scene,
And Hermes hastes to bid the pow'rs convene.
The gates of heav'n unfold; the skies divide;
Jove first descended, Juno by his side;
Mars smooth'd his front, remitting hostile care,
And deign'd like honour to th'illustrious pair;
Pallas, bright martial maid! became a guest,
Her polish'd cuirass glitt'ring on her breast;
Venus appear'd, drawn by her cooing doves,
With Cupid, and a band of little Loves;
Then Momus came, and Bacchus, ivy-crown'd;
That much for laughter; this for wine renown'd:
Next Pan approach'd, with all his sylvan throng,
True sons of mirth, of music, dance, and song.
Ceres advanc'd, with blushing Flora join'd,
Adorn'd with various sweets, in wreaths entwin'd.
No more the savage prey Diana chac'd,
But, with her vestal tribe, th'assembly grac'd;
And Neptune urg'd his chariot o'er the main,
The Nymphs and Trytons laughing in his train;
While the glad waves, as conscious of the day,
Just met to kiss, and mingling roll'd away;
Earth, Ocean, smil'd; Sol shone with rapture bright;
Joy chear'd the heart, and pleasure charm'd the sight.
No river God, no Nereid of the floods,
No rural Faun, nor Dryad of the woods:
No pow'r within th'unlimited domain
Of Jupiter, but trod the festal plain,
Save Discord:—She, with soul of fiend-like birth,
Exil'd from heav'n, nor less abhor'd on earth,
Unask'd was absent:—justly Prudence guess'd
Her presence noxious at a bridal feast:
Hence sprung contention.—Where old Chaos keeps
Its reign primæval, midst rocks, wilds, and steeps;
Just emblem of her ever-jarring mind,
Where vapours dank, and horrid glooms combin'd;
Through which she steams her pestilential breath,
That putrifies the air, and wings with death;
That bids sweet Peace her olive branch let fall,
And savage war depopulate the ball;
Curst faction float its native land with gore,
And golden commerce fly th'affrighted shore:
There brooding Discord mourn'd her destin'd lot!
Excluded, slighted, hated, and forgot;
Her glaring eyes her inward rage exprest,
And mad'ning 'rose her genius in her breast;
In wish she blasts the joys th'Immortals share,
As faded maidens curse the wedded fair;
Scheme rush'd on scheme to damp their genial mirth,
When, lo, her ultimate device had birth.
To rouse the Fair at self-affection's call,
And fan through them, dissention's flame in all.
Hymen just bound th'indissoluble tie;
Just had th'acclaim of joy transpierc'd the sky,
When Discord, imperceptible to view,
Her signal apple mid' the circle threw:
Radiant as those which Atalanta brib'd,
The missive gold, the prize was thus inscrib'd:
This let the Fairest take.—As when the Swains
At summer's dawn assembled on the plains;
Some blooming maid, their rural queen to move,
Whose soul is innocence, whose look is love,
Round the wreath'd-pole, in mirthful mood advance,
Urge active feats, or join in sprightly dance;
If chance th'inspiring nymph a smile impart,
And thus exult: One shepherd wins my heart,
Each youth already deems the fair possest,
And conscious merit plumes in ev'ry breast.
So ev'ry goddess thought the Prize her right,
And saw her beauty in ambition's light;
Debate ran high, festivity expir'd,
And blushing pleasure with a frown retir'd.
But as th'opposing winter yields to spring,
That bids the meads re-smile, the groves re-sing,
So, with just def'rence to superior claim,
At length the goddesses relinquish fame,
To Juno, Pallas, or the Queen of Love,
Who, fix'd as fate, in emulation strove.
When thus the awful empress of the sky;
Can Jove this conflict view with patient eye?
Are charms like mine in silent doubt conceal'd?
Proclaim the conquest; bid th'inferior yield!
Jove pensive heard the sov'reign-like request;
Reluctant, thus his sentiments addrest;
Illustrious Rivals, deities supreme!
Partial might our determination seem.
Two principles construct the female soul,
An axis each to th'agitating whole;
Round these, eccentric, hopes, fears, wishes, move;
One pride innate, and one contracted love:
When e'er some soft desire the bosom breeds,
And, issuing forth, the fancy'd form succeeds,
Then This revolving each idea chears,
And rapt in extacy the fair appears.
But if repulse the fond excursion meet,
And, sadly baulk'd, the hope-wing'd wish retreat,
Then That with instant revolution turns;
The passions rage, and all the female burns.
All model'd thus, whom gods or men revere,
A woman's woman, whatsoe'er her sphere.
Hence, tho' transcendent charms due honour gain,
Yet disappointment wou'd the judge arraign.
Where Ida lifts her summit to the skies,
As o'er the lesser mountains proud to rise,
A shepherd dwells, of more exalted kind,
Graceful his form, nor un-adorn'd his mind;
Youth blooms his face, yet sense expands his fame,
Love warms his bosom, Paris is his name.
If some coy fair her fix'd adorer wrong,
Whose pipe is mute, whose voice neglects its song;
If some false heart a melting nymph betray,
Who, fondly ruin'd, sighs her soul away;
If rival youths affect some gentle maid,
Each friend to each, and love with love repaid;
If wand'ring flocks distress the peaceful swain,
Or variance kindle through the sylvan Train;
All haste to him; whose skill surmounts his years;
His voice determines, as his council chears:
To him, fair glory's candidates! away;
Him I depute the umpire of the day!
Bright Maia's offspring! thou the fruit receive;
This, with our great behest, to Paris give:
Charge him, inspect, with neutral ray, intent,
Each fair celestial, panting for th'event;
And to that goddess, whose excelling pow'r
Compells at once to wonder and adore;
Whose beauty, beaming with unrivall'd light,
Attracts his soul, and captivates his sight,
Resign the Prize.—This let his candour prove,
And act as fits the delegate of Jove.
The queens, submissive, for th'essay prepare,
And mount their chariots with important air;
By Hermes usher'd, now aloft they fly,
Through æther steer, and wheel along the sky;
Less swift fierce vultures cut the liquid way;
Not swifter wings the lightning's rapid ray;
Now fancy views 'em luminous afar;
Less, and still less, each empyrean car;
Now clouds involve 'em!—Check rash muse the rein!
Thy sight's eluded, and th'excursion vain:
Before th'idalian mount the Beauties grace
Be Paris sung, the youth of regal race;
His high descent, his mystic life relate,
A prince by fortune, but a swain by fate.

Compress'd by Priam, Dimas' filial joy,
Fair Hecuba, conceiv'd the lovely boy:
Yet while an embrio in the womb he lay,
His little heart just warm'd with life's first ray;
When fancy rules the teeming parent's mind,
And passive nature, to her pow'r resign'd,
Works on herself, as she suggests adheres,
And sadly sooths the phantoms of her fears;
Then Hecuba, enwrap'd in sleep profound,
While night's meridian horrors gloom'd around,
A dream surpriz'd; and, obvious to her sight,
Her offspring show'd, A Torch of blazing Light.
The vision'd-birth deep on her spirits prey'd;
Her bosom throbb'd for more than human aid;
She, lost to peace, with terror in her thought,
Before the sacred tripod counsel sought;
And su'd the voice divine her dream t'unfold:
Responsive, thus the future truths were told:
“Thy promis'd son his country shall destroy;
“Cause wars to ravage; flames demolish Troy.”
Th'afflicted queen indulg'd the heaving sigh;
Dread chill'd her heart, and sorrow dim'd her eye:
All sweetly sad, and eloquent in tears,
She breath'd the harsh decree in Priam's ears:
Troy's genius fan'd the spark of patriot flame;
His country's love repell'd the softer claim;
Tho' tender passion taught his heart to melt,
The monarch stifled what the parent felt:
His queen he chear'd; and when the child was born,
The mother's pity, but the father's scorn,
'Twas doom'd to death, by Archelaus's hand:
His sov'reign spoke; he bow'd to the command.
This charge recall'd fair Hecuba's dismay;
Nature not there was torn so soon away;
Without the joy, she knew a mother's smart,
And with maternal fondness ach'd her heart;
The trickling tears reveal'd her soul forlorn,
As pearly dew-drops indicate the morn;
Does this, she cry'd, reward my pregnant pain?
Ah, why so kind, Lucina, since in vain!
Sweet smiling infant, just alive to die!
Oh, shed, ye gods, compassion from the sky!
She su'd in private Archelaus's ear,
The chief whose name inspir'd the trump of fear;
In war all-dreadfull, as in peace resign'd,
His aspect martial, but humane his mind,
In secret audienc'd, thus her suit began:
Shall guiltless blood attaint a gallant man?
Forbid it heav'n!—Oh, born the lance to wield,
Wise in the camp, and glorious in the field;
Deign in a woman's cause the palm to wear!
When prov'd the brave ungen'rous to the fair?
Thou hadst a mother!—From her first embrace,
Just as her eyes had wanton'd o'er thy face,
Hadst thou been torn, to lose thy life's small pow'r,
The same thy natal and thy mortal hour,
Judge what her pangs had been! then picture mine,
And ward impending fate!—Life, death, is thine!
Touch'd was the chief his kindness to impart,
Nor had his mail repell'd compassion's dart;
For pity's ever with true courage join'd.
Th'intrepid warriour thus disclos'd his mind:
The destin'd purpose of our monarch's soul
Nor pray'r can mitigate, nor pow'r controul;
But by this sword, this victor sword! I swear,
Which peace respects, and bold invaders fear,
The prince shall live!—Let that my queen appease;
Death shall in foreign features Priam please.
Unconscious of his throne, or royal sire
Below all greatness, yet above desire;
Where nature reigns, recess'd in calm content,
There shall the prince, an orphan charge, be sent:
Thus one mild tenor may his life employ,
And fate revoke the threaten'd doom of Troy.
As soft Aurora, shedding orient day,
Diverts the gloom, and drives the night away;
So sounds like these, through Hecuba's fond ear,
Chear her sad soul, and banish her despair:
Had not the oracle impell'd her fear,
Parting had seem'd ev'n more than death severe;
But sorrow oft inverts itself to joy;
To part was sweet, since life wou'd bless her boy:
Reflection there parental anguish eas'd,
And all the mother in the queen was pleas'd.
She thank'd the chief; but faint her thanks express'd
The gratitude that panted in her breast.
Submiss withdrew th'imparter of relief,
Glad at her joy, as sadden'd at her grief:
His gen'rous heart fulfill'd his sworn intent,
And to the sylvan throng the babe was sent.
Th'idalian swains the little foundling lov'd,
And ev'ry nymph its softer-mother prov'd;
Paris they nam'd him, watch'd his infant day,
And led his rip'ning years in virtue's way:
Unconscious of his rank, they taught his mind
The earliest labours of the rural kind:
'Twas his, when morning op'd its saffron eyes,
Till Hesper twinkled in the dusky skies,
The scrip replete, and studded crook to bear;
To 'tend the herds, and guard the fleecy care.
Soon bright perfection in the boy was seen,
Fair was his aspect, comely was his mein;
And sick'ning nymphs confess'd love's tender dart,
But most Oenone triumph'd in his heart;
Yet ev'ry grace that spoke his form refin'd,
Seem'd faint to th'emanation of his mind,
This to the sense disclos'd inherent worth;
That to the eye reveal'd superior birth.
Each rural sage, whom years had render'd wise,
Vers'd in the glebe, and studious of the skies,
Saw in the youth, in life's uncertain prime,
Proficient nature equal art and time:
And such mature abilities appear'd,
That whom at first they pitied, they rever'd.