were not put to them: and I believe none of those gentlemen that will make the objection would refuse a sketch of Raphael's or one of Titian's draughts of the first sitting. I might tell them, too, what care has been taken, by the learned, to preserve the fragments of the ancient Greek and Latin poets: there has been thought to be a divinity in what they said; and therefore the least pieces of it have been kept up and reverenced like religious relics: and I am sure, take away the mille anni 5, and impartial reasoning will tell us, there is as much due to the memory of Mr. Waller, as to the most celebrated names of Antiquity.

But, to wave the dispute now of what ought to have been done, I can assure the reader what would have been, had this edition been delayed. The following Poems were got abroad, and in a great many hands: it were vain to expect that, among so many admirers of Mr. Waller, they should not meet with one fond enough to publish them. They might have staid, indeed, till by frequent transcriptions they had been corrupted extremely, and jumbled together with things of another kind; but then they would have found their way into the world: so it was thought a greater piece of kindness to the Author to put them out whilst they continue genuine and unmixed, and such as he himself, were he alive, might own.

5 Alluding to that verse in Juvenal,

*** Et uni cedit Homero
Propter mille annos * * *

And yields to Homer on no other score,
Than that he liv'd a thousand years before.

Sat. 7.

Mr. C. Dryden.

DEDICATION.

TO THE RIGHT HON.

THE LADY MARGARET CAVENDISH
HARLEY.

LET others boast the Nine Aonian maids,
Inspiring streams, and sweet resounding shades,
Where Phoebus heard the rival bards rehearse,
And bade the laurels learn the lofty verse:
In vain! nor Phoebus nor the boasted Nine
Inflame the raptur'd soul with rays divine:
None but the fair infuse the sacred fire,
And love with vocal art informs the lyre.
When Waller, kindling with celestial rage,
View'd the bright Harley of that wondering age,
His pleasing pain he taught the lute to breath;
The Graces sung, and wove his myrtle wreath.
In youth, of patrimonial wealth possest,
The praise of science faintly warm'd his breast;
But, fir'd to fame by Sidney's rosy smile,
Swift o'er the laureate realm he urg'd his toil.
His Muse, by Nature form'd to please the fair,
Or sing of heroes with majestic air,
To melting strains attun'd her voice, and strove
To waken all the tender powers of love :
More sweetly soft her awful beauty shone,
Than Juno grac'd with Cytherea's zone.
As angels love, congenial souls unite
Their radiance, and refine each other's light:

The florid and sublime, the grave and gay,
From Waller's beams imbibe a purer ray;
Illumin'd thence in equal lays to bound
Their copious sense, and harmonize the sound;
With varied notes the curious ear to please,
And turn a nervous thought with artful ease.
Maker and model of melodious verse!
Accept these votive honours at thy hearse.
While I with filial awe attempt thy praise,
Infuse thy genius, and my fancy raise!
So warbling o'er his urn, the woodland choirs
To Orpheus pay the song his shade inspires.
In Waller's fame, O fairest Harley! view
What verdant palms shall owe their birth to you:
To you what deathless charms are thence decreed,
In Sacharissa's fate vouchsafe to read.

Secure beneath the wing of withering Time,
Her beauties flourish in ambrosial prime:
Still kindling rapture, see! she moves in state;
Gods, nymphs, and heroes, on her triumph wait.
Nor think the lover's praise of love's delight,
In purest minds may stain the virgin-white:
How bright and chaste the poet and his theme!
So Cynthia shines on Arethusa's stream.
A sainted virtue to the spheres may sing
Those strains that ravish'd here the Martyr-king.
Plenteous of native wit, in letter'd ease
Politely form'd, to profit and to please,
To Fame whate'er was due he gave-to Fame,
And what he could not praise, forgot to name:
Thus Eden's rose without a thorn display'd
Her bloom, and in a fragrant blush decay'd.
Such soul-attracting airs were sung of old,
When blissful years in golden.circles roll'd:

Pure from deceit, devoid of fear and strife,
While love was all the pensive care of life,

The swains in green retreats, with flowrets crown'd,
Taught the young groves their passion to resound:
Fancy pursued the paths where Beauty led,
To please the living, or deplore the dead :
While to their warbled woe the rocks reply'd,
The rills remurmur'd, and the zephyrs sigh'd;
From death redeem'd by verse, the vanish'd fair
Breath'd in a flower, or sparkled in a star.
Bright as the stars, and fragrant as the flowers,
Where Spring resides in soft Elysian bowers;
While these the bow'rs adorn, and they the sphere,
Will Sacharissa's charms in song appear.
Yet, in the present age, her radiant name
Must take a dimmer interval of fame;
When you to full meridian lustre rise,
With Morton's shape and Gloriana's eyes,
With Carlisle's wit, her gesture, and her mien,
And, like seraphic Rich, with zeal serene;
In sweet assemblage all their graces join'd
To language, mode, and manners, more refin'd!
That angel-frame, with chaste attraction gay,
Mild as the dove-ey'd Morn awakes the May:
Of noblest youths will reign the public care,
Their joy, their wish, their wonder, and despair.
Far-beaming thence what bright ideas flow!
The sister-arts with sudden rapture glow:
Her Titian tints the Painter nymph resumes;
The canvass warm with roseate beauty blooms:
Inspir'd with life by Sculpture's happy toil,
The marble breathes, and softens with your smile!
Proud to receive the form, by fate design'd
The fairest model of the fairer kind.

But hear, O hear the Muse's heavenly voice!
The waving woods and echoing vales rejoice:
Attend, ye Gales! to Margaretta's praise,
And all ye listening Loves record the lays!
So Philomela charms the' Idalian grove,
When Venus, in the glowing orb of love,
O'er ocean, earth, and air, extends her reign,
The first, the brightest, of the starry train.

What favourite youth assign the Fates to rise,
In bridal pomp to lead the blooming prize?
Whether his father's garter'd shield sustains
Trophies achieved on Gallia's viny plains,
Or smiling Peace a mingled wreath displays,
The patriot's olive, and the poet's bays:
Adorn, ye Fates! the favourite youth assign'd,
With each ennobling grace of form and mind:
In merit make him great, as great in blood;
Great without pride, and amiably good :
His breast the guardian ark of heav'n-born law,
To strike a faithless age with conscious awe:
In choice of friends by manly reason sway'd;
Not fear'd, but honour'd, and with love obey'd.
In courts and camps, in council ard retreat,
Wise, brave, and studious to support the state;
With candour firm; without ambition bold,
No deed discolour'd with the guilt of gold;
That Heav'n may judge the choicest blessings due,
And give the various good compris'd in you.

E. FENTON.