Dropt the dull lumber of the Latin store, And last turn'd Air, the echo of a sound! As Jansen, Fleetwood, Cibber shall think fit; 321 325 And, as if a borough choose him, not undone; This glorious youth, and add one Venus more. 330 So may the sons of sons of sons of whores, Prop thine, O Empress! like each neighbour throne, And make a long posterity thy own. Pleas'd, she accepts the hero, and the dame, 335 Wraps in her veil, and frees from sense of shame, REMARKS, r. 326.---Jansen, Fleetwood, Cibber. Three very eminent persons, all managers of plays, who, though not governors by profession, had, each in his way, concerned themselves in the education of youth, and regulated their wits, their morals, or their finances, at that period of their age which is the most important, their entrance into the polite world. Of the last of these, and his talents for this end, see Book 1. ver. 199, &c. IMITATIONS. v. 332. So may the sons of sons, &c.] "Et nati natorum, et qui nascentur ab illis." Virg. Of ever-listless loit'rers, that attend No cause, no trust, no duty, and no friend. But Annius, crafty seer, with ebon wand, 340 355 Came, cramm'd with capon, from where Pollio dines. Soft, as the wily fox is seen to creep, Where bask on sunny banks the simple sheep, 351 Walk round and round, now prying here, now there, So he, but pious, whisper'd first his pray'r: Grant, gracious Goddess! grant me still to cheat! O may thy cloud still cover the deceit ! Thy choicer mists on this assembly shed, But pour them thickest on the noble head. IMITATIONS. v. 342. Stretch'd on the rack---- "Infelix Theseus, Phlegyasque miserrimus omnes "Admonet."--- v. 355.--grant me still to cheat! O may thy cloud still cover the deceit !] "Da, pulchra Laverna, "Da mihi fallere--- Virg. "Noctem peccatis et fraudibus objice nubem." Hor. So shall each youth, assisted by our eyes, 360 365 369 Bless'd in one Niger, till he knows of two. Mummius o'erheard him; Mummius, fool renown'd, Who like his Cheops, stinks above the ground, Fierce as a startled adder, swell'd, and said, Speak'st thou of Syrian Princes? traitor base! 376 380 IMITATIONS. v. 383. Receiv'd each demigod.] 66 Emissumque ima de sede Typhoea terrae "Coelitibus fecisse metum' cunctosque dedisse, 385 I bought them, shrowded in that living shrine, 390 395 The Goddess smiling seem'd to give consent; So back to Pollio hand in hand they went. Then thick as locusts black'ning all the ground, A tribe, with weeds and shells fantastic crown'd, Each with some wondrous gift approach'd the Pow's, A nest, a toad, a fungus, or a flow'r. But far the foremost, two, with earnst zeal, And aspect ardent, to the throne appeal. The first thus open'd: Hear thy suppliant's call, Great Queen, and common mother of us all! 400 405 Fair from its humble bed I rear'd this flow'r, Suckl'd, and cheer'd, with air, and sun, and show'r. IMITATIONS. "Terga fugae: donec fessos Egyptia tellus Ovid. v. 405, &c. Fair from its humble bed, &c.----nam'd it Caroline! Each maid cry'd, Courming! and each youth Divine! No maid cries charming! and no youth divine!] Soft on the paper ruff its leaves I spread, Bright with the gilded button tipt its head. Each maid cry'd, Charming! and each youth Divine! Did Nature's pencil ever blend such rays, 411 Such vary'd light in one promiscuous blaze? Now prostrate! dead! behold that Caroline: No maid cries charming! and no youth divine! Oh punish him, or to th' Elysian shades He ceas'd, and wept. With innocence of mien Th' accus'd stood forth, and thus address'd the Queen: Of all th' enamel'd race, whose silv'ry wing Waves to the tepid zephyrs of the spring, Or swims along the fluid atmosphere, Once brightest shin'd this child of heat and air. 421 IMITATIONS. These verses are translated from Catullus, Epith. "Of all the race of silver-winged flies |