XLII.

Such the gay fplendor, the luxurious state,
Of Caliphs old, who on the Tygris' fhore,
In mighty Bagdat, populous and great,

Held their bright court, where was of ladies ftore;
And verse, love, mufic, ftill the garland wore :
When fleep was coy, the bard in waiting there,
Chear'd the lone midnight with the Mufe's lore;
Compofing mufic bade his dreams be fair,
And mufic lent new gladness to the morning air.
XLIII.

Near the pavilions where we flept, ftill ran
Soft-tinkling ftreams, and dashing waters fell,
And fobbing breezes figh'd, and oft began
(So work'd the wizard) wintery storms to fwell,
As heaven and earth they would together mell:
At doors and windows, threatening, feem'd to call
The demons of the tempeft, growling fell,

Yet the leaft entrance found they none at all; Whence fweeter grew our fleep, secure in maffy hall. XLIV.

And hither Morpheus fent his kindest dreams, Raifing a world of gayer tinct and grace; O'er which were fhadowy caft Elyfian gleams, That play'd, in waving lights, from place to place, And fhed a rofeate fmile on nature's face. Not Titian's pencil e'er could fo array, So fleece with clouds the pure etherial fpace; Ne could it e'er fuch melting forms difplay, As loofe on flowery beds all languishingly lay. XLV. No,

P 3

XLV.

No, fair illufions! artful phantoms, no!
My Mufe will not attempt your fairy-land :
She has no colours that like you can glow:
To catch your vivid fcenes too grofs her hand.
But fure it is, was ne'er a subtler band
Than these fame guileful angel-feeming fprights,
Who thus in dreams, voluptuous, soft, and bland,
Pour'd all th' Arabian Heaven upon our nights,
And blefs'd them oft befides with more refin❜d delights.'
XLVI.

They were in footh a most enchanting train,
Ev'n feigning virtue; skilful to unite

With evil good, and ftrew with pleasure pain.
But for thofe fiends, whom blood and broils delight;
Who hurl the wretch, as if to hell outright,
Down, down black gulphs, where fullen waters fleep,
Or hold him clambering all the fearful night
On beetling cliffs, or pent in ruins deep;
They, till due time should ferve, were bid far hence to
XLVII.

Ye guardian fpirits, to whom man is dear,

[keep.

From these foul demons shield the midnight gloom:
Angels of fancy and of love, be near,

And o'er the blank of fleep diffuse a bloom:
Evoke the facred fhades of Greece and Rome,
And let them virtue with a look impart :

But chief, a while, O! lend us from the tomb Those long-loft friends for whom in love we smart, And fill with pious awe and joy-mixt woe the heart.

XLVIII. Or

XLVIII.

Or are you sportive-Bid the morn of youth
Rife to new light, and beam afresh the days
Of innocence, fimplicity, and truth;

To cares eftrang'd, and manhood's thorny ways.
What tranfport, to retrace our boyish plays,
Our eafy blifs, when each thing joy supply'd;
The woods, the mountains, and the warbling maze
Of the wild brooks !-But, fondly wandering wide,
My Mufe, resume the task that yet doth thee abide.
XLIX.

One great amusement of our household was,
In a huge crystal magic globe to spy,

Still as you turn'd it, all things that do pafs
Upon this ant-hill earth; where constantly
Of idly-bufy men the restless fry

Run bustling to and fro with foolish hafte,
In search of pleasures vain that from them fly,
Or which obtain'd the caitiffs dare not tafte:

When nothing is enjoy'd, can there be greater waste?
L.

"Of vanity the mirror" this was call'd.
Here you a muckworm of the town might see,
At his dull desk, amid his legers stall'd,
Eat up with carking care and penurie;
Moft like to carcase parch'd on gallow-tree.
"A penny faved is a penny got:"
Firm to this fcoundrel maxim keepeth he,
Ne of its rigour will he bate a jot,

Till it has quench'd his fire, and banished his pot.

LI.

Strait from the filth of this low grub, behold!
Comes fluttering forth a gaudy fpendthrift heir,
All gloffy gay, enamel'd all with gold,
The filly tenant of the summer-air,

In folly lot, of nothing takes he care;

Pimps, lawyers, ftewards, harlots, flatterers vile, And thieving tradesmen him among them share : His father's ghost from limbo-lake, the while, Sees this, which more damnation doth upon him pile. LII.

This globe pourtray'd the race of learned men, Still at their books, and turning o'er the page, Backwards and forwards: oft they fnatch the pen, As if infpir'd, and in a Thespian rage;

Then write, and blot, as would your ruth engage.
Why, authors, all this fcrawl and fcribbling fore?
To lofe the prefent, gain the future age,
Praised to be when you can hear no more,

And much enrich'd with fame, when useless worldly ftore.
LIII.

Then would a splendid city rife to view, With carts, and cars, and coaches, roaring all: Wide pour'd abroad behold the giddy crew; See how they dafh along from wall to wall! At every door, hark how they thundering call! Good lord! what can this giddy rout excite? Why, on each other with fell tooth to fall; A neighbour's fortune, fame, or peace, to blight, And make new tirefome parties for the coming night. LIV. The

LIV.

The puzzling fons of party next appear'd,
In dark cabals and nightly juntos met;

And now they whisper'd close, now fhrugging rear'd
Th' important fhoulder; then, as if to get

New light, their twinkling eyes were inward fet.
No fooner Lucifer recals affairs,

Than forth they various rush in mighty fret;

When, lo! pufh'd up to power, and crown'd their cares, In comes another fett, and kicketh them down ftairs. LV.

But what moft fhew'd the vanity of life,
Was to behold the nations all on fire,

In cruel broils engag'd, and deadly ftrife:
Moft chriftian kings, inflam'd by black defire,
With honourable ruffians in their hire,

Cause war to rage, and blood around to pour :
Of this fad work when each begins to tire,

They fit them down just where they were before,
Till for new scenes of woe peace shall their force restore.
LVI.

To number up the thousands dwelling here,
An useless were, and eke an endless task;

From kings, and those who at the helm appear,
To gypfies brown in fummer-glades who bask.
Yea many a man perdie I could unmask,
Whose desk and table make a folemn show,
With tape-ty'd trash, and suits of fools that ask
For place or pension laid in decent row;
But these I paffen by, with nameless numbers moe.
LVII. Of