Beneath his haughty reign; and all his flaves
Under his yoke fhall groan, and fcarce fhall groan
Without a crime. Here torturing engines roar
With human voice difguis'd; earth, water, fire,
Are made (dire elements of cruelty!)
Subfervient to his luft, and power to kill :
Yet fhall the herd endure, nor dare to break
United their imaginary chain ;
While their great monarch chills with equal fears,
No less a slave than they. Each rumour shakes
The haughty purple, dark and cloudy cares
Involve the aweful throne, that ftands erect,
Balanc'd on the wild people's temper'd rage,
And fortify'd with dangerous arts of power.
But death fhall fhift thofe fcenes of mifery;
Then doubtful titles kindle up new wars,
And urge on ling'ring fate; the enfigns blaze
About the camp, and drums and trumpets found,
Prepare a folemn way to griezly war;
Javelins and bearded fpears in ghaftly ranks
Erect their shining heads, and round the field
A harvest's seen of formidable death;
Then joins the horrid fhock, whofe bellowing burst
Torments the shatter'd air, and drowns the
Of men below that roll in certain death.
These are the mortal fports, the tragic plays.
By man himself embroil'd; the dire debate
Makes the wafte defart seem ferene and mild,
Where favage nature in one common lies,
By homely cots poffefs'd; all fqualid, wild,
And despicably poor, they range the field,
And feel their share of hunger, care, and pain,
Cheated by flying prey; and now they tear
Their panting flesh; and now with nails unclean
They tug their fhaggy beards; and deeply quaff
Of human woe, even when they rudely fip
The flowing ftream, or chew the favory pulp
Of nature's fresheft viands; fragrant fruits
Enjoy'd with trembling, and in danger fought,
But where th' appointed limits of a law
Fences the general fafety of the world,
No greater quiet reigns; for wanton man,
In giddy frolic, eafily leaps o'er
His own invented bounds; hence rapine, fraud,
Revenge, and luft, and all the hideous train
Of nameless ills, distort the meagre mind
To endless shapes of woe.
Departed gold, and their defrauded heirs
Dire perjuries complain; the blended loads
Of punishment and crime deform the world,
And give no reft to man; with pangs and throes
He enters on the ftage; prophetic tears
And infant cries prelude his future woes;
And all is one continu'd scene of grief,
Till the fad fable curtain falls in death.
But that laft act shall in one moment close
Of doubt and darkness; pain shall crack the strings
Of life decay'd; no lefs the foul convuls'd,
Trembles in anxious cares, and fhuddering ftands,
Afraid to leap into the opening gulf
Of future fate, till all the banks of clay
Fall from beneath his feet: in vain he grafps
The shatter'd reeds that cheat his eafy wish.
Reason is now no more; that narrow lamp
(Which with its fickly fires would shoot its beams
To distances unknown, and ftretch its rays
Afkance my paths, in deepest darkness veil'd)
Is funk into his focket; inly there
It burns a difmal light; th' expiring flame
Is choak'd in fumes, and parts in various doubt.
Then the gay glories of the living world
Shall caft their empty varnish, and retire
Out of his feeble view; and rifing fhade
Sit hov'ring o'er all nature's various face.
Mufic fhall ceafe, and inftruments of joy
Shall fail that fullen hour; nor can the mind
Attend their founds, when fancies fwim in death,
Confus'd and cruth'd with cares: for long fhal feem
The dreary road, and melancholy dark,
That leads he knows not where. Here empty space Gapes horrible, and threatens to abforb
All being: yonder footy demons glare,
And dolorous fpectres grin; the fhapeless rout
Of wild imagination dance and play
Before his eyes obfcure: till all in death
Shall vanish, and the prisoner, now enlarg'd,
Regains the flaming borders of the sky.
He ended. Peals of thunder rend the heavens,
And Chaos, from the bottom turn'd, refounds
The mighty clangor: All the heavenly hoft
Approve the high decree, and loud they fing
Eternal juftice; while the guilty troops,
Sad with their doom, but fad without defpair,
Fall fluttering down to Lethe's lake, and there
For penance, and the deftin'd body, wait.
When he beheld him rip'ning into man.
Accomplish'd youth; well worthy of my pains, "You now are free, and guide yourself the reins; "Yet hear, Achilles, hear, before we part, "A few fhort precepts from a faithful heart.
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