To the Right Hon. the Lady Marg. Cavendish Harley, with the poems of Mr. Waller

Let others boast the Nine Aonian maids,Inspiring streams, and sweet resounding shades,Where Phœbus heard the rival bards rehearse,And bade the laurels learn the lofty verse:In vain! nor Phœbus nor the boasted Nine 5Inflame 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 wond'ring age, 10His pleasing pain he taught the lute to breathe,The Graces sung, and wove his myrtle wreath.In youth, of patrimonial wealth possest,The praise of science faintly warm'd his breast,But sir'd to fame by Sidney's rosy smile, 15Swift o'er the laureat realms 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 stroveTo waken all the tender pow'rs of love; 20More sweetly soft her awful beauty shoneThan Juno grac'd with Cytherea's zone.As angels love, congenial souls uniteTheir radiance, and refine each other's light.The florid and sublime, the grave and gay, 25From Waller's beams imbibe a purer ray;Illumin'd, thence in equal lays to boundTheir copious sense, and harmonize the sound;With varied notes the curious ear to please,And turn a nervous thought with artful ease. 30Maker 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 35To Orpheus pay the song his shade inspires.In Waller's fame, O fairest Harley! viewWhat verdant palms shall owe their birth to you:To you what deathless charms are thence decreed,In Sacharissa's fate vouchsafe to read. 40Secure beneath the wing of with'ring TimeHer 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 45In purest minds may stain the virgin white:How bright and chaste the poet and his theme!So Cynthia shines on Arethusa's stream.A fainted virtue to the spheres may singThose strains that ravish'd here the martyr-king. 50Plenteous of native wit, in letter'd ease,Politely form'd: to profit and to pleaseTo fame whate'er was due he gave to fame,And what he could not praise forget to name:Thus Eden's rose, without a thorn, display'd 55Her 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, 60The swains in green retreats, with flow'rets crown'd,Taught the young groves their passion to resound:Fancy pursu'd the paths where Beauty led,To please the living or deplore the dead:While to their warbled woe the rocks reply'd, 65The rills remurmur'd, and the zephyrs sigh'd,From death redeem'd by verse, the vanish'd fairBreath'd in a flow'r, or sparkled in a star.Bright as the stars, and fragrant as the flow'rsWhere Spring resides in soft Elysian bow'rs, 70While these the bow'rs adorn, and they the sphere,Will Sacharissa's charms in song appear.Yet in the present age her radiant nameMust take a dimmer interval of fame;When you to full meridian lustre rise, 75With 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'dTo language, mode, and manners more refin'd! 80That 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! 85The sister-arts with sadden 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 91The fairest model of the fairer kind.But hear, O hear, the Muse's heav'nly voice!The waving woods and echoing vales rejoice:Attend, ye Gales! to Margaretta's praise; 95And all ye list'ning Loves record the lays!So Philomela charms th' 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. 100What fav'rite youth assign the Fates to riseIn bridal pomp to lead the blooming prize?Whether his father's garter'd shield sustainsTrophies achiev'd on Gallia's viny plains,Or smiling Peace a mingled wreath displays, 105The patriot's olive and the poet's bays,Adorn, ye Fates! the fav'rite youth assign'dWith each ennobling grace of form and mind:In merit make him great, as great in blood;Great without pride, and amiably good; 110His 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 and retreat 115Wise, 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. 120