12 Now Punic pride its final eve survey'd ; Its hosts exhausted, and its fleets on fire: Patient the victor's lucid frown obey'd,
And saw th' unwilling elephants retire.
13 But when their gold depress'd the yielding scale, Their gold in pyramidic plenty piled,
He saw the unutterable grief prevail ;
He saw their tears, and in his fury smiled.
14 "Think not," he cried, "ye view the smiles of ease,
Or this firm breast disclaims a patriot's pain;
I smile, but from a soul estranged to peace,
Frantic with grief, delirious with disdain.
15 "But were it cordial, this detested smile,
Seems it less timely than the grief ye show?
O Sons of Carthage! grant me to revile
The sordid source of your indecent woe.
16 "Why weep ye now? ye saw with tearless eye
When your fleet perish'd on the Punic wave:
Where lurk'd the coward tear, the lazy sigh,
When Tyre's imperial state commenced a slave?
17 ""Tis past-O Carthage! vanquish'd, honour'd shade! Go, the mean sorrows of thy sons déplore;
Had freedom shared the vow to Fortune paid,
She ne'er, like Fortune, had forsook thy shore."
18 He ceased-abash'd the conscious audience hear,
Their pallid cheeks a crimson blush unfold,
Yet o'er that virtuous blush distreams a tear,
And falling, moistens their abandon'd gold.
HE COMPARES HIS HUMBLE FORTUNE WITH THE DISTRESS OF OTHERS; AND HIS SUBJECTION TO DELIA WITH THE MISERABLE SERVITUDE OF AN AFRICAN SLAVE.
1 Why droops this heart with fancied woes forlorn? Why sinks my soul beneath this wintry sky? What pensive crowds, by ceaseless labours worn, What myriads, wish to be as blessed as I!
2 What though my roofs, devoid of pomp, arise,
Nor tempt the proud to quit his destined way ?
Nor costly art my flowery dales disguise,
Where only simple friendship deigns to stray
3 See the wild sons of Lapland's chill domain,
That scoop their couch beneath the drifted snows!
How void of hope they ken the frozen plain,
Where the sharp east for ever, ever blows!
4 Slave though I be, to Delia's eyes a slave,
My Delia's eyes endear the bands I wear;
The sigh she causes well becomes the brave,
The pang she causes 'tis even bliss to bear.
5 See the poor native quit the Libyan shores,
Ah! not in Love's delightful fetters bound!
No radiant smile his dying peace restores,
Nor love, nor fame, nor friendship, heals his wound.
6 Let vacant bards display their boasted woes;
Shall I the mockery of grief display?
No; let the Muse his piercing pangs disclose,
Who bleeds and weeps his sum of life away!
7 On the wild beach in mournful guise he stood,
Ere the shrill boatswain gave the hated sign;
He dropp'd a tear unseen into the flood;
He stole one secret moment, to repine.
8 Yet the Muse listen'd to the plaints he made,
Such moving plaints as Nature could inspire;
To me the Muse his tender plea convey'd,
But smooth'd and suited to the sounding lyre.
9" Why am I ravish'd from my native strand?
What savage race protects this impious gain?
Shall foreign plagues infest this teeming land,
And more than seaborn monsters plough the main ?
10" Here the dire locusts' horrid swarms prevail;
Here the blue asps with livid poison swell;
Here the dry dipsa writhes his sinuous mail;
Can we not here secure from envy dwell?
11" When the grim Lion urged his cruel chase,
When the stern Panther sought his midnight prey,
What fate reserved me for this Christian race? 1
A race more polish'd, more severe than they!
12" Ye prowling Wolves! pursue my latest cries;
Thou hungry Tiger! leave thy reeking den;
Ye sandy Wastes! in rapid eddies rise;
O tear me from the whips and scorns of men!
13" Yet in their face superior beauty glows;
Are smiles the mien of Rapine and of Wrong?
Yet from their lip the voice of mercy flows,
And even religion dwells upon their tongue.
Of blissful haunts they tell, and brighter climes,
Where gentle maids, convey'd by Death, repair,
But stain'd with blood, and crimson'd o'er with crimes,
Say, shall they merit what they paint so fair?
15 "No; careless, hopeless of those fertile plains,
Rich by our toils, and by our sorrows gay,
They ply our labours, and enhance our pains,
And feign these distant regions to repay.
16" For them our tusky elephant expires;
For them we drain the mine's embowell'd gold ;
Where rove the brutal nations' wild desires ?-
Our limbs are purchased, and our life is sold!
17 "Yet shores there are, bless'd shores for us remain, And favour'd isles, with golden fruitage crown'd, Where tufted flowerets paint the verdant plain, Where every breeze shall med'cine every wound.
18" There the stern tyrant that embitters life,
Shall, vainly suppliant, spread his asking hand;
There shall we view the billows' raging strife,
Aid the kind breast, and waft his boat to land."
TAKING A VIEW OF THE COUNTRY FROM HIS RETIREMENT,
HE IS LED TO MEDITATE ON THE CHARACTER OF THE
WRITTEN AT THE TIME OF A RU
MOURED TAX UPON LUXURY, 1746.
1 Thus Damon sung-What though unknown to praise,
Umbrageous coverts hide my Muse and me,
Or mid the rural shepherds flow my days?
Amid the rural shepherds, I am free.
2 To view sleek vassals crowd a stately hall,
Say, should I grow myself a solemn slave?
To find thy tints, O Titian! grace my wall,
Forego the flowery fields my fortune
3 Lord of my time, my devious path I bend Through fringy woodland, or smooth-shaven lawn, Or pensile grove, or airy cliff ascend,
And hail the scene by Nature's pencil drawn.
4 Thanks be to Fate-though nor the racy vine,
Nor fattening olive, clothe the fields I rove,
Sequester'd shades and gurgling founts are mine,
And every sylvan grot the Muses love.
5 Here if my vista point the mouldering pile,
Where hood and cowl Devotion's aspect wore,
I trace the tottering relics with a smile,
To think the mental bondage is no more.
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