Ye lambkins that play'd at his feet,

Go bleat-and your mafter bemoan; His mufic was artlefs and fweet,

His manners as mild as your own.

III.

No verdure shall cover the vale,

No bloom on the bloffoms appear;
The fweets of the foreft fhall fail,
And winter difcolour the year.

No birds in our hedges fhall fing,
(Our hedges fo vocal before)
Since he that should welcome the fpring,
Salutes the gay feason no more.

IV.

His PHILLIS was fond of his praise,
And poets came round in a throng;
They liften'd-they envy'd his lays,
But which of them equal'd his fong?

Ye fhepherds, henceforward be mute,
For loft is the paftoral ftrain;

So give me my CORYDON's flute,

And thus-let me break it in twain.

DAMON

DAMON AND PHOEB E.

I.

WHEN the fweet rofy morning first peep'd

from the skies,

A loud finging lark bade the villagers rife ;
The cowflips were lively-the primroses gay,
And shed their beft perfumes to welcome the May:
The fwains and their fweethearts all rang'd on the

green,

Did homage to Phœbe—and hail'd her their Queen.

II.

Young Damon ftep'd forward: he fung in her praise, And Phoebe bestow'd him a garland of bays:

May this wreathe, faid the fair one, dear Lord of my

VOWS,

A crown for true merit, bloom long on thy brows: The fwains and their fweethearts that danc'd on the

green,

Approv'd the fond present of Phœbe their Queen.

III.

'Mongft lords and fine ladies, we fhepherds are told,

The dearest affections are barter'd for gold;

That difcord in wedlock is often their lot,

While Cupid and Hymen shake hands in a cot:

At the church with fair Phabe fince Damon has been, He's rich as a Monarch-fhe's bleft as a Queen.

A PAS

A

PASTORAL HYMN

To JANUS.

ON THE BIRTH OF THE QUEEN.

"Te primum pia thura rogent-te vota falutent,

te colat omnis honos."

MART. ad Janum.

I.

O JANUS, gentle fhepherds! raise a shrine:
His honours be divine!

And as to mighty PAN with homage bow:

To him, the virgin troop shall tribute bring; Let him be hail'd like the green-liveried spring, Spite of the wint'ry ftorms that ftain his brow.

II.

The pride, the glowing pageantry of MAY,
Glides wantonly away:

But JANUARY, in his rough-fpun veft,

Boafts the full bleffings that can never fade,
He that gave birth to the illuftrious maid,

Whofe beauties make the BRITISH MONARCH bleft!

Could

III.

Could the foft Spring with all her funny showers,
The frolic nurfe of flowers!

Or flaunting Summer, flush'd in ripen'd pride,
Could they produce a finish'd sweet so rare:
Or from his golden ftores, a gift fo fair,
Say, has the fertile Autumn e'er fupply'd ?

IV.

Henceforward let the hoary month be gay

As the white-hawthorn'd MAY!

The laughing goddefs of the Spring difown'd,
HER rofy wreath shall on His brows appear,
Old JANUS as he leads, shall fill the year,
And the lefs fruitful AUTUMN be dethron'd.

V.

Above the other months fupremely bleft,
Glad JANUS ftands confeft!

He can behold with retrospective face
The mighty bleffings of the year gone by:
Where, to connect a Monarch's nuptial tie,
Affembled ev'ry glory, ev'ry grace!

VI.

When he looks forward on the flattʼring year,
The golden hours appear:

As in the facred reign of Saturn, fair:

Britain fhall prove from this propitious date,
Her honours perfect, victories complete,
And boast the brightest hopes, a BRITISH HEIR.

The above little poem was written on fuppofition that her Majefty's birth-day was really in the month of January.

AN

AN

INSCRIPTION

On the House at MAVIS-BANK, near EDINBURGH,

SITUATED IN A GROVE.

Parva domus! nemerofa quies!
Sis tu, quoque noftris

Hofpitium, laribus, fubfidiumque diu!
Flora tuas ornet pofies, Pomona que menfas!
Conferat ut varias fertilis hortus opes!
Et volucres picta cingentes voce canora,
Retia fola canent quæ fibi tendit amor!
Floriferi colles, dulces mihi fæpe receffus
Dent, atque hofpitibus gaudia plena meis !
Concedatque Deus nunquam, vel fero fenefcas,
Seroque terrenas experiare vices!

Integra reddantur quæ plurima fæcula rodant
Detur, et ut fenio pulchrior eniteas.

THE