That not in Pancy; Maze he wonderd long but stoopil to Sruth anemoralizd hise tong. Ep.to D? Arbtnivaat WINDSOR-FOREST. To the Right Honourable George Lord LANSDOWN. TH HY forets, Windfor! and thy green retreats, the Monarch's and the Muse's seats, The Groves of Eden, vanish'd now so long, 10 NOT E S. This Poem was written at two different times: the first part of it, which relates to the country in the year 1704, at the same time with the Pastorals : the latter part was not added till the year 2713, in which it was published. VARIATIONS. VER. 3. etc. Originally thus, Chafte goddess of the woods, IMITATIONS. neget quis carmina Gallo ? Virg. 1 Where order in variety we see, 15 And where, tho' all things differ, all agree. Here waving groves a chequer'd scene display, And part admit, and part exclude the day; As some coy nymph her lover's warm address Nor quite indulges, nor can quite repress. 20 There, interspers’d in lawns and op'ning glades, Thin trees arise that thun each other's shades. Here in full light the rufset plains extend: There, wrapt in clouds the bluish hills ascend. Ev'n the wild heath displays her purple dyes, 25 And 'midit the desert, fruitful fields arise, That crown'd with tufted trees and springing corn, Like verdant ifles the fable waste adorn. Let India boaft her plants, nor envy we The weeping amber, or the balmy tree, While by our oaks the precious loads are born, And realms commanded which those trees adorn. Not proud Olympus yields a nobler fight, Tho' Gods assembled grace his tow'ring height, Than what more humble mountains offer here, 35 Where, in their blessings, all those Gods appear. See Pan with flocks, with fruits Pomona crown'd, Here blushing Flora paints th' enamel'd ground, Here Ceres' gifts in vaving prospećt stand, And nodding tempt the joyful reaper's hand; 40 Rich Industry fits smiling on the plains, And peace and plenty tell, a STUART reigns. Not thus the land appear'd in ages past, A dreary desert, and a gloomy walte, 30 VARIATIONS, Why should I ling our better funs or air, To favage beasts and savage laws a prey, 45 And kings more furious and severe than they; Who claim'd the skies, dispeopled air and floods, The lonely lords of empty wilds and woods: Cities laid walle, they storm'd the dens and caves (For wiser brutes were backward to be slaves), 50 What could be free, when lawless beasts obey'd, And ev’n the elements a Tyrant sway'd ? In vain kind seafons swell'd the teeming grain, Soft sow'rs distillid, and suns grew warm in vain; The swain with tears his frustrate labour yields, 55 And familh'd dies amidit his ripen'd fields. What wonder then, a beast or subject flain Were equal crimes in a despotic reign? Both doom'd alike for sportive Tyrants bled, But while the subject starv'd, the beast was fed. 60 Proud Nimrod first the bloody chase began, A nighty hunter, and his prey was man: Our haughty Norman boasts that barb'rous name, And makes his trembling flaves the royal game. The fields are ravith'd from th' induftrious swains, 65 From men their cities, and from Gods their fanes : NOT E S. VER. 45. Savage laws] The Forest Laws. VER, 65. The fields are ravish'd, etc.] Alluding to the destruc. tion made in the New Forest, and the tyrannies exercised there by William I. VARIATIONS. From towns laid waste, to dens and caves they ran (For who first stoop'd to be a Nave was man). VER. 57, etc. No wonder savages cr subjects Bain But subjects starv'd, while savages were fed. It was originally thus, but the word lavages is not properly applied to beasts but to men; which occafioned the alteration, I MITATIONS. VER. 65. The fields are ravish'd from th' induftrious frains, From men their cities, and from Gods their fanes :] Translated from |