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The poet in th' astronomer forgot :

The schoolmen's systems now my mind em-
ploy'd,

Their crystal Spheres, their Atoms and their
Void.

Newton and Halley all my soul inspir'd,
And numbers less than calculations fir'd;
Descartes and Euclid, shar'd my varying
breast,

And plans and problems all my soul pos-
sess'd.

Less pleas'd to sing inspiring Phoebus' ray
Than mark the flaming comet's devious

way.

The pale moon dancing on the silver stream,
And the mild lustre of her trembling beam,
No more could charm my philosophic pride,
Which sought her influence on the flowing
tide.

No more ideal beauties fir'd my thought,
Which only facts and demonstrations sought.
Let common eyes, I said, with transport
view

The earth's bright verdure, or the heav'n's
soft blue,

False is the pleasure, the delight is vain,
Colours exist but in the vulgar brain.
I now with Locke trod metaphysic soil,
Now chas'd coy Nature through the tracts
of Boyle;

To win the wreath of Fame, by Science
twin'd,

More than the love of science fir'd my mind.
I seized on Learning's superficial part,
And title page and index got by heart;
Some learn'd authority 1 still would bring
To grace my talk and prove-the plainest
thing:

This the chief transport I from science
drew,

That all might know how much Cleora
knew.

Not love, but wonder, I aspir'd to raise,
And miss'd affection, while I grasp'd at
praise.

Past. To me, no joys could pomp or fame
impart :

Far softer thoughts possess'd my virgin
heart.

No prudent parent form'd my ductile youth,
Nor led my footsteps in the paths of truth.
Left to myself to cultivate my mind,
Pernicious novels their soft entrance find;
Their pois'nous influence led my mind
astray;

I sigh'd for something, what, I could not say.
I fancy'd virtues which were never seen,
And dy'd for heroes who have never been;
I sicken'd with disgust at sober sense,
And loath'd the pleasures worth and truth
dispense;

I scorn'd the manners of the world I saw ;
My guide was fiction, and romance my law.
Distemper'd thoughts my wand'ring fancy
fill,

Each wind a zephyr, and each brook a rill;
I found adventures in each common tale,
And talk'd and sigh'd to ev'ry passing gale;

Convers'd with echoes, woods, and shades, and bow'rs,

Cascades and grottos, fields and streams and flow'rs.

Retirement, more than crowds, had learn'd to please;

For treach'rous Leisure feeds the soft dis

ease.

There, plastic Fancy ever moulds at will
Th' obedient image with a dang'rous skill;
The charming fiction with alluring art,
Awakes the passions, and infects the heart.
A fancy'd heroine, an ideal wife;
I loath'd the offices of real life.
These all were dull and tame, I long'd to
prove

The gen'rous ardours of unequal love;
Some marvel still my wayward heart must
strike,

Or prince, or peasant, each had charms
alike:

Whate'er inverted nature, custom, law,
With joy I courted, and with transport saw.
In the dull walk of Virtue's quiet round,
No aliment my fever'd fancy found;
Each duty to perform observant still
But those which God and Nature bade me
fill.

Eliza (to Urania.) O save me from the
errors of deceit,

And all the dangers wealth and beauty

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Yet still remote from happiness I stray,
No guiding star illumes my trackless way,
My mind, nor wit misleads, nor passion
goads,

But the dire rust of indolence corrodes;
This eating canker, with malignant stealth,
Destroys the vital pow'rs of moral health.
Till now, I've slept on Life's tumultuous
tide,

No principle of action for my guide.
From ignorance my chief misfortunes flow;
I never wish'd to learn, or car'd to know,
With ev'ry folly slow-pac'd Time beguil'd:
In size a woman, but in soul a child.

In slothful ease my moments crept away,
And busy trifles fill'd the tedious day;
I liv'd extempore, as Fancy fir'd,
As chance directed, or caprice inspir'd:
Too indolent to think, too weak to choose,
Too soft to blame, too gentle to refuse;
My character was stamp'd from those
around:

The figures they, my mind the simple ground.

Fashion, with monstrous forms, the canvass stain'd,

Till nothing of my genuine self remain'd;
My pliant soul from chance receiv'd its bent,
And neither good perform'd, nor evil meant.
From right to wrong, from vice to virtue
thrown,

No character possessing of its own.
To shun fatigue I made my only law;
Yet ev'ry night my wasted spirits saw.
Noplane'er mark'd the duties of the day,
Which stole in tasteless apathy away:
No energy inform'd my languid mind!
No joy the idle e'er must hope to find.
Weak indecision all my actions sway'd;
The day was lost before the choice was
made.

Though more to folly than to guilt inclin'd,
A drear vacuity possess'd my mind;
Too old with infant sports to be amus'd,
Unfit for converse, and to books unus'd,
The wise avoided me, they could not hear
My senseless prattle with a patient ear.

Teaches each headstrong passion to control,
And pours her lib'ral lesson on the soul!
Ideas grow from books their natʼral food,
As aliment is chang'd to vital blood.
Though faithless Fortune strip her vot'ry
bare,

Though Malice haunt him, and though Envy tear,

Nor Time, nor Chance, nor Want, can e'er destroy

This soul-felt solace, and this bosom joy!

Cleora. We thus united by one common fate,

Each discontented with her present state, One common scheme pursue; resolv'd to know

If Happiness can e'er be found below.

Urania. Your candour, beauteous dam-
sels, I approve,

Your foibles pity, and your merits love.
But ere I say the methods you must try
To gain the glorious prize for which you
sigh,

Your fainting strength and spirits must be cheer'd

With a plain meal, by Temperance prepar'd.

Florella. No luxury our humble board

attends;

But Love and Concord are its smiling friends.

SONG. I.

HAIL artless Simplicity beautiful maid, In the genuine attractions of Nature array'd; Let the rich and the proud, and the gay and the vain,

Still laugh at the graces that move in thy

train.

II.

No charm in thy modest allurements they find;

The pleasures they follow a sting leave behind.

Cancriminal passion enrapture the breast Like Virtue, with Peace and Serenity blest? III.

O would you Simplicity's precepts attend, Like us, with delight at her altar you'd bend; The pleasures she yields would with joy be embrac'd

You'd practise from virtue and love them from taste.

IV.

The linnet enchants us the bushes among;

I sought retreat, but found, with strange sur-Though cheap the musician, yet sweet is prise,

Retreat is pleasant only to the wise; The crowded world by vacant minds is sought,

Because it saves th' expense and pain of thought.

Disgusted, restless, ev'ry plan amiss, I come with these in search of Happiness. Urania. O happy they for whom, in early

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the song;

We catch the soft warbling in air as it floats, And with ecstacy hang on the ravishing

notes.

V.

Our water is drawn from the clearest of springs,

And our food, nor disease nor satiety brings; Our mornings are cheerful, our labours are blest,

Our ev'nings are pleasant, our nights crown'd with rest.

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VII.

And when long I the burden of life shall have borne,

[corn, And Death with his sickle shall cut the ripe Resign'd to my fate, without murmur or sigh, [and die. I'll bless the kind summons, and lie down

Euphe. Thus sweetly pass the hours of rural ease!

Here life is bliss, and pleasures truly please! Past. With joy we view the dangers we have past,

Assur'd we've found felicity at last.

Flor. Esteem none happy by their outward air;

All have their portion of allotted care. Though wisdom wears the semblance of content,

When the full heart with agony is rent,
Secludes its anguish from the public view,
And by secluding learns to conquer too :
Denied the fond indulgence to complain,
The aching heart its peace may best regain.
By love directed, and in mercy meant,
Are trials suffer'd and afflictions sent;
To curb the insolence of prosp'rous Pride,
To stem impetuous Passion's furious tide,
To wean from earth, and bid our wishes soar
To that blest cline where pain shall be no

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sure,

Though rich himself consented to be poor. Taught by his precepts, by his practice Her will submitted, and resigned her taught, thought, [abode, Through faith, she looks beyond this dark To scenes of glory near the throne of God. Enter URANIA, SLYVIA, ELIZA. Ura. Since gentle nymphs! my friendship to obtain,

You've sought with eager step this peaceful plain,

My honest counsel with attention hear, Though plain, well meant, imperfect, yet sincere;

What from maturer years alone I've known,

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What time has taught me, and experience | Excision spar'd, it taints the vital part, - shown, [grace, And spreads its deadly venom to the heart. Eup. Unhappy those to bliss who seek the way,

No polish'd phrase my artless speech will
But unaffected Candour fill its place :

My lips shall Flatt'ry's smooth deceit refuse,
And truth be all the eloquence I'll use.
Know then, that life's chief happiness and

Wo,

From good or evil education flow;

And hence our future dispositions rise;
The vice we practise, or the good we prize.
When pliant Nature any form receives,
That precept teaches or example gives,
The yielding mind with virtue should be
grac'd,

For first impressions seldom are effac'd.
Then holy habits, then chastis'd desires,
Should regulate disorder'd Nature's fires.
If Ignorance then, her iron sway maintain,.
If Prejudice preside, or Passion reign,
If Vanity preserve her native sway,
If selfish tempers cloud the op'ning day,
If no kind hand impetuous Pride restrain,
But for the wholesome curb we give the rein;
The erring principle is rooted fast,

And fix'd the habit that through life may
last.

Past. With heartfelt penitence we now deplore

Those squander'd hours, that time can ne'er

restore.

Ura. Euphelia sighs for flatt'ry, dress,
and show:

The common sources these of female wo!
In Beauty's sphere pre-eminence to find,
She slights the culture of th' immortal mind:
I would not rail at Beauty's charming pow'r,
I would but have her aim at something more;
The fairest symmetry of form or face,
From intellect receives its highest grace;
The brightest eyes ne'er dart such piercing
fires,

As when a soul irradiates and inspires:
Beauty with reason needs not quite dispense,
And coral lips may sure speak common

sense:

Beauty makes Virtue lovelier still appear;
Virtue makes Beauty more divinely fair!
Confirms its conquests o'er the willing mind,
And those your beauties gain, your virtues

bind.

In pow'r superior, or in splendour gay!
Inform'd by thee, no more vain man shall
find

The charm of flatt'ry taint Euphelia's mind:
By thee instructed still my views shall rise,
Nor stop at any mark beneath the skies.

Urania. In fair Laurinda's uninstructed
mind,

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Nor waste the precious hours in vain despair:
Associate with the good, attend the sage,
And meekly listen to experienc'd age.
What, if acquirements you have fail'd to
gain,

Such as the wise may want the bad attain;
Yet still Religion's sacred treasures lie
Inviting, open, plain to ev'ry eye;
For ev'ry age, for ev'ry genius fit,
Nor limited to science nor to wit;
Not bound by taste, to genius not confin'd,
But all may learn the truth for all design'd.
Though low the talents, and th' acquire-
ments small,

The gift of grace divine is free to all;
She calls, solicits, courts you to be blest,
And points to mansions of eternal rest.

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goal;

For nought our higher progress can preclude
So much as thinking we're already good.
The human heart ne'er knows a state of rest:
Bad leads to worse, and better tends to best.

Yet would ambition's fire your bosom fill,
Its flame repress not-be ambitious still;
Let nobler views your best attention claim,We either gain or lose, we sink or rise,
The object chang'd, the energy the same :
Those very passions which our heart invade,
If rightly pointed, blessings may be made.
Indulge the true ambition to excel
In that best art-the art of living well.
But first extirpate from your youthful breast
That rankling torment which destroys your

Nor rests our struggling Nature till she dies:
| Then place the standard of perfection high;
Pursue and grasp it, c'en beyond the sky.

rest:

All other faults may take a higher aim,
But hopeless Envy must be still the same.
Some other passions may be turn'd to good,
But Envy must subdue, or be subdu'd."
This fatal gangrene to our moral life,
Rejects all palliatives, and asks the knife;

Lau. O that important Time could back

return

[mourn!

Those misspent hours whose loss I deeply
Accept, just Heav'n, my penitence sincere,
My heartfelt anguish, and my fervent
pray'r!

Ura. I pity Pastorella's hapless fate,
By nature gentle, gen'rous, mild, and great;
One false propension all her pow'rs con-
fin'd,

And chain'd her finer faculties of mind;

Yet ev'ry virtue might have flourish'd there, With early culture and maternal care.

If good we plant not, vice will fiil the place, And rankest weeds the richest soils deface. Learn, how ungovern'd thoughts the mind pervert,

And to disease all nourishment convert.
Ah! happy she, whose wisdom learns to find
A healthful fancy, and a well train'd mind!
A sick man's wildest dreams less wild are
found,

Than the day-visions of a mind unsound.
Disorder'd phantasies indulg'd too much,
Like harpies, always taint whate'er they
touch.

Fly soothing Solitude! fly vain Desire! Fly such soft verse as fans the dang'rous fire!

Seek action; 'tis the scene which Virtue loves ;

The vig'rous sun not only shines, but moves. From sickly thoughts with quick abhor

rence start,

And rule the fancy if you'd rule the heart:
By active goodness, by laborious schemes,
Subdue wild visions, and delusive dreams.
No earthly good a Christian's views should
bound,

For ever rising should his aims be found.
Leave that fictitious good your fancy feigns
For scenes where real bliss eternal reigns:
Look to that region of immortal joys,
Where fear disturbs not, nor possession
cloys;

Beyond what Fancy forms of rosy bow'rs,
Or blooming chaplets of unfading flow'rs;
Fairer than e'er imagination drew,
Or poet's warmest visions ever knew.
Press eager onward to those blissful plains
Where life eternal, joy perpetual reigns.
Past. I mourn the errors of my thought-
less youth,

And long, with thee, to tread the paths of truth.

Ura. Learning is all the bright Cleora's aim;

She seeks the loftiest pinnacle of fame;
On interdicted ground presumes to stand,
And grasps at Science with a vent'rous
hand:

The privilege of man she dares invade,
And tears the chaplet from his laurell'd

head.

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rest:

Which feels the graceful, and rejects the [rules Which finds the right by shorter ways than An art which Nature teaches-not the schools.

Thus conq'ring Sevigne the heart obtains,
While Dacier only admiration gains.

Know, fair aspirer, could you even hope,
To speak like Stonehouse, or to write like
Pope,
To all the wonders of the poet's lyre,
Join all that taste can add, or wit inspire.
With every various pow'r of learning
fraught;

The flow of style and the sublime of thought;
Yet, if the milder graces of the mind,
Graces peculiar to the sex design'd,
Good nature, patience, sweetness void of

art;

If these embellish'd not your virgin heart,
You might be dazzling, but not truly bright;
Might glare, but not emit an useful light;
A meteor, not a star, you would appear;
For woman shines but in her proper sphere.
Accomplishments by Heav'n were sure
design'd

Less to adorn than to amend the mind:
Each should contribute to this gen'ral end,
And all to virtue, as their centre, tend.
Th' acquirements, which our best.esteem
invite,

Should not project, but soften, mix, unite:
In glaring light not strongly be display'd,
But sweetly lost, and melted into shade.

Cleora. Confus'd with shame, to thy re-
proofs I bend,

Thou best adviser, and thou truest friend!
From thee I'll learn to judge and act aright,
Humility with Knowledge to unite :
The finish'd character must both combine,
The perfect woman must in either shine.

Ura. Florella shines adorn'd with every

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