Eurydice the woods,
Eurydice the floods,
Eurydice the rocks, and hollow mountains rung.

115

VII.

Mufic the fierceft grief can charm,
And fate's fevereft rage difarm:

Mufic can soften pain to cafe,
And make despair and madness please:
Our joys below it can improve,
And antedate the blifs above.

Borne on the swelling notes our fouls afpire,
While folemn airs improve the facred fire;

And Angels lean from heav'n to hear.
Of Orpheus now no more let Poets tell,
To bright Cecilia greater power is giv'n;
His numbers rais'd a fhade from hell,

Hers lift the foul to heav'n.

120

This the divine Cecilia found,

And to her Maker's praise confin'd the found. 125
When the full organ joins the tuneful quire,
Th'immortal pow'rs incline their ear ;

130

TWO

CHORU S's

TO THE

Tragedy of BRUTUS.

CHORUS of ATHENIANS.

STROPHE

YE

E fhades, where facred truth is fought; Groves, where immortal Sages taught: Where heav'nly vifions Plato fir'd, And Epicurus lay inspir'd! In vain your guiltlefs laurels ftood Unfpotted long with human blood. War, horrid war, your thoughtful walks invadeɛ, And fteel now glitters in the Mufes fhades.

5

REMARKS,

THESE two Chorus's were compofed to enrich a very poor Play; but they had the ufual effect of ill-adjusted Ornaments, only to make its meannefs the more confpicuous.

Altered from Shakespear by the Duke of Buckingham, at whofe defire thefe two Chorus's were compofed to fupply as many, wanting in his play. They were fet many years afterwards by the famous Bononcini, and performed at Buckinghamhoufe. P.

VER. 3. Where heavenly Vifions Plato fir'd, And Epicurus, lay infpir'd!] The propriety of thefe lines arifes from hence, that Brutus, one of the Heroes of this Play, was of the Old Aca demy; and Caffius, the other, was an Epicurean; but this had not been enough to juftify the Poet's choice, had not Plato's fyftem of Divinity, and Epicurus's fyftem of Morals, been the moft rational amongst the various fects of Greek Philofophy.

ANTISTROPHE

I.

Oh heav'n-born fifters! fource of art!
Who charm the fenfe, or mend the heart;
Who lead fair Virtue's train along,
Moral Truth, and mystic Song!
To what new clime, what distant sky,
Forfaken, friendless, fhall ye fly?

Say, will ye bless the bleak Atlantic shore?
Or bid the furious Gaul be rude no more?

'Till fome new Tyrant lifts his purple hand,
And civil madnefs tears them from the land.

II

15

STROPHE II.

When Athens finks by fates unjust,
When wild Barbarians fpurn her duft;
Perhaps ev❜n Britain's utmost shore
Shall cease to blush with ftranger's gore, 20
See Arts her favage fons controul,
And Athens rifing near the pole!

REMARKS.

VER. 12. Moral truth AND myftic fong.] He had expreffed himself better had he faid,

"Moral truth IN myftic fong!

In the Antiftrophe he turns from Philofophy to Mythology;

ANTISTROPHE II.

Ye Gods! what justice rules the ball!
Freedom and Arts together fall;
Fools grant whate'er Ambition craves,
And men, once ignorant, are slaves.
Oh curs'd effects of civil hate,

In ev'ry age, in ev'ry state!

Still, when the luft of tyrant pow'r fucceeds,
Some Athens perishes, fome Tully bleeds.

25

30

CHORUS of Youths and Virgins.

SEMICHORUS.

O

H Tyrant Love! haft thou poffeft The prudent, learn'd, and virtuous breast? Wisdom and wit in vain reclaim, And Arts but foften us to feel thy flame. Love, foft intruder, enters here, But entring learns to be fincere. Marcus with blushes owns he loves, And Brutus tenderly reproves. Why, Virtue, doft thou blame defire, Which Nature has imprest?

Why, Nature, doft thou fooneft fire
The mild and gen'rous breast?

CHORUS.

approve;

Love's purer flames the Gods
The Gods and Brutus bend to love:

5

10

REMARK S.

VER. 9. Why Virtue, etc.] In allufion to that famous conceit of Guarini,

"Se il peccare è sì dolce, etc.