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FROM THE

DISPENSARY.

CANT O VI.

This fixth canto of the Difpenfary, by Dr. Garth, has more merit than the whole preceding part of the poem, and, as I am told, in the first edition of this work it is more correct than as here exhibited; but that edition I have not been able to find. The praises bestowed on this poem are more than have been given to any other; but our approbation, at prefent, is cooler, for it owed part of its fame to party.

ND now the Delegate prepares to go

below.

Thrice did the goddess, with her facred wand,

The pavement strike; and strait, at her command, The willing furface opens, and defcries

A deep defcent, that leads to nether skies.

Hygeia to the filent region tends;

And, with his heav'nly guide, the Charge defcends,

Thus Numa, when to hallow'd caves retir'd,

Was by Egeria guarded and infpir'd.
Within the chambers of the globe they spy
The beds where sleeping vegetables lie,
Till the glad fummons of a genial ray
Unbinds the glebe, and calls them out to day.

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Hence Pancies trick themselves in various hue,
And hence Junquils derive their fragrant dew;
Hence the Carnation, and the bashful Rose,
Their virgin blushes to the morn disclose.
Hence the chafte Lilly rifes to the light,
Unveils her fnowy breasts and charms the fight.
Hence arbours are with twining greens array'd,
T'oblige complaining lovers with their fhade:
And hence on Daphne's laurel'd forehead grow
Immortal wreaths for Phoebus and Naffau.

The infects here their ling'ring trance furvive:
Benumb'd they feem, and doubtful if alive.
From Winter's fury hither they repair,
And stay for milder skies and fofter air.
Down to these cells obfcener reptiles creep;
Where hateful Nutes and painted Lizzards fleep.
Where fhiv'ring Snakes the fummer Solstice wait,
Unfurl their painted folds, and slide in state.
Here their new form the numb'd Erucæ hide,
Their num'rous feet in flender bandage ty'd;
Soon as the kindling year begins to rife,
This upftart race their native clod despise,
And, proud of painted wings, attempt the skies.
Now those profounder regions they explore,

Where metals ripen in vast cakes of oar.
Here, fullen to the fight, at large is spread,
The dull unwieldy mass of lumpish Lead.
There, glimm'ring in their dawning beds, are seen
The afpiring feeds of sprightly Tin.

The Copper sparkles next in ruddy streaks;

And in the gloom betrays its glowing cheeks.

The Silver, then, with bright and burnish'd grace,
Youth, and a blooming luftre in its face,

To th' arms of those more yielding metals flies,
And in the folds of their embraces lies:

So close they cling, fo ftubbornly retire,
Their love's more vi'lent than the chymift's fire.
Near these the Delegate, with wonder, fpies
Where floods of living filver ferpentize :
Where richest metals their bright looks put on,
And golden ftreams through amber channels run.
Where Light's gay God defcends to ripen gems,.
And lend a luftre brighter than his beams.

Here he observes the fubterranean cells,
Where wanton nature sports in idle fhells.
Some helicoeids, fome conical appear;
These mitres emulate, thofe turbans are.
Here marcafites in various figure wait,
To ripen to a true metallic ftate:

Till drops, that from impending rocks descend,
Their fubftance petrify, and progress end.
Nigh, livid feas of kindled fulphur flow,
And whilft, enraged, their fiery furges glow,
Convulfions in the lab'ring mountains rife,
And hurl their melted vitals to the skies.

He views, with horror, next, the noisy cave,
Where, with hoarfe dinns, imprison'd tempefts rave;;
Where clam'rous hurricanes attempt their flight,,
Or, whirling in tumultuous eddies, fight.
The warring winds, unmov'd, Hygeia heard,
Brav'd their loud jars, but much for Celfus fear'd.
Andromeda,

L. 6.

Andromeda, fo, whilft her hero fought,
Shook for his danger, but her own forgot.
And now the goddefs, with her charge, defcends
Where scarce one chearful glimpse their steps be
friends.

Here his forfaken feat old Chaos keeps,
And, undisturb'd by Form, in filence fleeps.
A grifly wight, and hideous to the eye;
An aukward lump of fhapelefs anarchy.
With fordid
age his features are defac'd ;

His lands unpeopled, and his countries wafte.
To thefe dark realms much learned lumber creeps
There copious M fafe in filence fleeps.
Where mushroom libels in oblivion lie,
And, foon as born, like other monsters, die.
Upon a couch of jett, in these abodes,
Dull Night, his melancholy confort, nods.
No ways and means their cabinet employ ;
But their dark hours they wafte in barren joy.
Nigh this recefs, with terror, they furvey
Where Death maintains his dread tyrannic fway:
In the clofe covert of a cypress grove,
Where goblins frisk and airy spectres rove,
Yawns a dark cave, with awful horror, wide ;
And there the monarch's triumphs are defcry'd.
Confus'd, and wildly huddled, to the eye,
The beggar's pouch and prince's purple lie.
Dim lamps with fickly rays scarce seem to glow;
Sighs heave in mournful moans, and tears o'erflow..
Reftlefs Anxiety, forlorn Defpair,

And all the faded family of Care;

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