He, who, greeting thee, his lays
Now attunes to notes of praise,

Mute had been, opprefs'd with pain
Offpafm rheumatic. Hail again,

Prieftefs of HYGEIA's fhrine!
Still difpenfe her gift divine,

Still her vot'ries lead to HEALTH;
Elfe what profits Marlborough's wealth,
* Eliza's form, and † Stanhope's wit,
And all the eloquence of Pitt ‡.

* Eliza.] Lady Betty Spencer, daughter of the duke of Marl borough, married March 13, 1756, to Henry Earl of Pembroke.

ΥΓΙΑΙΝΕΙΝ ΜΕΝ ΑΡΙΣΤΟΝ ΤΟ ΔΕΥΤΕΡΟΝ ΚΑΛΟΝ

ΓΕΝΕΣΘΑΙ ΤΡΙΤΟΝ ΔΕ ΠΛΟΥΤΕΙΝ,

Earl of Chesterfield.

Afterwards Earl of Chatham,

Lucian

VACA

VACATION.

1758.

HENCE, fage, myfterious Law,

That fitt'ft with rugged brow and crabbed look
O'er thy black-letter'd book,

And the night-watching ftudent strik'st with awe;
Away with thy dull train,

Slow-pac'd Advice, Surmife, and fquint-ey'd Doubt;
Dwell with the noisy rout

Of bufy men, 'mid cities and throng'd halls,

Where Clamour ceafelefs bawls,

And Enmity and Strife thy flate fuftain.
But on me thy bleffings pour,
Sweet Vacation. Thee, of yore,
In all her youth and beauty's prime,
Summer bore to aged Time,

As he one funny morn beheld her
Tending a field of corn: the elder

There 'mid poppies red and blue,
Unfufpected nearer drew,

And,

And, with foftly-fliding pace

Haft'ning to a ftol'n embrace,

Fill'd her with thee; and joy and mirth

Hung on thy aufpicious birth.

Come, fweet goddess; full of play,

Ever unconfin'd and gay,

Bring the leisure Hours with thee
Leading on the Graces three
Dancing; nor let aught detain

The Holidays, a smiling train :
Whofe fair brows let Peace ferene
Crown with olive-branches green.
Bring too Health with ruddy cheek,
Lively air, and count'nance fleek,
Attended, as fhe's wont to be,
With all her jolly company

Of exercises, chace, and flight,
Active ftrength, and cunning fleight,
Nimble feats, and playful bouts,

Leaps of joy, and cheerful shouts,

Tricks and pranks, and sports and games,
Such as youthful Fancy frames.

And,

And, O kind goddefs, add to these
Cheerful Content, and placid Eafe;

Not her who fondly fitteth near,
Dull Indolence in elbow'd chair;

But Eafe who aids th' harmonious Nine,
Tuning their inftruments divine,

And without whom, in lofty ftrain,

Phœbus' client tries in vain

To raise the feeble voice above

The crowd, and catch the ear of Jove.

And do thou, Vacation, deign

To let me pafs among thy train:
So may I, thy vot❜ry true,
All thy flow'ry paths pursue,
Pleafed ftill with thee to meet

In fome friendly rural feat;

Where I gladfome oft survey

Nature in her beft array,

Woods and lawns and lakes between,

Fields of corn and hedges green,

Fallow grounds of tawny hue,

Diftant hills, and mountains blue;

On whofe ridge far off appears

A wood (the growth of many years)
Of awful oak, or gloomy pine,

Above th' horizon's level line

Rifing black fuch thofe of old

Where British Druids wont to hold

Solemn affemblies, and to keep

Their rites, unfolding myft'ries deep,
Such that fam'd Dodona's grove,

Sacred to prophetic Jove.

Oft I admire the verdant steep,
Spotted white with many a sheep,
While, in pastures rich below
Among the grazing cattle, flow
Moves the bull with heavy tread
Hanging down his lumpish head,
And the proud fteed neigheth oft'
Shaking his wanton mane aloft.
Or, traverfing the wood about,
The jingling pack horse-bells remote

I hear, amid the noontide ftillness,
Sing through the air with braffy thrillness ;

What