Chance.
See God. Providence.

If Chance these Things bestow'd, and rules the Whole,
Why do the Signs in constant Order roll?
Observe set Times to shut and ope' the Day,
Find the same Track, nor once mistake their Way?
Why thro' their Course, as if by Laws confin'd,
Haste none away, and leave the rest behind?
Why in the Summer do we always spy,
The self--same Stars by Night, adorn the Sky?
Why do, each Winter, constantly, again
Others return to gild the azure Plain?
Why ev'ry Day does Phoebus' cheering Flame,
Shew the same World, and leave it still the same?--

And that the Sun ne'er drives the rising Day
From North to South, nor leaves the beaten Way:
That still at Night he hastens down the West,
Nor ever turns his Horses towards the East:
That Light, by just Degrees, the Moon adorns,
First shews, then bends, then fills her borrow'd Horns:
And that the Stars in constant Order roll,
Nor fall, nor change their Distance from the Pole,
Is not the Work of Chance; but speaks aloud
The wise and steady Conduct of a God.--
Change.

Earth rarifies to Dew: expanded more,
The subtile Dew in Air begins to soar:
Spreads as She flies, and weary of her Name,
Extenuates still, and changes into Flame.
Thus having, by Degrees, Perfection won,
Restless, they soon untwist the Web they spun:
And Fire begins to lose her radiant Hue,
Mixt with gross Air; and Air descends to Dew:
And Dew condensing does her Form foregoe,
And sink a heavy Lump of Earth below.--

Thus ev'n our Bodies daily Change receive:
Some Part of what was Their's before, they leave:
Nor are to Day what Yesterday they were:
Nor the whole Same to Morrow will appear.--

Thus are their Figures never at a stand;
But chang'd by Nature's innovating Hand;
All Things are alter'd, nothing is destroy'd:
For some new Show the shifted Scene's employ'd.
Then to be born, is to begin to be
Some other Thing we were not formerly:
And what we call to Die, is not t'appear,
Or be the Thing, which formerly we were.
Those very Elements, that we partake
Alive, when Dead, some other Bodies make:
Translated, shift their Form, and change their Course:
But Death on deathless Substance has no Force.--

The Face of Places, and their Forms, decay:
And that is solid Earth, that once was Sea:
Seas, in their Turn, retreating from the Shore,
Make solid Land, what Ocean was before:
And far from Strands are Shells of Fishes found,
And rusty Anchors fix'd on Mountain--Ground:
And what were Fields before, now wash'd and worn
By falling Floods from high, to Vallies turn,
And crumbling still descend to level Lands:
And Lakes, and trembling Bogs, are barren Sands:
And the parch'd Desart floats in Streams unknown,
Wondring to drink of Waters not her own.
Here Nature living Fountains opes; and there
Seals up the Wombs where living Fountains were.
Or Earthquakes stop their ancient Course, and bring
Diverted Streams to feed a distant Spring.--

--Whatever lies
In Earth, or flits in Air, or fills the Skies,
All suffer Change.--
Ev'n mighty Empires flourish, and decay;
By Turns command, and in their Turns obey.--

--Thro' the mighty Frame
There's nothing that continues still the same:
As Years wheel round, a Change must needs ensue,
Things lose their former State, and take a new;
Now tir'd with Births, the Fields refuse to bear,
Now, unmanur'd, prevent the Tiller's Care.
Vapours dilated tare the solid Earth:
Strong the Convulsions at the fatal Birth:
Vast Mountains sink: And now his large Command
Neptune extends, and Seas o'erspread the Land,
Contemning Shores: Thus Cities were o'erflow'd,
When, Mankind's single Heir, Deucalion stood
On steep Parnassus, to repair the Stock:
The spacious World possessing in one Rock.
And when bold Phaëton, with unequal Force,
The Chariot fill'd, and drove the flaming Horse:
The Earth took Fire, Heav'n saw the Stars recoil,
And frighted Nature fear'd one common Pile.

So much, as Years roll round, the mighty Frame
Is chang'd, yet still returns to be the same.--
Chaos.

Before the Seas, and this terrestrial Ball,
And Heav'n's high Canopy that covers all,
Nature one Face of Things, a Chaos show'd;
An indigested, heavy, formless Load:
Where ill--cemented Seeds in Discord jarr'd,
And all the Elements together warr'd.
No Sun was lighted up, the World to view,
No Moon did yet her blunted Horns renew:
Nor Earth, self--balanc'd, in the Air was plac'd,
Nor yet kind Ocean's Arms the Ball embrac'd.
Then Sea, and Air, and Earth confounded were,
Unstable was the Earth, and dark the Air,
The Sea unnavigable.--
No certain Form on any was imprest,
All were confus'd, and each disturb'd the Rest:
The Cold and Hot, the Dry and Humid fight,
The Soft, and Hard, the Heavy and the Light.

But God and careful Nature interpose,
To reconcile the elemental Foes:
He Earth from Heav'n, and Sea from Earth disjoyns,
And from gross Air the purer Heav'n refines.
Then by his prudent Care, the Mass controul'd,
Began its blind Materials to unfold:
He to each Portion proper Seats assigns,
And all the beauteous Whole in Peace combines.--
Charioteer.

As when the Racers from their Barriers start,
And whirl around the Goal: the Charioteer
Vainly attempts to check the flying Steeds:
Himself is born away: the dusty Car
Swift smokes along: nor, bounding, hears the Rein.--

With Force less rapid, starting from their Bounds,
The Chariots whirl, and smoke along the Field:
Less earnestly the eager Charioteers
O'er their swift Horses shake the waving Reins,
Hang prone upon the Lash, and bending fly.--
Thrown from a Chariot.

The frighted Horses pricking up their Ears
A while stood trembling:--sudden then they flew,
And o'er the Rocks the rattling Chariot drew.
In vain to stop the hot--mouth'd Steeds I try'd,
And bending backward all my Strength apply'd:
The frothy Foam in driving Flakes distains
The Bits, and Bridles, and bedews the Reins.
But though as yet untam'd they ran, at length
Their heady Rage had tir'd beneath my Strength,
When, in the Spoke a Stump entangling, tore
The shatter'd Wheel, and from its Axle bore.
The Shock impetuous toss'd me from the Seat;
Caught in the Reins beneath my Horses' Feet,
My reeking Guts dragg'd out alive, around
The jagged Stump my trembling Nerves were wound.
Then stretch'd the well--knit Limbs, the Pieces hal'd,
Part stuck behind, and Part the Chariot trail'd:
Till midst my cracking Joints, and breaking Bones,
I breath away my weary'd Soul in Groans.
No Parts, distinguish'd from the rest, were found,
But all my Parts an universal Wound.--
Charm.
See Circe. Enchantress. Magic Power.

Bring hither Water, bind the Altars round
With a soft Fillet: fertile Vervain burn,
And strongest Frankincense: that I may try
With sacred Magic Rites to turn the Brain
Of him I love:--Nought, here but Charms we want.

First these three Lists distinct with Colours three
Round Thee I bind: thrice round the Altars lead
Thy Image: Heav'n uneven Numbers loves.

Bring Daphnis, bring him from the Town, my Charms!
Three Colours, Amaryllis, in three Knots
Industrious knit: quick, Amaryllis, quick:
Knit them; and say,--'Tis Venus' Knot I tye.--

As this Clay hardens, and this Wax grows soft
By the same Fire: so Daphnis by my Love.
Crumble this Cake, and with Bitumen burn
The crackling Bays:--me cruel Daphnis burns:
And I for cruel Daphnis burn these Bays.

May Love, like that with which the Heifer raves,
When thro' the Thickets, and high Woods, fatigu'd
She seeks the Bull, then near a River's Stream
Restless lies down, amidst the verdant Sedge,
Nor minds at latest Ev'ning to return:
May such Love Daphnis seize, nor I incline
To ease his Frenzy, or abate his Pain.

These Relicks, these dear Pledges of himself,
With me, long since, the faithless Shepherd left:
These now, ev'n in the Entrance, I commit,
O Earth, to Thee: Daphnis these Pledges owe.

These Ashes, Amaryllis, forth convey:
Throw them into the River, o'er thy Head,
And look not back: Daphnis with these I'll try:
He nought the Gods, nor ought our Charms regards.

Behold, the Ashes, while I thus delay
To bear them hence, now lick the Altar round
With trembling Flames, spontaneous:--May it prove
Auspicious!--Something sure, I know not what,
There is: and Hylax in the Entrance bays.
May I believe it? Or do Those who love
Dream of the Bliss which fondly they desire?--

No more:--my Daphnis comes! no more, my Charms:
He comes, from Town, to my desiring Arms.--
Chastity.

In Saturn's Reign, at Nature's early Birth,
There was that Thing call'd Chastity on Earth:
When in a narrow Cave, their common Shade,
The Sheep, the Shepherds, and their Gods were laid:
When Reeds, and Leaves, and Hides of Beasts were spread
By Mountain--Housewives, for their homely Bed,
And mossy Pillows rais'd, for the rude Husband's Head.
Unlike the Niceness of our modern Dames,
(Affected Nymphs, with new affected Names
The Cynthias, and the Lesbias of our Years,
Who for a Sparrow's Death dissolve in Tears.
Those first unpolish'd Matrons, big and bold,
Gave suck to Infants of gigantick Mould:
Rough as their savage Lords who rang'd the Wood,
And fat with Acorns, belch'd their windy Food.--

Some thin Remains of Chastity appear'd
Ev'n under Jove, but Jove without a Beard:
Before the servile Greeks had learn'd to swear
By Heads of Kings: while yet the bounteous Year
Her common Fruits in open Fields expos'd,
E'er Thieves were fear'd, or Gardens were inclos'd.
At length affronted Justice upwards flew,
And Chastity with her:--
From Earth to Heav'n the Sisters both withdrew.

From that old Æra whoring did begin,
So venerably ancient is the Sin:
Adult'rers then invade the nuptial State,
And Marriage Beds creak'd with a foreign Weight.
All other Ills did Iron Times adorn,
But Whores and Silver in one Age were born.--

I hear your cautious Counsel, you would say,
Keep close your Women under Lock and Key:
But who shall keep those Keepers? Women, nurst
In Craft, begin with those, and bribe them first.
The Sex is turn'd all Whore: they love the Game:
And Mistresses, and Maids, are both the same.--

No ill Man's happy: least of all is He
Whose Study 'tis to ruin Chastity.--

No Art can Chastity when lost restore,
Once forfeited 'tis ne'er recover'd more.--

Strait with the hidden Steel she pierc'd her Side,
And at her Father's Feet fell down and dy'd:
Yet, as she fell, her dying Thoughts contriv'd,
To fall as modestly as she had liv'd.--

She's truly chast, and worthy of that Name,
Who hates the Ill, as well as fears the Shame:
And that vile Woman whom Restraint keeps in,
Tho' she forbear the Act, has done the Sin,
Spies, Locks, and Bolts, may keep her brutal Part:
But Thou'rt an odious Cuckold in her Heart.--

Unmanner'd I may be, but not unchast;
Nor is my Fame with any Stain defac'd:
Tho' in my Face there's no affected Frown,
Nor a feign'd Niceness in my Carriage shown,
My Honour I preserve without a Stain,
Nor has my Love made any Coxcomb vain.—