And spotlefs Vefta; while fupreme of fway
Remain'd the cloud-compeller. From the couch
Of Tethys sprang the fedgy-crowned race,
Who from a thousand urns, o'er every clime,
Send tribute to their parent; and from them
Are ye, O Naiads: Arethufa fair,
And tuneful Aganippe; that fweet name,
Bandufia; that foft family which dwelt
With Syrian Daphne; and the honour'd tribes
Belov'd of Pæon. Listen to my strain,

Daughters of Tethys: liften to your praise.

You, Nymphs, the winged offspring, which of old

Aurora to divine Aftræus bore,

Owns; and your aid befeecheth. When the might
Of Hyperion, from his noontide throne,
Unbends their languid pinions, aid from you
They afk: Favonius and the mild South-west

From

you relief implore. Your fallying streams
Fresh vigour to their weary limbs impart.
Again they fly, difporting; from the mead
Half ripen'd and the tender blades of corn,
To sweep the noxious mildew; or dispel
Contagious fteams, which oft the parched earth
Breathes on her fainting fons. From noon to eve,

Along

Along the river and the paved brook,

Afcend the cheerful breezes: hail'd of bards
Who, fast by learned Cam, the Mantuan lyre
Sollicit; nor unwelcome to the youth

Who on the heights of Tybur, all inclin'd
O'er rushing Anio, with a pious hand

The reverend scene delineates, broken fanes,
Or tombs, or pillar'd aqueducts, the pomp
Of ancient Time; and haply, while he fcans
The ruins, with a filent tear revolves
The fame and fortune of imperious Rome.

You too, O Nymphs, and your unenvious aid
The rural powers confefs; and ftill prepare
For you their grateful treasures. Pan commands,
Oft as the Delian king with Sirius holds

Ofta

The central heavens, the father of the

Commands his Dryads over your abodes

grove

To fpread their deepest umbrage. well the God
Remembereth.how indulgent ye fupplied

Your genial dews to nurse them in their prime.
Pales, the pafture's queen, where'er ye stray,
Pursues your steps, delighted; and the path
With living verdure clothes. Around your haunts
The laughing Chloris, with profusest hand;

Throws

Throws wide her blooms, her odours. Still with you Pomona feeks to dwell and o'er the lawns,

And o'er the vale of Richmond, where with Thames
Ye love to wander, Amalthea pours

Well-pleas'd the wealth of that Ammonian horn,
Her dower; unmindful of the fragrant ifles
Nyfæan or Atlantic. Nor can't thou,
(Albeit oft, ungrateful, thou doft mock
The beverage of the fober Naiad's, urn,
O Bromius, O Lenean) nor can't thou
Difown the powers whofe bounty, ill repaid,
With nectar feeds thy tendrils. Yet from me,
Yet, blameless Nymphs, from my delighted lyre,
Accept the rites your bounty well: may claim;
Nor heed the scoffings of the Edonian band.

For better praise awaits you. Thames, your fire,
As down the verdant slope your duteous rills
Defcend, the tribute ftately. Thames receives,
Delighted; and your piety applauds ;
And bids his copious tide roll on fecure,
For faithful are his daughters; and with words
Aufpicious gratulates the bark which, now
His banks forfaking, her adventurous wings
Yields to the breeze, with Albion's happy gifts

Extremest isles to blefs. And oft at morn,
When Hermes, from Olympus bent o'er earth
To bear the words of Jove, on yonder hill
Stoops lightly-failing; oft intent your springs
He views and waving o'er fome new-born stream
His bleft pacific wand, "And yet," he cries,

"Yet," cries the son of Maia, "though recluse
"And filent be your ftores, from you, fair Nymphs,
66 Flows wealth and kind fociety to men.

66 By you my function and my honour'd name

"Do I poffefs; while o'er the Boetic vale,

"Or through the towers of Memphis, or the palms

46

By facred Ganges water'd, I conduct

"The English merchant: with the buxom fleece
"Of fertile Ariconium while I clothe

"Sarmatian kings; or to the household Gods
"Of Syria, from the bleak Cornubian shore,
Difpenfe the mineral treasure which of old
"Sidonian pilots fought, when this fair land
"Was yet unconscious of thofe generous arts
"Which wife Phoenicia from their native clime
"Transplanted to a more indulgent heaven."
Such are the words of Hermes: fuch the praise,
O Naiads, which from tongues cœleftial waits

Your

Your bounteous deeds. From bounty iffueth power:
And those who, fedulous in prudent works,
Relieve the wants of nature, Jove repays

With generous wealth and his own feat on earth,
Fit judgments to pronounce, and curb the might
Of wicked men. Your kind unfailing urns
Not vainly to the hospitable arts

Of Hermes yield their ftore. For, O ye Nymphs,
Hath he not won the unconquerable queen

Of arms to court your friendship? You fhe owns
The fair affociates who extend her fway

Wide o'er the mighty deep; and grateful things
Of

you she uttereth, oft as from the fhore

Of Thames, or Medway's vale, or the green banks
Of Vecta, fhe her thundering navy leads
To Calpe's foaming channel, or the rough
Cantabrian coaft; her aufpices divine
Imparting to the fenate and the prince
Of Albion, to dismay barbaric kings,
The Iberian, or the Celt. The pride of kings
Was ever fcorn'd by Pallas: and of old

Rejoic'd the virgin, from the brazen prow

Of Athens o'er Ægina's gloomy furge,

To drive her clouds and ftorms; o'erwhelming all

The