SOME ADDITIONAL STANZAS T O ASTOLFO'S VOYAGE TO THE MOON, IN ARI OS TO.. I.. WHEN now Aftolfo, ftor'd within a vafe, Orlando's wits had fafely brought away ; He turn'd his eyes towards another place, Of finest crystal were those bottles made, Yet what was there inclos'd he could not see :. Wherefore in humble wife the Saint he pray'd, To tell what treasure there conceal'd might be.. III. A wondrous thing it is," the Saint replied, "Yet undefin'd by any mortal wight; "An airy effence, not to be defcried, "Subtle and thin, that MAIDENHEAD is hight. From earth each day in troops they hither come, "And fill each hole and corner of the Moon; "For they are never eafy while at home, "Nor ever owner thought them gone too foon. V. "When V.. "When here arriv'd, they are in bottles pent, For fear they should evaporate again; “And hard it is a prison to invent, "So volatile a fpirit to retain.. VI.. "Thofe that to young and wanton girls belong But thofe that have below been kept too long VII. So fpake the Saint, and wonder feiz'd the Knight,, For various fecrets there were brought to light;, VIII. Virginities, that clofe confin'd he thought In t' other world, he found above the sky; His fifter's and his coufin's there were brought, Which made him fwear, though good St. John was by, IX. But much his wrath increas'd, when he efpied That which was Chloe's once, his mistress dear: "Ah, falfe and treacherous fugitive!" he cried, "Little I deem'd that I fhould meet thee here. X." Did X. "Did not thy owner, when we parted lait, "Promise to keep thee fafe for me alone? Scarce of our abfence three fhort months are past, "And thou already from thy poft art flown. XI. "Be not enrag'd, replied th' Apostle kind "Since that this maidenhead is thine by right, "Take it away; and, when thou haft a mind, "Carry it thither whence it took its flight." XII. "Thanks, Holy Father!" quoth the joyous Knight, "The Moon fhall be no lofer by your grace: "Let me but have the use on *t for a night, TOA YOUNG LADY. I WITH THE TRAGEDY OF VENICE PRESERVED. N tender Otway's moving scenes we find What power the gods have to your fex affign'd: Venice was loft, if on the brink of fate A woman had not propt her finking state: In the dark danger of that dreadful hour, But, But, fav'd by Belvidera's charming tears, Still o'er the fubject main her towers fhe rears, In wretched Jaffier, we with pity view "Hence may we learn, what paffion fain would That Hymen's bands by prudence should be tied. "Venus in vain the wedded pair would crown, "If angry Fortune on their union frown: "Soon will the flattering dreams of joys be o'er, "And cloy'd imagination cheat no more; • Then, waking to the sense of lasting pain, "With mutual tears the bridal couch they stain ; And * The twelve following lines, with some small variations, have been already printed in "Advice to a "Lady," p. 39; but, as Lord Lyttelton chofe to introduce them here, it was thought more eligible to repeat thefe few lines, than to fupprefs the rest of the poem. N. And that fond love, which should afford relief, Whofe blifs misfortune never may allay, TE ELL me, my heart, fond flave of hopeless love, Canft thou endure thus calmly to erafe The dear, dear image of thy Delia's face? |