mw- ?$■ *¥# &£'$&?:£ dlb m ^.QP9^P^rCpj:pyQ'CQt.QOQrC&0UOi>^ y Surgeon General's Office |L i a1*' N....^...ifi?..^^" # I! I '' (pQX1 wO GOQiOT) r^iQ, 'j-n/r v^'c ",'- it. v M« ?^r= ^SC' AF~ .a. ■>« w: ■ "*■ dL^S fy /M ffi^^^^d ^P^.j^jJ' SS^^g ^JB»^ SSPS a^.sd ^^^few W*\ U U iii ^y^vc?** /Wv^ '%, / j - - El THE ART OF PRESERVING HEAL T H: A P O/ E M. j ly *A>~ 6-t.^viv^ j)\ tf , ^o. coLIiniATl)^ £ 0*'2/ 2> O iV, Printed : P H iladelphia, Re-printed, and Sold by B. Franklin. M.DCC.XLV. '.. ''• 4' j ?■?■•*■ t' ti C 3 ■] T H E A R T OF PRESERVING HEAL T H B O Q K t A I R. DAUGH TER of Pseon, queen of every joy, Hygeia*-, whofe indulgent fmile fuftains The various race luxuriant nature pours, And on th' immortal effences beftows 5 Immortal Youth; aufpicious,. O defcendl Thou, chearful guardian of the rolling year, Whether thou wanton'ft on the weftern gale,, Or fhak'ft the rigid pinions of the north, Diffufeft life and vigour thro' the traces, 10 Of airj thro' earth, and ocean's deep dbmaim * Hygeia, the goddefs of health, was, according to the genealogy ©f the Heathen Deities, the daughter of Efculapius; who, as well as Apollo,, was diltinguifhed by the name of Pson, A 2 When 4 7& AR T of i5. u When thro* the blue ferenity of hcav'n Thy power approaches, all the wafteful hoft Of pain and ficknefs, fqualid and deform'd,, Confounded fink into the loathfom gloom, 15 Where in deep Erebus involv'd the fiends Grow more profane. Whatever fhapes of death Shook from the hideous chambers of the globe, Swarm thro' the Ihuddering air : whatever plagues Or meagre famine breeds, or with flow wings 20 Rife from the putrid wat'ry element, The damp wafte foreft, motionlefs and rank, That fmothers earth, and all the breathlefs winds* Or the vile carnage of th' inhuman field ; Whatever baneful breathes the rotten fouth ; 25 Whatever ills th' extremes or fudden change Of cold and hot, or moifl and dry produce 5- They fly thy pure effulgence : they, and alt The fecret poifons of avenging heaven, And all the pale tribes halting in the train 30 Of vice and heedlels pleafure : or if aught The comet's glare amid the burning Iky, Mournful eclipfe, or planets ill combin'd, Portend difaftrous to the vital world ; Thy falutary power averts their rage, a£ Averts the general bane : and but for thee .Nature would ficken, nature loon would die. Without B. I. Preferving HEAL T H. Without thy fearful, active energy, No rapture fwells the breaft, no poet fings, No more the maids of Helicon delight. 40 Come then with me, O Goddefs heayeply gay ! Begin the fong ; and let it fweetly. flow, And let it wifely teach thy .wfrplefom Jaws: " How belt the fickle fabric to fupport " Of mortal man; in healthful body how 45 "■ A healthful mind the longeft to maintain." 'Tis hard, in fuch a ftrife of rules, to chute The bed, and thofe of molt extenfive ufe ; Harder in clear,and animated fong,. Dry philofophic precepts to convey. /jo Yet with thy aid the fecret wilds I trace Of nature, and with daring fteps proceed Thro' paths the mufes never trod before. Nor,mould I wander doubtful of my way. Had I the lights of that fagacious mind 55 Which taught to check the peftilential fire, And quell the dreaded Python of the Nile. O Thou belov'd by all the graceful arts, Thou long the fav'rite of the healing powers,, Indulge, O Mead ! ,a weU-defign'd eflay, 60 Howe'er imperfect, and permit that I My little knowledge-with my country fhare,, Till you the rich Afclepian {lores unlock, And with new graces dignify the theme. 6 The K K 1 of 13 Ye who amid this feverifh world would wear 65 A body free of pain, of cares a mind ^ Fly the rank city, fhun its turbid air; Breathe not the chaos of eternal fmoke And volatile corruption, from the dead, The dying,' fick'nirtg, and the living world 70 Exhal'd, to fully heaven's tranfparent dome With dim mortality. It is not air That from a thoufand lungs reeks back to thine, Sated with exhalations rank and fell, The fpoil of dunghills, and the putrid thaw 75 Of nature-, when from fhape and texture fhe Relapfes into fighting elements: It is not air, but floats a naufeous mafs Of all obfcene, corrupt, offenfive things. Much moifture hurts -, but here a fordid bath 80 With oily rancour fraught, relaxes more The folid frame than fimple moiflure can; Befides, immur'd in many a flillen bay That never felt the frefhnefs of the breeze, This flumbring deep remains, and ranker.grows 85 With fickly reft : and (tho' the lungs abhor To drink the dun fuliginous abyfs) Did hot the acid vigour of the mine, Roll'd from fo many thundring chimneys, tame The putrid falts that overfwarm the Iky j '90 This cauftick venom would perhaps corrode Thofe tender cells that draw the vital air, B. I. Preferving HEALTH. 7 In vain with all their unctuous rills :bedew'd •,, Or by the drunken, venous tubes, that yawn In countlefs pores o'er all the pervious (kin, 95 Imbib'd, would poifon the balfamic blood, And roufe the heart to every fever's rage. \ While yet you breathe, away ! the rural wilds Invite-, the mountains call you, and the vales, The woods, the ftreams, -and each ambrbfial breeze 100 That fans the ever. undulating fky; A kindly fky !; whofe foft' ring power regales Man, beaft, and all the vegetable reign. Find then fame woodland fcene, where nature fmiles Benign, where all her honeft children thrive. 105 To us there • wants not many a happy feat; Look-round the fmiling- land, fuch numbers, rife We hardly fix, bewilder'd in our choice. See where enthron'd in adamantine ftate, -Proud of her bards, imperial Windfor fits; 110 There xhufe thy feat, in fome afpir-ing grove,' Faft by the flowly winding Thames; or where Broader fhe laves fair Richmond's green retreats, (Richmond.that fees, an ^hundred villas rife, . Rural or gay) -O ! from the fummer's rage, 115 O ! wrap me in.the friendly gloom that hides Umbrageous Ham ! .But if the bufy town, Attract thee ftill to toil for power or gold, Sweetly thou may'ft thy vacant-hours poflefs In Hampftead, courted by the weftern wind ; 120 Or 8: The A R T of B. r. 120 Or (jreenwich, waving o*er the winding .flood•; Oflofc the world' amid the fylvan wilds Of Duiwich, yet by barbarous arts unfpoil'd. Green rife the Kentlfb Hills in chearf&l air ; But on the' marlhy plains that Effex fpreads 125 Build not, nor r6ft too long thy Wandering feet. For Oft a ruff ic throne of dewy tlirf^ With baneful-fogs her aching temples'bbtrefdy Quartana there pfefides ; ajmeagre fiend, Begbtby EurUs, when his brutal force;' 130 Comprefs?d the flbthfuf Naiad of the fens; From fuch a mixture fprung this fitful p'eft^ With feverifh blafts Subdues1 the fick'riing land : Cold Tremors come, and mighty love of reft^ L '•> <■ Convulfivd yawnings, laffitude, ahdparns, 135 That fting the burden'd brows, fatigue the loins, And rack the joints', and'every torpid iimb ; Then patching heat fucceeds,- till copious fweats O'erflow ; a fhort relief" from former IBs.; Berteiath repeated fhocks the wretches pine ; 140 The vigour finks, the habit melts-away ; The'chearftil, pure and animated' bloom, Dies'from the face, with fqualid atrophy- Devour'd, in fallow melancholy clad. And oft the forcerefs, in her fated wrath, 145 Refigns them to the furies of her train ; The bloated hydrops, and'the yellow fiend Ting'd with her own accumulated gall. In B. I. Preferving H E A L T H. 9 In queft of fites, avoid the mournful plain Where ofiers thrive, and trees that love the lake; 150 Where many lazy muddy rivers flow : Nor for the wealth that all the Indies roll* Fix near the marfhy margin of the main. For from the humid foil, arid, wat'ry reign, .,. . Eternal vapours'rile ; the fpungy air 155 For ever weeps; or, tUrgid with the weight '•' Of Waters,: pours a founding deluge down. ■ ' Skies fuch as thefe let every mortal, fhun ; '•■''-■ - Who dreads the dropfy, palfy, or the gout, Tertian, corrofive fcurvy, or moift catarrh \ 160 Or any other injury that grows From raw-fpun fibres, idle and unftrungj Skin ill perfpirihg, and the purple flood In languid eddies loitering into phlegm* Yet not alone ffom humid fides-we pine ; 165 For air may be too dry. The fubtle heaven ■ That winnows into duft the blafted downs, Bare, and extended wide, without a ftream, Too faft imbibes th' attenuated lymph* Which, by the furface, from the blood exhales, 170 The lungs grow rigid, and with toil effay Their flexible vibrations ; or inflam'd, ) Their tender ever-moving, ftructure thaws, j Spoil'd of its limpid Vehicle, theblood ,-> A mafs of lees remains, a droffy tide B 175 That 10 The ART of Rl 175 That flow as Lethe wanders thro* the veins, : Unactive in the fervices of life, Unfit to lead its pitchy current thro' The fecret mazy channels of the brain. The melancholic fiend (that worft defpair (180 Of .phyfic) hence the ruft-complexiqn'd man Purfues, whofe bbod is dry, whofe fibres gain Too ftretchM a tone : and ,hence in climes aduft So fudden tumults feize the trembling nerves, And burning fevers glow -with double rage. 185 Fly, if you can, thefe violent extremes Of air ; the wholefome is nor moift nor dry« But as the power t>f chufing is deny'd To half mankind, a further talk enfbes \ How beffc to mitigate thefe, fell extreams, 190 How breathe unhurt the withering element, Or hazy atmofphere: tho' cuftom moulds To every clime the foft Promethean clay ; And he who firft the fogs of Eflex breith'kl (So kind is native air) may in-the'fens 195 Of EfTex from, inveterate iflsrevive At pure Montpe'lier or Bermuda caught: But if the raw arid oozy heaven offend, Correct the foil, and dry «he tfburces lap Of wat'ry exhalation^ wide and^deep ^00 Conduct your Trenches tshFO' the Routing Bog. 5 Solicitous, with all your winding arts, -Betray EE Preferving HEAL TIL n Betray th' unwilling lake into the ftream ; And weed the foreft, and invoke the winds To break the toils where ftrangled vapours lie ; 205 Or thro' the thickets fend the crackling flames, Meantime,, at home with chearful fires difpel The humid air : and let your table, fmoke With folid roaft or bak'd ; or-what the herds Of tamer breed fupply ; or what the wilds 210 Yield to the coilfome pleafures of the chace. Generous your wine, the boaft of rip'ning years,, But frugal be your cups; the languid frame, , Vapid and ibnk from yefterday's debauehy Shrinks from the cold embrace of wat'ry heavens-' 215 But neither thefe, jaor aH Apollo's artsy, Difarm the dangers of the. dropping fky,. Unlfefs with exereife and,manly toil.iL You brace your Jierves^ and fpur the la^ng blood. The fat'ningxliiiae Jet all the fens of eafe> 120 Avoid; if. indolence would wifh to live. Goy. yawn and loiter out .the long flow year In fairerikies.*. If droughty regions parch The (kin: and lungsy and bake the thick* ning blood;; Deep in the waving foreft chufe'your feat, , 225 Where fuming trees refrefh the trrirfty air; And wake the fountains from their fecret beds, And into lakes dilate the- running ftream. Here fprcad your gardens wide ; and let the cool,'. The moift relaxing vegetable ftore ' B 2 : 230 Pre 12 The- ART of B. I. 230 Prevail in each repaft : your food fupplied By bleeding life, be gently wafted down, By foft decoction, and a mellowing heat, To liquid balm ; otj if the folid mafs You chufe, tormented in the boiling wave ; 235 That thro' the thirfty channels of the blood A fmooth diluted chyle may ever. flow. The. fragrant, dairy from its cool recefs Its nectar acid or benign will pour To, drown your thirft ; or let the mantling bowl 240 Of keen fherbet the fickle tafte relieve. For with the vifcous blood the fimple ftream Will hardly mingle ; and fermented cups Oft difiipate more moifture than they give. Yet when pale feafons rife, or winter rolls* 245 His horrors o*er the World, thou mayft indulge In feafts more genial, and impatient broach The mellow cafk. Then too the fcourging air Provokes' to keener toils than fukry droughts Allow. • But rarely we fuch; fkies blafpheme. 250 Steep'cj'in continual raiiis; 'oi- with raw fogs Bedew' ct, our'feafons droop ; incumbent ftill A ponderous 'heaven o'erwhelms the finking foul. Lab'ring with florins in heapy mountains rife ' Th' imbatthd clouds, as'if the Stygian fliades -1 >■■■'.'■■' v . in *rj ■■■}:: ....-.:■ \-,t • <■- ' ■i^ Had left the dungeon of eternal night, Till black with thunder all the fouth defcends. ■■ Scarce in a fliowerlefs day tjie heavens indulge Our B.I. Preferving HEALTH. .13 Our melting clime, except the baleful eaft Withers the tender fpring, and. fourly checks 260. The fancy of the year.. Our fathers talk Of fummers, balmy airs,. and fkies ferene. Good.heaven! for what unexpiated crimes '. Tfyis difmal change !■ The brooding elements Do they, your powerful minifters of wrath, 265 Prepare fome fierce exterminating plague?.. Or is it fix'd in the decrees above That lofty Albion melt into the main ? . Indulgent nature! O. diflfolve this gloom! -'-> Bind in eternal, adamant the winds 270 That drown or wither : give the genial weft To breathe, and in. its turn the. fprightly north: : And may once more the circling feafons rule The year ; not mix in every monftrous day. Mean time, the moifb malignity to fhun 275 Of burthen'd fkies ; mark Where the dry champain Swells into chearful hills; where Marjoram ' And Thyme, the love of bees, perfume the air; And where the * Cynorrhodoh with the rofe For fragrance vies ; jior deadly putrid airs annoy. 310 Bur R I. Preferving HEALTH. r$ 310 t|3uT may no fogs, from lake, or fenny plain, Involve my hill. And wherefoe'er you build; -Whether on fun-burnt Epfom, or the plains Wafh'd by the filent Lee; in Chelfea low, Or high Blackheath with wint'ry winds affair* d 1 315 Dry be your houfe :. but airy more than warm. Elfe* every breath of ruder wind will ftrike Your tender body thro' with rapid pains •, Fierce coughs will.teizeyovi, hoarfeneXs bind yn iberej And' theatres open to the fouth, wmmm&? ^Here, where the morning's friifty breath infefts TMore than the torrid noon? How fickly grow. How pale, :the plants in. thofe ill-fated vales .330 That, circled round with the gigantic heap Of mountains, never felt, nor never hope To feel the genial vigour of the fun ! While on the neighbouring hill'the rOfe inflames The verdant fpring ; in virgin beauty blows .£$5 Tlhe tender lily, languifhingly fweet 5 O'er 16 The A R T oj u. i. O'er every hedge the wanton woodbine roves, And autumn ripens in the fummer's ray. Nor lefs the warmer living tribes demand The foft'ring fun : whofe energy divine ■ • • - 340 Dwells not in mortal fire ; whofe generous heat Glows thro' the mafs of groffer elements, And kindles into life the pond'rous fpheres." Chear'd by thy kind invigorating warmth, We court thy beams, great majefty of day I 345 If not the foul, the regent of this world, Firft-born of heaven, and only lefs than God ! THE T H E OF PRESERVI NG, UL A ■ 1..J Jl K II.. /-j c [ *9 } T H E. A R T OF PRES ERVING E ALT H. book: n: D I E T. • N O U G H" of air. A defa'rt fubject now, Rougher and wilder, rifes to my fight. A barren wafte, where not a garland grov/s To bind the mufe's brow; not even a proud 5 Stupendous folitude frowns o'er the heath, To roufe a noble horror in the foul: But rugged paths fatigue, and error leads' Thro' endlefs labyrinths the devious feet: Farewel, etherial Fields ! the humbler arts 10 Of life.; the table and the homely Gods, Demand my fong. Elyfian gales adieu^ C 2 T H € 20 The A R J oj B. II. The blood, the fountain whence the fpiiits flow, The generous ftream that waters every part, And motion, vigour, and warm life conveys 15 To every particle that moves or lives ; This vital fluid, thro' unnumberM tubes Pour'd by the heart, and to the heart again Refunded ; fcourg'd for ever round and round, Enrag'd with heat and toil, at laft forgets 20 Its balmy nature ; virulent and thin It grows; and now, but that a thoufand gates Are open to its flight, it would deftroy The parts it cherifli'd and repair'd before. Befides, the flexible and tender tubes ,25 Melt in the mildeft, moft nectareous tide That ripening nature rolls ; as in the ftream Its crumbling banks; but what the vital force | Of plaftic fluids hourly batters down, That very force, thofe plaftic particles -,'30 Rebuild : fo mutable the ftate of man: For this the watchful appetite was giv'n, Daily with frefh materials to repair This unavoidable expence of life, This neceflary wafte of flefh and blood. '^^ Hence the concoctive powers, with various art. Subdue the cruder aliments to chyle ; The chyle to blood; the foamy purple tide To liquors, which thro' finer arteries >To different parts their winding courfe purfue; . ' 40 To B. II. Preferving HEALTH. 21 40 To try new Changes, and new forms put on, , Or for the public, or fome private ufe. Nothing fo foreign but th' athletic hind Can labour into blood. The. hungry meal Alone he fears, or aliments too thin, 45 By violent powers too eafily fubdu'd, Too foon expell'd. His daily labour thaws, ' To friendly chyle, the mod rebellious mafs That fait can harden, or the fmoke of years; Nor does his gorge the rancid bacon rue, 50 Nor that which Ceftria fends, tenacious paftc Of folid milk. But ye of fofter clay Infirm and delicate ! and ye who wafte With pale and bloated floth the tedious day ! Avoid the ftubborn aliment, avoid :$$ The full repaft ; and let fagacious age Grow wifer, leflbn'd by the dropping teeth. Half fubtiliz'd to chyle, the liquid food Readieft obeys th' affimilating powers ; And foon the tender vegetable mafs 60 Relents; and foon the young of thofe that tread The ftedfaft earth, or cleave the green abyfs, Or pathlefs fky. And if the Steer muft fall. In youth and vigour glorious let him die ; Nor flay till rigid age, or heavy ails, 65 Abfolve him ill-requited from the yoke, Some 22 The A R T of B. H. Some with high forage, and luxuriant eafe, Indulge the veteran-Ox ; but wifer thou," From the bleak mountain or the barren downs, Expeft the flocks by frugal nature fed; 70 A race of purer blood, with exercife Refin'd and fcanty fare: For, old or yoiing, The ftalPd:are never healthy ; nor the cramm'd. Not all the culinary arts can tame, To wholfome food, th' abominable growth y$ Of reft and gluttony; the prudent taite Rejects like bane fuch loathfome lufciOufhefSY. The languid ftomach curfe's even the pure Delicious fat, and all the race of oil"; For more the oily aliments relax 80 Its feeble tone ; and with the eager lymph (Fond to incorporate with all it meets) Coily they mix ; and fhun with flippery wiles The woo'd embrace. Th' irrefoluble oil,' ' So gentle, late and blandiihing, in floods 85 Of rancid bile o'erflows: what tumults hence, What horrors rife, were naufeous to relate. Chufe leaner viands, ye of jovial make !' Chufe fober meals; and roufe to active life Your cumbrous clay ; nor on th': enfeebling down, 90 Irrefolute, protract the morning hours. But let the man, whofe bones are thinly clad, With chearful eafe, and fucculent repaft, Improve ft II, Preferving H E A L T H. 23. Improve his flender habit. Each extreme From the bleft mean of fanity departs. 95 I,could relate what table this demands, Or that complexion ; what the various powers ■_ Of Various foods : but fifty years would roll, And fifty more, before the "tale were done. Befides, there often, lurks fome namelefs, ftrange, 100 Peculiar thing-, nor on the fkin difplay'd, Felt in the pulfe, nor in the habit feen ; Which finds a poifonin the food that moft The temp'rature affects. There are, whofe blood Impetuous rages thro' the turgid veins, 105 Who better bear the fiery fruits of Ind, Than the moift Melon, or pale Cucumber. r Of chilly nature others fly the board Supply'd with {laughter, and-the vernal pow'rs For cooler, kinder fuftenance, implore. no Some even the generous nutriment deteft, W hich, in the fhell, the deeping Embryo rears. Some,''more unhappy ftill, repent -the* gifts Of Pales ; fort* delicious and benign : The balmy quintefcence of every flower, 115 And every grateful herb'that decks the fpring,.; The foil'ring dew of tender fprouting life ; The beft refection of declining age ; The kind reflorativeof thofe who lie Half-dead and panting, from the doubtful ftrife 120 Of 24 The A R T of B. II. 120 Of nature ftruggling in the grafp of death. Try all the bounties of this fertile globe, There is not fuch a falutary food, As fuits with every ftomach. But (except, . Amid the mingled mafs of fifh and fowl, 125 And boil'd and bak'd, you hefitate by which j You funk opprefs'd, or whether not by all;) Taught by experience foon you, may difcern What pleafes, what offends. Avoid the cates . That lull the ficken'd appetite too long; 130 Or heave with feveriih. flu filings all the face, Burn in the palms, and parch the rough'ning tongue» Or much diminifh, or too much increafe Th' expence which nature's wife ceconomy, ■„ Without or wafte or avarice maintains. 135 Such cates abjur'd, let prouling hunger loofe, And bid the curious palate roam at will; They fcarce can err amid the various ftores That burft the teeming entrails of the world. . Led by fagacious tafte, the ruthlefs king 140 Of beafrs on blood and (laughter only lives: The tyger, form'd alike to cruel meals, Would at the manger ftarve : of milder feeds, The generous horfe to herbage and to grain Confines his wifh ; tho' fabling Greece refound 145 The Thracun fteeds with human carnage wild. Prompted by inftincV ■ never-erring power, Each B. II Preferving HEALTH. 25 Each Creature knows its proper aliment; But man, th' inhabitant of every clime, With all the commoners of nature feeds. 150 Directed, bounded, by this pow'r within, Their cravings are well-aim'd : voluptous man Is, by fuperior faculties mifled y Milled from pleafure even in queft of joy. Sated with, nature's boons, what thoufands feek, ^55 With difhes tortur'd from their native tafte, And mad variety to fpur beyond Its wifer will the jaded appetite !: Is this for pleafure ? Learn a jufter tafte ; And know, that, temperance is true luxury., 160 Or is it pride ? Purfue fome nobler aim. Difmifs your parafites, who praife for hire 5... And earn the fair efteem of honeft men, Whofe praife is fame. Form'd of fuch clay as yours, The fick, the needy, fliiver at your gates. 165 Even modeft want may blefs your hand unfeen, Tho' huhVd in patient wretchednefs at home. Is there no' virgin, grac'd with every charm But that which binds the mercenary vow ? No youth of genius, whofe neglected bloorrr 170 Unfofter^d fickens in the barren fhade? No worthy man, by fortune's random blows,. Or by a heart too generous and humane, Conftniin'd to leave his happy natal feat, And figh for wants more bitter' than his own ? D^ 1 j5 There 26 The A R T of B. II, 175 There are, while human miferies abound, A thoufand ways to wafte fuperfluous wealth, Without one fool or flatterer at your board, Without one hour of ficknefs or difguft. But other ills th' ambiguous feaft purfue, 180 Befides provoking the lafcivious tafte; Such various foods, tho' harmlefs each alone, Each other violate ; and oft we fee What ftrife is brew'd, and what pernicious bane, From combinations of innoxious things. 185 Th' unbounded tafte I mean not to confine To hermit's diet, needlefly fevere. But would you long the fweets of health enjoy, Or hufband pleafure ; at one impious meal Exhauft not half the bounties of the year, 390 And of each realm. It matters not mean while How much to morrow differ from to day ; So far indulge : 'tis fit, befides, that man, To change obnoxious, be to change inur'd. But ftay the curious appetite, and tafte *95 With caution fruits you never tried before.' For want of ufe the kindeft aliment Sometimes offends; while cuftom tames the rage Of poifon to mild amity with life. So heav'n has form'd us to the general tafte £00 Of all its gifts j fo cuftom has improv'd This B. II. Preferving H E A L T H. 27 This bent of nature; that few fimple foods, Of all that earth, or air, or ocean yield, But by excefs offend. Beyond the fenfe Of light refection, at the genial board 205 Indulge not often ; nor protract the feaft To dull fatiety; till foft and flow A drowzy death creeps on, th' expanfive foul Opprefs'd, and Another'd the celeftial fire. The ftomach, urg'd beyond its active tone, 210 Hardly to nutrimental chyle fubdues The fofteft food :. uftfinifh'd and deprav'd, The chyle, in all its future wand'rings, owns. Its turbid fountain ; not by purer ftreams. So to be clear'd, but foulnefs will remain. 215 To fparkling wine what ferment can exalt Th' unripen'd grape? Or what mechanic fkill From the crude ore can fpiri the ductile gold ?'■- Grofs riot treafures up a wealthy fund Of plagues : but more immedicable ills 220 Attend- the lean extreme. For phyfic knows How to difburden the too tumid veins, Even how to ripen the half-labour'd blood; But to unlock the elemental tubes, Collaps'd and fhrunk with long inanity, 225 And with balfamic nutriment repair The dried and worn-out habit, were to bid Old' age grow green, and wear a fecond fpring ; Or the tall am, long ravifh'd from the foil, D 2 Thro* 28 The A R T of jb.il Thro5 wither'd veins imbibe the vernal dew. [230 When, hunger calls, obey; nor often wait Till hunger fharpen to corrofive pain : For the keen, appetite wiU feaft beyond What nature well can bear ; and one extreme Ne'er without danger meets its own reverfe. 235 Too greedily th' exhaufted veins abforb The recent chyle, and load enfeebled powers Oft to th' extinction of the vital flame. To the pale cities, by the firm-fet fiege And famine humbled, may this verfe be borne 5 240 And hear, ye hardieft fens that Albion breeds, Long tofs'd and famifh'd on the wint'ry.main ; The war fhook off> or hofpitable fhore Attain'd, with temperance bear the fhock of joy ; Nor crown With feftive rites th' ailfpicious day : 245 Such feaft might prove more fatal than the waves. Than War, or famine* While the vital fire Burns feebly, heap not the,green fuel on ; But prudently foment the wandering fpark With what the fooneft feels its kindred touch i 250 Be frugal ev'n of that: a little give At firft ; that kindled, add a little more 5 Till, by deliberate nourifhing, the flame Reviv'd, with all its wonted vigour glows. But tho' the two (the full and the jejune) 255 Extremes have eaeh their vice ; it much avails EveJr B. II. Preferving H E AL T H. 29 Ever with gentle tide to ebb and flow From this to that: fo nature learns to bear Whatever chance or headlong appetite May bring. Befides, a meagre day fubdues 260 The cruder clods by floth or luxury Collected; and unloads the wheels of life. Sometimes a coy averfion to the feaft Comes on, while yet no blacker omen lours *. Then is a time to ffiun the tempting board, 265 Were it your natal or your nuptial day. Perhaps a faft fo feafonable ftarves The latent feeds of woe, which rooted once Might coft you labour. But the day return'd Of feftal luxury, the wife indulge 270 Moft in the tender vegetable breed: Then chiefly when the fummer's beams inflame The brazen heavens; or angry Syrius fheds A feveriih taint thro' the ftill gulph of air. The moift cool viands then, and flowing cup \y$ From the frefh dairy-virgin's liberal hand, Will fave your head from harm, tho' round the world The dreaded * Caufos roll his wafteful fires. Pale humid Winter loves the generous board, The meal more copious, and a warmer fare ; 280 And longs, with old wood and old wine, to cheer His quaking heart. The feafons which divide Th' empires of heat and cold ; by neither claim'd, * The barnin-g fever. infiuenc'd 30 The A R T of B. It Influenc'd by both ; a middle regimen Impofe. Thro' autumn's languifhing domain 285 Defcendkig, nature by degrees invites To glowing luxury. But from-the depth Of winter, when th' invigorated year Emerges; when Favonius flufh'd with love, Toyful and young, in every breeze defcends 290 More warm and wanton on, his kindling bride ; Then, fliepherds, then begin to fpare your flocks,. And learn, with wife humanity, to check The luft of blood. Now pregnant earth commits A various offspring' to th' indulgent fky : 295 Now bounteous nature feeds with lavifh hand The prone creation ; yields what once fuffk'd' Their dainty fovereign, when the world was young; E'er yet the barbarous thirft of blood had feiz-'d The human breaft. Each rolling- month matures 300 The food that fuits it moft; fo does each clime. Far in the horrid realms of winter, where Th' eftablifh'd ocean heaps a monftrous wafte Of fhining rocks and mountains to the pole ; There lives a hardy race, whofe plaineft wants- 305 Relentlefs.earth, their cruel ftep-mother, Regards net. On the wafte of iron fields, Untanrd, untractable, no harvefts-wave : Pomona hates them, and the clownifh God Who tends the garden. In this frozen world 310 Sue]; B. II. Preferving HEALTH. 31 310 Such cooling gifts were vain : a fitter meal Is earn'd with eafe ; for here the fruitful fpawn Of Ocean fwarms, and heaps their genial board With generous fare and luxury profufe. Thefe are their bread, the only bread they know; 3 15 Thefe, and their willing flave the deer, that crops The fhrubby herbage on their meager hills. Girt by the burning zone, not thus the fouth Her fwarthy fbns, in either Ind, maintains : . Or thirfty Lybia ; from whofe fervid loins' 320 The lion burfts, and every fiend that roams Th' affrighted wildernefs. The mountain herd, Aduft and dry, no fweet repaft affords ; Nor does the tepid main fuch kinds produce, So perfect, fo delicious, as the ftores 325 Of icy Zembla. Rafhly where the blood Brews feverifh frays ; where fcarce the tubes fuftain Its tumid fervor and tempeftuous courfe ; Kind nature tempts not to fuch gifts as thefe. But here in livid ripenefs melts the grape; 330 Here, finifli'd by invigorating funs, Thro' the green fhade the golden Orange glows; Spontaneous here the turgid Melon yields A generous pulp ; the Coco fwells on high With milky riches ; and in horrid mail ^35 The foft Ananas wraps its tenderfweets. Earth's vaunted progeny: in ruder air Too coy to flourifh, even too proud to live; Or j2 The A R T of B. II. Or hardly rais'd by artificial fire To vapid life. Here with a.mother's fmile 340 Glad Amalthea pours her copious horn. Here buxom Ceres reigns: th' autumnal fea In boundlefs billows fluctuates o'er their plains; What fuits the climate beft, what fuits the men, Nature profufes moft, and moft the tafte 345 Demands. The Fountain, edg'd with racy wine Or acid fruit, bedews their thirfty fouls. The breeze eternal breathing round their limbs Supports in elfe intolerable air : While the cool Palm, the Plantain, and the grove 350 That waves on gloomy Lebanon, affuage The torrid hell that beams upon their heads. Now come, ye Naiads, to the fountains leadj Now let me wander thro'.your gelid reign. I burn to view th' endiufiaftic wilds '^^ By mortal elfe untrod. I hear the din Of waters thundering o'er the ruin'd cliffs. With holy rev'rence I approach the rocks Whence glide the ftreams renown'd in ancient fong. Here from the defart down the rumbling fteep 360 Firft fprings the Nile ; here burfts the founding Po In angry waves ; Euphrates hence devolves A mighty flood to water half the Eaft ; And there, in Gothic folitude reclin'd, The chearlefs Tanais pours his hoary urn. 365 What:. B. II. Preferving HEALTH. 33 365 What folemn twilight! What ftupcndous fliades! Enwarp thefe infant floods! Thro' every nerve A facred horror thrills, a pleafing fear Glides o'er my frame. The foreft deepens round ; -; And more gigantic ftill th' impending trees 370 Stretch ^heir extravagant arms athwart the gloom. Are thefe the confines of fome fairy world ?: A land of Genii ? Say, beyond thefe wilds : What unknown nations \ If indeed beyond Aught habitable lies. And whither leads, 375 To what ftrange regions* or of blifs or pain, That fubterraneous way ? Propitious maids, Conduct me, while with fearful fteps I tread , This trembling ground. The talk remains to fing Your gift's (fo Paeon, fo the powers of health 380 Command) to' praife your chryftal element: The chief ingredient in heaven's various works-; Whofe flexile genius fparkles in the gem, Grows firm in oak, and fugitive in wine; The vehicle, the fource of nutriment 385 And life, to all that vegetate.or live. - O comfortable ftreams ! With eager lips Anc^trembling hand the languid thirfty quaff New life in you ; frefli vigour fills their veins/ No warmer cups the rural ages knew ; 390 None warmer fought the fires of human-kind. - Happy in temperate peace! Their equal days E. Felt 34 The A R T of B. II. Felt not th' alternate fits of feverifh mirth, And fick dejection. Still ferene and pleas'd, They knew no pains but what the tender foul I 395 With pleafure yields to, and would ne'er forget. Bleft with divine immunity from ails, Long centuries they liv'd ; their only fate Was ripe old age, and rather fleep than death. Oh ! could thofe worthies from the world of Gods 400 Return to vifit their degenerate fons, How would they fcorn the joys of modern time, With all our art and toil improv'd to pain ! Too happy they ! But wealth brought luxury, And luxury on floth begot difeafe. 405 Learn temperance, friends ; and hear without difdain The choice of water. Thus the * Coan fage Opin'd, and thus the learn'd of every fchooJ. What leaft of foreign principles partakes Is beft : the lighteft then ; what bears the touch 410 Of fire the leaft, and fooneft mounts in air ; The moft infipid ; the moft void of fmell. Such the rude mountain from his horrid fides Pours down ; fuch waters in the fandy'vale For ever boil, alike of winter frofts 415 And fummer's heat fecure. The lucid ftream, O'er rocks refounding, or for many a mile \ * Hippocrates, HurI'd B. II. Preferving HEALTH. 35 Hurl'd down the pebbly channel, wholfome yields And mellow draughts ; except when winter thaws, And half the mountains melt into the tide. 420 Tho' thirft were ne'er fo refolute, avoid The fordid lake, and all fuch drowfy floods As fill from Lethe Belgia's flow canals; (With reft corrupt, with vegetation green ;...- Squalid with generation, and the birth 425 Of little monfters ;) till the power of fire Has from profane emhraces difengag'd The violated lymph. The virgin ftream In boiling waftes its.finer foul in air.., Nothing like firhple element dilutes 430 The food, or gives the chyle fo foon to flow. But where the ftomach, indolently given, Toys with its duty, animate with wine Th' infipid ftream : tho' golden Ceres yields A more voluptuous, a more fprightly draught; 435 Perhaps more active. Wine unmix'd, and all The gluey floods that from the vex'd abyfs Of fermentation fpring ; with fpirit fraught, And furious with intoxicating fire ; Retard concoction, and preferve unthaw'd 440 Th' embodied mafs. You fee what countlefs years, Embalm'd in fiery quintefcence of wine, The puny wonders of the reptile world, The tender rudiments of life, the flim E 2 - Unrav'lings $6 The A R T of B. II. Unrav'lings of minute anatomy, i 445 Maintain their texture, and unchang'd remain! j W e curfe not wine, the vile excefs we blame; More fruitful than th' accumulated board Of pain and mifery. For the fubtle draught Falter and furer fwells the vital tide; 450 And with more active poifon than the floods Of groffer crudity convey, pervades The far-remote meanders of our frame. Ah! fly deceiver! Branded o'er and o'er, Yet ftill believ'd! Exulting o'er the wreck 455 Of fober Vows! But the Parnaflian maids Another time perhaps fhall firig the joys, The fatal charms, the many woes of wine; Perhaps its various tribes^ and various, powers. Meantime, I would not always dread the bowl, 460 Nor every trefpafs fhun; The feverifh ftrife, Rous'd by the rare debauch, fubdues, expels The loitering Crudities that burthen life; And, like a torrent full and rapid, clears Th' obftructed tubes. Befides; this reftlefs world 465 Is full of chances, which by habit's power To learn to bear is eafier than to fhun. Ah ! when ambition, meagre love of gold, Or facred country calls, with mellowing wine To moifteri well the thirfty fuffrages; 480 Say B. II. Preferving H E AL T H. 37 470 Say how, -unfeafon'd to the midnight frays Of Comus and his rout, wilt thou contend With Centaurs long to hardy deeds inur'd? Then learn to revel; but by flow degrees : By flow degrees the liberal arts are won ; 475 And Hercules grew ftrong. But when you fmooth The brows of care, indulge your feftive vein In cups by well-inform'd experience found The leaft your bane ; and only with your friends. There are fweet follies, frailties to be feen 480 By friends alone, and men of generous minds; O h ! feldom may -the. fated hours return Of drinking deep ! I would not daily tafte, Except when life declines, even fober cups. Weak withering age no rigid law forbids, 485 With frugal nectar, fmooth and flow with balm. The faplefs habit daily to bedeW, And give the hefitating wheels of life Gliblier to play. But youth has better joys ; And is it wife when youth with pleafure flows, 490 To fquander the reliefs of age and pain ? What dext'rous thoufands juft within the goal Of wild debauch direct their nightly courfe! Perhaps no fickly qualms bedim their days, No morning admonitions fhock the head. 495 But ah ! what woes remain ! Life ruiis apace, 38 The ART of B. II. And that incurable difeafe, old age, In youthful bodies more feverely felt, More fternly active, fhakes their blafted prime : Except kind nature by fome hafty blow 500 Prevent the lingering fates. For know, whate'er Beyond its natural fervor hurries on The fanguine tide; whether the frequent bowl, High-feafon'd fare, or exercife to toil Protracted ; fpurs to its laft ftage tir' d life, 505 And fows the temples with untimely fnow. When life is new, the ductile fibres feel The heart's increafing force ; and, day by day, . The growth advances; till the larger tubes, Acquiring (from their * elemental veins, ; 510 Condens'd to folid chords) a firmer tone, Suftain, and juft fuftain, th' impetuous blood.' Here flops the growth. With overbearing pulfe And preffure, ftill the great deftroy the fmall; Still with the ruins of tjie fmall grow ftrong. 515 Life glows mean time, amid the grinding force Of vifcous fluids and elaftic tubes; * In the human body, as well as in thofe of other animals, the larger blood-veffels are compofed of fmaller ones ; which by the vi- olent motion and preffure of the fluids in the large veflels, lofe their cavities by degrees, and degenerate into impervious chords or fibres. In proportion as thefe fmall veffels become folid, the larger mull of courfe grow lefs extenfile, more rigid, and make a flronger refiftance to the adion of the heart, and force of the blood. From this gradual condenfation of the fmaller veffels, and confequent rigidity of the larger ones, the progrefs of the human body from infancy to old age ia accounted for. Its B. II. Preferving HEALTH. 39 Its various functions vigoroufly are plied By ftrong machinery ; and in folid health The man confirm'd long triumphs o'er difeafe. 520 But the full ocean ebbs: there is a point, By nature fix'd, whence life muft downwards tend. For ftill the beating tide confolidates The ftubborn veffels, more reluctant ftill, To the weak throbbings of th' enfeebled heart. 525 This languifhing, thefe ftrength'ning by degree! To hard, unyielding, unelaftic bono, Thro' tedious channels the congealing flood Crawls lazily, and hardly wanders on ; It loiters ftill: and now it ftirs no more.: 530 This is the period few attain ; the death Of nature : thus (fo heaven ordain'd it) life Deftroys itfelf; and could thefe laws have chang'd, Neftor might now the fates of Troy relate ; And Homer live immortal as his fong. $25 Wh at does not fade ? The tower that long had flood The crufh of thunder, and the warring winds, Shook by the flow, but fure deftroyer, Time, Now hangs in doubtful ruins o'er its bafe. And flinty pyramids, and walls of brafs, .540 Defcend ; the Babylonian fpires are funk ; Achaia, Rome, and Egypt, moulder down. Time makes the fcable tyranny cf thrones, And 40 The A R T, &c. B. IL And tottering empires rufh by their own weight. This huge rotundity we tread grows old ; 545 And all thofe worlds that roll around the fun, The fun himfelf fnall die; and ancient- Night Again involve the defblate abyfs ». Till the great Father thro' the lifelefs gloom - Extend his arm to light another world, 550 And bid new planets roll by other laws.- For thro' the regions of unbounded fpace, Where unconfin'd omnipotence-has room, Being, in various fyftems, fluctuates ftill Between creation and abhorr'd decay ; ^55 It ever did ; perhaps and ever will. New worlds are ftill emerging from the deep ; The old defcending, in their turns-to rife. . THE THE ART OF PRESERVING HEAL T H. BOOK III. EXERCISE. F r [ 43 ] TV H E. A R T OF PRESERVING H E A L T H. B O O K III. E X E R C I S E, THRO' various toils th' advent'rous mufe has paft ; But half the toil, and more than half, re- mains. Rude is her theme, and hardly fit for fong; Plain, and of little ornament; and I 5 But little practis'd in th' Aonian arts. Yet not in vain fuch labours have we tried, If ought thefe lays the fickle health confirm. To you, ye delicate, I write ; for you I tame my youth to philofophic cares, iO; And grow ftill paler by. the midnight lamps.-. . Not to debilitate with timorous rules F 2 A hardy 44 The A R T of B. III. A hardy frame ; nor needlefly to brave • Unglorious dangers, proud of- mortal ftrength; Is all the leffon that in wholfome years 15 Concerns the ftrong. His Care were ill beftow'd Who would with warm effeminacy nurfe The thriving oak, which on the mountain's brow Bears all the blafts that fweep the wint'ry heav'n. Behold the labourer of the glebe, who toils 20 In duft, in rain, in cold and fultry fkies: Save but the grain from mildews and the flood, Nought anxious he what fickly ftars afcend. He knows no laws by Efculapius given ; He ftudies none. Yet him nor midnight fogs 25 Infeft, nor thofe envenom'd fhafts that fly When rabid Sirius fires th' autumnal noon. His habit pure with plain and temperate meals, Robuft with labour, and by cuftom fteel'd To every cafualty of varied life ; oo Serene he bears the peevifh. eaftern blaft, And uninfected breaths the mortal South. Such the reward of rude and fober life; Of labour fuch. By health the peafant's toil Is well repaid ; if exercife were pain 35 Indeed, and temperance pain. By arts like thefe Laconia nurs'd of old her hardy fens ; And P. III. Preferving H E AL T H. 45 And Rome's unconquer'd, legions urg'd their way, Unhurt, thro' every toil hr every clime." Toil, and be ftrong. By toil the flaccid nerves 40 Grow firm, and gain a more compacted tone ; The greener juices are by toil fubdu'd, Mellow'd, and fubtiliz'd ; the vapid old - Expell'd, and all the rancor of the blood. Come, my companions, ye who feel the charms 45 Of nature and the year ; come, let us ftray Where chance or fancy leads our roving walk : Come, while the foft voluptuous breezes fan The fleecy heavens,, enwrap the limbs in balm, And fried a charming languor o'er the foul. 50 Nor when bright Winter fows with prickly froft The vigorous ether, in unmanly warmth Indulge at home ; nor even when Eurus' blafts This way and that convolve the lab'ring woods. My liberal walks, fave when the fkies in rain g$ Or fogs relent, no feafon fhould confine Or to the cloifter'd gallery or arcade. Go, climb the mountain; from th' etherial fource Imbibe the recent gale. The chearful morn Beams o'er the hills ; go, mount th' exulting fteed, 60 Already, fee, the deep-mouth'd beagles catch The tainted mazes; and, on eager fport Intent, with emulous impatience try Each doubtful tract. Or, if a nobler prey Dello-ht 4& The A R T of B. III. Delight you more, go chafe the defperate deer ; 65 And thro' its deepeft folitudes awake- The vocal foreft with the jovial horn. But if the breathlefs chafe o'er hill and dale Exceed your ftrength ; a fport of lefs fatigue, Not lefs delightful, the prolific ftream • 70 Affords.- The chryftal rivulet, that o'er Aftony channel rolls its rapid maze, Swarms with the filver fry. Such, thro' the bounds Of paftoral Stafford, runs the brawling TFent; Such Eden, Sprung from Cumbrian mountains; fuch j5 The,Elk, o'erhung with woods ; and fuch the ftream On whofe Arcadian banks'I firft drew air, Liddal; till now, except in Doric lays Tun'd to her murmurs by herflove-fick fwains, Unknown in fong : tho' not a- purer ftream, 80 Thro' meads more- flow'ry, or more romantic groves, Rolls toward the weftern main. Hail facred flood ! May ftill thy hofpitable fwains be bleft - In rural innocence ; thy mountains ftill ; Teem with the fleecy race ; thy tuneful woods 85 For ever flouriih ; and thy vales look gay With painted meadows, and the golden' grain ! " Oft, .-with thy bloo.ning fons, when life was new. - Sportive and petulant, and charm'd with toys, In thy tranfparent eddies. have • I lav'd : go Oft trac.'d-with patient fteps thy. fairy, bvinks, With B. III. Preferving H EALTH, 47 With the well-imitated fly to hook The eager trout, and with the flender line And yielding rod follicite to the fhore The ftruggling panting prey ; while vernal clouds 95 And tepid gales obfcur'd the ruffled pool, And from the deeps call'd forth the wanton fwarms. Form'd on the Samian fchool, or thofe oflnd, There are who think thefe paftimes fcarce humane. Yet in my mind (and not relentlefs I) 100 His life is pure that wears no fouler ftains. But if thro' genuine tendernefs of heart, Or fecret want of relifh for the game, You fhun the: glories of the chace, nor care To haunt the peopled ftream ;• the garden yields IQ5 A foft amufement, an humane delight. To raife th' infipid nature of the ground; Or tame its favage genius to the grace Of carelefs fweet rufticity, that feems The^ amiable' refult of happy chance, 110 Is to create ; and gives a god-like joy, Which every year improves. Nor thou difdain To check the lawlefs riot of the trees, To plant the grove, or turn the barren mould. O happy he! whom, when his years decline, 115 (His fortune and his fame by worthy means Attain'd, and equal to his moderate mind ; His life approv'd by all the wife and good, Even 48 The ART of B. III. Even envy'd by the vain) the peaceful groves Of Epicurus, from this ftormy world 120 Receive to reft ; of all ungrateful • cares- Abfolv'd, and facred from thefelfifri crowd. Happieft of men ! if the fame foil invites A chofen few, companions of his youth, Once fellow-rakes perhaps, now rural friends ; 125 With whom in eafy commerce to purfue Nature's free charms, and vie for fylvan fame: A fair ambition; void of ftrife or guile, Or jealoufy, or pain to be outdone. Who plans th' inchanted garden, who direct$>~- 130 The vifto beft, and beft conducts the ftream ; Whofe groves the fafteft thicken and afcend; Whom firft the welcome fpring falutes ; who fhews The earlieft bloom, the fweeteft, proudeft charms, - Of Flora ; who beft gives Pomona's juice 135 To match the fprightly genius of Champain, Thrice happy days ! in rural bufinefs paft. Bleft winter nights ! when, as the genial fice >. Chears the wide hall, his cordial family With foft domeftic arts the hours beguile, j 40 And pleafing talk that ftarts no timorous fatne,:. With witlefs wantonnefs to hunt it down :' k .• Or thro' the fairy-land of tale or fong Delighted wander, in fictitious fates Engag'd, and all that ftrikes humanity; 145 Till loft in fable, they the ftealing hour R III. Preferving HEALTH. 49 Of timely reft forget. Sometimes, at eve, His neighbours lift the latch, and blefs unbid His feftal roof; while, o'er the light repaft And fprightly cups, they mix in focial joy; 1.50 And, thro' the maze of conversion, trace Whate'er amufes or improves the mind. Sometimes at eve (for I delight to tafte The native zeft and flavour of the fruit, Where fenfe grows wild, and takes of no manure) 155 The decent, honeft, chearful hufbandman, Should drown his labours in my friendly bowl; And at my table find himfelf at home. Y^hate'er you ftudy, in whate'er you fweat, Indulge your tafte. Some love the manly foils; 160 The tennis fome ; and fome the graceful dance. Others, more hardy, range the purple heath, Or naked ftubble ; where from field to field The founding coveys urge their labouring flight; Eager amid the rifing cloud to pour 165- The gun's unerring thunder : and there are Whom ftill the * meed of' the green archer charms„ He chufes beft,, whofe labour- entertains His vacant fancy, moft : the toil you hate Fatigues you foon, and fcarce improves your limbs. * This word is much ufed by fome of the old Englifh poets, and. fignifies Reward or Prize. G 170 As 50 The ART of B. Ill;1 170 As beauty ftill has blemifh ; and the mind Tlie moft accomplifli'd its imperfect fide; Few bodies are there of that happy mould But fome one part is weaker than the reft : The legs, perhaps, or arms refufe their load, 175 Or the cheft labours. Thefe afliduoufly, But gently, in their proper arts employ'd, Acquire a vigour and elaftic fpring, To which they were not born. But weaker parts Abhor fatigue and violent difcipline. 180 Begin with gentle toils; and, as your nerves Grow firm, to hardier by juft fteps afpire. The prudent, even in every moderate walk, At firft but faunter ; and by flow degrees Increafe their pace. This doctrine of the wife 185 Well knows the mafter of the flying fteed. Firft from the goal the manag'd courfers play On bended reins ; as yet the fkilful youth Reprefs their foamy pride ; but every breath The race grows warmer, and the tempeft fwells j 190 Till all the fiery mettle has its way, And the thick thunder hurries o'er the plain. When all at once from indolence to toil You fpring, the fibres by the hafty fhock Are tir'd and crack'd, before their unctuous coats, 195 Comprefs'd, can pour the lubricating balm, Befides, collected in the paflive veins, The B. Ill, Preferving H E A L T H. 51 The purple mafs a fudden torrent rolls, O'erpowers the heart, and deluges the lungs With dangerous inundation : oft the fource 200 Of fatal woes ; a cough that foams with blood. Afthma, and feller * Peripneumonie, . Or the flow minings of the hectic fire. Th' athletic fool, to whom what heav'n deny'd Of foul h well compenfated in limbs, 205 Oft from his rage, or brakilefs frolic, feels His vegetation and brute force decay. The men of better clay and finer mould Know nature, feel the human dignity; And fcorn to vie with oxen or with apes. 2:i o Purfu'd prolixly, even the gentleft toil Is wafte of health : repofe by fmall fatigue Is earn'd ; and (where your habit is not prone To thaw) by the firft moifture of the brows. The fine and fubtle fpirits coft too much 2-15 To be profus'd, too much the rofcid balm. But when the hard varieties of life You toil to karn ; or try the dufty chace, Or the warm deeds of fome important day: Hot from the field, indulge not yet your limbs 220 In wihVd repofe, nor court the fanning gale, Nor tafte the fpring. O! by the facred tears Of widows, orphans, mothers, filters, fires, , * The inflammation of the lungs. G 2 Forbear ! 52 2Z«- A R T of B. III. Forbear ! No other peftilence has driven Such myriads o'er th' irremeable deep. 225 Why this fo fatal, the fagacious mufe Thro' nature's cunning labyrinths could trace : But there are fecrets which who knows not now, Muft, ere he reach them, climb the heapy Alps Of fcience ; and devote feven years to toil. 230 Befides, I would not ftun your patient ears With what.it little boots you to attain. He knows enough, the mariner, who knows Where lurk the fhelves, and where the whirlpools boil, What figns portend the ftorm : to fubtler minds 235 He leaves to fcan, from what myfterious caufe Charybdis rages in th' Ionian wave ; Whence thofe impetuous currents in the main, Which neither oar nor fail can ftem ; and why The rough'ning deep expects the ftorm, as fure 240 As.red Orion mounts the fhrouded heaven. In ancient times, when Rome with Athens, vied For polifh'd luxury and ufeful arts ; All hot and reeking from.th' Olympic ftrife, And warm Paleftra, in the tepid bath 245 Th' athletic youth relax'd their weary'd limbs. Soft oils bedew'd them, with the grateful pow'rs Qf Nard and Caflia fraught, to footh and heal The cherifri'd nerves. Our lefs voluptuous clime Not much invites us to. fuch arts as thefe. 250 "lis B. III. Preferving HEALTH. 53 250 sTis not for thofe, whom gelid fkies embrace, And chilling fogs; whofe perforationfeels -Such frequent bars from Eurus and the North; 'Tis not for thofe to cultivate a fkin Too foft; or teach the recremental fume 255 Too fall to crowd thro' fuch precarious ways. For thro' the fmall arterial mouths, that pierce In endlefs millions the clofe-woven fkin, The bafer fluids in a conftant ftream Efcape, and viewlefs melt into the winds. 260 While this eternal, this moft copious wafte Of, blood degenerate into vapid brine, Maintains its wonted meafure ; all the powers Of health befriend you, all the wheels of life With eafe and pleafure move : but this reftrairt'd 265 Or more or lefs, fo more or lefs you feel The functions labour. From this fatal fource What woes defcend is never to be fung. To take their numbers, were to count the fands That ride in whirlwind the parch'd Lybian air ; 270 Qr waves that, when the bluftering North embroils The Baltic, -thunder on the German fhore. , Subject not then, by-foft emollient arts, This grand expence, on which your fates depend, To every caprice of the fky ; nor thwart 275 The genius of your clime : for from the blood Leaft fickle rife the recremental fleams, And leaft obnoxious,to the ftyptic air, Which 54 The A R T of B. III. Which breathe thro' ftraiter and more callous pores. The temper'd Scythian hence, half naked treads 280 His boundlefs fnows, nor rues th' inckment heaven ; And hence our painted anceftors defied ,, The Eaft ; nor curs'd, like us, their fickle fky. The body, moulded by the clime, endures,, Th' Equator heats, or Hyperborean froft : 2S5 Except by habits foreign to its turn,1 ;iixd Unwife, you counteract its forming pow'r. Rude at the firft, the winter fhocks you lefs By long acquaintance : ftudy then your fky, Form to its manners your obfequious frame,, 290 And learn to fuffer what you cannot fhun. ' Againft the rigours of a damp cold heav'm To fortify their bodies,, fome frequent- The gelid ciftefn ; and, where nought forbids, I praife their dauntlefs keart. A frame fo fteel'd 295 Dreads not the cough, nor thofe ungenial blafts, That breathe the Tertian or fell Rheumatifm ; The nerves fo temper'd never quit their tone, No chronic languors haunt fuch hardy breafts. But all things have their bounds : and he who makes 300 By daily ufe the kindeft regimen Effential to his health, fhould never mix With human kind, nor art nor trade purfue. He not the fafe viciflitudes of life Without fome fhock endures; ill-fitted he 3°5 To B. III. Preferving HE ALT H. fa 305 To want the known, or bear unufual tiling^ Befides, the powerful remedies of pain (Since pain in fpite of all our care will come) Should never with your profperous days of health Grow too familiar : For by frequent ufe 310 The ftrongeft medicines lofe their healing power, And even the fureft poifons theirs to kill. Let thofe who from the frozen Arctos reach Parch'd Mauritania, or the fultry Weft, Or the wide flood that waters Indoftan, 315 Plunge thrice a day, and in the tepid wave Untwift their ftubborn pores; that full and free Th' evaporation thro' the foft'ned fkin May bear proportion to the fwelling blood. So lhall they 'fcape the fever's rapid flames ; 320 So feel untainted the hot breath of hell. With us, the man of no complaint demands The warm ablution, juft enough to clear The fluices of the fkin, enough to keep The body facred from indecent foil. 325 Still to be pure, even did it not conduce (As much it does) to health, were greatly worth Your daily pains. 'Tis this adorns the rich ; The want of this is poverty's worft woe : With this external virtue, age maintains 330 A decent grace ; without it, youth and charms Are loathfome. This the fkilful virgin knows: So 56 The A R T of B. III. So doubtlefs do your wives. For married fires, As well as lovers,, ftill pretend to tafte ; Nor is it lefs (all prudent wives can tell) 33I To lofe a.hufband's, tfran a lover's heart. But now the hours and feafons when to toil, From foreign themes recal my wandering fongi. Some labour falling, or but flightly fed, To lull the grinding. ftomach""s hungry rage : 340 Where nature feeds too corpulent a frame, 'Tis wifely done. For while the thirfty veins, Impatient of lean penuryj devour The treafur'd oil, then is the happieft/time- To fhake the lazy balfam from its cells.. 345 Now while the ftomach from the full repaft; Subfides ; but ere returning hunger gnaws, Ye leaner- habits- give an hour to toil: And ye whom no luxuriancy of growth" Oppreffes yet, or threatens to opprefsi 350 But from the recent meal no labours pleafe, Of limbs or-mind. For now the cordial powers Claim all the wandering fpiiits to a work- Of ftrong and fubtle toil, and great event-, A work of time : and you may rue the day- 355 You hurried, with ill-feafoned exercifej A half concocted chyle into the blood. The body overcharg'd with unctuous phlegm Much toil demands: the lean elaftic lefs. While B.III. Preferving HEALTH. 57 While winter chills the blood, and binds the veins, 360 No labours are too hard : by thofe you 'fcape" The flow difeafes of the torpid year ; Endlefs to name; to one of which, alone, To that which tears; the nerves, the toil: of flav&s Is pleafure: oh ! from, fuch inhumap paiivs 365 May all be free who merit not the wheel! But from the JxirningLion when the fun: . Pours down his- fultry wrath ;. now while the/blpqd Too much already maddens in the veins, .. And all the finer fluids thro' the fkin . / 370 Explore their flight; me, near the cool cafcade Reclin'd, or fauntring in the lofty grove, { { No needlefs flight occafion mould engage To pant and fweat beneath the fiery noon. Now the freih morn alone and mellow eve 3 y5 To mady' walks and active rural fpoftsr Invite. But while the chilling dews defcend, May nothing tempt you to the cold embrace *■ Of humid fkies : tho' 'tis no vulgar joy To trace the horrors of the folemn woodj 380 While the foft evening faddens into night :y Tho" the fweet poet of the Vernal groves " Melts all the night in ftrains> of amorous woe.- The fhadesdefcend, and midhight ofe^ the world Expands her fable wings. Great nature droops 385 Thro' all her works. Now happy he whofe toil Has o'er his languid powerlefs limbs diffus'd ** A pleafing 5 8 The ART of B. III. . , A pleafing laflitude : he not in vain Invokes the gentle deity of dreams. His powers, the moft voluptuoufly diffolve 390 In foft repofe : on him the balmy dews Of fleep with double nutriment defcend. But would you fweetly wafte the blank of night In deep oblivion; or on fancy's wings Vifit the paradife of happy dreams, 395; And Waken chearful as the lively morn *, Opprefs not nature finking down to reft With feafts too late, too folid, or too full; But be the firft concoction half-matur'd, Ere you to mighty indolence, refign 400 Your paflive faculties. He from the toils And troubles of the day to heavier toil Retires, whom trembling from the tower that rocks Amid the clouds, or Calpe's hideous height, The bufy daemons hurl, or in the main 405 O'erwhelm, or bury ftruggling under ground. Not all a monarch's luxury the- woes Can counterpoife, of that moft wretched man* Whofe nights are fhaken with,the: frantic fits ,' Of wild Oreftes ; whofe delirious brain, '410 Stung by the furies, works with poifoned thought: While pale and monftrous painting fliocks the foul % And mangled confcioufnefs bemoans itfelf For ever torn; and chaos floating round. What dreams prefage, what dangers thefe or thofe '415 Portend to fanity, tho' prudent feers ... Reveal'd B. IIIt Preferving H E ALT H. 59 Reveal'd of old, and men of deathlefs fame O -We would not to the fuperftitious mind., Suggeft new throbs, new vanities of fear. 'Tis ours to teach you from the peaceful jiight 4.20 To banifli omens, and all reftlefs woes. I n ftudy fome protract the filent hours, Which others confecrate to mirth and wine; And fleep till noon, and hardly live till night; • ^ s But furely this redeems npt from the fliades 425 One hour of life... Nor does it nought avail What feafon you to drowfy JVIorpheus give - Of th' ever varying circle of the day.; -: Or whether, thro' the tedious winter gloom, You tempt the midnight or the morning damps. 430 The body, frefh and vigorous from repofe, Defies the early fogs: but, by the, toils , Of wakeful day, exhaufted and unftrung,. Weakly refills the night's unwholfome breath. The grand Difcharge, th' effufion of the fkin, 435 Slowly impair'd^ the languid.maladies. Creep on^, and thro' the lick' ning functions "ileal. So, when the chilling Eaft invades the fpring, The delicate NarcifTus pines away In hectic languor ; and a flew difeaje 440 Taints all the family of flowers., condemn'd To cruel heav'ns. But why, already prone To fade, fhould beauty cherifh its own bane? H 2 O ffcame ! 6o The A R T of B. III. O fhame! O pity! nipt with pale Quadrille, And midnight cares, the bloom of Albion dies! 445 B y toil fubdu'd, the Warrior and the Hind Sleep faft and deep ; their active functions foon With generous ftrearns the fubtle tubes fupply, And foon the tonick irritable nerves Fee! the frefh impulfe; and awake the foul. 450 The fons of Indolence, with long repofe, Grow torpid ; and, with floweft Lethe drunk,1 Feebly and lingringly return to life, Blunt every fenfe, and powerlefs every limb: Ye, prone to fleep (whom fleeping moft annoys) 455 ^n the hard mattrafs or elaftic couch Extend your limbs, and wean yourfelves from floth; Nori grudge the lean projector, of dry brain And fpringy nerves, the blandifhments of down. Nor envy while the buried bacchanal 460 Exhales his furfeit in prolixer dreams. He without riot in the balmy feaft 'Of life, the wants of nature has fupplied Who rifes cool, ferene, and full of foul. But pliant nature more or lefs demands, 465 As cuftom forms her ; and all fudden change She hates of habit, even from bad to good. If faults in life, or new emergencies, From habits urge you by long time confirm'd, Slow may the change arrive, and ftage by ftage; A70 Slow B. III. Preferving H EALT H. 61 470 Slow as the fhadow o'er the dial moves, Slow as the ftealing progrefe of the year. Observe the circling year. How unperceiv'd Her feafons change! Behold! by flow degrees, Stern Winter tam'd into a ruder fpring; 475 The ripen'd Spring a milder fummer glows ; Departing Summer ftieds Pomona's ftore ; And aged Autumn brews the Winter-ftorm." Slow as they come, thefe changes come not void : Of mortal fliocks : the cold and torrid reigns, 480 The two great periods of th' important year, Are in their firft approaches feldom fafe: Funereal autumn all the fickly dread, And the black fates deform the lovely fpring. He well advis'd, who taught our wifer fires 485 Early to borrow Mufcovy's warm fpoils, Ere the firft froft has touch'd the tender blade ; And late refign them, tho' the wanton fpring Should-deck her charms with all her filler's rays. For while the effluence of the fkin maintains .490 Its native meafure, the pleuritic Spring Glides harmlefs by ; and Autumn, fick to death With fallow Quartans, no contagion breathes. I 1 n prophetic numbers could unfold The omens of the year : what feafons teem 495 Wrtli what difeafes ; what the humid South Prepares, and what the Dfemon of the Eaft : 62 The ART of B. III. But you perhaps refufe the tedious fong. Befides, whatever plagues in heat, or cold, Or drought, or moifture dwell, they hurt not you,, 500 Skill'd to correct the vices of the fky, And taught already how to each extream To bend your life. But fliould the public bane Infect you, or fome trefpafs of your own, Or flaw of nature hint mortality: 505 Soon as a not unpleafing horror glides Along the fpine, thro' all your torpid limbs; When firft the head throbs, or the ftomach feels A fickly load, a weary pain the loins ; Be Celfus call'd : the fates come ruffling on 5: 510 The rapid fates admit of no delay. While wilful you, and fatally fecure, Expect to morrow's more aufpicious fun, The growing peft, whofe infancy was weak And eafy vaoquiih'd., with triumphant fway 515 O'erpowers your life. For want of timely care Millions have died of medicable wounds. Ah ! in what perils is vain life engag'd! What flight neglects, what trivial faults deftroy The hardieft frame! Of indolence,, of toil, 520 We die ; of want, of fuperfluity. The all-furrounding heaven, the vital air, Is big with death. And, tho' the putrid South Be ffiut; tho' no convulfive agony Shake, from the deep foundations of the world, 525 Th' im- B. III. Preferving HEALTH. 63 525 Th' imprifoned plagues; a fecret venom oft Corrupts the air, the water, and the land. What livid deaths has fad Byzantium feen ! How oft has Cairo, with a mother's woe, Wept o'er her flaughtcr'd fon3, and lonely ftreets! 530 Even Albion, girt with lefs malignant fkies, Albion the poifon of the Gods has drunk, And felt the fting of monfters all her own. E r e yet the fell Plantagertets had fpent Their ancient rage, at Bofworth's purple field; 525 "While for which tyrant England fhould receive Her legions in inceftuous murders mix'd, And daily horrors; till the fates were drunk With kindred blood by kindred hands profus'd : Another plague of more gigantic arm 540 Arofe, a monfter never known before, Rear'd from Cocytus its portentous head. This rapid fury not, like-other pefts, Purfu'd a gradual courfe, but in a day Rufli'd as a ftorm o'er half th* aftonifli'd ifle^ 545 And ftrew'd with fudden carcafes the land. First thro' the moulders, or whatever part Was feiz'd the firft, a fervid vapour fprung. With rafh combuftion thence, the quivering fpark Shot to the heart, and kindled all within ; 550 And foon the furface caught the fpreading fires. Thro' all the yielding pores the melted blood Gufli'd 6^ ."' The A R T of B. IIL Gufh'd out infmoaky fweats; but nought afluag'd The torrid \heat within, nor aught reliev'd The ftomach's anguifh. With inceffant toil, 555 Defperate of eafe, impatient of their pain,. • They tofs'd from fide to fide. In vain the ftream Ran full and clear, they burnt and thirfted ftill- The reftlefs arteries with rapid blood Beat ftrong and frequent. Thick, and pantingly 560 The breath was fetch'd,and with huge lab'rings heav'd. At laft a heavy pain opprefs'd the head,, A wild delirium came ; their weeping friends Were ftrangers now,, and this no.home of theirs.^ Harafs'd with toil on toil, the finking powers ± ■j£>5 Lay proftrate and o'erthrown ;. a ponderous fleep. Wrapt all the. fenfes up : they flept and died.. In fome a-gende horror crept at firft- O'er all the limbs ; the fluices of the fkin jjf Withheld their moifture, till by artprovok'd'' "". 570 The fweats o'erflow'd; but in a clammy tide : . Now free and/copious, now reftrain'd and flow; Of tinctures various, as the temperature - > p. Had mix' d the blood ; and rank with fetid fleams : As if the pent-up humors by delay 575 Were grown more fell, more putrid, and malign. Here lay their hopes {tho' tittle hope remain'd) With fulleflu.fion of perpetual fweats OJ •»,- To drive the venom out. And here the fates~ Were kind, that long they linger*d not in pain. 580 For who furviv'd the fun's diurnal race, 3. III. Preferving HEALTH. 6.5 Rofe from the dreary gates of hell redeem'd : Some the fixth hour opprefs'd, and fome the third* Of many thoufands few untainted 'fcap'd ; Of thofe infected fewer 'fcap'd alive : 585.Of thofe who liv'd fome felt a fecond blow ; And whom the fecond fpar'd a third deftroy'd.1 Frantic with fear, they fought by flight to ftiun The fierce contagion. O'er the mournful land Th' infected city pour'dher hurrying fwarms: 590 Rous'd by the flames that fir'd her feats around, Th' infected country ruih'd into the town. Some, fad at.home, and in the defartfome, Abjur'd the fatal commerce of mankind; In vain : where'er they fled the Fates purfu'd. $95 Others with hopes more fpecious, crofs'd the main^ .To feek protection in far-diftant fkies.; . But none they.found. . It feem'd the general,air .Was then at enmity with Englifhblood. For,. but the race of England, all were fafe 6qq. In foreign climes ; nor did this fury tafte The foreign blood which Albion then contain'd. Wiiere fhould they .fly ?. The, circumambient heaveri > Involv'd them ftill; and every breeze was bane. Where find rehef ? The falutary art,. 605 Was mute ; and, ftartled at the new difeafe, In fearful whifpers hopelefs omens gave. To heaven with fuppliant rites they fent tlieirpray'rs •' I Ileav'a- '66 The ART, kc.~' B. lit Heav'n heard them not. Of every hope depriv'd \ Fatigu'd with vain refources; and fubdu'd 610 With woes refiftlefs and enfeebling fear ; Paflive they funk beneath the weighty blow. Nothing but lamentable founds was heard, Nor ought was feen but ghaftly views of death j . Infectious horror ran from face to face, 615 And pale defpair. 'Twas all the bufinefs then To tend the fick, and in their turns to die. In heaps they fell: and oft one bed, they fay,' The fickening, dying, and the dead contain'd. Y e guardian Gods* on whom the Fates depend 620 Of tottering Albion! Ye eternal fires, That lead thro heav'n the wandering year! Ye pow'ri That o'er th' incircling elements prefide! May nothing worfe than what this age has feen Arrive ! Enough abroad, enough" at home 625 Has Albion bled. Here a diftemper'd heaven Has thin'd her cities ; from thofe lofty cliffs That awe proud Gaul, to Thule's wint'ry reign % While in the Weft, beyond th' Atlantic foam, Her braveft fons, keen for the fight, have died II30 The death of cowards, and of common men ; Sunk void of wounds, and fall'n without renown;"^ - V But from thefe views the weepingMufes turn,' And Other themes invite my wandering fong. T H B T H E ART OF PRESERVING HEAL T H. B O O K IY. The PASSIONS. I 2 C 69 ] THE ART OF PRESERVING H E j1 L 1 H* BOOK IV. The PASSIONS. TH E choice of aliment, the choice of air* The ufe of toil, and all external things, Already fung ; it now remains to trace What good what evil from ourfelves proceeds: !g And how the fubtle principle within InfpireB with health, or mines with ftrange decay The paflive body. Ye poetic Shades, That know the fecrets of the world unfeen, • Aflift my fong! For, in a doubtful theme jo Engag'd, I wander thro' myfterious ways; There is, they fay (and 1 believe there is) A'fpark within us of th' immortal fire, That 70 7%e A R T of B. IV, That animates and moulds the groffer frame ; And when the body finks, efcapes to heaven, 15 Its native feat; and mixes with the Gods. Mean while this heavenly particle pervades The mortal elements, in every nerve It'thrills with pleafure, or grows mad with pain.' And, in its fecret conclave, as it feels 20 The body's woes and joys, this ruling power Weilds at its will the dull material world3 And is the body's health or malady.' B v its own toil the grofs corporeal frame Fatigues, extenuates,- or deftroys itfelf :- "25 Nor lefs the labours of the mind corrode The folid fabric. For by fubtle parts, And viewlefs atoms, fecret Nature moves The mighty wheels of this ftupendous world* By fubtle fluids pour'd thro' fubtle tubes '30 The natural, vital functions, are perform'd. By thefe the ftubborn aliments are tam'd; The toiling heart diftributes life and ftrength; Thefe the ftill-crumbling frame rebuild ; and thefe Are loft in thinking, and diffofve in air* 3 k But 'tis not Thought (for ftill the foul Yemploy'd) 'Tis painful thinking that Corrodes our clay. - All day the vacant eye without fatigue Strays o'er the heaven and earth \ but long intent -BlIV. Pttyervittg&H'E A L T H. 71 On microfcopic arts its vigour fails. 40 Juft fo the mind, with various thoughts amus'd, Nor aches itfelf, nor gives the body pain. But anxious Study> Difcontent, and Care, Love without Hope, and Hate without revenge," . And Fear, and Jealoufy, fatigue the foul, 45 Engrofs the fubtle minifters of life, :And fpoil the lab'ring functions of their fhare^ Hence the lean gloom that Melancholy wears; The Lover's palenefs; and the fallow hue Of Envy, Jealoufy ; the meagre flare 50 Of fore Revenge : the canker'd body hence Betrays each fretful motion of the mind. The ftrong-built pedant; who both night and day Feeds on the coarfeft fare the fchools beftow, ^rAnd crudely fattens at grofs Burman's flail; '55 O'erwhelm'd with phlegm lies in a dropfy drown'd. Or finks in lethargy before his time. With ufeful ftudies you, and arts that pleafe, Employ your mind, amufe, but not fatigue. Peace to each drowfy metaphyfic fage ! 60 And ever may the German folio's reft! And fome there are, even of elaftic parts, Whom ftrong and obftihate ambition leads Thro' alfthe rugged roads of barren lore, And gives to relifh what their generous tafte 65 Would elfe refufe. But may nor thirft of fame, 72 The ART of B. IV.. Nor love of knowledge urge you to fatigue With conftant drudgery the liberal foul. Toy with your books: and, as the various fits-. Of humour feize you, from Philofophy. jo To Fable fhift; from ferious Antonine To Rabelais' ravings, and from profe to fong.. While reading pleafes, but no longer, read|- And read aloud, refounding Homer's ftrain, And weild the thunder of Demofthenes. 75 The cheftfo exercis'd improves its ftrength 5\ And, quick vibrations thro' the bowels drive The reftlefs blood, which in unactive days Would loiter elfe thro' unelaftic tubes. Deem it not trifling while I recommend So What pofture fuits : to ftand and fit by turns, As nature prompts, is beft., But o'er your leaves r ,To lean for ever, cramps the vital parts, i And robs the fine machinery of its play. 9Tis the great art of life to manage well 85 The reftlefs mind. For ever on purfuit Of knowledge bent it ftarves the grpffer powers, Quite unemployed, againft its own repofe It turns its fatal edge, and fliarper pangs . Than what the body knows imbitter life.- ao Chiefly where Solitude, fad nurfe of care, To fickly mufing gives the penfive mind. There £. IV. Preferving HEALTH. 73 There madnefs enters ; and the dim-ey'd Fiend, Sour Melancholy, night and day provokes Her own eternal wound. The fun grows pale 5 95 A mournful vifionary light o'erfpreads The chearful face of nature: earth becomes A dreary defart, and heaven frowns above. Then various fhapes of curs'd illufion rife ;. Whate'er the wretched fears, creating Fear ioo^orms out of nothing; and with monfters teems Unknown in hell. The proftrate foul beneath A load of huge imagination heaves. And all the horrors that the guilty feel, , With anxious flutterings wake the guiltlefs breaft. X05 Such phantoms Pride in folitary fcenes, Or Fear, on delicate Self-love creates. Ftom other cares abfolv'd, the bufy mind Finds in yourfelf a theme to pore upon •, It finds you miferable, or makes you fo. iid For while yourfelf you anxioufly explore, Timorous Self-love, with fick'ning Fancy's aid, Prefents the danger that you dread the moft, And ever galls you in your tender part. Hence fome for love, and fome for jealoufy, 115 For grim religion fome, and fome for pride, Have loft their reafon : fome for fear of want Want all their lives ; and others every day For fear of dying fuffer worfe than death. K Ahl 74 The ART of B. IV, Ah ! from your bofoms banifh, if you can, 120 Thofe fatal guefts : and firft the Daemon Fear* That trembles at impoflibfe events, Left aged Atlas fhould refign his load. And heav'n's eternal battlements rum down; Is there an evil worfe than fear itfelf ? T25 And what avails it that indulgent heaven From mortal eyes has wrapt the woes to com^1 3f we, ingenious to torment ourfelves, Grow pale at hideous fictions of our own ? Enjoy the prefent; nor with needlefs cares, *3°„. O^ what may fpring from blind Misfortune's wombi Appal the fureft hour that life bellows. Serene, and mailer of yourfelf, prepare For what may come ; and leave the reft to heaven? Oft from the body, by long ails miftun'd, 135 Thefe evils fprung the moft important health, That of the mind, deftroy: and when the mind They firft inVade, the confcious body foon In fympathetic languifhment declines* Thefe chronic paflions, while from real woes 140 They rife, and yet without the body's fault Infeft the foul, admit one only cure ; Diverfion, hurry, and a reftlefs life. Vain are the confolations of the wife, In vain your friends Would reafon down your pain.' £45 Oh ye whofe fouls relentlefs love has tam'd .To P. IV. Preferving HEALTH. 75 To foft diftrefs, or friends untimely flam ! Court not the luxury of tender thought: Nor deem it impious to forget thofe pains That hurt the living, nought avail the dead. 150 Go, foft enthufiaft ! quit the cyprefs groves, Nor to the rivulet's lonely moanings tune Your fad complaint. Go, feek the chearful haunts Of men, and mingle with the buftling croud ; Lay fchemes for Wealth, or power, or fame, the wifti 155 Of nobler minds, and pufh them night and day. Or join the caravan in queft of fcenes New to your eyes, and fhifting every hour ; Beyond the Alps, beyond the Appennines; Or, more advent'rous, rufh into the field 160 Where war grows hot; and-, raging thro' the fky,1 The lofty trumpet fwells the maddening foul: And in the hardy camp and toilfome march Forget all fofter and lefs manly cares. But moft too paftive, when the blood runs low^ 165 Too weakly indolent to ftrive with pain,. «. And bravely by refilling conquer Fate, Try Circe's arts ; and in the tempting bowl Of poifon'd Nectar fweet oblivion drink. Struck by the powerful charm, the gloom diflblves 170 In empty air; Elyfium opens round. A pleafing phrenzy buoys the lighten'd foul, And fanguine hopes difpel your fleeting care; K 2 And 76 the ART of B. IV. And what was difficult, and what was dire, Yields to your prowefs and fuperior ftars : 175 The happieft you of all that e'er were mad, Or are, or fhall be, could this folly laft. But foon your heaven is gone; a heavier gloom Shuts o'er your head : and, as the thundering ftream, Swoln o'er its banks with fudden mountain rain, 180 Sinks from its tumult to a filent brook*, So, when the frantic raptures in your breaft Subfide, you languifli into mortal man 5 You fleep, and waking find yourfelf undone/ For, prodigal of life, in one rafh night J185 You lavifh'd more than might iupport three days] A heavy morning comes; yonr cares return With ten-fold rage. An anxious ftomach well May be endur'd ; fo may the throbbing head : But fuch a dim delirium, fuch a dream, 10.0 Involves you ; fuch a daftardly defpair Unmans your foul, as madd'ning Pentheus felt When, baited round Citheron's cruel fides, He faw two funs, and double Thebes afcend.* You curfe the fluggifli Port; you curfe the wretch,! 195 The felon, with unnatural mixture firft Who dar'd to violate the virgin Wine. Or on the fugitive Champain you pour A thoufand curfes; for to heaven your foul It rapt, to plunge you deeper in defpair. £00 Perhaps you rue even that divineft gift, The B. IV. Preferving HEALTH. 77 The gay, ferene, good-natur'd Burgundy, Or the frefli fragrant vintage of the Rhine : And wifh that heaven from mortals had withheld The grape, and all intoxicating bowls. Besides, it wounds you fore to recollect What follies in your loofe unguarded hour Efcap'd. By one irrevocable word, Perhaps that meant no harm, you lofe a friend,' Or in the rage of wine your hafty hand Performs a deed to haunt you to your grave. Add that your means, your health, your parts decays Your friends avoid you ; brutiflily transform'd They hardly know you ; or if one remains To willi you well, he withes you in heaven. Defpis'd, unwept you fall; who might have left A facred, cherifh'd, fadly-pleafing name i A name ftill to be utter'd with a figh. Your laft ungraceful fcene has quite effac'd All fenfe and memory of your former worths 220 How to live happieft ; how avoid the pains^ The Difappointments, and difgufts of thofe Who would in pleafure all their hours employ ; The precepts here of a divine old man I could recite. Tho' old, he ftill retain'd 225 His manly fenfe, and energy of mind. Virtuous and wife, he was, but not fevere \ He 205 210 215 78 The A R T of B. IV. He ftill remember'd that he once was young; rJis eafy prefence check'd no decent joy. Him even the diflblute admir'd ; for he 230 A graceful loofenefs when he pleas'd put on, And laughing could inftruct. Much had he read, Much more had feen; he ftudied from the life, And in th' original perus'd mankind. Vers'd in the woes and vanities of life, 235 He pitied man: and much he pitied thofe Whom falfely-fmiling fate has curs'd: with means ^ To diflipate their days in queft of joy. Our aim is Happinefs; 'tis yours, 'tis mine, He faid, 'tis the purfuit of all that live; 240 Yet few attain it, if 'twas e'er attain'd. ; Bur they the wideft wander from the mark, Who thro' the flow'ry paths of faunt'ring joy Seek this coy Goddefs; that from ftage to ftage Invites us ftill, but fhifts as we purfue. 245 For not to name the pains that pleafure brings To counterpoife itfelf, relentlefs Fate Forbids that we thro' gay voluptuous- wilds Should ever roam : and were the Fates more kind, Our narrow luxuries would foon be ftale. 250 Were thefe exhauftlefs, Nature would grow fiek, And, cloy'd with pleafure, fqueamifhly complain That all was vanity, and life a dream. Let nature reft : be bufy for yourfelf, And B. IV. Preferving H E A L T PL 79 And for your friend; be bufy even in vain 255 Rather than teize her fated appetite?. Who never falls no banquet e'er enjoys; Who never toils or watches never fleeps. Let nature reft: and when the tafte of joy Grows keen, indulge ; but fhun fatiety. 260 5Tis not for mortals always to be bleft.1 But him the leaft the dull or painful hours Of life opprefs, whom fober Senfe conducts And Virtue, thro' this labyrinth we tread. Virtue and Senfe I mean not to disjoin ; ±65 Virtue and Senfe are one ; and, truft me, he Who has not virtue, is not truly wife. Virtue (for meer good-nature is a fool) Is fenfe and fpirit, with humanity: 'Tis fometimes angry, and its frown confounds; 270 'Tis even vindictive, but in vengeance juft. Knaves fain would laugh at it; fome great ones dare y But at his heart the moft undaunted fon Of fortune dreads its name and awful charms.; To nobleft ufes this determines wealth ; 1275 This is the folid pomp of profperous days 5 The peace and fhelter of adverfity. And if you pant for glory, build your fame On this foundation, which the fecret fliock Defies, of Envy and all-fapping Time. The gawdy glofs of Fortune only ftrikes The [Bo The A R T of B. IV. The vulgar eye : the fuffrage of the wife, 280 The praife that's worth ambition, is attain'd By Senfe alone, and dignity of mind. Virtue, the ftrength and beauty of the foul, Is the beft gift of heaven : a happinefs That even above the fmiles and frowns of fate 285 Exalts great Nature's favourites: a wealth That ne'er incumbers, nor to bafer hands Can be transferr'd : it is the only good Man juftly boafts of, or can call his own/ Riches are oft by guilt and bafenefs earn'd y 290 Qr dealt by chance, to fhield a lucky. knave8 Or throw a cruel fun-fhine on a fool. But for one end, one much-neglected ufe, Are riches wordi your care: (for Nature's wants Are few, and without opulence fupplied.) 295 This noble end is, to produce the Soul; , To fliew the virtues in their faireft light; To make Humanity the Minifter Of bounteous Providence ; and teach the Breail That generous luxury the Gods enjoy. 300 Thus, in his graver vein,, the friendly Sage Sometimes declaim'd. Of Right and Wronghe taught Trutjis as refin'd as ever Athens heard ; And (ftrange to tell!) he practis'd what he preach'd. Skill'd in the Paffions, how to. check their fway 3°5 H? B. IV. Preferving HEALTH. «'\ 305 He knew, as far as Reafon can controul The lawlefs Powers. But other cares are mine : Form'd iri the fchool of Paeon, I relate What Paflions hurt the body, what improve : Avoid them,, or invite them, as you mayr 310 Know then, whatever chearful and ferene Supports the mind, fupports the body too: Hence the moft vital movement mortals feel Is Hope ; the balm and life-blood of the foul. It pleafes, and it lafts. Indulgent heaven $15 Sent down the kind delufion, thro' the paths Of rugged life; to lead us patient on; And make our happieft flate no tedious thing; Our greateft good, and what we leaft can fpare, Is Hope; the laft of all our evils* Fear. 320 But there are Paflions grateful to the breaft, And yet no friends to Life; perhaps they pleafe Or to excefs^ and diflipate the foul; Or while they pleafe, torment. The flubborn clown, The ill-tam'd Ruffian, and pale Ufurer, 325 (If Love's omnipotence fuch hearts can mould) May fafely mellow into love ; and grow Refin'd, humane, and generous, if they can. Love in fuch bofoms never to a fault Or pains or pleafes. But ye finer Souls,' 330 Form'd to foft luxury, and prompt to thrill L With \l2 The ART of B. IVc With all the tumults, all the joys and pains, That beauty gives ; with caution and referve Indulge the fweet deftroyer of repofe, Nor court too much the Queen of charming cares. {35 For, while the cherifh'd poifon in your breaft Ferments and maddens ; fiek with jealoufy, Abfence, diftruft, or even with anxious joy, The wholfome appetites and powers of life Diflolve in languor. The coy ftomach loaths 340 The genial board : your chearful days are gone : The generous bloom that flufh'd your cheeks is fled* To fighs devoted, and to tender pains, ! Penfive you fit, or folitary ftray, And wafte your youth in mufing. Mufing firft 545 Toy'd into care your unfufpecting heart: It found a liking there, a fportful fire, And that fomented into ferious love ; Which mufing daily ftrengthens and improves Thro' all the heights of fondnefs and romance : 250 And you're undone, the fatal fhaft has fped, If once you doubt whether you love or no. The body waftes away; th' infected mind, Difiblv'd in female tendernefs, forgets Each manly virtue, and grows dead to fame. 055 Sweet heaven, from fuch intoxicating charms, Defend all worthy breafts! Not that I deem Love always dangerous, always to be fhunn'd. Love well repaid, and not too weakly funk In B. IV. Preferving HEALTH. 8 2 In wanton and unmanly tendernefs, 360 Adds blooom to Health; o'er every viitue fheds A gay, humane, and amiable grace, And brightens all the ornaments of man. But fruitlefs, hopelefs, difappointed, rack'd With jealoufy, fatigu'd with hope and fear, 365 Too ferious, or too languifliingly fond, Unnerves the body, and unmans the foul. And fome have died for Love ; and fome run mad And fome with defperate hand themfelves have flain, Some to extinguish, others to prevent, 370 A mad devotion to one dangerous Fair, Court all they meet; in hopes to diflipate The cares of Love amongft a hundred Brides.' Th' event is doubtful: for there are who find A cure In this ; there are who find it not. ZJ5 'Tis no relief, alas! it rather galls The wound, to thofe who are fincerely fiek. For while from feverifh and tumultuous joys J The nerves grow languid, and the foul fubfides j The tender Fancy fmarts with every fting ; 380 And what was Love before is Madnefs now. Is health your care, or luxury your aim? Be temperate ftill: when Nature bids, obey ; Her wild impatient fallies bear no curb. But when the prurient habit of delight, 385 Or loofe imagination, fpurs you on L 2 Tc f+ The A K T of B. IV. To deeds above your ftrength, impute it not To Nature: Nature all compulfion hates. j Ah! let nor luxury nor vain renown Urge you to feats you well might fleep without; 90 To make what fliould be rapture a fatigue, A tedious talk ; nor in the wanton arms Of twining Lais melt your manhood down. For from the colliquation of foft joys How chang'd you rife! the ghoft of what you was! \95 Languid, and melancholy, and gaunt, and wan j Your veins exhaufted, and your nerves unftrung. Spoil'd of its balm and fprightfy zeft, the blood Grows vapid phlegm; along the tender nerves (To each flight impulfe tremblingly awake) j.00 A fubtle Fiend that mimics all the plagues, Rapid and reftlefs, fprings from part to part. The blooming honours of your youth are fallen 5 Your vigour pines; your vital powers decay ; Difeafes haunt you ; and untimely Age 105 Creeps on; unfocial, impotent, and lewd. Infatuate, impious epicure ! to wafte The flores of pleafure, chearfulnefs, and health! Infatuate all who make delight their trade, And coy perdition every hour purfue. 410 Who pines with Love, or in lafcivious flames Confumes, is with his own confent undone : He chufes to be wretched, to be mad j And B. IV. Preferving HEALTH. 85 And warn'd proceeds and wilful to his fate. But there's a Paflion, whofe tempeftuous fway 415 Tears up each virtue planted in the breaft, And fliakes to ruins proud philofophy. For pale and trembling Anger ruflies in, With fault'ring fpeech, and eyes that wildly flare ; Fierce as the Tyger, madder than the feas, 420 Defperate, and arm'd with more than human ftrength. How foon the calm, humane, and polifh'd man, Forgets compunction, and ftarts up a fiend ! Who pines in Love, or waftes with filent Cares, Envy, or Ignominy, or tender Grief, 425 Slowly defcends, and ling'ring to the fliades. But he whom Anger flings, drops, if he dies, At once, and ruflies apoplectic down ; Or a fierce fever hurries him to hell. For, as the Body thro' unnumber'd firings 430 Reverberates each vibration of the Soul; As is the Paflion, fuch is ftill the Pain The Body feels; or chronic, or acute. And oft a fudden ftorm at once o'erpowers The Life, or gives your Reafon to the winds. 435 Such fates attend the rafh alarm of Fear, And fudden Grief, and Rage, and fudden Joy. There are, mean time, to whom the boift'rous fit Is health, and only fills the fails of life. For where the Mind a torpid winter leads, 440 Wrapt 86 The A R T of B. IV. 440 Wrapt in a body corpulent and cold, And each clogg'd function lazily moves on ; A generous fally fpurns th' incumbent load, Unlocks the breaft, and gives a cordial glow. But if your wrathful blood is apt to boil, 445 Or are your nerves too irritably fining; Wave all Difpute ; be cautious if you joke 5 Keep Lent for ever ; and forfwear the bowl. For one rafh moment fends you to the fhades, Or fliatters every hopeful fcheme of life, 450 And gives to horror all your days to come. Fate, arm'd with thunder, fire, and every plague That ruins, tortures, or diffracts mankind, And makes the happy wretched in an hour, O'erwhelms you not with woes fo horrible 455 As your own wrath, nor gives more fudden blows. While choler works, good friend, you may be wrong ; Diftruft yourfelf, and fleep before you fight. 'Tis not too late to morrow to be brave ; If Flonour bids, to morrow kill or die. 460 But calm advice againft a raging fit Avails too little ; and it tries the power Of all that ever taught in Profe or Song, To tame the Fiend that fleeps a gentle Lamb,. And wakes a Lion. Unprovok'd and calm, 465 You reafon well, fee as you ought to fee,. And. B. IV. Preferving HEALTH. 87 And wonder at the madnefs of mankind : Seiz'd with the common rage, you foon forget The fpeculations of your wifer hours. Befet with Furies of all deadly fhapes, 470 Fierce and infidious, violent and flow ; With all that urge or lure us on to Fate; What refuge fhall we feek ? what arms prepare ? Where Reafon proves too weak, or void of wiles, To cope with fubtle or impetuous Powers, 475 I would invoke new Paflions to your aid: With indignation would extinguifli Fear, With Fear or generous Pity vanquifh Rage, And Love with Pride ; and force to force oppofe; T h e r e is a Charm: a Power that fways the breaft; 480 Bids every Paflion revel or be ftill; Infpires with Rage, or all your Cares diflblves 5 Can footh Diffraction, and almoft Defpair. That Power is Mufic : far beyond the ftretch Of thofe unmeaning warblers on our ftage ; 485 Thofe clumfy Heroes, thofe fat-headed Gods, Who move no Paflion juftly but Contempt: Who, like our Dancers (light indeed and ftrong!) Do wond'rous feats, but never heard of grace. The fault is ours ; we bear thofe monftrous arts, 490 Good Heaven! we praife them: we, with loudeft peals, Applaud the fool that higheft lifts his heels; And with infipid fhew of rapture, die 8S the A R T of B. IV. Of ideot notes, impertinently long. But he the Mufe's laurel juftly fliares, 495 A Poet he, and touch'd with Heaven's own fire ; Who, with bold rage or folemn pomp of founds, Inflames, exalts, and ravifhes the foul; Now tender, plaintive, fweet almoft to pain, In Love diflblves you; now in fprightly ft rains 500 Breathes a gay rapture thro' your thrilling breaft -, Or melts the heart with airs divinely fad ; Or wakes to horror the tremendous firings. Such was the bard, whofe heavenly ftrains of old Appeas'd the Fiend of melancholy Saul. 505 Such was, if old and heathen fame fay true, The man who bade the Theban domes afcend, And tam'd the favage nations with his fong; And fuch the Thracian, whofe harmonious lyre, Tun'd to foft woe, made all the mountains weep^> 510 Sooth'd even th' inexorable powers of Hell, And half redeem'd his loft Eurydice. Mufic exalts each Joy, allays each Grief, Expels Difeafes, foftens every Pain, Subdues the rage of Poifon, and the Plague ; 515 And hence the wife of ancient days ador'd One Power of Phyfic, Melody, and Song; 7hs E N V. HecL Hist. XI0 A13ka, fr.^ H \ \ Wi m ym W V\\:\^> xMttmt IPtllS ■_„ ^■TrL^"'^ag-s-.. mm WUur:-;wX^§ y^fc^fegg* ^^%V SKlai ■-' '-•' ^ ^ *■ J^NgT^WkX-N . S^S^d^A * ^vl NJ^^^fc IP \jv "m< IF^rorJrL MHUUju ^>>^C ■m