To fink this haughty tyrant's pride,
He order'd Fancy to prefide.
Hence when debates on beauty rise,
And each bright fair difputes the prize,
To Fancy's court we strait apply,
And wait the fentence of her eye;

In Beauty's realms fhe holds the feals,
And her awards preclude appeals.

THE

THE FA N.

By Mr. GAY. Book. I.

SING that graceful toy, whose waving play
With gentle gales relieves the fultry day,
Not the wide fan by Persian dames display'd,
Which o'er their beauty cafts a grateful shade ;
Nor that long known in China's artful land,
Which, while it cools the face, fatigues the hand:
Nor fhall the mufe in Afian climates rove,
To feek in Indoftan some spicy grove,

Where stretch'd at ease the panting lady lies,
To fhun the fervor of meridian skies,

While fweating flaves catch ev'ry breeze of air,
And with wide-fpreading fans refresh the fair;
No bufy gnats her pleafing dreams moleft,
Inflame her cheek, or ravage o'er her breast.
But artificial zephyrs round her fly,

And mitigate the fever of the sky.

Stay, wand'ring mufe, nor rove in foreign climes,
To thy own native shore confine thy rhymes.
Affift, ye nine, your loftieft notes employ,
Say what celestial skill contriv'd the toy;
Say how this inftrument of love began,

And in immortal ftrains difplay the fan.
Strephon had long confefs'd his am'rous pain,
Which gay Corinna rally'd with disdain :

Sometimes

Sometimes in broken words he figh'd his care, Look'd pale, and trembled when he view'd the fair; With bolder freedoms now the youth advanc'd,

He drefs'd, he laugh'd, he fung, he rhym'd, he danc'd: Now call'd more pow'rful prefents to his aid, And, to feduce the mistress, brib'd the maid; Smooth flatt'ry in her fofter hours apply'd, The fureft charm to bind the force of pride: But ftill unmov'd remains the scornful dame, Infults her captive, and derides his flame. When Strephon saw his vows difpers'd in air, He fought in folitude to lose his care; * Relief in folitude he fought in vain, It ferv'd, like mufic, but to feed his pain. To Venus now the flighted boy complains, And calls the goddess in these tender strains.

O potent queen, from Neptune's empire sprung,
Whose glorious birth admiring Nereids fung,
Who 'midst the fragrant plains of Cyprus rove,
Whose radiant presence gilds the Paphian grove,
Where to thy name a thousand altars rise,

And curling clouds of incense hide the skies :
O beauteous Goddess, teach me how to move,
Infpire my tongue with eloquence of love.
If loft Adonis e'er thy bosom warm'd,

If e'er his eyes, or godlike figure charm'd,

Think on those hours when firft you felt the dart,
Think on the reftlefs fever of thy heart;

Think how you pin'd in absence of the swain:

By thofe uneafy minutes know my pain.
Ev'n while Cydippe to Diana bows,

And at her shrine renews her virgin vows,

The lover, taught by thee, her pride o'ercame ;
She reads his oaths, and feels an equal flame :
Oh, may my flame, like thine, Acontius, prove,
May Venus dictate, and reward my love.
When crowds of fuitors Atalanta try'd,

She wealth, and beauty, wit and fame defy’d:
Each daring lover with advent'rous pace
Purfu'd his wishes in the dang❜rous race;
Like the swift hind, the bounding damfel flies,
Strains to the goal, the distanc'd lover dies.
Hippomenes, O Venus, was thy care,

You taught the fwain to stay the flying fair,
Thy golden prefent caught the virgin's eyes,
She stoops; he rushes on, and gains the prize.
Say, Cyprian deity, what gift, what art,
Shall humble into love Corinna's heart;
If only fome bright toy can charm her fight,
Teach me what prefent may fufpend her flight.
Thus the defponding youth his flame declares,
The goddess with a nod his paffion hears.

Far in Cythera ftands a spacious grove,

Sacred to Venus and the God of love;
Here, the luxuriant myrtle rears her head;
Like the tall oak the fragrant branches spread;

Here

Here nature all her fweets profusely pours,

And paints th' enamell'd ground with various flow'rs;
Deep in the gloomy glade a grotto bends,

Wide through the craggy rock an arch extends,
The rugged stone is cloath'd with mantling vines,
And round the cave the creeping woodbine twines.
Here bufy Cupids, with pernicious art,

Form the stiff bow, and forge the fatal dart ;
All share the toil; while fome the bellows ply,
Others with feathers teach the shafts to fly:

Some with joint force whirl round the ftony wheel,
Where ftreams the sparkling fire from temper'd steel
Some point their arrows with the niceft skill,
And with the warlike ftore their quivers fill.
A different toil another forge employs ;
Here the loud hammer fashions female toys,
Hence is the fair with ornament fupply'd,
Hence sprung the glitt'ring implements of pride;
Each trinket that adorns the modern dame,
First to these little artists ow'd its frame.
Here an unfinish'd di'mond crosslet lay,
To which foft lovers adoration pay;

There was the polish'd crystal bottle feen,
That with quick scents revives the modish spleen:
Here the yet rude unjointed snuff-box lies,
Which ferves the rally'd fop for fmart replies;
There piles of paper rofe in gilded reams,

'The future records of the lover's flames;