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 ,^j Q 1^ rj 
 
 THE 
 
 A 
 
 R 
 
 T 
 
 OF PRESERVING 
 
 HEALTH: 
 
 A 
 
 POEM. 
 
 €^g^ 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for A. Millar, oppofite to Katharhie-Street in the Strands 
 
 MDCCXHV. 
 [Price Four Shillings icAved,]
 
 
 THE 
 
 ART 
 
 OF PRESERVING 
 
 HEALTH. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 AIR. 
 
 DAUGHTER of Paeon, queen of every joy, 
 Hygeia*5 whofe indulgent fmile fuftalns 
 The various race luxuriant nature pours, 
 And on th' immortal eflences beftows 
 5 Immortal youth ; aufpicious, O defcend ! 
 Thou, chearful guardian of the rolling year. 
 Whether thou wanton'ft on the weftern gale, 
 
 * Hygeia the goddefs of healtli, was, according to the genealogy of the 
 heathen deities, the daughter of Efculapius •, who, as well as Apollo, was 
 diflLnguifhed by the name of Pieon. 
 
 B ^ Or 
 
 ^:r--f .oq:
 
 2, The ART of B. I. 
 
 Or fhak'ft the rigid pinions of the north, 
 Diffufeft life and vigour thro' the tracts 
 
 I o Of air, thro' earth, and ocean's deep domain. 
 When thro' the blue ferenity of heav'n 
 Thy power approaches, all the wafteful hoft 
 Of pain and ficknefs, fquallid and deform'd, 
 Confounded fink into the loathfom gloom, 
 
 1 5 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 fhuddering air : whatever plagues 
 Or meagre famine breeds, or with flow wings 
 
 2,0 Rife from the putrid watry 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 j/ 
 
 25 Whatever ills th' extremes or fudden change 
 
 I * ' Of
 
 B. I. P referring HEALTH. 
 
 Of cold and hot, or moift and dry produce; 
 They fly thy pure effulgence : they, and all 
 The fecret poifons of avenging heaven, 
 And all the pale tribes halting in the train 
 
 30 Of vice and heedlefs pleafure : or if aught 
 The comet's glare amid the burning sky, 
 Mournful eclipfe, or planets ill-combin'd, 
 Portend difaftrous to the vital world ; 
 Thy falutary power averts their rage, 
 
 3 5 Averts the general bane : and but for thee 
 Nature would ficken, nature foon would die. 
 
 Without thy chearful active energy 
 No rapture fwells the breaft, no poet fings, 
 No more the maids of Helicon delight. 
 40 Come then with me, O Goddefs heavenly-gay ! 
 Begin the fong ; and let it fweetly flow, 
 And let it wifely teach thy wholefom laws : 
 
 B 2 How
 
 4 The A'KT of B. I. 
 
 " How beft 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 chufe 
 The beft, and thofe of moft extenfive ufe j 
 Harder in clear and animated fongr 
 Dry philofophic precepts to convey. 
 
 50 Yet with thy aid the fecret wilds I trace 
 Of nature, and with daring fteps proceed 
 Thro' paths the mufes never trod before. 
 
 Nor fhould I wander doubtful of my way. 
 Had I the lights of that fagacious mind 
 55 Which taught to check the peftilential fire^ 
 And quel 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 well-defign'd eflay, 
 
 How-
 
 B. I. Preferving HEALTH. \ 
 
 60 Howe'er imperfecl : and permit that I 
 
 My little knowledge with my country fhare, 
 Till you the rich Afclepian ftores unlock, 
 And with new graces dignify the theme. 
 
 Y E who amid this feverifh world would wear 
 65 A body free of pain, of cares a mind ; 
 Fly the rank city, (hun its turbid air j 
 Breathe not the chaos of eternal fmoke 
 And volatile corruption, from the dead, 
 The dying, fickning, 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 j when from Ihape and texture fhe 
 Relapfes into fighting elements : 
 
 It
 
 6 The ART of B. I. 
 
 It is not air, but floats a naufeous mafs 
 Of all obfcene, corrupt, ofFenfive things. 
 Much moifture hurts j but here a fordid bath, 
 
 80 With oily rancor fraught, relaxes more 
 The folid frame than fimple moifture can. 
 Befides, immur'd in many a fullen bay 
 That never felt the frelhnefs 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 not the acid vigour of the mine, 
 Roll'd from fo many thundring chimneys, tame 
 The putrid falts that overfwarm the sky ; 
 
 90 This cauftick venom would perhaps corrode 
 Thofe tender cells that draw the vital air. 
 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 skin, 
 
 Im-
 
 B. I. Preferving HEALTH. 7 
 
 95 Imbib'dj 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 dreams, and each ambrofial breeze 
 
 100 That fans the ever undulating sky ; 
 
 A kindly sky ! whofe foft'ring power regales 
 Man, beaft, and all the vegetable reign. 
 Find then fome woodland fcene where nature fmiles 
 Benign, where all her honeft children thrive. 
 
 105 To us there wants not many a happy feat 5 
 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 ; 
 
 no There chufe thy feat, in fome afpiring grove 
 Fail by the (lowly-winding Thames 5 or where 
 Broader fhe laves fair Richmond's green retreats, 
 
 (Richmond
 
 8 The A R T c/ B. I. 
 
 (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 mayft thy vacant hours pofTefs 
 In Hampftead, courted by the weftern wind ; 
 
 120 Or Greenwich, waving o'er the winding flood ; 
 Or lofe the world amid the fylvan wilds 
 Of Dulwich, yet by barbarous arts unfpoil'd. 
 Green rife the Kentifh hills in chearful air j 
 But on the marfhy plains that Eflex fpreads 
 
 125 Build not, nor reft too long thy wandering feet. 
 For on a ruftic throne of dewy turf. 
 With baneful fogs her aching temples bound, 
 Quartana there prefides \ 3. meagre fiend 
 Begot by Eurus, when his brutal force 
 
 130 Comprefs'd the flothful Naiad of the fens. 
 
 I From
 
 B. I. Preferving HEALTH. 
 
 From fuch a mixture fprung this fitful peft, 
 With feverilh blails fubdues the fick'ning land : 
 Cold tremors come, and mighty love of reft, 
 Convulfive yawnings, laffitude, and pains 
 
 135 That fting the burden'd brows, fatigue the loins, 
 And rack the joints, and every torpid limb ; 
 Then parching heat fucceeds, till copious fweats 
 O'erflow ; a lliort relief from former ills. 
 Beneath repeated (hocks the wretches pine ; 
 
 140 The vigour finks, the habit melts away ; 
 The chearful, pure and animated bloom 
 Dies from the face, with fqualid atrophy 
 Devour'd, in fallow melancholy clad. 
 And oft the forcerefs, in her fated v/rath, 
 
 145 Refigns them to the furies of her train ; 
 The bloated Hydrops, and the yellow fiend 
 
 Tino-'d with her own accumulated e^H- 
 
 In
 
 10 The A R r of B. I. 
 
 In queft of fites, avoid the mournful plain 
 Where ofiers thrive, and trees that love the lake ; 
 
 150 Where many lazy muddy ri^ ers flow : 
 
 Nor for the wealth that all the Indies roll 
 Fix near the marlhy margin of the main. 
 For from the humid foil, and watry reign, 
 Eternal vapours rife 5 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 Ihun 
 Who dreads the dropfy, palfy, or the gout, 
 Tertian, corrofive fcurvy, or moift catarrh ; 
 
 166 Or any other injury that grows 
 
 From raw-fpun fibres idle and unllrung, 
 Skin ill-perfpiring, and the purple flood 
 In languid eddies loitering into phlegm. 
 
 Yet
 
 B. I, Preferving HEALTH. ii 
 
 Yet not alone from humid skies we pine ; 
 
 165 For air may be too dry. The fubtle heaven, 
 That winnows into dult the blarted downs, 
 Bare and extended wide without a ftream, 
 Too fad imbibes th' attenuated lymph 
 Which, by the furface, from the blood exhales. 
 
 170 The luno[s orrow riaid, and with toil eiTay 
 Their flexible vibrations ; or inflam'd, 
 Their tender ever-movingr ftru£lure thaws. 
 Spoil'd of its limpid vehicle, the blood 
 A mafs of lees remains, a droffy tide 
 
 175 That flow as Lethe wanders thro' the veins, 
 Una£l:ive in the ferv^ices of life, 
 Unfit to lead its pitchy current thro' 
 The fecret mazy channels of the brain. 
 The melancholic fiend, (that woril defpair 
 
 180 Ofphyfic) hence the ruft-complexion'd man ' 
 Purfues, whofe blood is dry, whofe fibres gain 
 
 C 2 Too
 
 12 The AKT of B. I. 
 
 Too ftretch'd a tone : And hence in climes aduft 
 So fudden tumults feize the trembling nerves, 
 And burninor fevers olow with double rage. 
 
 185 Fly, if you can, thefe violent extremes 
 
 Of air ; the wholefome is nor moift nor dry. 
 But as the power of chufmg is deny'd 
 To half mankind, a further task enfues ; 
 How beft 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 fir ft the fogs of Eflex breath 'd 
 (So kind is native air) may in the fens 
 
 195 Of Eflex from inveterate ills revive 
 
 At pure Montpelier or Bermuda caught. 
 . But if the raw and oozy heaven offend, 
 Correft the foil, and dry the fources up 
 
 Of
 
 B. I. Preferving HEALTH. 13 
 
 Of vvatry exhalation ; wide and deep 
 
 2.00 Condu6^ your trenches thro' the fpouting bo(^ j 
 Solicitous, with all your winding arts, 
 Betray th' unwilling lake into the ftrcam ; 
 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. 
 Mean time, 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 v/ilds 
 
 210 Yield to the toilfom pleafures of the chafe. 
 Generous your wine, the boaft of rip'ning years. 
 But frugal be your cups ; the languid frame, 
 Vapid and funk from yefterday's debauch. 
 Shrinks from the cold embrace of watry heavens. 
 
 215 But neither thefe, nor all Apollo's arts, 
 Difarm the dangers of the dropping sky, 
 
 Unlefs
 
 14 rhe A'^r of B. I. 
 
 Unlefs with exercife and manly toil 
 
 You brace your nerves, and fpur the lagging blood. 
 
 The fat'nino clime let all the fons of eafe 
 
 2 20 Avoid 5 if indolence would wifh to live. 
 
 Go, yawn and loiter out the long (low year 
 In fairer skies. If droughty regions parch 
 The skin and lungs, and bake the thick'ning blood ; 
 Deep in the waving foreft chufe your feat, 
 
 225 Where fuming trees refrelh the thirfty air ; 
 
 And wake the fountains from their fecret beds. 
 And into lakes dilate the runnino; ftream. 
 Here fpread your gardens wide ; and let the cool. 
 The moid relaxing vegretable ftore 
 
 230 Prevail in each repaft : Your food fupplied 
 By bleeding life, be gently wafted down. 
 By foft deco£lion and a mellowing heat, 
 To liquid balm ; or, if the folid mafs 
 You chufe, tormented in the boiling wave ; 
 
 2 That
 
 B. L Prefervbig HEALTH. 15 
 
 235 That thro' the thirfty channels of the blood 
 A fmooth diluted chyle may ever flow. 
 The fragrant dairy from its cool recefs 
 Its ne6^ar acid or benign will pour 
 To drown your third ; or let the mantling bowl 
 
 240 Of keen Sherbet the fickle tafte relieve. 
 
 For with the vifcous blood the fimple ftream 
 Will hardly mingle j and fermented cups 
 Oft diflipate more moifture than they give. 
 Yet when pale feafons rife, or winter rolls 
 
 245 His horrors o'er the world, thou may'ft indulge 
 In feafts more genial, and impatient broach 
 The mellow cask. Then too the fcourgins air 
 Provokes to keener toils than fultry droughts 
 Allow. But rarely we fuch skies blafpheme. 
 
 250 Steep'd in continual rains, or with raw foo;s 
 Bedew'd, our feafons droop j incumbent ftill 
 A ponderous heaven o'erwhelms the finking foul. 
 
 Lab'ring
 
 i6 The ART of B. I. 
 
 LabVing with ftorms in heapy mountains rife 
 Th' imbattled clouds, as if the Stygian (hades 
 
 255 Had left the dungeon of eternal night, 
 
 Till black with thunder all the fouth defcends. 
 Scarce in a Ihowerlefs day the heavens indulge 
 Our melting clime j 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 skies ferene. 
 Good heaven ! for what unexpiated crimes 
 This 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 diflblve this eloom ! 
 Bind in eternal adamant the winds 
 
 270 That drown or wither : Give the genial weft 
 
 2 To
 
 B. I. Preferving HEALTH. 17 
 
 To breathe, and in its turn the fprightly north : 
 And may once more the circling feafons rule 
 The year j not mix in every monftrous day. 
 
 • 
 
 Mean time, the moift malignity to fhun 
 275 Of burthen'd skies ; mark where the dry champain 
 Swells into chearful hills 5 where Marjoram 
 And Thyme, the love of bees, perfume the air ; 
 And where the * Cynorrhodon with the rofe 
 For fragrance vies j for in the thirfty foil 
 280 Moft fragrant breathe the aromatic tribes. 
 
 There bid thy roofs high on the basking deep 
 Afcend, there light thy hofpitable fires. 
 And let them fee the winter morn arife. 
 The fummer evening blufhingr in the weft ; 
 285 While with umbrageous oaks the ridge behind 
 O'erhung, defends you from the bluft'ring north, 
 
 * The wild rofe, or that which grows upon the wild briar. 
 
 D And
 
 i8 i:he A R T (?/ B. I. 
 
 And bleak affliction of the peevifh eaft. . 
 
 O ! when the orrowling winds contend, and all 
 
 The founding foreft flucSluates in the ftorm, 
 
 290 To fink in warm repofe, and hear the din 
 Howl o'er the fteady battlements, delights 
 Above the luxury of vulgar fleep. 
 The murmuring rivulet, and the hoarfer ftrain 
 Of waters rufhing o'er the flippery rocks, 
 
 295 Will nightly lull you to ambrofial reft. 
 To pleafe the fancy is no trifling good, 
 Where health is ftudied 5 for whatever moves 
 The mind with calm delight, promotes the juft 
 And natural movements of th' harmonious frame, 
 
 300 Befides, the fportive brook for ever (hakes 
 The trembling air \ that floats from hill to hill. 
 From vale to mountain, with inceflant change 
 Of pureft element, refrelhing ftill 
 Your airy feat, and uninfected Gods, 
 
 Chiefly
 
 B. I. Preferving HEALTH. 19 
 
 305 Chiefly for this I praife the man who builds 
 High on the breezy ridge, whofe lofty fides 
 Th' etherial deep with endlefs billows laves. 
 His purer manfion nor contagious years 
 Shall reach, nor deadly putrid airs annoy. 
 
 310 But 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 wintry winds aflail'd ; 
 
 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 teize you, hoarfenefs bind your 
 
 voice, 
 Or moift Gravedo load your aching brows. 
 
 320 Thefe to defy, and all the fates that dwell 
 
 D 2 In
 
 20 The ART of B. I. 
 
 In cloifter'd air tainted with fteaming life, 
 Let lofty ceilings grace your ample rooms j 
 And ftill at azure noontide may your dome 
 At every window drink the liquid sky. 
 
 325 Need we the funny fituation here, 
 
 And theatres open to the fouth, commend ? 
 Here, where the morning's mifty breath infefts 
 More 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 ever hope 
 To feel, the oenial vigor of the fun ! 
 While on the neishbourina hill the rofe inflames 
 The verdant fpring j in virgin beauty blows 
 
 335 The tender lily, languiihingly fweet j 
 
 O'er every hedge the wanton woodbine ro\es, 
 And autumn ripens in the fummer's ray. 
 
 2 Nor
 
 B. I. Preferving H E A l> T H. 21 
 
 Nor lefs the warmer livina tribes demand 
 The foft'rlng fun : whofe energy divine 
 
 340 Dwells not in mortal fire \ whofe generous heat 
 Glows thro' the mafs of grofler elements, 
 And kindles into life the pond'rous fpheres. 
 Chear'd by thy kind invigorating warmth, 
 We court thy beams, great majefty of day ! 
 
 345 If not the foul, the regent of this world, 
 
 Firft born of heaven, and only lefs than God f 
 
 THE
 
 THE 
 
 A 
 
 R 
 
 T 
 
 OF PRESERVING 
 
 HEALTH 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 DIET.
 
 THE 
 
 ART 
 
 OF PRESERVING 
 
 HEALTH. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 DIET. 
 
 ENough of air. A defart fubjeft now, 
 Rougher and wilder, rifes to my fight. 
 A barren wafte, where not a garland grows 
 To bind the mufe's brow j 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. 
 
 E Fare-
 
 \ 
 
 26 T/je ART of B. II. 
 
 Farevvel, etherlal iields ! the humbler arts 
 I o Of life 5 the table and the homely Gods, 
 Demand my fong. Elylian gales adieu ! 
 
 The blood, the fountain whence the fpirits flow. 
 The generous ftream that waters every part, 
 And motion, vigor, and warm life com^eys 
 
 1 5 To every particle that moves or lives ; 
 This vital fluid, thro* unnumber'd 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 j and now, but that a thoufand gates 
 Are open to its flight, it would defl:roy 
 The parts it cherifli'd and repair'd before. 
 Befides, the flexible and tender tubes 
 
 25 Melt in the mildeft, moft neftareous tide 
 
 That
 
 B. II. Preferving HEALTH. 27 
 
 That ripening nature rolls j 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 : So mutable the ftate of man. 
 For this the watchful appetite was giv'n, 
 Daily with frelh materials to repair 
 This unavoidable expence of life, 
 This neceflary wafte of flefti and blood. 
 
 35 Hence the conco6l:ive 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 try new changes, and new forms put on, 
 Or for the public, or fome private ufe. 
 
 E % No-
 
 28 He A R T ^/ B, 11. 
 
 Nothino; 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 moft rebellious mafs 
 That fait can harden, or the fmoke of years ; 
 Nor does his ororae the rancid bacon rue, 
 
 50 Nor that which Ceftria fends, tenacious pafte 
 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 
 
 5 5 The full repaft ; and let fagacious age 
 
 Grow wifer, leflon'd by the dropping teeth. 
 
 Half fubtiliz'd to chyle, the liquid food 
 Readiefl: obeys th' affimilating powers ; 
 
 And
 
 B. II. Preferving HEALTH. 29 
 
 And foon the tender vecretable mafs 
 
 60 Relents \ and foon the young of thofe that tread 
 The ftedfaft earth, or cleave the green abyfs, 
 Or pathlefs sky. And if the Steer mud fall, 
 In youth and vigor glorious let him die ; 
 Nor ftay till rigid age, or heavy ails, 
 
 65 Abfolve him ill-requited from the yoke. 
 Some with high forage, and luxuriant eafe, 
 Indulge the veteran Ox j but wifer thou. 
 From the bleak mountain or the barren downs. 
 Expert the flocks by frugal nature fed ; 
 
 70 A race of purer blood, with exercife 
 
 Refin'd and fcanty fare : For, old or young, 
 The ftaird are never healthy ; nor the cramm'd. 
 Not all the culinary arts can tame. 
 To wholfome food, th' abominable growth 
 
 75 Of reft and gluttony \ the prudent tafte 
 Rejedls like bane fuch loathfome lufcioufnefs. 
 
 The
 
 30 The ART of B. IL 
 
 The languid fliomach curfes 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 j and (hun with flippery wiles 
 The wooed embrace. Th' irrefoluble oil, 
 So gentle late and blandiihing, in floods 
 
 ^^ Of rancid bile o'erflows ; What tumults hence, 
 \^^hat horrors rife, were naufeous to relate. 
 Chufe leaner viands, ye of jovial make ! 
 Chufe fober meals ; and roufe to a£live life 
 Your cumbrous clay \ nor on th' enfeebling down, 
 
 90 Irrefolute, protradl the morning hours. 
 
 But let the man, whofe bones are thinly clad. 
 With chearful eafe, and fucculent repad 
 Improve his (lender habit. Each extreme 
 From the blell mean of fanity departs. 
 
 I could
 
 B. II. Preferving HEALTH. 31 
 
 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 skin difplay'd. 
 Felt in the pulfe, nor in the habit feen 5 
 Which finds a poifon in the food that mod 
 The temp'rature affe6ls. There are, whofe blood 
 Impetuous rages thro' the turgid veins, 
 
 105 Who better bear the fiery fruits of Ind, 
 Than the moid Melon, or pale Cucumber. 
 Of chilly nature others fly the board 
 Supply'd with flaughter, and the ^'ernal pow'rs 
 For cooler, kinder, fuftenance implore. 
 
 no Some even the generous nutriment deteft 
 
 Which, in the fhell, the deeping Embyro rears. 
 Some, more unhappy ftill, repent the gifts 
 
 Of
 
 32 The ART of B. II. 
 
 Of Pales ; foft, delicious and benign : 
 The balmy quintefcence of every flower, 
 
 115 And every grateful herb that decks the fpring j 
 The foft'ring dew of tender fprouting life j 
 The befl riefe6lion of declining aoe : 
 The kind reftorative of thofe who lie 
 Half-dead and panting, from the doubtful ftrife 
 
 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 filh and fowl, 
 
 1 25 And boil'd and bak'd, you hefitate by which 
 You funk opprefs'd, or whether not by all j) 
 Taught by experience foon you may difcern 
 What pleafes, what oflTends. Avoid the cates 
 That lull the ficken'd appetite too long ; 
 
 130 Or heave with feverilh fiulhings all the face, 
 
 ^ Burn
 
 B. ir. Preferving HEALTH. 33 
 
 Burn in the palms, and parch the roughning tongue ; 
 Or much diminifti or too much increafe 
 Th' expence which nature's wife oeconomy, 
 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 beads 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 wiih ^ tho' fabling Greece refound 
 1145 '~^^^ Thracian fteeds with human carnage wild. 
 Prompted by inftincSt's never-erring power, 
 Each creature knows its proper aliment ; 
 
 F But
 
 34 "The A R T 0/ B. II. 
 
 But man, th' inhabitant of every clime. 
 
 With all the commoners of nature feeds. 
 I ^o Directed, bounded, by this pow'r within, 
 
 Their cravings are well-aim'd : Voluptous man 
 
 Is by fuperior faculties mifled ; 
 
 IVIiiled from pleafure even in quefh of joy. 
 
 Sated with nature's boons, what thoufands feek, 
 155 With dilhes 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 5 
 
 And know, that temperance is true luxury. 
 160 Or is it pride? Purfue fome nobler aim. 
 
 Difmifs your parafites, who praife for hire ; 
 
 And earn the fair efteem of honeft men, 
 
 Whofe praife is fame. Form'd of fuch clay as yours. 
 
 The fick, the needy, fhiver at your gates. 
 165 Even modeft want may blefs your hand unfeen, 
 
 Tho'
 
 B. II. Preferving HEALTH. 35 
 
 Tho' hufh'd in patient v/rctchednefs at home. 
 Is there no virgin, grac'd with every charm 
 But that which binds the mercenary vow } 
 No youth of genius, whofe negledted bloom 
 
 170 Unfofter'd fickens in the barren fhade.'^ 
 
 No worthy man, by fortune's random blows, 
 Or by a heart too generous and humane, 
 Conftrain'd to leave his happy natal feat, 
 And fiorh for wants more bitter than his own ? 
 
 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 
 
 F % What
 
 2,6 The ART of B. II. 
 
 What llrife is brew'd, and what pernicious bane. 
 From combinations of innoxious thinas. 
 
 185 Th' unbounded tafte I mean not to confine 
 To hermit's diet, needlefsly fevere. 
 But would you long the fweets of health enjoy, 
 Or husband pleafure j at one impious meal 
 Exhaufl not half the bounties of the year, 
 
 190 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 
 
 195 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
 
 B. II. Preferving HEALTH 37 
 
 So heav'n has form'd us to the general tafte 
 
 200 Of all its gifts ; fo cuftom has improv'd 
 
 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 j nor protraft the feaft 
 To dull fatiety j till foft and (low 
 A drowzy death creeps on, th' expanfive foul 
 Opprefs'd, and fmother'd the celeftial fire. 
 The ftomach, urg'd beyond its active tone, 
 
 210 Hardly to nutrimental chyle fubdues 
 
 The fofteft food : unfinilh'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 skill 
 
 From
 
 38 The ART of B. II. 
 
 From the crude ore can fpin the du^ile gold ? 
 Grofs riot treafures up a wealthy fund 
 Of plagues : but more immedicable ills 
 
 220 Attend the lean extreme. For phyfic knows 
 How to disburden the too tumid veins, 
 Even how to ripen the half-labour'd blood j 
 But to unlock the elemental tubes, 
 CoUaps'd and ftirunk 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 j 
 Or the tall alh, long ravifh'd from the foil. 
 Thro' wither 'd veins imbibe the vernal dew. 
 
 230 When hunger calls, obey j nor often wait 
 Till hunger fharpen to corrofive pain : 
 For the keen appetite will feaft beyond 
 What nature well can bear ; and one extreme 
 Ne'er without danger meets its own reverfe. 
 
 Too
 
 B. II. Preferving HEALTH. 39 
 
 235 Too greedily th' exhauiled veins abforb 
 
 The recent chyle, and load enfeebled powers 
 Oft to th' extin61:ion of the vital flame. 
 To the pale cities, by the firm-fet fiege 
 And famine humbled, may this verfe be borne j 
 
 240 And hear, ye hardiefh fons that Albion breeds. 
 Long tofs'd and famiih'd on the wintry main j 
 The war Ihook off, or hofpitable Ihore 
 Attain'd, with temperance bear the fhock of joy ^ 
 Nor crown with feftive rites th' aufpicious 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 j 
 But prudently foment the wandering fpark 
 With what the fooneft feels its kindred touch : 
 
 250 Be frugal ev'n of that : a little give 
 
 At firft j that kindled, add a little more ; 
 
 Till,
 
 40 ^ rhe A^r of B. II. 
 
 Till, by deliberate nourifhing, the flame 
 Reviv'd, with all its v/onted vigor glows. 
 
 But tho' the two (the full and the jejune) 
 255 Extremes have each their vice ; it much avails 
 Ever with gentle tide to ebb and flow 
 From this to that : So nature learns to bear 
 Whatever chance or headlong appetite 
 May bring. Belides, a meagre day fubdues 
 260 The cruder clods by floth or luxury 
 
 Colle6^ed j 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 Ihun 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
 
 B. II. Preferving HEALTH. 41 
 
 Of feftal luxury, the wife indulge 
 270 Moll in the tender Vegetable breed : 
 
 Then chiefly when the fummer's beam s Inflame 
 The brazen heavens ^ or angry Syrius fheds 
 A feverifli taint thro' the ftill gulph of air. 
 The moifl: cool viands then, and flowing cup 
 275 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 cla m'd, 
 Influenc'd by both ; a middle regimen 
 
 * The burning fever, 
 
 G Impofe.
 
 42 Tlje AKT' of B. \l. 
 
 Impofe. Thro' autumn's languilhing domain 
 
 285 Defcending, 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 
 
 jipo More warm and wanton on his kindling bride j 
 Then, Ihepherds, then begin to fpare your flocks j 
 And learn, with wife humanity, to check 
 The luft of blood. Now pregnant earth commits 
 A various oflFspring to th' indulgent sky ; 
 
 295 Now bounteous nature feeds with laviflihand 
 The prone creation ; yields what once fuffic'd 
 Their dainty fovereign, when the world was 
 
 young ^ 
 E're yet the barbarous thirfl: of blood had feiz'd 
 The human breaft. Each rollinor month matures 
 
 300 The food that fuits it moft , fo does each clime. 
 
 Far
 
 B. II. Prefervlng HEALTH 43 
 
 Far in the horrid realms of winter, where 
 Th' eftablilh'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 fhep-mother, 
 Regards not. On the wafle of iron fields, 
 Untam'd, vmtra£^able, no harvefts wave : 
 Pomona hates them, and the clownifti God 
 Who tends the garden. In this frozen world 
 
 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 boar d 
 With generous fare and luxury profufe. 
 Thefe are their bread, the only bread they know ^ 
 
 315 Thefe, and their willing flave the deer, that crops 
 The Ihrubby herbage on their meager hills. 
 Girt by the burning zone, not thus the fouth 
 Her fwarthy fons, in either Ind, maintains : 
 
 G 2 Or
 
 44 "The A R T (?/ B. H. 
 
 Or thirfty Lybia 5 from whofe fervid loins 
 
 320 The lion burfts, and every fiend that roams 
 Th' affrighted wildernefs. The mountain herd, 
 Aduft and dry, no fweet repafl: affords ^ 
 Nor does the tepid main fuch kinds produce, 
 So perfect, To delicious, as the ftores 
 
 325 Of icy Zembla. Raihly w^here the blood 
 
 Brews feverilh frays j 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 \ 
 
 ^30 Here, finifh'd by invigorating funs. 
 
 Thro' the green (hade the golden Orange glows \ 
 Spontaneous here the turgid Melon yields 
 A generous pulp \ the Coco fwelis on high 
 With milky riches ; and in horrid mail 
 
 335 The foft Ananas wraps its tender fweets. 
 Earth's vaunted progeny : In ruder air 
 
 Too
 
 B. II. Prefcrvwg HEALTH. 45 
 
 Too coy to flourlfh, even to proud to live ; 
 
 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 fludluates 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, afiliage 
 
 The torrid hell that beams upon their heads. 
 
 Now come, ye Naiads, to the fountains lead ; 
 Now let me wander thro' your gelid reign. 
 
 I burn
 
 4$ The ART of B. II. 
 
 I burn to view th' enthufiaftic wilds 
 355 ^y coital 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 found- 
 ing 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 folemn twilight ! What ftupendous ihades 
 Enwarp thefe infant floods ! Thro' every nerve 
 A facred horror thrills, a pleafing fear 
 Glides o'er my frame. The foreft deepens round j 
 And more gigantic ftill th* impending trees 
 
 Stretch
 
 B. ir. Prefervhg HEALTH. 47 
 
 370 Stretch their extravagant arms athwart the crloom. 
 Are' thefe the confines of fome fairy world ? 
 A land of Genii ? Say, beyond thefe wilds 
 What unknown nations ? If indeed beyond 
 Aucjht habitable lies. And whither leads, 
 
 375 To what ftrange regions, or of blifs or pain. 
 That fubterraneous way } Propitious maids, 
 Condu(9: me, while with fearful fteps I tread 
 This trembling ground. The task remains to fing 
 Your gifts, (fo Paeon, fo the powers of health 
 
 380 Command) to praife your chryftal element: 
 The chief ino-redient 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 vegitate or live« 
 
 O
 
 48 "The A R T (?/ B. II. 
 
 O comfortable ftreams ! With eager lips 
 And trembling hand the languid thirfty quaff 
 New life in you , frelh vigor 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 
 Felt not th' alternate fits of feverilh mirth, 
 And Jick dejection. Still ferene and pleas'd, 
 They knew no pains but what the tender foul 
 
 595 With pleafure yields to, and would ne'er forget. 
 Bleft with divine immunity from ails. 
 Long centuries they liv'd j 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 thejoys of modern time. 
 With all our art and toil improv'd to pain ! 
 
 Too
 
 B. II. Preferving HEALTH 49 
 
 Too happy they ! But wealth brought luxury, 
 And luxury on floth begot difeafc. 
 
 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 fchool. 
 What leaft of foreign principles partakes 
 Is beft : The lighteft then j what bears the touch 
 
 410 Of fire the leaft, and fooneft mounts in air ; 
 The moft infipid ^ the moft void of finell. 
 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 
 Hurl'd down the pebbly channel,wholefome yields 
 
 * Hippocrates, 
 
 H And
 
 50 The A KT of B. IL 
 
 And mellow draughts ; except when winter thaws, 
 And half the mountains melt into the tide. 
 
 420 Tho' third were ne'er fo refolute, avoid 
 
 The fordid lake, and all fuch drowfy floods 
 As fill from Lethe Belgia's flow canals ; 
 (With refl: corrupt, with vegetation green ; 
 Squalid with generation, and the birth 
 
 425 Of little monfliers j) till the power of fire 
 Has from profane embraces difengag'd 
 The violated lymph. The virgin fliream 
 In boil ins wafl:es its finer foul in air. 
 
 Nothing like fimple 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 fl:ream : Tho' golden Ceres yields 
 
 A
 
 B. II. Preferving HEALTH. 51 
 
 A more voluptuous, a more fprightly drauo;ht ; 
 
 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 conco61:ion, and preferve unthaw'd 
 
 45 o 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 
 Unrav'lings of minute anatomy, 
 
 45 5 Maintain their texture, and unchang'd remain ! 
 
 We curfe not wine ; The vile excefs we blame ; 
 More fruitful, than th' accumulated board. 
 Of pain and mifery. For the fubtle draught 
 Fafter and furer fwells the vital tide j 
 460 And with more aftive poifon, than the floods 
 
 H 2 0/
 
 52 The A "^r of B. II. 
 
 Of groffer cruditv convey, pervades 
 The far-remote meanders of our frame. 
 Ah ! fly deceiver ! Branded o'er and o'er, 
 Yet ftill behev'd ! Exulting o'er the wreck 
 465 OffoberVows! But the Parnaffian maids 
 Another time perhaps Ihall flng the joys. 
 The fatal charms, the many woes of wine 5 
 Perhaps its various tribes, and various powers. 
 
 Meantime, I would not always dread the bowl, 
 470 Nor every trefpafs fhun. The feverilh ftrife, 
 Rous'd by the rare debauch, fubdues, expells 
 The loitering crudities, that burthen life j 
 And, like a torrent full and rapid, clears 
 Th' obftrufted tubes. Befides, this reftlefs world 
 475 Is full of chances, which by habit's power 
 To learn to bear is eafier than to fliun. 
 Ah ! when ambition, meagre love of gold, 
 
 Or
 
 B. II- Preferving HEALTH. 53 
 
 Or facred country calls, with mellowing wine 
 To moiften well the thirfty fufFrages j 
 
 480 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 3 
 
 485 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 lead your bane ; and only with your friends. 
 There are fweet follies, frailties to be feen 
 
 490 By friends alone, and men of generous minds. 
 
 Oh ! feldom may the fated hours return 
 Of drinking deep ! I would not daily tafte. 
 Except when life declines, even fober cups. 
 
 Weak
 
 54 "The ART of B. II. 
 
 Weak witherinor a^e no rigrld law forbids, 
 
 495 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, 
 
 :;oo 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 fliock the head. 
 505 But ah ! what woes remain ! Life rolls apace. 
 And that incurable difeafe old age, 
 In youthful bodies more feverely felt, 
 More fternly acSlive, fliakes their blafl:ed prime ; 
 Except kind nature by fome hafl:y blow 
 
 Prevent
 
 B. ir. Prefervifig HEALTH. 55 
 
 510 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 
 Protra£l:ed , fpurs to its lall ftage tir'd life, 
 And fows the temples with untimely fnow. 
 
 515 When life is new, the du£tile fibres feel 
 
 The heart's increafing force ; and, day by day, 
 The o[rowth advances ; till the larger tubes. 
 Acquiring (from their * elemental veins, 
 Condens'd to folid chords) a firmer tone. 
 
 * In the human body, as well as in thofe of other animals, the larger 
 blood-veflels are compofed of fmaller ones •, which, by the violent motion 
 and prefllire of the fluids in the large veflels, lofe their cavities by degrees, 
 and degenerate into impervious chords or fibres. In proportion as thcfe fmall 
 veflels become folid, the larger mufl: of courfe grow lefs extenfile, more rigid, 
 and make a flironger refifliance to the aftion of the heart, and force of the 
 blood. From this gradual condenfation of the finaller veflTels, and confequent 
 rigidity of the larger ones, the progrefs of the human body from infancy to 
 old age is accounted for. 
 
 Suftain,
 
 56 The A R T 0/ B, II. 
 
 520 Suftain, and jufl fuftain, th' impetuous blood. 
 Here flop the growth. With overbearing pulfe 
 And preflure, ftill the great deftroy the fmall j 
 Still with the ruins of the fmall grow ftronor. 
 Life glows mean time, amid the grinding force 
 
 525 Of vifcous fluids and elaftic tubes ; 
 
 Its various functions vigoroufly are plied 
 By ftrong machinery j and in folid health 
 The man confirm'd long triumphs o'er difeafe. 
 But the full ocean ebbs : There is a point, 
 
 530 By nature fix'd,whence life muft downwards tend. 
 For ftill the beating tide confolidates 
 The ftubborn veffels, more reluftant ftill, 
 To the weak throbbings of th' enfeebled heart. 
 This languilhing, thefe ftrengthning by degrees 
 
 535 To hard unyielding unelaftic bone. 
 
 Thro' tedious channels the congealing flood 
 
 Crawls
 
 B. II. Preferring HEALTH. 57 
 
 Crawls lazily, and hardly wanders on j 
 It loiters ftill : And now it ftirs no more. 
 This is the period few attain , the death 
 540 Of nature : Thus (fo heav'n ordain'd it) life 
 Deftroys itfelf ; and could thefe laws have chane'd, 
 Neftor might now the fates of Troy relate , 
 And Homer live immortal as his fong. 
 
 What does not fade } The tower that Ions: 
 had flood 
 1545 The crulh of thunder, and the warring winds. 
 Shook by the flow but fure deflroyer Time, 
 Now hanas in doubtful ruins o'er its bafe. 
 And flinty pyramids, and walls of brafs, 
 Defcend 5 the Babylonian fpires are funk ; 
 •530 Achaia, Rome, and Egypt moulder down. 
 Time fliakes the flable tyranny of thrones, 
 
 I And
 
 58 r/&^ A R T of B. II. 
 
 And tottering einpires rufli by their own weight. 
 This huge rotundity we tread grows old j 
 And all thofe worlds that roll around, the fun, 
 555 The fun himfelf, fhall die; and ancient Night 
 Again involve the defolate abyfs : 
 Till the great Father thro' the lifelefs gloom 
 Extend his arm to light another world, 
 And bid new planets roll by other laws. 
 560 For thro' the regions of unbounded fpace. 
 Where unconfin'd omnipotence has room. 
 Being, in various fyftems, flu6^uates ftill 
 Between creation and abhorr'd decay ; 
 It ever did ; perhaps and ever will. 
 565 New worlds are ftill emerging from the deep j 
 The old defcending, in their turns to rife. 
 
 THE
 
 THE 
 
 A 
 
 R 
 
 T 
 
 OF PRESERVING 
 
 HEALTH. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 EXERCISE.
 
 THE 
 
 A 
 
 OF PRESERVING 
 
 HEALTH. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 EXERCISE. 
 
 rTP^Hro' various toils th' adventurous mufe has 
 
 X paft; 
 
 But half the toil, and more than half, remains. 
 Rude is her theme, and hardly fit for fong 5 
 Plain, and of little ornament j and I 
 5 But little pra(9:is'd in th' Aonian arts. 
 Yet not in vain fuch labours have we tried. 
 If ought thefe lays the fickle health confirm. 
 
 To
 
 62 The ART of B. III. 
 
 To you, ye delicate, I write ^ for you 
 I tame my youth to philofophic cares, 
 
 lo And grow ftill paler by the midnight lamps. 
 Not to debilitate with timorous rules 
 A hardy frame j nor needlefly to brave 
 Unglorious dangers, proud of mortal ftrength ; 
 Is all the leffon that in wholfome years 
 
 1 5 Concerns the ftrong. His care were ill beftow'd 
 Who would with warm effeminacy nurie 
 The thriving oak, which on the mountain's brow 
 Bears all the blafts that fweep the wintry heav'n. 
 
 Behold the labourer of the glebe, who toils 
 ao In duft, in rain, in cold and fultry skies; 
 Save but the grain from mildews and the flood. 
 Nought anxious he what fickly ftars afcend. 
 H^ knows no la\^'s by Efculapius given ; 
 He ftudies none* Yet him nor midnight fogs 
 
 Infeft,
 
 B. III. Preferving HEALTH. (^'^ 
 
 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 ; 
 
 30 Serene he bears the peevifh eaftern blaft, 
 And uninfefted 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 fons ; 
 And Rome's unconquer'd legions urg'd their way, 
 Unhurt, thro' every toil in every clime. 
 
 Toil, and be ftrong. By toil the flaccid nerves 
 40 Grow firm, and gain a more compa(£led tone j 
 
 2 The
 
 64 The ART of B. HI. 
 
 The greener juices are by toil fubdu*d, 
 Mellow'd, and fubtilis'd j 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 flray 
 Where chance or fancy leads our roving walk : 
 Come, while the foft voluptuous breezes fan 
 The fleecy heavens, enwrap the limbs in balm,, 
 And (lied a charming languor o'er the foul. 
 
 5 o 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 skies in rain 
 
 55 Or fogs relent, no feafon (liould confine 
 Or to the cloifter'd gallery or arcade. 
 Go, climb the mountain , from th' etherial fource 
 Imbibe the recent grale. The chearful morn 
 
 Beams
 
 B. III. Preferving HEALTH. 65 
 
 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 track. Or, if a nobler prey 
 Delight you more, go chafe the de(perate deer ; 
 65 And thro' its deepefl folitudes awake 
 The vocal forefh 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 
 A ftony channel rolls its rapid maze, 
 Swarms with the filver fry. Such, thro* the bounds 
 Of paftoral Stafford, runs the brawling Trent j 
 Such Eden,fprung from Cumbrian mountains^ fuch 
 
 K The
 
 66 The ART of B. III. 
 
 75 The E(k, overhung with woods j 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 her love-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 flourifh ; and thy vales look gay 
 With painted meadows, and the golden grain ! 
 Oft, with thy blooming fons, when life was new, 
 Sportive and petulant, and charm 'd with toys. 
 In thy tranfparent eddies have I lav'd : 
 
 90 Oft trac'd with patient fteps thy fairy banks. 
 
 With
 
 B. in. Preferving HEALTH. (^^ 
 
 With the well-Imitated fly to hook 
 The eager trout, and with the flender line 
 And yielding rod foUIcIte to the (hore 
 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 Samlan fchool, or thofe of Ind, 
 There are who think thefe pafllmes fcarce humane. 
 Yet in my mind (and not relentlefs I) 
 
 1 00 His life is pure that wears no fouler ilains. 
 But if thro' genuine tendernefs of heart, 
 Or fecret want of relllh for the game, 
 You fhun the alorles of the chace, nor care 
 To haunt the peopled ftream ^ the garden yields 
 
 105 A foft amufement, an humane delight. 
 To ralfe th' infipid nature of the ground 5 
 
 K 2 Or
 
 68 T/je A R r of B. III. 
 
 Or tame its favage genius to the grace 
 Of carelefs fweet rufticity, that feems 
 The amiable refult of happy chance, 
 
 I ID Is to create j 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 j 
 His life approv'd by all the wife and good, 
 Even envied by the vain) the peaceful groves 
 Of Epicurus, from this ftormy world, 
 
 120 Receive to reft j of all ungrateful cares 
 
 Abfolv'd, and facred from the felfifh crowd. 
 Happieft of men ! if the fame foil invites 
 A chofen few, companions of his youth. 
 Once fellow-rakes perhaps, now rural friends 5 
 
 With
 
 B. III. Prcferving HEALTH. 69 
 
 1 25 With whom in eafy comm'erce to purfue 
 
 Nature's free charms, and vie for fylvan fame ; 
 
 A fair ambition j void of ftrife or guile, 
 
 Or jealoufy, or pain to be outdone. 
 
 Who plans th' enchanted garden, who dirccSls 
 130 The vifto beft, and beft condu^^s the ftream ; 
 
 Whofe grroves the fafteft thicken and afcend ; 
 
 Whom firft the welcome fpring falutes 5 who 
 (hews 
 
 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 bufmefs paft. 
 
 Bleft winter nights ! when, as the genial fire 
 
 Chears the wide hall, his cordial family 
 
 With foft domeftic arts the hours beguile, 
 140 And pleafing talk that ftarts no timerous fame, 
 
 With witlefs wantonefs to hunt it down : 
 
 Or
 
 70 The ART of B. III. 
 
 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 
 Of timely reft forget. Sometimes, at eve, 
 His neighbours lift the latch, and blefs unhid 
 His feftal roof j while, o'er the light repaft, 
 And fprightly cups, they mix in focial joy ; 
 150 And, thro' the maze of converfation, 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 husbandman 
 Should drown his labours in my friendly bowl ; 
 And at my table find himfelf at home. 
 
 What-
 
 B. III. Preferving HEALTH 71 
 
 Whate'er you ftudy, m whate'er you fweat, 
 Indulge your tafte. Some love the manly foils ; 
 
 160 The tennis fome ; and fome the o-raceful dance. 
 Others, more hardy, range the purple heath. 
 Or naked Hubble ; 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. 
 
 170 As beauty ftill has blemiih j and the mind 
 
 The moft accomplifti'd its imperfect fide \ 
 Few bodies are there of that happy mould 
 
 * This word is much ufed by fome of the old Englifli poets, and fignifies 
 Reward or Prize. 
 
 But
 
 72 rhe A'^T of B, III. 
 
 But fome one part is weaker than the reft : 
 The legs, perhaps, or arms refufe their load, 
 175 Or the cheft labours. Thefe affiduoufly, 
 But gently, in their proper arts employ'd. 
 Acquire a vigor and elaftic fpring 
 To which they were not born. But weaker parts 
 Abhor fatigue and violent difcipline. 
 
 180 Begin with gentle toils 5 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 do£l:rine of the wife 
 
 185 Well knows the mafter of the flying fteed. 
 Firft from the goal the manag'd courfers play 
 On bended reins j as yet the skilful youth 
 Reprefs their foamy pride j but every breath 
 The race grows warmer, and the tempeft fwells ; 
 
 Till
 
 B. III. Preferving HEALTH 73 
 
 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 hafliy fhock 
 Are tir'd and crack'd, before their un6tuous coats, 
 
 195 Comprefs'd, can pour the lubricating balm. 
 Befides, coUefted in the pallive veins, 
 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 j a cough that foams with blood, 
 Afthma, and feller * Peripneumonie, 
 Or the flow minings of the he6):ic fire. 
 
 Th' athletic fool, to whom what heav'n deny'd 
 Of foul is well compenfated in limbs, 
 
 * The inflammation of the lungs. 
 
 L Oft
 
 74 l^he A v. r of B. III. 
 
 205 Oft from his rage, or brainlefs frolic, feels 
 His vegetation and brute force decay. 
 The men of better clay and finer mould 
 Know nature, feel the human dignity 5 
 And fcorn to vie with oxen or with apes. 
 
 210 Purfued 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 cofl: too much 
 
 215 To be profus'd, too much the rofcidbalm. 
 But when the hard varieties of life 
 You toil to learn ; or try the dufty chace, 
 Or the warm deeds of fome important day : 
 Hot from the field, indulge not yet your limbs 
 
 220 In wilh'd repofe, nor court the fanning gale. 
 Nor tafte the fpring. O ! by the facred tears 
 Of widows, orphans, mothers, fifters, fires, 
 
 Forbear !
 
 B. III. Preferving HEALTH. 7c; 
 
 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 (helves, 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 ftemj and why 
 
 L 2 The
 
 76 rhe h^T of B. III. 
 
 The roughning deep experts the ftorm, as fure 
 240 As red Orion mounts the Ihrowded heaven. 
 
 In ancient times, when Rome with Athens vied 
 For polifh'd luxury and ufeful arts 5 
 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 pov/'rs 
 Of Nard and CalTia fraught, to footh and heal 
 The cherifh'd nerves. Our lefs voluptuous clime 
 Not much invites us to fuch arts as thefe. 
 
 250 'Tis not for thofe, whom gelid skies embrace, 
 And chilling fogs ; whofe perfpi ration feels 
 Such frequent bars from Eurus and the North ; 
 'Tis not for thofe to cultivate a skin 
 Too foft ; or teach the recremental fume 
 
 25 15 Too fafi: to crowd thro' fuch precarious ways. 
 
 For
 
 B. III. Preferving HEALTH. ^^ 
 
 For thro' the fmall arterial mouths, that pierce 
 In endlefs millions the clofe-woven skin, 
 The bafer fluids in a conftant ft ream 
 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 reftrain'd 
 
 265 Or more or lefs, fo more or lefs you feel 
 
 The fun(9:ions labour. From this fatal fource 
 What woes defcend is never to be funcr. 
 To take their numbers, were to count the fands 
 That ride in whirlwind the parch'd Lybian air ; 
 
 270 Or waves that,when the bluftering North embroils 
 The Baltic, thunder on the German Ihore. 
 Subje^i not then, by foft emollient arts. 
 This grand expence, on which your fates depend 
 
 To
 
 78 The AKT of B. III. 
 
 To every caprice of the sky y 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 breathe thro'ftraiter andmore callous pores. 
 The temper'd Scythian hence, half-naked treads 
 a 8 o His boundlefs fno ws, nor rues th' inclement heaven ; 
 And hence our painted anceftors defied 
 The Eaft j nor curs'd, like us, their fickle sky. 
 
 The body moulded by the clime, indures 
 Th' Equator heats, or Hyperborean froft : 
 2,85 Except by habits foreign to its turn, 
 
 Unwife, you countera£l its forming pow'r. 
 Rude at the firft, the winter ihocks you lefs 
 By long acquaintance ; Study then your sky, 
 Form to its manners your obfequious frame, 
 290 And learn to fufFer what you cannot fhun. 
 
 » Againft
 
 B. III. Preferving HEALTH. 79 
 
 Againft the rigors of a damp cold heav'n 
 
 To fortify their bodies, fome frequent 
 
 The gelid ciftern ; and, where nought forbids, 
 
 I praife their dauntlefs heart. A frame fo flcel'd 
 
 2.95 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 breads. 
 But all things have their bounds : And he who makes 
 
 300 By daily ufe the kindeft regimen 
 
 Eflential to his health, (hould never mix 
 With human kind, nor art nor trade purfue. 
 He not the fafe viciffitudes of life 
 Without fome fhock endures ; ill-fitted he 
 
 305 To want the known, or bear unufual things. 
 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
 
 / 
 
 So rhe ART of B. III. 
 
 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 Ar£los 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 foftned skin 
 May bear proportion to the fwelling blood. 
 So (hall they 'fcape the fever's rapid flames j 
 
 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 skin, enough to keep 
 The body facred from indecent foil. 
 
 325 Still to be pure, even did it not conduce 
 
 (As
 
 B. in. Preferving HEALTH. 8i 
 
 (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 skilful virain knows : 
 So doubtlefs do your wives. For married fires, 
 As well as lovers, ftill pretend to tafte ; 
 Nor is it lefs (all prudent wives can telJ) 
 
 335 To lofe a husband's, than a lover's heart. 
 
 But now the hours and feafons when to toil, 
 From foreign themes recall my wandering fbng. 
 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 penury, devour 
 
 M The
 
 82 The ART of B. III. 
 
 The treafur'd oil, then is the happieft time 
 To ihake the lazy balfam from its cells. 
 345 Now while the ftomach from the full repaft 
 Subfides ; but ere returning hunger gnaws 5 
 Ye leaner habits give an hour to toil : 
 And ye whom no luxuriancy of growth 
 Opprefles yet, or threatens to opprefs. 
 350 But from the recent meal no labours pleafe, 
 Of limbs or mind. For now the cordial powers 
 Claim all the wandering fpirits to a work 
 Of ftrong and fubtle toil, and great event j 
 A work of time : and you may rue the day 
 355 You hurried, with ill-feafoned exercife, 
 A half conco£l:ed chyle into the blood. 
 The body overcharg'd with un6^uous phlegm 
 Much toil demands : The lean elaftic lefs. 
 While winter chills the blood, and binds the veins,, 
 360 No labours are too hard : By thofe you 'fcape 
 
 The
 
 B. III. Prefervhg HEALTH. 83 
 
 The flow difcafes of the torpid year j 
 Endlefs to name ; to one of which alone, 
 To that which tears the nerves, the toil of (laves 
 Is pleafure : Oh ! from fuch inhuman pains 
 
 365 May all be free who merit not the wheel ! 
 But from the burnino- Lion when the fun 
 Pours down his fultry wrath ; now while the blood 
 Too much already maddens in the veins, 
 And all the finer fluids thro' the skin 
 
 370 Explore their flight ^ me, near the cool cafcade 
 Reclin'd, or fauntring in the lofty grove, 
 No needlefs flight occafion Ihould engase 
 To pant and fweat beneath the fiery noon. 
 Now the frefli morn alone and mellow eve 
 
 315 To ftiady walks and aftive rural fports 
 
 Invite. But, while the chilling dews defcend, 
 May nothing tempt you to the cold embrace 
 Of humid skies ; Tho' 'tis no vulgar joy 
 
 M 2 To
 
 84 The AKT of B. III. 
 
 To trace the horrors of the folemn wood, 
 ^80 While the foft eveninor faddens Into nioht : 
 Tho' the fweet poet of the vernal groves 
 Melts all the night in ftrains of amorous v/oe. 
 
 The fhades defcend, and midnight o'er the 
 world 
 Expands her fable wings. Great nature droops 
 380 Thro' all her works. Now happy he whofe toil 
 Has o'er his languid powerlefs limbs diffus'd 
 A pleafing laflitude : He not in vain 
 Invokes the gentle deity of dreams. 
 His powers the moft voluptuoufly diflblve 
 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 j or on fancy's wings 
 Vifit the paradife of happy dreams, 
 
 « And
 
 B. III. Prefercwg HEALTH. 85 
 
 395 And waken chcarful as the lively morn ; 
 Opprefs not nature finking down to reft 
 With feafts too late, too folid, or too full. 
 But be the firft conco6lion halt-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, 
 Whole nights are fliaken with the frantic fits 
 Of wild Oreftes j whofe delirious brain, 
 
 410 Stung by the furies, works with poifoned thought ! 
 While pale and monftrous painting fhocks the foul; 
 
 And mangled confcioufnefs bemoans itfelf 
 
 For
 
 l! 
 
 S6 The A R T (/ B. III. 
 
 For ever torn ; and chaos floating round. 
 
 What dreams prefage, what dangers thefe or thofe j 
 
 415 Portend tofanity, tho' prudent feers [] 
 
 Reveal'd of old, and men of deathlefs fame \ 
 We would not to the fuperftitious mind 
 Suggeft new throbs, new vanities of fear. 
 'Tis ours to teach you from the peaceful night 
 
 420 To banifh omens, and all reftlefs woes. 
 
 In ftudy fome protract the filent hours, 
 Which others confecrate to mirth and wine ; 
 And fleep till noon, and hardly live till night. 
 But furely this redeems not from the fhades 
 425 One hour of life. Nor does it nought avail 
 What feafon you to drowfy Morpheus give 
 Of th' ever- varying circle of the day \ 
 Or whether, thro' the tedious winter gloom. 
 You tempt the midnight or the morning damps. 
 
 The
 
 B. III. Preferving HEALTH ^-j 
 
 430 The body, frelh and vigorous from repofe, 
 Defies the early fogs : but, by the toils 
 Of wakeful day, exhaufted and unftrung, 
 Weakly refifts the nights unwholfome breath. 
 The grand difcharge, th' effufion of the skin, 
 
 435 Slowly impair'd, the languid maladies 
 
 Creep on, and thro' the fickning funcSlions fteal 
 So, when the chilling Eaft invades the fpring, 
 The delicate Narciflus pines away 
 In he6^ic languor ; and a flow difeafe 
 
 440 Taints all the family of flowers, condemn'd 
 To cruel heav'ns. But why, already prone 
 To fade, Ihould beauty cheriih its ov/n bane \ 
 O (hame ! O pity ! nipt with pale Quadrille, 
 And midnight cares, the bloom of Albion dies ! 
 
 445 By toil fubdu'd, the Warrior and the Hind 
 
 Sleep faft and deep j their a£live functions foon 
 
 With
 
 88 The ART of B. IIL 
 
 With generous ftreams the fubtle tubes fupply, 
 
 And foon the tonick irritable nerves 
 
 Feel the frefh impulfe, and awake the foul. 
 450 The fons of indolence, with long repofe, 
 
 Grow torpid j and, with floweft Lethe drunk, 
 
 Feebly and lingringly return to life. 
 
 Blunt every fenfe and powerlefs every limb. 
 
 Ye, prone to fleep (whom fleeping moft annoys) 
 45 5 On the hard mattrafs or elaftic couch 
 
 Extend your limbs, and wean yourfelves from floth; 
 
 Nor grudge the lean projector, of dry braii) 
 
 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
 
 B. III. Preferving HEALTH. 89 
 
 But pliant nature more or lefs demands, 
 465 As cuftom forms her 3 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 ; 
 470 Slow as the fhadow o'er the dial moves, 
 Slow as the dealing progrefs of the year. 
 
 Obferve 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 flieds Pomona's ftore ; 
 And aored Autumn brews the winter-ftorm. 
 Slow as they come, thefe changes come not \'oid 
 Of mortal Ihocks : The cold and torrid reigns, 
 
 N The
 
 90 rhe ART of B. IIL 
 
 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 reiign them, tho' the wanton fpring 
 Should deck her charms with all her fifter's rays. 
 For while the effluence of the skin maintains 
 
 490 Its native meafure, the pleuritic Spring 
 
 Glides harmlefs by j and Autumn, fick to death 
 With fallow Quartans, no contagion breathes. 
 
 I in prophetic numbers could unfold 
 The omens of the year : what feafons teem 
 495 With what difeafes ; what the humid South 
 Prepares, and what the Daemon of the Eaft : 
 
 But
 
 B. IIL Preferving HEALTH. 91 
 
 But you perhaps refufe the tedious fong, 
 
 Befides, whatever plagues in heat, or cold, 
 
 Or drought, or moifture dwell, they hurt not you, 
 
 500 Skiird to correal the vices of the sky. 
 
 And taught already how to each extream 
 To bend your life. But fhould the public banc 
 Infe£l 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 j 
 Be Celfus call'd : The fates come rufhing on ; 
 
 510 The rapid fates admit of no delay. 
 While wilful you, and fatally fecure, 
 Expert to morrow's more aufpicious fun, 
 The growing peft, whofe infancy was weak 
 
 N 2 And
 
 92 TZv ART of B. III. 
 
 And eafy vanquidi'd, with triumphant fway 
 515 O'erpow'rs your life. For want of timely care 
 Millions have died of medicable v/ounds. 
 
 Ah ! in what perils is vain life engag'd ! 
 What flight neglects, what trivial faults deftroy 
 The hardiefl: 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 Ihut J tho' no convullive agony 
 
 Shake, from the deep foundations of the world, 
 
 525 Th' imprifoned plagues 5 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 flaughter'd fons, and lonely ftreets \ 
 
 Even
 
 B. III. Preferving HEALTH. 93 
 
 530 Even Albion, girt with lefs malignant skies, 
 Albion the poifon of the Gods has drunk. 
 And felt the fting of monfters all her own. 
 
 Ere yet the fell Plantagenets had fpent 
 Their ancient rage, at Bofworth's purple field j 
 
 535 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 gygantic arm 
 
 540 Arofe, a monfter never known before 
 
 Rear'd from Cocytus its portentuous head. 
 This rapid fury not, like other pefts, 
 Purfued a gradual courfe, but in a day 
 Rufh'd as a ftorm o'er half th' aftonifh'd ifle, 
 
 545 And ftrew'd v/ith fudden carcafles the land. 
 
 Firft
 
 94 The ART of B. III. 
 
 Firft thro' the fhoulders, or whatever part 
 Was feiz'd the firft, a fervid vapour fprung. 
 With ralh 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 
 Gufh'd out in finoaky fweats , but nought afliiag'd 
 The torrid heat within, nor aught reliev'd 
 The ftomach's anauifh. With inceflant 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
 
 B. III. Prcfervhig HEALTH. 95 
 
 A wild delirium came ; dieir weeping friends 
 Were ftrangers now, and diis no home of theirs. 
 Harafs'd with toil on toil, the finking pov^^ers 
 565 Lay proftrate and o'crthrown ; a ponderous deep 
 Wrapt all the fenfes up ; They ilcpt and died. 
 
 In Ibme a gentle horror crept at firil 
 O'er all the limbs ; the flu ices of the skin 
 Withheld their moiflure, till by art provok'd 
 
 570 The fweats o'erflow'd ; but in a clammy tide : 
 Now free and copious, now reflrain'd and flow \ 
 Of tindlures various, as the temperature 
 Had mix'd the blood j and rank with fetid fteams : 
 As if the pent-up humors by delay 
 
 .'575 Were grown more fell, more putrid, and malign. 
 Here ky their hopes (tho' little hope remain 'd) 
 With full efFufion of perpetual fweats 
 To drive the venom out. And here the fates 
 
 Were
 
 96 . The ART of B. III. 
 
 Were kind, that long they lingered not in pain. 
 580 For who furviv'd the fun's diurnal race 
 
 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 infeSed fewer 'fcap'd alive : 
 
 585 Of thofe who liv'd fome felt a fecond blow j 
 And whom the fecond fpar'd a third deftroy'd. 
 Frantic with fear, they fought by flight to fhun 
 The fierce contagion. O'er the mournful land 
 Th' infe^ied city pour'd her hurrying fwarms: 
 
 590 Rous'd by the flames thatfir'd her feats around, 
 Th' infe(9:ed country rufli'd into the town. 
 Some, fad at home, and in the defart fome, 
 Abjur'd the fatal commerce of mankind 5 
 
 In
 
 B. III. Preferving HEALTH. 97 
 
 In vain : where'er they fled the Fates purfued. 
 595 Others, with hopes more fpecious, crofs'd the 
 
 main, 
 To feek prote(Stion in far-difl:ant skies ; 
 But none they found. It feem'd the general air 
 Was then at enmity with Englilh blood. 
 For, but the race of England, all were lafe 
 600 In foreign climes ; nor did this fury tafte 
 
 The foreign blood which Albion then contained. 
 Where ftiould they fly.'^ The circumambient 
 
 heaven 
 Involv'd them ftill j and every breeze was bane. 
 Where find relief.'^ 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 their 
 pray'rs 5 
 
 O Heav*n
 
 98 The ART of B. III. 
 
 Heav'n heard them not. Of every hope depriv'd ; 
 Fatlgu'd with vain refources ; and fubdued 
 
 6 1 o 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 
 Infe6tious horror ran from face to face, 
 
 615 And pale defpair. 'Twas all the bufinefs then 
 To tend the lick, and in their turns to die. 
 In heaps they fell : And oft one bed, they fay. 
 The fickening, dying, and the dead contain'd» 
 
 Ye guardian Gods, on whom the Fates depend 
 620 Of tottering Albion! Ye eternal fires, 
 
 That lead thro' heav'n the wandering year ! Ye 
 
 powers. 
 That o'er th' incircling elements prefide \ 
 May nothing worfe than what this age has {it^n 
 
 Arrive L
 
 B. III. Preferving HEALTH. 99 
 
 Arrive ! Enough abroad, enough at home 
 625 Has Albion bled. Here a diftemper'd heaven 
 Has thin'd her cities j from thofe lofty cliffs 
 That awe proud Gaul, to Thule's wintry reign ; 
 While in the Weft, beyond th' Atlantic foam, 
 Her braveft fons, keen for the fight, have died 
 630 The death of cowards, and of common men ; 
 Sunk void of wounds, and fall'n without renown. 
 
 But from thefe views the weeping Mufes turn, 
 And other themes invite my wandering fong. 
 
 O 2 THE
 
 THE 
 
 A 
 
 R 
 
 T 
 
 OF PRESERVING 
 
 HEALTH. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 The P A S S I O N S.
 
 THE 
 
 ART 
 
 OF PRESERVING 
 
 HEALTH. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 The PASSIONS. 
 r*Tn^HE choice of aliment, the choice of air, 
 JL The ufe of toil and all external things, 
 Already fung 5 it now remains to trace 
 What good what evil from ourfelves proceeds : 
 5 And how the fubtle principle within 
 
 Infpires with health, or mines with ftrange decay 
 The paflive body. Ye poetic Shades, 
 That know the fecrets of the world unfeen, 
 
 Aifift
 
 104 The AKT of B. IV. 
 
 Aflift my fong ! For, in a doubtful theme 
 I o Engag'd, I wander thro' myfterious v/ays. 
 
 There is, they fay, (and I believe there is) 
 A fpark within us of th' immortal fire, 
 That animates and moulds the grofler 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 world. 
 And is the body's health or malady. 
 
 By its own toil the grofs corporeal frame 
 Fatigues, extenuates, or deftroys itfelf : 
 
 Nor
 
 B. IV. Preferving HEALTH J05 
 
 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 j 
 The toiling heart diftrlbutes life and ftrength ; 
 Thefe the ftill-crumbling frame rebuild ; and thefe 
 Are loft in thinking, and diflblve in air. 
 
 3 5 But 'tis not Thought (for ftill the foul's employ '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 
 On microfcopic arts its vigour fails. 
 
 40 Juft fo the mind) with vairious thought amus'd. 
 Nor aches itfelf, nor gives the body pain. 
 
 P But
 
 io6 The ART of B. IV. 
 
 But anxious Study, Difcontenf, 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 fun6lions of their Ihare. 
 Hence the lean gloom that Melancholy wears ; 
 The Lover's palenefs j and the fallow hue 
 Of Envy, Jealoufy ; the meagre ftare 
 
 5 o Of fore Revenge : The cankered 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. 
 And crudely fattens at grofs Burman's ftall j 
 5 5 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
 
 B. IV. Preferving HEALTH. 107 
 
 Peace to each drowfy metaphyfic fage ! 
 
 60 And ever may the German folio's rell ! 
 Yet fome there are, even of elaftic parts, 
 Whom ftrong and obftinate ambition leads 
 Thro' all the rugged roads of barren lore, 
 And gives to relifh what their orenerous tafte 
 
 65 Would elfe refufe. But may nor thirft of fame 
 Nor love of knowledcre uro;e you to fatiooic 
 Witli conftant drudgery the liberal Ibul. 
 Toy with your books : and, as the various fits 
 Of humour feize you, from Philofophy 
 
 70 To Fable (hift ; 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 cheft fo exercis'd improves its ftrength ; 
 
 P 2 And
 
 io8 The A R T ^/ B. IV, 
 
 And quick vibrations thro' the bowels drive 
 The reftlefs blood, which in una£tive days 
 Would loiter elfe thro' unelaftic tubes. 
 Deem it not triflinor while I recommend 
 80 What pofture fuits : To ftand and fit by turns. 
 As nature prompts, is beft. But o'er your leaves 
 To lean for ever, cramps the vital parts. 
 And robs the fine machinery of its play. 
 
 'Tis the sreat art of life to manage well 
 ,85 The reftlefs mind. For ever on purfuit 
 
 Of knowledge bent it ftarves the grofler powers. 
 Quite unemploy'd, againft its own repofe 
 Its turns its fatal edge, and fharper pangs 
 Than what the body knows embitter life. 
 90 Chiefly where Solitude, fad nurfe of care. 
 To fickly mufing gives the penfive mind. 
 There madnefs enters j and the dim-ey'd Fiend, 
 
 Sour
 
 B. IV. Prefervhig HEALTH. 109 
 
 Sour Melancholy, night and day provokes 
 Her own eternal wound. The fun grows pale ; 
 95 A mournful vifionary light o'erfpreads 
 
 The chearful face of nature : earth becomes 
 A dreary defart, and heaven frowns above. 
 Then various ihapes of curs'd illufion rife ; 
 Whate'er the wretched fears, creating Fear 
 100 Forms out of nothing j and with monfters teems 
 Unknown in hell. The prollrate foul beneath 
 A load of huore imaalnatlon heaves. 
 And all the horrors, that the guilty feel, 
 With anxious flutterings wake the euiltlefs breaft- 
 
 105 Such phantoms Pride in folitary fcenes, 
 
 Or Fear, on delicate Self-love creates. 
 From other cares abfolv'd, the bufy mind 
 Finds In yourfelf a theme to pore upon 5 
 It finds you miferable, or makes you {o. 
 
 - For
 
 no rhe A R T ef S- IV. 
 
 no 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 jealouiy, 
 
 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. 
 Ah ! from your bofoms banilh, if you can, 
 
 IS.0 Thofe fatal guefts : and firft the Demon Fear j 
 That trembles at impoflible events. 
 Left aged Atlas fhould refign his load 
 And heaven's eternal battlements rufh down. 
 Is there an evil worfe than fear itfelf ? 
 
 1 25 And what avails it that indulgent heaven 
 From mortal eyes has wrapt the woes to come, 
 If we, ingenious to torment ourfelves. 
 
 Grow
 
 • B. IV. Prefervbig HEALTH, m 
 
 Grow pale at hideous fi6lions of our o\yn ? 
 Enjoy the prefent ; nor with needlefs cares, 
 130 Of whatmayfpringfrom blind Misfortune's womb, 
 Appal the fureft hour that life beftows. 
 Serene, and mafter of yourfelf, prepare 
 For what may come; and leave the reft to hea\'en. 
 
 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 languilliment declines, 
 Thefe chronic paffions, while from real woes 
 1 40 They rife, and yet without the body's fault 
 Infeft the foul, admit one only cure j 
 Diverfion, hurry, and a reftlefs life. 
 Vain are the confolations of the wife. 
 In vain your friends would reafon down your pain. 
 
 Oh 
 
 1*.
 
 112 The ART of B. IV. 
 
 145 Oh ye whofe fouls relentlefs love has tam'd 
 To foft diftrefs, or friends untimely flain! 
 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 enthuliaft ! 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 wifh 
 
 155 Of nobler minds, and pu(h them night and day. 
 Or join the caravan in queft of fcenes 
 New to your eyes, and ihifting every hour j 
 Beyond the Alps, beyond the Appennines. 
 Or, more advent'rous, rufli into the field 
 
 160 Where war grows hot; and, raging thro' the sky. 
 The lofty trumpet fwells the maddening foul : 
 
 And
 
 B. IV. Preferving HEALTH. 113 
 
 And in the hardy camp and toilfomc march 
 Forget all fofter and lefs manly cares. 
 
 But moft too pallive, when the blood runs low, 
 165 Too weakly indolent to ftrive with pain, 
 And bravely by refifting conquer Fate, 
 Try Circe's arts ; and in the tempting bowl 
 Of poifon'd Ne(^ar fweet oblivion drink. 
 Struck by the powerful charm,the gloom diflblvcs 
 170 In empty air j Elyfium opens round. 
 
 A pleafing phrenzy buoys the lighten'd foul. 
 And fanguine hopes difpel your fleeting care j 
 And what was difficult, and what was dire. 
 Yields to your prowefs and fuperior ftars : 
 1 75 The happiell you, of all that e'er were mad. 
 Or are, or (ball be, could this folly laft. 
 But foon your heaven is gone ; a heavier gloom 
 
 Q^ Shuts
 
 114 The A R T 9^ B. IV. 
 
 Shutso'eryourhead : and, as thethunderlngftream, 
 Swoln o'er its banks with fudden mountain rain, 
 
 1 80 Sinks from its tumult to a filent brook ; 
 
 So, when the frantic raptures in your breaft 
 Subfide, you languiih into mortal man ; 
 You deep, and waking find yourfelf undone. 
 For prodigal of life in one rafh night 
 
 1 85 You lavifh'd more than might fupport three days. 
 A heavy morning comes j your cares return 
 With tenfold rage. An anxious ftomach well 
 May be endur'd j fo may the throbbing head : 
 But fuch a dim delirium, fuch a dream, 
 
 190 Involves you 5 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 fluggilh Port j youcurfe the wretch, 
 
 195 The felon, with unnatural mixture firfl: 
 
 Who
 
 B. IV. Preferving HEALTH. 115 
 
 Who dar'd to violate the virgin Wine. 
 Or on the fugitive Champain you pour 
 A thoufand curfes ; for to heav'n your foul 
 It rapt, to plunge you deeper in defpair. 
 200 Perhaps you rue even that divineft gift, 
 The gay, ferene, good-natur'd Burgundy, 
 Or the frefh fragrant vintage of the Rhine : 
 And wilh that heaven from mortals had withheld 
 The grape, and all intoxicating bowls. 
 
 2,05 Befides, 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 
 210 Performs a deed to haunt you to your grave. 
 Add that your means, your health, your parts 
 decay j 
 
 0^2 Your
 
 ii6 Voe ART of B. IV. 
 
 Your friends avoid you ; brutilhly transform'd 
 They hardly know you ; or if one remains 
 To wilh you well, he willies you in heaven. 
 215 Defpis'd, unwept you fill ; who might have left 
 A facred, cheriih'd, fidly-plealing name j 
 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 worth. 
 
 2.20 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 ftill remember'd that he once was young 5 
 His eafy prefence check'd no decent joy. 
 
 Him
 
 B. IV. Prefervwg HEALTH. 117 
 
 Him even the diffolutc admir'd; for he 
 5,30 A graceful loofenefs when he pleas 'd put on, 
 
 And lauahinorcou'd inftru6l. 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 j 
 240 Yet few attain it, if 'twas e'er attain'd. 
 
 But they the wideft wander from the mark. 
 Who thro' the fiow'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
 
 ii8 rhe A K T of B. IV. 
 
 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 fick. 
 And, cloy'd with pleafure, fqueamiflily complain 
 That all was vanity, and life a dream. 
 Let nature reft : Be bufy for yourfelf, 
 And for your friend j be bufy even in vain 
 
 255 Rather than teize her fated appetites. 
 
 Who never fafts no banquet e'er enjoys ; 
 Who never toils or watches never fleeps. 
 Let nature reft : And when the tafte of joy 
 Grows keen, indulge j but fhun fatiety. 
 
 260 'Tis not for mortals always to be bleft. 
 
 But him the leaft the dull or painful hours 
 Of lite opprefs, whom fober Senfe condu61:s 
 
 And
 
 B. IV. Prefervifig HEALTH 119 
 
 And Virtue, thro' this labyrinth we tread. 
 
 Virtue and Senfe I mean not to disjoin ; 
 265 Virtue and Senfe are one; and, truft me, he 
 
 Who has not virtue is not truly w ife. 
 
 Virtue (for meer good-nature is a fool) 
 
 Is lenfe and fpirit, with humanity : 
 
 'Tis fometimes angry, and its frown confounds 5 
 270 'Tis even vindidlive, but in vengeance jufl. 
 
 Knaves fain would laugh at it ; fome great ones 
 dare ; 
 
 But at his heart the moft undaunted fon 
 
 Of fortune dreads its name and awful charms. 
 
 To nobleft ufes this determines wealth ; 
 275 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 fhock 
 
 Defies of Envy and all-fapping Time. 
 
 The
 
 120 The AV.1: of B. IV. 
 
 280 The gawdy glofs of Fortune only ftrikes 
 The vulgar eye : The fuffrage of the wife, 
 The praife that's worth ambition, is attained 
 By Senfe alone, and dignity of mind. 
 
 Virtue, the ftrength and beauty of the foul, 
 285 Is the beft gift of heaven : a happinefs 
 
 That even above the fmiles and frowns of fate 
 Exalts great Nature's favourites : a wealth 
 That ne'er encumbers, nor to bafer hands 
 Can be transfer'd : it is the only good 
 290 Man juftly boafts of, or can call his own. 
 Riches are oft by guilt and bafenefs earn'd ; 
 Or dealt by chance, to fhield a lucky knave, 
 Or throw a cruel fun-ihine on a fool. 
 But for one end, one much-neglected ufe, 
 295 Are riches worth your care : ( for Nature's wants 
 Are few, and without opulence fupplied. ) 
 
 This
 
 B. IV. Preferving HEALTH. 121 
 
 This noble end is, to produce the Soul , 
 To fhew the virtues in their faireft light ; 
 To make Humanity the Minifter 
 300 Of bounteous Providence; and teach the Brealt 
 That generous luxury the Gods enjoy. 
 
 Thus, in his graver vein, the friendly Sage 
 Sometimes declaim'd. Of Rioht and Wrong he 
 
 taught 
 Truths as refin'd as ever Athens heard ; 
 305 And (ftrange to tell!) he pra(3:is'd what he 
 
 preach'd. 
 Skill'd in the Paffions, how to check their fway 
 He knew, as far as Reafon can controul 
 The lawlefs Powers. But other cares are mine : 
 Form'd in the fchool of Paeon, I relate 
 310 What Paffions hurt the body, what improve : 
 Avoid them, or invite them, as you may. 
 
 R Know
 
 122 The A^r of B. IV 
 
 Know then, whatever chearful and ferene 
 Supports the mind, fupports the body too. 
 Hence the moft vital movement mortals feel 
 
 3 1 5 Is Hope ; the balm and life-blood of the foiiL 
 It pleafes, and it lafts. Indulgent heaven 
 Sent down the kind delufion, thro' the paths 
 Of rugged life ; to lead us patient on ; 
 And make our happieft ftate no tedious thing. 
 
 320 Our greateft good, and what w^e lead can fpare^ 
 Is Hope ; the laft of all our evils, Fear. 
 
 But there are Palllons grateful to the breaft. 
 And yet no friends to Life ; perhaps they pleafe 
 Or to excefs, and diffipate the foul j 
 3 25 Or while they pleafe, torment. The ftubborn Clown, 
 The ill-tam'd Ruffian, and pale Ufurer, 
 (If Love's omnipotence fuch hearts can mould) 
 May fafely mellow into love 5 and grow 
 
 Refin'd, 
 
 A
 
 B. IV. Preferving HEALTH 123 
 
 Refin'd, humane, and generous, if they can. 
 
 330 Love in fuch bofoms never to a fault 
 Or pains or pleafes. But ye finer Souls, 
 Form'd to foft luxury, and prompt to 4:hrill 
 With all the tumults, all the joys and pains, 
 That beauty gives ; with caution and referve 
 
 335 Indulge the fweet deftroyer of repofe, 
 
 Nor court too much the Queen of charming cares. 
 For, while the cherifh'd poifon in your bread 
 Ferments and maddens ; fick with jealoufy, 
 Abfence, diftruft, or even with anxious joy, 
 
 340 The wholfome appetites and powers of life 
 Diflblve in languor. The coy ftomach loaths 
 The genial board ; Your chearful days are gone: 
 The generous bloom that flufti'd your cheeks is fled. 
 To fighs devoted and to tender pains, 
 
 345 Penfive you fit, or folitary ft ray, 
 
 And wafte your youth in mufing, Mufing firil 
 
 R 2 ToyM
 
 124 ry^^ A R T of B. IV. 
 
 Toy'd into care your vinfufpe^tlng heart : 
 It found a liking there, a fportful fire, 
 And that fomented into ferious love \ 
 
 350 Whicfe mufing daily ftrengthens and improves 
 Thro' all the heights of fondnefs and romance : 
 And you're undone, the fatal (haft has fped. 
 If once you doubt whether you love or no. 
 The body waftes away 5 th' infe61:ed mind, 
 
 355 Diflblv'd in female tendernefs, forgets 
 
 Each manly virtue, and grows dead to fame. 
 Sweet heaven from fuch intoxicating charms 
 Defend all worthy breads ! Not that I deem 
 Love always dangerous, always to be (hun'd. 
 
 360 Love well repaid, and not too weakly funk 
 In wanton and unmanly tendernefs, 
 Adds bloom to Health 5 o'er every virtue iheds 
 A gay, humane, and amiable grace, 
 And brightens all the ornaments of man. 
 
 But
 
 B. IV. Preferving H E A L T H. 125 
 
 365 But fruitlefs, hopelefs, difappointed, rack'd 
 With jealoufy, fatigued with hope and fear, 
 Too ferious, or too lancruifhinoly fond. 
 Unnerves the body and unmans the fou4. 
 And fome have died for Love; and fome run mad; 
 370 Andfomewithdefperatehandthemfeh'esha\e{]ain. 
 
 Some to extinguilh, others to prevent, 
 A mad devotion to one dano-erous Fair, 
 Court all they meet ; in hopes to diffipate 
 The cares of Love amonafl: a hundred Brides. 
 375 Th' event is doubtful : for there are who find 
 A cure in this ; there are who find it not. 
 'Tis no relief, alas ! it rather galls 
 The wound, to thofe who are fincerely fick. 
 For while from feverilh and tumultuous joys 
 380 The nerves grow languid and the foul fubfides ; 
 The tender Fancy fmarts with every fting ; 
 
 And
 
 126 rhe ART of B. IV. 
 
 And what was Love before is Madnefs now. 
 
 Is health your care, or luxury your aim. 
 
 Be temperate ftill : When Nature bids obey ; 
 
 385 Her wild impatient Tallies bear no curb. 
 But when the prurient habit of delight, 
 Or loofe Imagination, fpurs you on 
 To deeds above your ftrength, impute it not 
 To Nature : Nature all compulfion hates. 
 
 390 Ah! let nor luxury nor vain renown 
 
 Urge you to feats you well might fleep without , 
 To make what (hould be rapture a fatigue, 
 A tedious task j nor in the wanton arms 
 Of twining La'is melt your manhood down. 
 
 395 For from the coUiquation of foft joys 
 
 How chang'd you rife! the ghoft of what you was! 
 Languid, and melancholy, and gaunt, and wan j 
 Your veins exhaufted and your nerves unftrung. 
 Spoil'd of its balm and fprightly zeft, the blood 
 
 Grows
 
 B. IV. Preferving HEALTH. 127 
 
 400 Grows vapid phlegm; along the tender nerves 
 (To each flight Impulfe tremblingly awake) 
 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 
 
 405 Your vigour pines ; your vital powers decay , 
 Difeafes haunt you ; and untimely Age 
 Creeps on ; unfocial, impotent, and lewd. 
 Infatuate, impious, epicure ! to wafte 
 The ftores of plcafure, chearfulnefs, and health ! 
 
 410 Infatuate all who make delight their trade, 
 And coy perdition every hour purfue. 
 
 Who pines with Love, or in lafcivious flames 
 Confumes, is with his own confent undone : 
 He chules to be wretched, to be mad ; 
 415 And warn'd proceeds and wilful to his fate. 
 
 But there's a Paflion, whole tempeftuous fway 
 
 Tears
 
 128 The ART of B. IV. 
 
 Tears up each virtue planted in the bread, 
 And fhakes to ruins proud philofophy. 
 For pale and trembling Anger rufhes in, 
 
 420 With fault 'ring fpeech, and eyes that wildly ftare ; 
 Fierce as the Tyger, madder than the feas, 
 Defperate, and arm'd with more than human 
 
 ftrength. 
 How foon the calm, humane, and pollfh'd man 
 Forgets compunction, and ftarts up a fiend ! 
 
 425 Who pines in Love, or waftes with filent Cares, 
 Envy, or Ignominy, or tender Grief, 
 Slowly defcends and ling'ring to the (hades. 
 But he whom Anger ftings, drops, if he dies, 
 At once, and rufhes apoplectic down j 
 
 430 Or a fierce fever hurries him to hell. 
 
 For, as the Body thro' unnumber'd firings 
 Reverberates each vibration of the Soul j 
 As is the PaiTion, fuch is ftill the Pain 
 
 The
 
 B. IV, Preferving HEALTH. 129 
 
 The Body feels ; or chronic, or acute. 
 435 And oft a fudden ftorm at once o'erpowers 
 The Life, or gives your Reafon to the winds. 
 Such fates attend the rafti alarm of Fear, 
 And fudden Grief, and Rage, and fudden Joy. 
 
 There are, mean time, to whom the boift'rous 
 fit 
 440 Is Health, and only fills the fails of life. 
 For where the Mind a torpid winter leads. 
 Wrapt in a Body corpulent and cold. 
 And each clogg'd function lazily moves on ^ 
 A generous fally fpurns th' incumbent load, 
 445 Unlocks the breaft, and gives a cordial glow. 
 But if your wrathful blood is apt to boil. 
 Or are your nerves too irritably ftrung ; 
 Wave all Difpute y be cautious if you joke , 
 
 S Keep
 
 130 The A R T of B. IV. 
 
 Keep Lent for ever ; and forfwear the Bowl. 
 
 45 o For one rafli moment fends you to the fhades, 
 Or {hatters every hopeful fcheme of Hfe, 
 And gives to horror all your days to come. 
 Fate, arm'd with thunder, fire, and every plague 
 That ruins, tortures, or diftradiis mankind, 
 
 455 And makes the happy wretched in an hour, 
 O'erwhelms you not with woes fo horrible 
 As your own Wrath, nor gives more fudden blows. 
 
 While Choler works, good Friend, you may 
 be wrong j 
 Diftruft yourfelf, and fleep before you fight. 
 460 'Tis not too late to morrow to be brave j 
 If Honour bids, to morrow kill or die. 
 But calm advice aoainft a rag^ino; fit 
 Avails too little ; and it tries the power 
 
 ' : Of
 
 B. IV. Preferving HEALTH. 131 
 
 Of all that ever taught in Profe or Song, 
 465 To tame the Fiend that fleeps a gentle Lamb, 
 And wakes a Lion. Unprovok'd and calm, 
 You reafon well, fee as you ought to fee. 
 And wonder at the madnefs of mankind : 
 Seiz'd with the common rage, you foon forget 
 470 The fpeculations of your wifer hours. 
 Befet with Furies of all deadly Ihapes, 
 Fierce and inlidious, violent and flow j 
 With all that urge or lure us on to Fate ; 
 What refuge fhall we feek ? what arms prepare ? 
 475 Where Reafon proves too weak, or void of wiles, 
 To cope with fubtle or impetuous Powers, 
 
 » 
 
 I would invoke new Faffions to your aid : 
 With Indianation would extinguilh Fear, 
 With Fear or generous Pity vanquilh Rage, 
 480 And Love with Pride j and force to force oppofe. 
 
 S 2, There
 
 132 The A R T (?/ B. IV. 
 
 There is a Charm : a Power that fways the 
 breaft ; 
 Bids every PalTion revel or be ftill ; 
 Infpires with Rage, or all your Cares diflblves j 
 Can footh Diftra6^ion, and almoft Defpair. 
 485 That Power is Mufic : Far beyond the ftretch 
 Of thofe unmeaning warblers on our ftage ; 
 Thofe clumfy Heroes, thofe fat-headed Gods, 
 Who move no Paffion juftly but Contempt : 
 Who, like our dancers (light indeed and ftrong !) 
 490 Do wond'rous feats, but never heard of grace. 
 The fault is ours ^ we bear thofe monftrous arts. 
 Good Heaven ! we praife them : we, with loudeft 
 
 peals. 
 Applaud the fool that higheft lifts his heels j 
 And, with infipid (hew of rapture, die 
 495 Of ideot notes, impertinently long. 
 
 But
 
 B. IV. Preferving HEALTH. 133 
 
 But he the Mufe's laurel juftly fhares, 
 A Poet he, and touch'd with Heaven's own fire ; 
 Who, with bold rage or folemn pomp of founds, 
 Inflames, exalts, and ravilhes the foul ; 
 
 500 Now tender, plaintive, fweet almoft to pain, 
 In Love diflblves you j now in fprightly drains 
 Breathes a gay rapture thro' your thrilling breaft j 
 Or melts the heart with airs divinely fad ; 
 Or wakes to horror the tremendous ftrings. 
 
 505 Such was the bard, whofe heavenly ftrains of old 
 Appeas'd the fiend of melancholy Saul. 
 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 fongr : 
 
 510 And iiich the Thracian, whofe harmonious lyre, 
 Tun'd to foft woe, made all the mountains weep 5 
 Sooth 'd even th' inexorable powers of Hell, 
 
 And
 
 134 The A "Si r of B. IV 
 
 And half redeem'd his loft Eurydice. 
 Mufic exalts each Joy, allays each Grief, 
 515 Expells Difeafes, foftens every Pain, 
 
 Subdues the rage of Poifon, and the Plague ; 
 And hence the wife of ancient days ador'd 
 One Power of Phyfic, Melody, and Song. 
 
 The END, 
 
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