1316 A6a U'l'.'iii'i'.T. ,'' ,, .: ( . , '.;■.■',■ ,^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, ^ University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. (^'/ 58 00525 4072 \-!!:Si:ii;|i!|i[;il|!!ili!ii!iii!i!ili^^^^ !l I