ong grows,
_Shoots_ through the Dykes, and all the Banks _o'erflows_;
Strait the _capricious Waters_ backward fly,
The _Pebbles_ rake and leave the Bottom _dry_; 390
Watch the _kind Hour_ and seize the _rising Flood_,
Else will your _dreggy Poem_ taste of _Mud_.
Hence old and batter'd _Hackneys_ of the _Stage_,
By long Experience render'd _Wise_ and _Sage_,
With pow'rful _Juices_ restive Nature urge,
Or else with _Bays_ of old, they _bleed_ and _purge_;
Thence, as the _Priestess_ from her _Cave_ inspir'd,
When to his _Cell_ the _rancid God_ retir'd,
_Double Entendres_ their fond _Audience_ blind,
Their _boasted Oracles_ abuse Mankind: 400
_False Joys_ around their _Hearts_ in _Slumbers_ play,
And the warm _tingling Blood_ steals fast away;
The _Soul_ grows _dizzy_, lost in _Senses Night_,
And melts in pleasing _Pain_ and vain _Delight_.
Not that the _sowrest Critick_ can reprove
The _soft_ the moving _Scenes_ of _Virtuous Love_:
_Life's Sunny Morn_, which wears, alas! too fast;
_Pity_ it e'er should _hurt_, or should not _always last_!
Has _Bankrupt Nature_ then no _more_ to give,
Or by a _Trick_ persuades Mankind to _live_? 410
No--when with _Prudence_ join'd 'tis still the _same_ }
Or _ripens_ into _Friendship's_ nobler _Name_, }
The _Matter_ pure, immortal is the _Flame_. }
No _Fool_, no _Debauchee_ could ever prove
The _honest Luxury of Virtuous Love_;
Then _curs'd_ are those who that _fair Name_ abuse,
And holy _Hymen's_ sacred _Fillets_ loose;
Who _poison Fountains_, and _infect_ the _Air_,
_Ruine_ the _Witty_, and _debauch_ the _Fair_;
With _nauseous Images_ their _Scenes_ debase 420
At once their Country's _Ruine_ and _Disgrace_.
_Weigh_ well each _Thought_ if all be _Just_ and _Right_,
For those must clearly _think_ who clearly _write_.
Nothing _obscure_, _equivocal_, or _mean_,
Much less what is or _impious_ or _obscene_:
Altho the tempting _Serpent_ play his part,
And wind in _glitt'ring Folds_ around thy _Heart_;
Reject the _trait'rous Charmer_, tear him thence,
And keep thy _Vertue_ and thy _Innocence_.
[Sidenote: _The Manchinel, or Eves Apple_.]
In wild _America's_ rank _Champaign_ grows 430
A _Tree_ which _Europe_ oft too dearly knows;
It rises