In vain coy Mathesis * thy presence flies:
Still turn her fond hallucinating + eyes;

Thrills with Galvanic fires + each tortuous nerve,
Throb her blue veins, and dies her cold reserve.
-Yet strives the fair, till in the Giant's breast
She sees the mutual passion flame confess'd :
Where'er he moves, she sees his tall limbs trace
Internal Angles§ equal at the Base;

Again she doubts him; but produced at will,
She sees the external Angles equal still.

* Mathesis-The doctrine of Mathematics-Pope calls her mad Mathesis. Vide Johnson's Dictionary.

+Hallucinating-The disorder with which Mathesis is affected, is a disease of increased volition, called erotomania, or sentimental love. It is the fourth species of the second genus of the first order and third class; in consequence of which Mr. Hackman shot Miss Ray in the lobby of the playhouse, -Vide Zoonomia, Vol. II. p. 363, 365.

Galvanic Fires-Dr. Galvani is a celebrated philosopher at Turin. He has proved that the electric fluid is the proximate cause of nervous sensibility; and Mr. HIGGINS is of opinion, that by means of this discovery, the sphere of our disagreeable sensations may be, in future, considerably enlarged. "Since dead frogs (says he) are awakened by this "fluid, to such a degree of posthumous sensibility, as to jump "out of the glass in which they are placed, why not men who "are sometimes so much more sensible when alive? And if

64

so, why not employ this new stimulus to deter mankind "from dying (which they so pertinaciously continue to do) "of various old-fashioned diseases, notwithstanding all the " brilliant discoveries of modern philosophy, and the example "of Count Cagliostro.

§ Internal Angles, &c.-This is an exact versification of Euclid's 5th theorem.-Vide Euclid in loco.

Say, blest Isosceles! what favouring pow'r, Or love, or chance, at night's auspicious hour, While to the Asses'-Bridge entranced you stray'd, Led to the Asses'-Bridge the enamour'd maid? -The Asses'-Bridge, for ages doom'd to hear The deafening surge assault his wooden ear, With joy repeats sweet sounds of mutual bliss, The soft susurrant sigh, and gently-murmuring kiss.

So thy dark arches, London Bridge, bestride Indignant Thames, and part his angry tide, There oft-returning from those green retreats, Where fair Vauxhallia decks her sylvan seats ;— Where each spruce nymph from city compters free, Sips the froth'd syllabub, or fragrant tea;

While with sliced ham, scrap'd beef, and burnt champagne,

Her 'prentice lover soothes his amorous pain;
-There oft, in well-trimm'd wherry, glide along
Smart beaux and giggling belles, a glittering throng;
Smells the tarr'd rope-with undulation fine
Flaps the loose sail- the silken awnings shine;

* Asses' Bridge-Pons Asinorum—The name usually given to the before-mentioned theorem-though, as Mr. HIGGINS thinks, absurdly. He says, that having frequently watched companies of asses during their passage of a bridge, he never discovered in them any symptoms of geometrical instinct upon the occasion. But he thinks that with Spanish asses, which are much larger (vide Townsend's Travels through Spain), the case may possibly be different.

"Shoot we the bridge!"—the venturous boatmen cry
"Shoot we the bridge!”—the exulting fare* reply.
-Down the steep fall the headlong waters go,
Curls the white foam, the breakers roar below.
-The veering helm the dexterous steersman stops,
Shifts the thin oar, the fluttering canvas drops;
Then with closed eyes, clench'd hands, and quick-
drawn breath,

Darts at the central arch, nor heeds the gulf beneath.
-Full 'gainst the pier the unsteady timbers knock,
The loose planks starting own the impetuous shock;
The shifted oar, dropt sail, and steadied helm,
With angry surge the closing waters whelm-
-Laughs the glad Thames, and clasps each fair one's
charms

That screams and scrambles in his oozy arms. -Drench'd each smart garb, and clogg'd each struggling limb,

Far o'er the stream the Cockney's sink or swim; While each badged boatmant clinging to his oar, Bounds o'er the buoyant wave, and climbs the applauding shore.

So, towering Alp! from thy majestic ridge + Young Freedom gazed on Lodi's blood-stain'd Bridge;

*Fare- A person, or a number of persons conveyed in a hired vehicle by land or water.

+ Badged boatman-Boatmen sometimes wear a badge, to distinguish them: especially those who belong to the Watermen's Company.

‡ Alp or Alps-A ridge of mountains which separate the

-Saw, in thick throngs, conflicting armies rush,

Ranks close on ranks, and squadrons squadrons crush ;
-Burst in bright radiance through the battle's storm,
Waved her broad hands, diplay'd her awful form;
Bade at her feet regenerate nations bow,

And twined the wreath round Buonaparte's brow.
-Quick with new lights, fresh hopes, and alter'd zeal,
The slaves of Despots dropt the blunted steel:
Exulting Victory own'd her fav'rite child,
And freed Liguria clapt her hands and smiled.

Nor long the time ere Britain's shores shall greet
The warrior-sage, with gratulations sweet:
Eager to grasp the wreath of Naval Fame,
The GREAT REPUBLIC plans the Floating Frame!
-O'er the huge plane gigantic Terror stalks,
And counts with joy the close-compacted balks :
Of young-eyed Massacres the Cherub crew,
Round their grim chief the mimic task pursue;
Turn the stiff screw,*apply the strengthening clamp,
Drive the long bolt, or fix the subborn cramp,
Lash the reluctant beam, the cable splice,
Join the firm dove-tail with adjustment nice,

North of Italy from the South of Germany. They are evidently primeval and volcanic, consisting of granite, toadstone, and basalt, and several other substances, containing animal and vegetable recrements, and affording numberless undoubted proofs of the infinite antiquity of the earth, and of the consequent falshood of the Mosaic Chronology.

*Turn the stiff screw, &c.-The harmony and imagery of

1

Through yawning fissures urge the willing wedge,
Or give the smoothing adze a sharper edge.
-Or group'd in fairy bands with playful care,
The unconscious bullet to the furnace bear;
Or gaily tittering, tip the match with fire,
Prime the big mortar, bid the shell aspire;
Applaud, with tiny hands, and laughing eyes,
And watch the bright destruction as it flies.

Now the fierce forges gleam with angry glare— The windmill waves his woven wings in air; Swells the proud sail, the exulting streamers fly, Their nimble fins unnumber'd paddles ply, -Ye soft airs breathe, ye gentle billows waft, And fraught with Freedom, bear the expected Raft! -Perch'd on her back, behold the Patriot train, Muir, Ashley, Barlow, Tone, O'Connor, Paine, While Tandy's hand directs the blood-empurpled

rein.

these lines are imperfectly imitated from the following exquisite passage in the Economy of Vegetation :

Gnomes, as you now dissect, with hammers fine,
The granite rock, the nodul'd flint calcine;
Grind with strong arm, the circling Chertz betwixt,
Your pure k-o-lins and Pe-tunt-ses mixt.

Canto 2, l. 297.

*The windmill, &c.This line affords a striking instance of the sound conveying an echo to the sense.-I would defy the most unfeeling reader to repeat it over, without accompanying it by some corresponding gesture imitative of the action described-Editor.