The Sparrow and the Dove (Fable XIV)

IT was, as learn'd traditions say,
Upon an April's blithesome day
When Pleasure, ever on the wing,
Return'd companion of the Spring,
And cheer'd the birds with am'rous heat,
Instructing little hearts to beat,
A Sparrow, frolick, gay, and young,
Of bold address and flippant tongue,
Just left his lady of a night,
Like him to follow new delight.

The youth of many a conquest vain
Flew off to seek the chirping train,
The chirping train he quickly found,
And with a saucy ease bow'd round.

For ev'ry she his bosom burns,
And this and that he wooes by turns;
And here a sigh and there a bill,
And here—"Those eyes, so form'd to kill!"
And now with ready tongue he strings
Unmeaning soft resistless things,
With vows and Demme's skill'd to woo
As other pretty fellows do:
Not that he thought this short essay
A prologue needful to his play;
No: trust me, says our learned letter,
He knew the virtuous sex much better;
But these he held as specious arts
To shew his own superiour parts,
The form of decency to shield,
And give a just pretence to yield.

Thus finishing his courtly play
He mark'd the fav'rite of the day,
With careless impudence drew near
And whisper'd Hebrew in her ear,
A hint which like the Mason's sign
The conscious can alone divine.

The flutt'ring nymph, expert at feigning,
Cry'd "Sir!—pray Sir, explain your meaning—
"Go prate to those that may endure ye—
"To me this rudeness!—I'll assure ye—"
Then off she glided like a swallow,
As saying—You guess where to follow.

To such as know the party set
'Tis needless to declare they met;
The Parson's barn, as authors mention,
Confess'd the fair had apprehension:
Her honour there secute from stain
She held all farther trifling vain,
No more affected to be coy,
But rush'd licentious on the joy.

"Hist, Love!" the male companion cry'd,
"Retire a while; I fear we 're spy'd."
Nor was the caution vain; he saw
A Turtle rustling in the straw,
While o'er her callow brood she hung,
And fondly thus address'd her young:

"Ye tender objects of my care!
"Peace, peace, ye little helpless pair!
"Anon he comes your gentle sire,
"And brings you all your hearts require.
"For us his infants and his bride,
"For us, with only love to guide,
"Our lord assumes an eagle's speed,
"And like a lion dares to bleed:
"Nor yet by wintry skies confin'd
"He mounts upon the rudest wind,
"From danger tears the vital spoil,
"And with affection sweetens toil.
"Ah cease, too vent'rous! cease to dare;
"In thine our dearer safety spare!
"From him ye cruel Falcons! stray,
"And turn ye Fowlers! far away.

"Should I survive to see the day
"That tears me from myself away,
"That cancels all that Heav'n could give,
"The life by which alone I live,
"Alas! how more than lost were I,
"Who in the thought already die!

"Ye Pow'rs! whom men and birds obey,
"Great Rulers of your creatures! say
"Why mourning comes by bliss convey'd,
"And ev'n the sweets of love allay'd?
"Where grows enjoyment tall and fair
"Around it twines entangling care,
"While fear for what our souls possess
"Enervates ev'ry pow'r to bless;
"Yet friendship forms the bliss above,
"And Life! what art thou without love?"

Our hero, who had heard apart,
Felt something moving in his heart,
But quickly with disdain supprest
The virtue rising in his breast,
And first he seign'd to laugh aloud,
And next approaching smil'd and bow'd.

"Madam, you must not think me rude,
"Good manners never can intrude;
"I vow I come thro' pure good nature—
"(Upon my soul a charming creature!)
"Are these the comforts of a wife?
"This careful cloister'd moping life?
"No doubt that odious thing call'd Duty
"Is a sweet province for a beauty.
"Thou pretty Ignorance! thy will
"Is measur'd to thy want of skill;
"That good oldfashion'd dame thy mother
"Has taught thy infant years no other.
"The greatest ill in the creation
"Is sure the want of education.

"But think ye—tell me without feigning,
"Have all these charms no farther meaning?
"Dame Nature, if you do n't forget her,
"Might teach your Ladyship much better.
"For shame! reject this mean employment;
"Enter the world and taste enjoyment,
"Where time by circling bliss we measure;
"Beauty was form'd alone for pleasure:
"Come, prove the blessing; follow me:
"Be wise, be happy, and be free."

"Kind Sir!" reply'd our matron chaste,
"Your zeal seems pretty much in haste.
"I own the fondness to be blest
"Is a deep thirst in ev'ry breast;
"Of blessings too I have my store,
"Yet quarrel not should Heav'n give more;
"Then prove the change to be expedient,
"And think me Sir your most obedient."

Here turning as to one inferiour
Our gallant spoke, and smil'd superiour.
"Methinks to quit your boasted station
"Requires a world of hesitation:
"Where brats and bonds are held a blessing
"The case I doubt is past redressing.
"Why Child! suppose the joys I mention
"Were the mere fruits of my invention,
"You 'ave cause sufficient for your carriage
"In flying from the curse of marriage,
"That sly decoy with vary'd snares
"That takes your widgeon in by pairs,
"Alike to husband and to wife
"The cure of love and bane of life,
"The only method of forecasting
"To make misfortune firm and lasting,
"The sin by Heav'n's peculiar sentence
"Unpardon'd thro' a life's repentance:
"It is the double snake that weds
"A common tail to diff'rent heads,
"That leads the carcass still astray
"By dragging each a diff'rent way.
"Of all the ills that may attend me
"From marriage mighty Gods! defend me.

"Give me frank Nature's wild demesne,
"And boundless track of air serene,
"Where fancy ever wing'd for change
"Delights to sport, delights to range;
"There Liberty! to thee is owing
"Whate'er of bliss is worth bestowing;
"Delights still vary'd and divine
"Sweet goddess of the Hills! are thine.

"What say you now, you pretty pink you!
"Have I for once spoke reason think you?
"You take me now for no romancer—
"Come, never study for an answer:
"Away, cast ev'ry care behind ye,
"And fly where joy alone shall find ye."

"Soft yet," return'd our female fencer,
"A question more or so—and then Sir.
"You 'ave raily'd me with sense exceeding,
"With much fine wit and better breeding,
"But pray Sir, how do you contrive it?
"Do those of your world never wive it?"
"No no." "How then?" "Why, dare I tell;
"What does the bus'ness full as well."
"Do you ne'er love?" "An hour at leisure."
"Have you no friendships?" "Yes, for pleasure."
"No care for little ones?" "We get 'em;
"The rest the mothers mind, and let 'em;"

"Thou Wretch! rejoin'd the kindling Dove,
"Quite lost to life as lost to love,
"Whene'er misfortune comes how just!
"And come misfortune surely must:
"In the dread season of dismay,
"In that your hour of trial, say
"Who then shall prop your sinking heart,
"Who bear affliction's weightier part?

"Say, when the blackbrow'd welkin bends,
"And winter's gloomy form impends,
"To mourning turns all transient cheer,
"And blasts the melancholy year,
"For times at no persuasion stay,
"Nor vice can find perpetual May,
"Then where 's that tongue by folly fed,
"That soul of pertness whither fled?
"All shrunk within thy lonely nest,
"Forlorn, abandon'd, and unblest,
"No friend by cordial bonds ally'd
"Shall seek thy cold unsocial side,
"No chirping prattlers to delight
"Shall turn the long-enduring night,
"No bride her words of balm impart,
"And warm thee at her constant heart.

"Freedom restrain'd by reason's force
"Is as the sun's unvarying course,
"Benignly active, sweetly bright,
"Affording warmth, affording light,
"But torn from virtue's sacred rules
"Becomes a comet gaz'd by fools,
"Foreboding cares, and storms, and strife,
"And fraught with all the plagues of life.

"Thou Fool! by union ev'ry creature
"Subsists thro' universal Nature,
"And this to beings void of mind
"Is wedlock of a meaner kind.

"While womb'd in space primeval clay
"A yet unfashion'd embryo lay,
"The Source of endless good above
"Shot down his spark of kindling love;
"Touch'd by the allenliv'ning flame
"Then motion first exulting came,
"Each atom sought its sep'rate class
"Thro' many a fair enamour'd mass;
"Love cast the central charm around,
"And with eternal nuptials bound:
"Then form and order o'er the sky
"First train'd their bridal pomp on high,
"The sun display'd his orb to sight
"And burnt with hymeneal light.

"Hence Nature's virgin-womb conceiv'd,
"And with the genial burden heav'd;
"Forth came the oak, her firstborn heir,
"And seal'd the breathing steep of air;
"Then infant stems of various use
"Imbib'd her soft maternal juice;
"The flow'rs in early bloom disclos'd
"Upon her fragrant breast repos'd;
"Within her warm embraces grew
"A race of endless form and hue;
"Then pour'd her lesser offspring round,
"And fondly cloth'd their parent ground.

"Nor here alone the virtue reign'd
"By matter's cumb'ring form detain'd,
"But thence subliming and refin'd
"Aspir'd, and reach'd its kindred Mind;
"Caught in the fond celestial fire
"The mind perceiv'd unknown desire,
"And now with kind effusion flow'd,
"And now with cordial ardours glow'd,
"Beheld the sympathetick fair,
"And lov'd its own resemblance there,
"On all with circling radiance shone,
"But centring fix'd on one alone,
"There clasp'd the heav'n-appointed wife,
"And doubled ev'ry joy of life.

"Here ever blessing ever blest
"Resides this beauty of the breast,
"As from his palace here the god
"Still beams effulgent bliss abroad,
"Here gems his own eternal round,
"The ring by which the world is bound,
"Here bids his seat of empire grow,
"And builds his little heav'n below.

"The bridal partners thus ally'd,
"And thus in sweet accordance ty'd,
"One body, heart, and spirit, live,
"Enrich'd by ev'ry joy they give,
"Like Echo from her vocal hold
"Return'd in musick twenty fold;
"Their union firm and undecay'd
"Nor time can shake nor pow'r invade,
"But as the stem and scion stand
"Ingrasted by a skilful hand,
"They check the tempest's wintry rage,
"And bloom and strengthen into age;
"A thousand amities unknown,
"And pow'rs perceiv'd by love alone,
"Endearing looks and chaste desire
"Fan and support the mutual fire,
"Whose flame perpetual as refin'd
"Is fed by an immortal mind.

"Nor yet the nuptial sanction ends,
"Like Nile it opens and descends,
"Which by apparent windings led
"We trace to its celestial head.
"The sire fiist springing from above
"Becomes the source of life and love,
"And gives his filial heir to flow
"In fondness down on sons below:
"Thus roll'd in one continu'd tide
"To time's extremest verge they glide,
"While kindred streams on either hand
"Branch forth in blessings o'er the land.

"Thee Wretch! no lisping babe shall name,
"No late-returning brother claim,
"No kinsman on thy road rejoice,
"No sister greet thy ent'ring voice,
"With partial eyes no parents see,
"And bless their years restor'd in thee.

"In age rejected or declin'd,
"An alien ev'n among thy kind,
"The partner of thy scorn'd embrace
"Shall play the wanton in thy face,
"Each spark unplume thy little pride,
"All friendship fly thy faithless side,
"Thy name shall like thy carcass rot,
"In sickness spurn'd, in death forgot.

"Allgiving Pow'r! great Source of life!
"O hear the parent! hear the wife!
"That life thou lendest from above
"Tho' little make it large in love;
"O bid my feeling heart expand
"To ev'ry claim on ev'ry hand!
"To those from whom my days I drew,
"To these in whom those days renew,
"To all my kin, however wide,
"In cordial warmth as blood ally'd,
"To friends with steely fetters twin'd,
"And to the cruel not unkind!

"But chief the lord of my desire,
"My life, myself, my soul, my sire,
"Friends, children, all that wish can claim,
"Chaste passion clasp and rapture name,
"O spare him, spare him, gracious Pow'r!
"O give him to my latest hour!
"Let me my length of life employ
"To give my sole enjoyment joy!
"His love let mutual love excite,
"Turn all my cares to his delight,
"And ev'ry needless blessing spare
"Wherein my darling wants a share!

"When he with graceful action wooes,
"And sweetly bills and fondly cooes,
"Ah! deck me to his eyes alone
"With charms attractive as his own,
"And in my circling wings carest
"Give all the lover to my breast;
"Then in our chaste connubial bed,
"My bosom pillow'd for his head,
"His eyes with blissful slumbers close,
"And watch with me my lord's repose,
"Your peace around his temples twine,
"And love him with a love like mine!

"And for I know his gen'rous flame
"Beyond whate'er my sex can claim,
"Me too to your protection take,
"And spare me for my husband's sake.
"Let one unrustled calm delight
"The loving and belov'd unite,
"One pure desire our bosoms warm,
"One will direct, one wish inform,
"Thro' life one mutual aid sustain,
"In death one peaceful grave contain."

While swelling with the darling theme
Her accents pour'd an endless stream,
The wellknown wings a sound impart
That reach'd her ear and touch'd her heart;
Quick dropt the musick of her tongue,
And forth with eager joy she sprung;
As swift her ent'ring consort flew,
And plum'd and kindled at the view;
Their wings their souls embracing meet,
Their hearts with answ'ring measure beat,
Half lost in sacred sweets, and bless'd
With raptures felt but ne'er express'd.

Straight to her humble roof she led
The partner of her spotless bed;
Her young, a flutt'ring pair, arise,
Their welcome sparkling in their eyes;
Transported to their sire they bound,
And hang with speechless action round:
In pleasure wrapt the parents stand,
And see their little wings expand;
The sire his life-sustaining prize
To each expecting bill applies,
There fondly pours the wheaten spoil,
With transport giv'n tho' won with toil,
While all collected at the sight,
And silent thro' supreme delight,
The fair high heav'n of bliss beguiles,
And on her lord and infants smiles.

The Sparrow, whose attention hung
Upon the Dove's enchanting tongue,
Of all his little sleights disarm'd,
And from himself by virtue charm'd,
When now he saw what only seem'd
A fact so late a fable deem'd,
His soul to envy he resign'd,
His hours of folly to the wind,
In secret wish'd a Turtle too,
And sighing to himself withdrew.