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HYMN to Miss LAURENCE, in the PUMP-ROOM.
BATH, 1753.
1 NAIAD of this healthful stream,
2 Fair LAURENTIA, if I deem
3 Rightly of thy office here,
4 If the theme may please thine ear,
5 Listen gracious to my lays,
6 While the springs of HEALTH I praise:
7 Nor will less thy glory shine,
8 If their praise I blend with thine.
9 For of their renown of old
10 Stories many FAME hath told:
11 Ancient bards their name have sung
12 Heroes, kings, and gods among,
13 And with various titles grac'd,
14 While their fountain-head they trac'd.
15 Whethera
a BLADUD.] See Mr. Selden's notes on the third song of Drayton's POLYOLBION, where, in an ancient fragment of rhimes, are enumerated all the ingredients which BLADUD imploy'd in making the baths.
BLADUD, king of yore,16 Skill'd in philosophic lore,
17 Mingling various kinds of earth,
18 Metallic, gave the waters birth,
[Page 205]19 KING'S-BATH nam'd, beneath thy feet
20 Boiling ay with mineral heat:
21 Or, whether from his car on high
22 Phoebus saw with amorous eye
23 The fountain-nymph, with humid train,
24 Light of foot, trip o'er the plain;
25 Strait the god, inflam'd with love,
26 Swift descending from above,
27 All in fervors bright array'd
28 Press'd her bosom; and the maid
29 Gladly to his warm embrace
30 Yielded: whence the happy place,
31 Where the nymph he woo'd and won,
32 Was call'd theb
b WATERS OF THE SUN.] Aquae solis. Bath. Sol in hâc urbe templum habuit, et nomen quod exhibet Antoninus, loco dedit. Antonini Iter XIV. publish'd by Gale.
WATERS OF THE SUN.33 FAME that title widely spred;
34 Yet, ere Roman legions fled
35 The wrath of sturdy British knights,
36 Pallas claim'd religious rights;
37 Britishc
c PALLADOUR.] Pallas etiam, teste Solino, fontibus hisce fuit praesul, suamque habuit aedem, ubi et perpetuos ignes. Ab eâ, appellabatur Britannis, Caer PALLADOUR: Urbs aquae Palladiae. Ibid.
PALLADOUR then rose,38 From the goddess nam'd, who chose
39 Near the favourite streams to dwell,
40 Guardian of the sacred well.
41 But long sinced
d HYGEIA.] The goddess of health.
HYGEIA fair42 Under her peculiar care
43 Receiv'd the springs; for well she knows
44 Each salubrious rill that flows
45 Forth from subterranean vaults,
46 Stor'd by NATURE'S hand with salts,
47 Steel, or sulphur: for her use
48 NATURE opens every sluice,
49 Which HYGEIA gives in charge
50 To sev'ral nymphs: herself at large
51 Roams o'er hill, and dale, and plain,
52 Lacky'd by a duteous train;
53 Oreads, Naiads, Dryads pay
54 Service glad: some smooth her way,
55 Or mists disperse, or brush the trees;
56 Others waft the morning-breeze
57 From mountain-tops: adown the hills
58 Others pour refreshing rills,
59 Or bathe her limbs in fountain neat,
60 Aiding, all, her influence sweet.
61 SHE with smiling eye surveys
62 Rustic labours, and conveys
63 STRENGTH to the active thresher's arm,
64 To village-maidens BEAUTY'S charm.
65 Happy are the sons of earth
66 Whom the goddess at their birth
[Page 207]67 Shin'd on. Yet, her heavenly ray
68 Numbers, not respecting, stray
69 From her presence, and pursue
70 LUXURY'S paths, whose sordid crew,
71 LUST inordinate, and SLOTH,
72 And GLUTTONY'S unwieldy growth,
73 Lead them on to SHAME, and PAIN,
74 And MALADIES, an endless train.
75 Oft with pangs distracting torn
76 They HYGEIA'S absence mourn;
77 Bitter change! their languid eyes
78 Feel not joy in sunny skies;
79 Nor doth NIGHT, with slumber blest,
80 Close them at the hour of rest.
81 And oft with sighs, and tears, and pray'r
82 Half-suppress'd by sad despair,
83 They the queen of health implore
84 Her wish'd presence to restore.
85 Nor unmindful of their woes
86 Is the goddess; for me chose
87 Thee, LAURENTIA, loveliest maid
88 Among thy sister nymphs, who play'd
89 On the banks ofe
e AVON.] The river which runs by Bath.
Avon, Thee,90 Bright-ey'd nymph, she chose to be
91 Her substitute, and pow'r she gave
92 Sov'reign o'er the healing wave
[Page 208]93 Which thou rul'st with gentle sway.
94 Thee the smoaking tides obey
95 Joyous; and at thy command
96 Wash thyf
f Rosy-finger'd.] The effects of the hot water.
rosy-finger'd hand;97 Thence in crystal cups convey'd
98 Yield their salutary aid
99 To all, whom Thou with look benign
100 Smil'st on round HYGEIA'S shrine;
101 All of appetite deprav'd,
102 Those whom pale-ey'd SPLEEN enslav'd,
103 Cripples bent with gouty pain,
104 Whom JAUNDICE ting'd with muddy stain,
105 Or whose frame of nerves, with stroke
106 Benumming, tremulous PALSY broke.
107 These the balmy, cordial stream
108 Quaff, rejoicing; Thee, their theme
109 Of praise, extol; thy tender care,
110 Thy soft address, and courteous air:
111 And whileg
g HARMONY.] The music in the pump-room,
HARMONY, the friend112 Of HEALTH, delights to recommend
113 Thy ministry, thy charms inspire
114 Love and joy, and gay desire:
115 For the goddess, when she gave
116 Rule imperial o'er the wave,
117 To adorn the gift, and grace thy state,
118 On Thee bade YOUTH and BEAUTY wait.
119 Nor dost thou not taste delight
120 Where thou sit'st in duteous plight;
121 For the joy, thy hand bestows,
122 Back to thee redounding flows,
123 When the cheek of faded hue,
124 Thou seest displaying roses new.
125 Thee suspendedg
g Crutches.] Over Bladud's image in the king's bath hang many crutches,
crutches please,126 Signal trophies from DISEASE
127 Won to HEALTH victorious. Hail,
128 Comfort, and support of frail
129 Human state! Hail, blooming maid!
130 Nymph belov'd! without thy aid,
131 He, who, greeting thee, his lays
132 Now attunes to notes of praise,
133 Mute had been, oppress'd with pain
134 Of spasm rheumatic. Hail again,
135 Priestess of HYGEIA'S shrine!
136 Still dispense her gift divine,
137 Still her vot'ries lead to HEALTH;
138 Else, what profits Marlborough's wealth,
139 h
h
Eliza's form, and Stanhope's wit,Eliza.] Lady Betty Spencer.
〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
LUCIAN.
140 And all the eloquence of Pitt?
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About this text
Author: William Hall
Themes:
mythology; health
Genres:
hymn
References:
DMI 27718
Text view / Document view
Source edition
Dodsley, Robert, 1703-1764. A Collection of Poems in Six Volumes. By Several Hands. Vol. V. London: printed by J. Hughs, for R. and J. Dodsley, 1763 [1st ed. 1758], pp. 204-209. 6v.: music; 8⁰. (ESTC T131163; OTA K104099.005) (Page images digitized by the Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive from a copy in the archive's library.)
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The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.