THE
ART of ARCHITECTURE,
In Imitation of HORACE'S Art of POETRY.
Should you, my LORD, a wretched Picture view;
Which some unskilful Copying-_Painter_ drew,
Without Design, Intolerably bad,
Would you not smile, and think the Man was mad?
Just so a tasteless Structure; where each Part
Is void of _Order_, _Symmetry_, or _Art_:
Alike offends, when we the Mimick Place;
Compare with _Beauty_, _Harmony_, or _Grace_.
PAINTERS, and ARCHITECTS are not confin'd
By _Pedant-Rules_ to circumscribe the Mind:
But give a Loose, their Genius to improve;
And 'midst the pleasing Fields of _Science_ rove.
But then the Laws of _Nature_; and of Sense,
Forbid us with Contraries to dispense:
To _paint_ a Snake, engend'ring with a Dove;
Or _build_ a Prison 'midst a shady Grove.
At setting out, some promise mighty Things,
_Temples_ they form, and _Palaces_ for Kings;
With a few _Ornaments_ profusely drest,
They shine through all the _Dulness_ of the rest.
At some long _Vista's_ End, the Structure stands;
The Spot a Summit, and a View commands:
The wide-extended Plain appears below,
And Streams, which through the verdant Meadows flow.
Here _Towns_, and _Spires_, and _Hills_ o'er Hills extend;
There _shady Groves_, and _Lawns_, the Prospect end.
Through lavish _Ornaments_, the Fabrick shines
With wild Festoons of Fruits, and clust'ring Vines:
Luxuriant Decorations fill each Space, }
And vast Incumbrances, void of _Rules_ or _Grace_; }
Without Coherence, crowded in each Place. }
Should you require a little rising Pile,
The Parts appropriate to the fertile Soil:
Where _Neatness_, _Order_, and _Proportion_ join;
Where _Strength_, and _Art_, and _Nature_ should combine:
The mimick _Architect_ perhaps would be }
As much to seek in his Design; as HE }
Whose only Talent was, to paint a _Tree_. }
With such gay Structures, why do they begin
Such _Glare_ of Ornament to usher in?
Why such external needless Dress and Show?
The End impropriate, and the Meaning low.
Form to each _Clime_, each _Place_, a _Modus_ still;
But use the same Proportions at your Will.
Change, modify your Form: Transpose, divide;
The same unerring Rules the _Science_ guide.
Most ARCHITECTS in something do offend,
When led by, aim'd-at-Excellence; to mend--
By striving to be plain, they sometimes fall,
So _Mean_, so _Dull_, so _Tasteless_: they spoil all.
Others affect _Magnificence_ alone;
And rise in large enormous Heaps of Stone;
Swell the huge _Dome_, and _Turrets_ bid to rise,
And Towers on Towers; attract the Gazer's Eyes.
Some dare not leave the old, the beaten Way,
To search new Methods, or in Science stray:
Others with wild Varieties engage,
And build a Seat to face the _Ocean's_ Rage;
Carve _Fruit_ and _Flowers_, to face the raging Floods,
Festoons of Shells, or Fish, for shady Woods.
Thus willful Erring, join'd with Want of Skill,
Is the most certain Way of Erring still.
The meanest Workman, may attempt to place
A little Dress to decorate a Space;
May put an Ornament about a Door,
Or decorate a Window, and no more:
But then to _finish_, is beyond his Skill,
And we suppose the rest, exceeding ill.
And 'tis ridiculous for one good Part,
Where what remains are Scandal to the Art;
Where only one is luckily adorn'd,
And all the rest remarkably deform'd.
Let _Architects_ attempt their Skill to show
In _small_ Designs at first; in what they know.
Then as they find their Genius rise, to try
How much their Structures they can magnify.
Shew how _Convenience_, _Beauty_, _Symmetry_,
How _Method_, _Art_, and _Nature_ will agree.
Rules well appropriate will ever please,
And proper Dress, is plac'd with greatest Ease.
First study _Nature_, where, and how to fill
The various Voids, and ornament with Skill.
Chuse the _just_ Emblems for the Pile and Spot;
The Dress of _Temples_ suit not with a _Grot_.
The _Palace_, and the _Villa_ differ wide,
For both, a proper Ornament provide,
Perhaps in _this_, you must Profuseness spare;
When _that_; requires you to be lavish there.
If from the usual Taste your Building springs
Magnificently great, a Seat for Kings,
Let your exalted Fancy, tho' 'tis new,
Keep the great Arts of _Greece_ and _Rome_ in View;
From thence your Fabrick form, your Genius flow,
Thence bid the _Ravish'd Gazer's_ Bosom glow.
Can an impartial Critick justly blame
A Fault in JONES, (or FL-T-FT, is the same;)
And yet approve in HAWKSMOOR, or in J----s,
The same wild Error, or the same Extremes?
Why should the few, the Rules which I impart,
Be construed ill, be Scandal to the Art?
When GIBBS, so copious, so enrich'd has been,
No Part's obscure, but all are useful seen.
Men always had, and ever will, Pretence,
At least with Method, to improve our Sense:
And the last Laws, however just or true,
Must give the Palm to such which are more new.
One Year, a Train of Images arise,
The next a gayer, newer Form supplies.
One Scene improv'd, must to another yield,
And all resign to FATE, and quit the Field.
The fam'd St. HELLEN's, and the fam'd TORBAY,
Where GEORGE's GLORIOUS FLEETS, in _Safety_ lay.
The _Bank_, the _Meuse_, the _Treasury_ will fall,
One common Ruin overwhelming all:
Nay this great CITY may be lost in Flames,
And what are _Villa_'s, may be desart _Plains_.
The _Bleating Flocks_, on ruin'd _Fabricks_ stray,
And what were _Temples_, now in _Ashes_ lay:
The _Groves_ arise where _Gilded Turrets_ shone,
And what are _Gardens_ now, were Heaps of _Stone_.
Yet THOSE, and THEY, will in Oblivion lye,
And all, in future Times, forgot, and die.
Why then should _Artists_ challenge future Praise,
When Time devours their Works so many Ways?
But Use has rais'd the _Greek_ and _Roman_ Rules,
And banish'd GOTHICK Practice from the Schools.
Use is the Judge, the Law, the Rule of Things,
Whence ARTS arose, and whence the SCIENCE springs.
At ATHENS first the rising Art began;
CECROPS, the King, first modell'd out the Plan.
The studious Youth; pursued with ardent Care
The Infant Rules, unpolish'd as they were,
Till banish'd D;DALUS Protection sought,
_There_ well receiv'd, the stricter Rules he taught;
Their _Arts_, their _Sciences_, were learn'd in Schools,
And all their _Precepts_ were confin'd to Rules.
The swelling _Tree_, as it unpolish'd grew
Undecorated, _Native_ Graces shew;
From thence the COLUMN, in its purer Dress,
The Work of _Nature_, must the Form confess:
The _wreath'd_, the _fluted_, or th' _encumb'ring_ Vine,
With plenteous _Branches_ round the Pillar twine;
Yet still its pure Simplicity you see;
The Shaft of _Art_, resembles still a _Tree_.
But how to appropriate, to embellish still
Justly, the Space to decorate and fill,
To give proportion'd Beauty to each Part,
To make the whole subservient to the Art:
The Inborn-Traces of the Mind pursue,
For Nature teaches how to find the Clue.
The _silent Groves_ a little Pile must grace;
Nor yet too grave, or lavish for the Place.
We find the middle Path, the Way to please,
And decorate the Parts with greater Ease.
But when the Opening to some distant Scene,
Where _Lawns_, and _liv'ning Prospects_ intervene;
Where _Vista's_ or delightful _Gardens_ charm;
Where _verdant Beauties_ all our Senses warm:
Let _Flow'rs_ and _Fruit_ in seeming Wildness grow;
And there let lavish _Nature_ seem to flow.
_There_ let the Parts, the Gazer's Eye surprize;
And with the _Glebe_ the _Structure_ HARMONIZE.
Where _Severn_, _Trent_, or _Thames's_ ouzy _Side_,
Pours the smooth Current of their easy Tide:
Each will require a Sameness to the Spot,
For this a _Cell_, a _Cascade_, or a _Grott_.
The _Moss_, or _gliding Streams_ productive Store,
To grace the _Building_ on the _verdant Shore_:
There the rough _Tuscan_, or the _Rustick_ fix,
Or _Pebbles_, _Shells_, or calcin'd _Matter_ mix.
The _frozen Isicle's_ resembled Form,
Or _Sea-green Weed_, your GROTTO must adorn.
Near some _lone Wood_, the _gay Pavilion_ place;
Let the CORINTHIAN MODE the Structure grace:
Carve here _Festoons_ of lovely Flowers and Fruit:
And with the Spot, let the _Enrichments_ suit.
On some Ascent, the plainer Fabrick view;
The Dress IONICK, and the SCULPTURES few.
Few are the Ornaments, but plain and neat,
The _least_ REDUNDANT are the _most_ COMPLEAT.
GIBBS may be said, most Times in Dress to please,
And few can decorate with greater Ease:
But JONES more justly knew the Eye to charm,
To please the Judgment, and the Fancy warm;
To give a Greatness to the _opening Glade_,
Or pleasing Softness to the _solemn Shade_;
To suit the _Valley_, or the rising _Hill_,
Or grace the _Flow'ry Mead_, or _Silver Rill_.
In _H--k--r; V--b--'s_ very Soul you trace,
The same _unmeaning_ Dress, in every Place;
The same _wild Heap_ of inconsistent Things:
From whence the PRISON, or the Palace springs;
A _Tuscan Portal_ for a _Palace Gate_,
And a _Corinthian Column_ in a LAKE.
For disproportion'd Columns _R--l--s_ see,
Where neither _Art_, or _Rules_, or Form agree;
Absurdly bad, and grown a publick Jest:
By far too HIGH--too HEAVY all the rest.
Would you the Sister-Arts improve in Schools?
In _Sculpture_ follow RYSBRACK's chosen Rules;
In _Portrait_ seek for AMICONI's Force:
_Humour_ in HOGARTH: WOOTEN for a _Horse_:
In _Landscape_, LAMBERT; or in _Crayons_, see
The Charms of _Colours_ flowing from GOUPEE.
In _Eloquence_, you see young MURRAY shine;
In _Musick_, HANDEL's Graces are divine.
If to adapt your Fabrick, you would choose
To suit the _Builder_'s Genius, or his Use:
Consider well his _Station_, _Birth_, or _Parts_,
And make for each the _Quintessence_ of Arts.
Here to the MUSE, a proper Part assign,
To BACCHUS there, direct the _golden Vine_;
To VENUS, fix a little _silent Cell_,
Where all the LOVES and GRACES choose to dwell:
Where the young _Wantons_, revel, sport, and play;
And _frisk_ and _frolick_ tedious Time away.
The PRISON's Entrance, _massy Chains_ declare,
The loss of Freedom, to the Wretched there.
Thus every Spot assumes a various Face;
And _Decoration_ varies with the Place.
The TUSCAN or the DORIAN Modus here;
Th' IONICK, or CORINTHIAN Modus there.
The _Temples_, _Baths_, or solemn _sacred Urn_,
Requires Attention, and our Skill in turn.
The _weeping Statue_ to the HERO lend;
True to his _Country_, _Family_, or _Friend_:
So place the Figure, that as you draw near,
You join his Grief, and drop a silent Tear.
So _fine_, so _just_, the _Attitude_ is made,
The faithful _Marble_ bids you mourn his Shade.
If you advent'rous, try your utmost Skill
To tread unbeaten Paths, be _Lofty_ still;
Keep up the _Strength_, the _Dignity_, and _Force_
Of _stated Rules_; let those direct your Course.
New Methods are not easy understood;
And few will step in an untrodden Road.
'Tis better to pursue the Rule that's known,
Than trust to an Invention of your own.
But then, be sure your Choice direct you right;
Vary, but keep the Original in sight:
The Orders just proportion; strict observe,
The Variation; various Uses serve.
Perhaps the Waste, which every Pile endures,
May make the Copy, justly pass for yours.
You need not slavish Imitators be,
Exact in Copy; but your Fancy free:
THIS Ornament omit, or THERE express
The changing Modus, by a different Dress.
_R----y_, in _Rustick_ heavy Buildings still,
Attempts in vain to please, or shew his Skill;
How far he strays from the pure _Roman_ Stile,
And labours on in DULNESS all the while!
With _M--s, F--ft, G---s, L--i, W--e_,
Let ADMIRALTY, or CUSTOM-HOUSE compare.
You'll see the wretched Structure's sinking State,
Blam'd to Futurity, their certain Fate.
He with a Glare of Gaiety extends
The lengthen'd PILE, and still with DULNESS ends:
But THOSE without your Expectation rise;
And dazzle the Beholder with Surprize.
Nothing is vain, or ill-expos'd to sight;
No Part too _heavy_, nor no Dress too _light_.
So certain are the Methods they have fix'd,
So just proportion'd, and so aptly mix'd,
That all seem Graceful, Uniform, and Neat;
Each Part is _perfect_, and the _Whole_ compleat.
CRITICKS, attend the Rules which I impart;
They are at least; _instructive_ to the Art:
Mark how _Convenience_, _Strength_, and _Beauty_ join:
With these let _Harmony of Parts_ combine.
Appropriate well the _Structure_ to the Place;
And give each Part a _Symmetry_ and _Grace_.
Make RULES your Guide, your Fancy to controul;
And make _each_ Part subservient to the Whole.
But choice of Place must be the BUILDER's Care,
For various _Climates_, various _Modes_ prepare.
To some a _pleasing Vale_; (the Poet's Song)
Where _silver Streams_ in Eddies glide along;
A little rising Hill, with Woods o'ergrown,
And at the Foot, a verdant Carpet thrown:
Where the soft _vernal Bloom_ beneath is spread;
Where the tall _Poplar_ hangs its _drooping Head_.
Where, on the Bank, the _Flowers_ and _Oziers_ green,
Shade the smooth _Current_ as it runs between;
The _fertile Meads_, enamell'd all around,
And the _rich Glebe_ with _yellow Harvest_ crown'd.
Others in long-extended Views delight,
Where _gilded_ Objects catch the Gazer's Sight.
Where the _wide Plain_, or _lawny Prospect_ lye,
In mingled Sweets, to chear the _ravish'd Eye_.
Where the VALE, winding round the _rising Hill_;
The LILLY drinks beneath; the latent RILL.
The _Lawns_, the _silver Streams_, the _opening Glade_,
The distant _solemn Grove's_ collected Shade:
Charms of the _verdant_, or the _flow'ry_ Plain;
The rising _Mountain_, or the distant _Main_.----
Where _rugged Rocks_, in wild Disorder rise;
Where _unprolifick Nature_, naked lies;
Where the vast _craggy Summit_ seems to shew,
A _falling Precipice_ to those below:
Expos'd to scorching Heats, or piercing Wind,
May more delight another's changing Mind;
Or the rude _Billows_ of tempestuous Seas,
Another's Eye, perhaps, may chance to please:
View on the Summit of a foaming Wave,
The unhappy _Sailor_ try's himself to save;
The floating Wreck, the Vessel's shatter'd Side,
Dash'd on the Shore, by the resistless Tide:
The foaming _Surge_ the Shore repells again;
And beats alternate, back upon the Main:
View the abandon'd, helpless Wretch's State;
Sinking, bemoans his LAST unhappy Fate.
All these the ARCHITECT must study well;
From the proud _Palace_ to the humble _Cell_.
The barren _Mountain_, and the rural _Shade_;
The mingled gay Profusion, Nature made,
To fit and tally, Art requires his Skill, }
From the _moist Meadow_; to the _brown-brow'd Hill_, }
The silent _shady Grove_, or _silver Rill_. }
To give a Grandeur to the _Opening Lawn_;
And pleasing Softness, to the _solemn Dawn_;
To join the _vivid_, with the _vernal_ Bloom;
Where scarce a Sun Beam wanders thro' the Gloom.
This is the Art's Perfection well to know;
To charm the Sense, and bid the Bosom glow:
Teach us to imitate the ANCIENTS well;
And where the _Moderns_ we should still _excell_.
Make the _Pavilion_ proper for the Spot,
Or the _gay Temple_, or the _graver Grot_.
Adorn your _Villa_ with the nicest Art,
And let your Dress, be just in every Part;
Appropriate well, the Ornaments you choose;
But not alone for Gaiety; but Use.
In a warm Climate where the _Tyber_ flows;
Where in the Soil, the obdurate _Marble_ grows,
There on the Spot, make choice of what you will,
But HERE to use it, would be want of Skill:
And 'tis an equal Fault of those alone;
Who vainly imitate a _Portland-Stone_,
The dryer Climates, cherish _Stucco_ there,
But Rains, and colder Snows, destroy it here.
Avoid, as much as in you lyes, to place,
_Festoons_, or looser Ornament for Grace:
Few let the _Carvings_ be; for outside Dress:
A Boldness rather should your Thoughts express,
Redundancy, and Neatness will be lost:
And but to finish HIGH; is needless Cost.
But then, regard to Distance must be had:
If near the Eye, the Fault would be as bad.
S----D, in Spite of Reason and of Sense,
With all those Faults, and Follies will dispense;
_Carv'd Fronts_, and STUCCO decorated still,
Without Regard to place, the Fabrick fill:
'Tis meant perhaps some _Fracture_ to conceal,
Though frequent so; the more it does reveal:
Such are the Reasons, should our Practice sway,
And where the strongest plead, we should obey,
The _most_ demonstrative, the _safest_ are;
And what are not, we should avoid with Care:
As you'd fly SCYLLA, or CHARYBDIS shun,
Or Tricks of SCAPIN, HARLEQUIN, or LUN.
_Convenience_ first, then _Beauty_ is a Part,
And _Strength_ must be Assistant to the Art.
A _little_ Seat, a Neatness will require:
A PALACE claims a more majestick Fire,
_That_ made for Decency; for Grandeur _this_,
And even Profuseness, may be not amiss.
_Here_ a long vista'd Chain of Rooms of State,
To entertain the Attendants on the Great,
The glittering Dress, to _catch_ the Gazer's Sight,
At once to give Surprise; and to delight.
The GREEKS to three, confined the stated Rules,
And only _those_, were known in public Schools;
Till Rome the _Tuscan_, and _Composite_ join'd,
To enrich the Art, and to improve Mankind,
From these alone, all _Modes_, all ORDERS spring
To build a _Cell_, or _Palace_ for a KING.
First the grave DORICK Mode; for Use was form'd,
When in its Infant-State, and unadorn'd:
'Twas Entertainment for the _sager_ Few,
And pleas'd the Times, till something started new:
Then the gay, _Lydian Mode_; in Order rose,
And Art to Art, they wantonly oppose:
For Men grew fickle by Prosperity,
Study'd new Arts, and Ease and Luxury.
At length the rich CORINTHIAN's gayer Dress
The Artist's Decorations, well express.
The GOTHS first introduc'd the frantick Way
Of forming Apes, or _Monsters_, wild as they
Because the Tumult, fond of Tricks and Apes,
Lov'd such Variety, and antick Shapes.
But K----T has no Excuse, to copy these,
Unless he has; NO other Way to please.
The _Modern_ Artists, all their Genius show
In a _Venetian-Window_, or a Bow.
The _Cell_, the _Temple_, _Palace_, _Villa_, all }
Must have a Window, they _Venetian_ call, }
Or Bow; to grace a _Grotto_, or a _Hall_. }
A _little_ Structure; built for Use alone,
Requires no Dress, nor Ornament of Stone:
The _Plainest_, _Neatest_, Method is the best:
One simple Modus, governs all the rest.
The _Villa_ next with Ornament you blend;
The _gay_ and _pleasing_ through the whole extend;
The TEMPLE, or the GAYER-PALACE will,
In Decoration, try your utmost Skill.
Learn of PALLADIO, how to deck a Space;
Of JONES you'll learn Magnificence, and Grace:
CAMPBELL will teach, the Beauty they impart;
And GIBBS, the Rules and Modus of the Art:
Keep still these Rules, and Methods, in your Sight;
Read them by Day, and meditate by Night.
But V--B--H was admir'd, in _Anna_'s Days,
And even his _Blenheim_, would excite some Praise.
And H--S--R travell'd in the same _dull_ Road,
And trod the Footsteps, which his _Master_ trod:
But BOYLE and PEMBROKE, have the Art restor'd;
And _distant_ Ages will their Fame record.
See the old GOTHS, in K----'s Designs survive;
And Modern FOOLS, to imitate his strive:
Renouncing all the _Rules_ the ROMANS had,
Are past reclaiming, obstinately mad.
Drunken N--C-A, with a Front direct,
Or stupid B----S, makes such an Architect;
Unhappy I!----But _Fortune_ stept between:
And proper _Physick_ cur'd me of the Spleen.
And now I'm satisfy'd to keep my Sense:
Make RULES my Guide, to plead in my Defence:
Give to the _Roman Sciences_ their Due:
And _write_, to whet that Appetite, in you.
Tell what the Duty of a BUILDER is,
Point out what's _Right_ in Practice; what's amiss.
Shew _where_, and _how_ to decorate with Skill,
What _Ornaments_ are just, and what are ill.
Shew how the _Judgment_, should conduct the Art,
And where _Judiciousness_, directs the Part;
Where proper _Situation_ claims our Care;
Where RULES should guide; and where most _useful_ are.
The ARCHITECT, all Ranks of Men should know,
And when, and where, to bid his Genius flow
To swell the _Rules_, for MAJESTY, and State,
To equal all the Grandeur of the Great;
To serve the Use of SENATORS, or KINGS,
And be the Source, from whence all _Science_ springs.
Sometimes in _old_ Designs, you _Grandeur_ view,
And even in _Negligence_, find something new.
But modern Youth are taught to _sing_, and _dance_,
And learn the FOLLIES, and the _Modes_ of _France_;
Neglecting _Method_, _Order_, _Time_, or _Sense_,
With all their JARGON, and their _Modes_ dispense.
They make the _Dorick_, and _Corinthian_ mix;
And with th' _Ionian_, the _Composite_ fix.
The _Grave_ and _Gay_, in one long Range extend;
And with the _Solemn_, the _Profusive_ blend.
Can Structures, built by such a _Builder_, live?
Will _A--f--y_, think you; _C--p--n_ survive?
Will _O--k--y_, _B----s_, and some whom I could name?
Whose Works already; DAMN them into Fame.
Will they, or _not_, all Rules, all Modes deface.
Invert all ORDER, and the Art _disgrace_?
Will _B--f--w_; _M--d--n_; FOOLS by Nature made
Will they encrease, or will they ruin Trade?
'Tis you, MY LORD, who know your Judgment's Height,
Your Precepts, and Instructions, are of Weight;
Clear, and succinct, the _lower Class_ to teach,
And oft, above the _towring_ Artists Reach;
Where the gay Ornament you please to place,
And where it gives a _Majesty_ and Grace.
These are the _Rules_, will live in _future_ Days,
The Youth's Director, and the _Poet's Lays_,
'Tis these will shine when in Oblivion lay'd:
The GOTHS forgotten, and the MODERNS dead.
The skillful Archer, may his Aim mistake;
And the best Hand in Musick, Jarring make:
So that, the Frailty of our Nature will,
Excuse as Accident, nor construe ill.
But if the Impertinent, their _Faults_ are told,
And _still_ persist; and _still_, their Follies hold:
Let them _abandon'd_, _senseless_, _stupid_ be,
And, past reclaiming, still be DULL for me.
In some great Structures, _Lowness_ is exprest;
And SLEEP even sometimes, HOMER lull'd to Rest;
_Building_, like _Painting_, proper Point of Sight,
Requires to view it, in its clearest Light;
And some tho' aim'd at _Grandeur_; or at Ease,
Even please but _once_, and some will EVER please.
But yet, _my Lord_, this _one_ important Truth,
This Law of _Science_, which we teach our Youth,
Even THIS, no Mediocrity admit,
_Rules_, _Nature_, _Reason_, all must jointly fit:
A _Painter_ may RAPHAEL's Judgment want,
And yet, we some Abilities will grant:
He may, perhaps, a skillful Painter be,
Tho' not so great, yet great in some Degree.
In BUILDING, there's no _Laws_ of human Kind,
Admit a _Medium_; to the Artist's Mind,
_All_ must be perfect, or 'tis understood,
Excessive _Ill_,--or else sublimely _Good_.
In Things where Reason, seems but to subside,
Men learn to stem, the Torrent of the _Tide_;
They _dance_, or _fence_, or vainly wish to _fly_,
But if they fail, contented cease to try.
But all in BUILDING, universal run,
Undoing others, and themselves undone.
Oh B----LE! or S--N--PE, P--M-KE; any Name,
That ARTS, or VIRTUE; raises into Fame,
Be to my _Muse_ a Friend; assist my Cause;
Be Friend to _Science_, fix'd on _Nature_'s Laws.
On that alone, on _Nature_'s perfect Plan,
I form my SYSTEM, as I FIRST began.
By YOU inspir'd, I boldly lay the Line,
And ev'n am vain to call the Subject mine.
So ORPHEUS, once by more than human Sway,
Tam'd _savage Beasts_, or Men as wild as they;
And when AMPHION, built the THEBAN WALL,
The Stones, by Magick Power, obey'd his Call.
So _Ancient_, even in EGYPT's pristine State,
Recorded ARCHITECTURE, has its Date.
Since thus, my Lord; what GODS and KINGS inspire,
_What_ bids my Bosom glow with _arduous_ Fire;
This _Noble Art_, disdain not to protect;
If not the Art, at least the ARCHITECT.
If _Art_, or _Nature_, form'd me what I am;
If one or both, assisted in the Plan,
It is beyond, my utmost Power to say:
Whether I _Art_, or _Nature_'s Laws obey.
Without each other, we in vain should strive;
To BUILD, or keep the SCIENCES alive;
_Each_ mutually assist, and _each_ will need,
The other's Help, as NATURE has decreed.
He that intends an _Architect_ to be,
Must seriously deliberate, like me;
Must see the _Situation_, _Mode_ and _Form_,
Of every _Structure_, which they would adorn:
All Parts _External_, and _Internal_, view;
Before they aim to raise, a something new.
Ask _G----s_, or _F--tc--t_, to correct your Plan,
They'll freely, where you err, instruct the Man,
In what's amiss, with Judgment, and with Care,
Where needful _add_; and where profusive; _spare_.
But if you selfish; foolishly defend;
Your glaring Faults, and will not strive to mend,
To his own Folly----leave the Wretch alone,
And without Rival, let him BLUNDER on.
Those Things which seem of little Consequence,
And slight and trivial; know; you some time hence,
When you are made ridiculous; will find,
They are important, and instruct the Mind:
If in a _Building Fit_, a FRANTIC Man:
Should _wildly_ scheme, a bad, or monstrous Plan,
Not minding _where_, or _how_, or _what_, to lay,
For a Foundation, or his _Workmen_ pay:
If he should find, a Prison for his Pains,
(Misfortune justly suited to his Brains)
No one would _pity_, or _condole_ his Fate,
But think he merited, the _Bedlam-State_.
EMPEDOCLES, with Madness sought the Flame,
And thought by that; to gain immortal _Fame_.
Let ARCHITECTS, and BUILDERS, _mad_ as they,
In Folly; run, and make themselves away;
Why should it be a _Sin_, such Men to kill,
More than to keep alive, against their Will?
It was not _Chance_, but _Choice_, the Poet made,
To seek _Divinity_, in LETHE's Shade;
For if he was, from PLUTO's _Sable Plain_,
Return'd to _Earth_,----He'd ;TNA seek again.
'Tis hard to say, whether the _Gloomy Clime_,
Or _Murder_, _Incest_, or some heinous Crime,
Sends _Building-Fiends_, into the _Madding World_,
Govern'd by _Frenzy_; by Confusion _hurl'd_,
Seize all they meet; and----like the baited BEAR,
Without Distinction, _Range_, and _Rend_, and _Tear_:
No one escapes them: from Lord O--R--D: down,
To _B----s_, and every errant Fool in Town:
They _build_, or teach; are leading, or are led;
And never cease, till they're in Jail, or dead.
_FINIS._