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ODE.

I.
1 DAughter of Memory, Immortal Muse,
2 Calliope; what Poet wilt thou chuse
3 Of ANNA's Name to Sing?
4 To whom wilt thou thy Fire impart,
5 Thy Lyre, thy Voice, and tuneful Art;
6 Whom raise Sublime on thy Aetherial Wing,
7 And Consecrate with Dews of thy Castalian Spring?
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II.
8 Without thy Aid, the most aspiring Mind
9 Must flag beneath, to narrow Flights confin'd,
10 Striving to rise in vain:
11 Nor e'er can hope with equal Lays
12 To celebrate bright Virtue's Praise.
13 Thy Aid obtain'd, even I, the humblest Swain,
14 May climb Pierian Heights, and quit the lowly Plain.
III.
15 High in the Starry Orb is hung,
16 And next Alcides Guardian Arm,
17 That
† Orpheus was said to be the Son of the Muse Calliope. The Poetical Fiction of the Harp of Orpheus is this. Mercury, the same Day that he was born of Maja in Cyllene, a Mountain of Arcadia, found a living Tortoise, which he carried home with him to his Cradle, and immediately compos'd a Harp of the Shell. A little after he stole the Oxen of Apollo; this caus'd some Difference between the Deities, but the Matter being referr'd to Jupiter, he order'd Mercury to return the Oxen to the right Owner; on this there follow'd not only a Reconciliation but Friendship, and Apollo expressing an extream Pleasure at the Invention of the Harp, Mercury bestow'd it on him as a Pledge of his future Friendship. Of this Homer, in his Hymn to Mercury, speaks at large. Afterwards Apollo inventing another Instrument call'd the Cithera, gave the Lyra to Orpheus. The Muses, after the Death of Orpheus, Translated his Harp into Heav'n, where it became a Constellation, and is plac'd between the Knee and Left Arm of Engonasis or Hercules.
Harp to which thy Orpheus Sung,
18 Who Woods, and Rocks, and Winds cou'd Charm.
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19 That Harp which on Cyllenes shady Hill,
20 When first the Vocal Shell was found,
21 With more than Mortal Skill
22 Inventer Hermes taught to sound.
23 Hermes on bright Latona's Son,
24 By sweet Persuasion won,
25 The wond'rous Work bestow'd;
26 Latona's Son, to thine
27 Indulgent, gave the Gift Divine:
28 A God the Gift, a God th' Invention show'd.
I.
29 To that high-sounding Lyre I tune my Strains;
30 A lower Note his Lofty Song disdains
31 Who Sings of ANNA's Name.
32 The Lyre is struck! the Sounds I hear!
33 O Muse, propitious to my Pray'r!
34 O well known Sounds! O Melody, the same
35 That kindled Mantuan Fire, and rais'd Maeonian Flame!
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II.
36 Nor are these Sounds to British Bards unknown,
37 Or sparingly reveal'd to one alone:
38 Witness sweet Spencer's Lays
39 And witness that Immortal Song,
40 As Spencer sweet, as Milton strong,
41 Which humble Boyn o'er Tiber's Flood cou'd raise,
42 And mighty William Sing, with well-proportion'd Praise.
III.
43 Rise, Fair Augusta, lift thy Head,
44 With Golden Tow'rs thy Front adorn;
45 Come forth, as comes from Tithon's Bed
46 With chearful Ray the ruddy Morn.
47 Thy lovely Form, and fresh reviving State,
48 In Crystal Flood of Thames survey;
49 Then bless thy better Fate,
50 Bless ANNA's most Auspicious Sway.
51 While distant Realms and neighb'ring Lands,
52 Arm'd Troops and hostile Bands
53 On ev'ry Side molest,
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54 Thy happier Clime is Free,
55 Fair CAPITAL of Liberty!
56 And Plenty knows, and Days of Halcyon Rest.
I.
57 As Britain's Isle, when old vex'd Ocean roars,
58 Unshaken sees against her Silver Shoars
59 His foaming Billows beat;
60 So Britain's QUEEN, amidst the Jars
61 And Tumults of a World in Wars,
62 Fix'd on the Base of Her well-founded State,
63 Serene and safe looks down, nor feels the Shocks of Fate.
II.
64 But Greatest Souls, tho' blest with sweet Repose,
65 Are soonest touch'd with Sense of others Woes.
66 Thus ANNA's mighty Mind,
67 To Mercy and soft Pity prone,
68 And mov'd with Sorrows not her own,
69 Has all her Peace and downy Rest resign'd,
70 To wake for Common Good, and succour Human-kind.
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III.
71 Fly, Tyranny, no more be known
72 Within Europa's blissful Bound;
73 Far as th' unhabitable Zone
74 Fly ev'ry hospitable Ground.
75 To horrid
† Nova Zembla, a miserable Region in the Frigid Zone, where there is neither Tree nor Herb, but perpetual Frost and Snow, and where, for one half of the Year, it is continual Night.
Zembla's Frozen Realms repair;
76 There with the baleful Beldam, NIGHT,
77 Unpeopl'd Empire share,
78 And rob those Lands of Legal Right.
79 For now is come the promis'd Hour,
80 When Justice shall have Pow'r;
81 Justice to Earth restor'd!
82 Again Astrea Reigns!
83 ANNA Her equal Scale maintains,
84 And MARLBRÔ wields Her sure deciding Sword.
I.
85 Now could'st thou soar, my Muse, to Sing the MAN
86 In Heights sublime, as when the Mantuan Swan
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87 Her tow'ring Pinions spred;
88 Thou should'st of MARLBRÔ Sing, whose Hand
89 Unerring from his QUEEN's Command,
90 Far as the
† Lucan in his Third Book, V. 202. gives it the indefinite Epithete of Multifidi Istri. But Ovid, Trist. 2. Solus ad ingressus missus Septemplicis Istri. And Sidonius Apollinaris gives it the same Epithete, on the like Occasion with this Ode, when in his Panegyrick to Majorianus Caesar, he tells him,
Illicet aggrederis, quod nullus tempore nostro
Augustus potuit, rigidum Septemplicis Istri
Agmen in arma rapis —
The Ancient Geographers differ'd very much in their Account of the Rise of this River; so that on a double account the same Epithets may be appropriated to it as are usual to the Nile.
Seven-mouth'd Ister's secret Head,
91 To save th' Imperial State, Her hardy Britons led.
II.
92 Nor there thy Song should end; tho' all the Nine
93 Might well their Harps and Heav'nly Voices join
94 To Sing that Glorious Day,
95 When Bold Bavaria fled the Field,
96 And Veteran Gauls unus'd to yield,
97 On Blenheim's Plain imploring Mercy lay;
98 And Spoils and Trophies won, perplex'd the Victors way.
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III.
99 But cou'd thy Voice of Blenheim Sing,
100 And with Success that Song pursue;
101 What Art cou'd Aid thy weary Wing
102 To keep the Victor still in view?
103 For as the Sun ne'er stops his radiant Flight,
104 Nor Sets, but with impartial Ray
105 To all who want his Light
106 Alternately transfers the Day:
107 So in the Glorious Round of Fame,
108 Great MARLBRÔ, still the same,
109 Incessant runs his Course;
110 To Climes remote, and near,
111 His Conq'ring Arms by turns appear,
112 And Universal is his Aid and Force.
I.
113 Attempt not to proceed, unwary Muse,
114 For O! what Notes, what Numbers could'st thou chuse,
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115 Tho' in all Numbers skill'd;
116 To Sing the Hero's matchless Deed,
117 Which
† Belgia need not only be strictly understood of the Seven Provinces, call'd Belgium Foederatum, by the Distinction made in the Time of Phil. 2. but may also be interpreted with respect to that which was anciently call'd Belgium, comprehending the lower Germany, in regard of the great Consequences attending such a Victory.
Belgia Sav'd, and Brabant Free'd;
118 To Sing Ramillia's Day! to which must yield
119
* Cannae, as inconsiderable a Village as Blenheim, 'till in like manner made Memorable and Illustrious by the great and intire Victory which Hannibal obtain'd there over the Romans.
Cannae's Illustrious Fight, and Fam'd
Pharsalia, famous for the Overthrow of Pompey by Julius Caesar; a wonderful Victory, but may justly be said to yield to that of Ramillies: For the Design and End of the first was to enslave Mankind, the manifest Aim and Event of the latter has been to set 'em at Liberty.
Pharsalia's Field.
II.
120 In the short Course of a Diurnal Sun,
121 Behold the Work of many Ages done!
122 What Verse such Worth can Raise?
123 Lustre and Life, the Poet's Art
124 To middle Vertue may impart;
125 But Deeds sublime, exalted high like These,
126 Transcend his utmost Flight; and mock his distant Praise.
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III.
127 Still wou'd the willing Muse aspire,
128 With Transport still her Strains prolong;
129 But Fear unstrings the trembling Lyre,
130 And Admiration stops her Song.
131 Go on, Great Chief, in ANNA's Cause proceed;
132 Nor sheath the Terrors of thy Sword,
133 'Till Europe thou hast freed,
134 And Universal Peace restor'd.
135 This mighty Work when thou shalt End,
136 Equal Rewards attend,
137 Of Value far above
138 Thy Trophies and thy Spoils;
139 Rewards even Worthy of thy Toils,
140 Thy QUEEN's just Favour, and thy COUNTRY's Love
FINIS.

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Title (in Source Edition): ODE.
Author: William Congreve
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Genres: ode

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Congreve, William, 1670-1729. A pindarique ode, humbly offer'd to the Queen, on the victorious progress of Her Majesty's arms, under the conduct of the Duke of Marlborough. To which is prefix'd, a discourse on the pindarique ode. By Mr. Congreve. London: printed for Jacob Tonson, 1706, pp. 1-10. [6],10p. ; 2⁰. (ESTC T42300; OTA K041393.000)

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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.