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THE EMPIRE Sav'd, AND EUROPE Deliver'd.
1 UP, Rouze your selves, ye Nations, praise the Lord,
2 Sing, ye deliver'd Nations, to your God,
3 A lofty Song of Thankfulness and Praise;
4 For his Almighty Arm o'erthrew the Proud,
5 His be the Triumph, as the Conquest his.
6 And thou, O God, rais'd High above all Gods,
7 Thou God of great Revenge, true God of War,
8 Who when the injur'd World to thee appeal'd,
[Page 2]9 Descending bow'd the very Heav'n of Heav'ns,
10 And with Ten Thousand Terrors arm'd cam'st down
11 On Bleinheim's dreadful Day, t'avenge the wrong'd,
12 Upon their mighty and their proud Oppressor:
13 Thou gav'st the Victory, do thou inspire the Praise,
14 If thou in Sacred Harmony delight'st;
15 Or if thou lov'st to pass eternal Day
16 Pleas'd with the Songs of the triumphing Just,
17 O animate my Breast, inspire my Voice,
18 Invigorate my Mind, inflame my Song;
19 No wretehed, low, untun'd, prosaick Song,
20 But lofty, spirited, inspir'd, divine,
21 That the admiring World may know 'tis thine.
22 From none but thee the lofty Thought could spring.
23 From none but thee th' immortal Spirit flow,
24 Transporting, equal to the deathless Theme;
25 O may it last whole Ages, last as long,
26 As the Remembrance of the mighty Day,
27 Which now it Celebrates in sounding Verse;
28 That it be ne'er by Human Wrongs opprest,
[Page 3]29 Or be by Ancientness of Days defac'd:
30 That when our late Posterity shall read,
31 Our late Posterity with melting Eyes,
32 With ravish'd Hearts, and with astonish'd Souls,
33 May prostrate all adore thy wond'rous Pow'r,
34 Thy Divine Mercy to their blest Forefathers;
35 And that it may advance, whene're 'tis read,
36 Thy Glory, and Victorious England's Fame.
37 Such Moses and exulting Israel sang,
38 (Theirs was the Sound, the Inspiration thine)
39 When the Red Sea, the Chariots and the Horse
40 Of haughty wretched Pharoah overturn'd,
41 Such the glad Prophetess Triumphant Sang,
42 Her Head inviron'd with her Native Palm,
43 When rising Kishon with victorious Floud
44 The proud Oppressor Jabins Arms o'erwhelm'd,
45 As Hoary Danube, with indignant Waves,
46 Swallow'd the Gallick and Bavarian Hosts,
47 And at thy Word, O God, reveng'd his slaughter'd Sons.
48 Begin my Soul, and strike the Living Lyre,
49 O raise thy self, O rouze thy utmost Pow'rs.
50 Contemn the World, and ev'ry thing below,
51 And soaring Tow'r above Mortality,
52 To meet and welcome thy descending God.
53 'Tis done! O Raptures never felt before!
54 Tempestuous Whirlwind of Transporting Flame!
55 O whither am I caught! O whither rapt,
56 To what immense unutterable Streights?
57 Begin my Soul, and strike the Living Lyre!
58 Joyn ye deliver'd Nations in the Song!
59 Your Voices ye deliver'd Nations joyn!
60 All your Harmoneous Instruments unite,
61 But ye peculiarly, ye chosen Tribes,
62 Professors of Reform'd and Spotless Faith!
63 Let for one happy Hour the Church below
64 Triumph like that above, and ye blest Beings,
65 Ye Hosts of Saints, ye glorious Hosts of Martyrs,
66 Who now in the exulting Realms of Light
[Page 5]67 Sing your old Triumphs o'er the Griezly King
68 Of Terrors in the noble Cause of Truth;
69 Ye Harmonious Hosts of Angels, who your Hours,
70 Your blissful Hours in tuneful Shouts of Joy,
71 And in eternal Hallelujahs pass,
72 Triumphing for old Conquests which ye gain'd,
73 Over th' Infernal Tyrants dreadful Host,
74 And still the Fall of dire Ambition sing
75 In lofty Song with which all Heaven is charm'd;
76 Let your bright Quires incline their list'ning Ears,
77 And for one Hour rehearse our numerous Song;
78 The Sacred Subject is the same with yours,
79 How is Ambition faln, like you we sing;
80 We sing the Wonders of our Maker's Pow'r,
81 His Glory, and the Triumphs of the Just.
82 Now let thy tuneful Joy, my Soul, grow loud,
83 So loud, that all the list'ning World may hear,
84 And let th' attending Universe reply,
85 Let Earth and Heav'n rehearse the lofty Song,
86 While the bright Church Triumphant in the Sky,
[Page 6]87 And the blest Church Triumphing here below,
88 Joyn in one Chorus of Immortal Praise.
89 And thou, Great Queen, the Glory of thy Sex,
90 The Prop and Glory of the Noble Isle;
91 On whom ev'n William looks admiring down,
92 And owns thee a Successor worthy him;
93 On whom the gazing World looks wond'ring up,
94 And its Deliverance waits from Heav'n and thee,
95 Whose matchless Piety and watchful Care,
96 Shews all the wond'ring World that thou art sent
97 From the bright Church Triumphant in the Sky
98 To make the warring Church Triumph below;
99 Vouchsafe to Patronize this Sacred Song,
100 Great Championess of Liberty and Faith,
101 Great Patroness of all the Christian World!
102 Lo first for thee, and thy auspicious Reign,
103 Th' exulting Nation's Praise to Heav'n return!
104 Is there a Climate so remote on Earth
105 Where distress'd Virtue is beyond the Reach
106 Of thy extensive Charity? Thy Aid
[Page 7]107 Thro' all his rapid Course old Danube owns,
108 And proudly curling his Imperial Waves
109 To distant barbarous Armies transports thy Fame;
110 Thy wond'rous Virtue to his gladsome Shores,
111 Transported Tagus wafts o'er Golden Sand;
112 (A Thousand Ecchoes from his Shores reply)
113 Thy Praise his Nymphs in tuneful Notes rehearse,
114 The Darling Theme of Lusitanian Song.
115 Thy Fame, Great Queen, the horrid Alps ascends,
116 And warms them, cover'd with eternal Snow;
117 Their Natives amidst wintry Horrors plac'd,
118 Warmly thy Goodness and thy Pow'r extol;
119 Those dreadful Fortresses by Nature made
120 The Bounds of dire Ambition, were too weak,
121 Before thy generous Aid new Strength supply'd.
122 Since then the Christian World repairs to thee
123 For Patronage and Shelter from their Foes,
124 Since Right and Truth from thee Protection find
125 Since purest Faith, the Darling Child of Heav'n,
126 And every thing that's Sacred flies to thee
[Page 8]127 For Shelter under thy auspicious Pow'r,
128 Vouchsafe, Great Queen, to grace this sacred Song
129 With thy Majestick Pratronage, this Song
130 Begun at thy Command so strictly giv'n,
131 To celebrate with Pomp of Holy Praise
132 The Memory of Bleinheim's glorious Day,
133 A Song compos'd expresly to advance
134 The Glory of thy Maker in thy Fame.
135 Now let thy tuneful Joy, my Soul, grow loud,
136 So loud that all the list'ning World may hear;
137 And let th' attending Universe reply,
138 Let Earth and Heav'n rehearse the lofty Song,
139 While the bright Church Triumphant in the Sky,
140 And the blest Church Triumphing here below,
141 Joyn in one Chorus of Immortal Praise.
142 Ye Nations raise your Tuneful Notes on High,
143 And raising to the Stars your mighty Arms,
144 Your Arms now mighty, now secur'd from Bonds
[Page 9]145 O lift above the Stars your joyful Praise,
146 To him from whom alone Deliverance flows.
147 But be thy Voice distinguish'd from the rest,
148 Thou stately Daughter of Imperial Rome,
149 Germania! Thou! Canst thou confine thy Joy?
150 Canst thou the Transports of thy Praise restrain?
151 O no! Thou surely wilt grow wild with Joy!
152 For thou hast past at once beyond all Hope,
153 To blissful Rapture from extream Despair;
154 Thou art deliver'd from a World of Woe.
155 Now nought but stormy Shouts of Joy are heard
156 From Rhaetian Mountains to the Northern Main,
157 Where lately nought but doleful Sighs were heard,
158 And piercing Groans, and Shrieks, and rueful Wails;
159 Thou stately Daughter of Imperial Rome
160 Wert bound, alas, with most opprobrious Bonds,
161 And basely threaten'd with impending Rape.
162 Thy trembling Offspring helpless round thee ran,
163 And some shriek'd piously aloud for Aid,
164 While others wrung their wretched Arms in vain;
[Page 10]165 Some frighted into Madness wildly star'd,
166 And some look'd on with stupid Eyes aghast,
167 Some swooning, dying, with their Grief exprest
168 By their last Groans their vast Excess of Woe.
169 One desperate Villain help'd thy raging Foes,
170 With execrable Hands his Mother bound,
171 And for her impious Ravishers prepar'd.
172 Thou Danube wert confounded at the Sight,
173 And troubled, backward to thy Fountain turn'dst;
174 Then lifting thy sonorous Voice on High,
175 Call'dst to thy Brother Rhine aloud for Aid.
176 Thy Brother Rhine soon heard thy sounding Voice,
177 But sadly shaking his Majestick Head,
178 And casting a compassionating Look,
179 Strait hid himself within his thickest Ooze.
180 What couldst thou do? But shrink thy inglorious Head
181 Within thy Reeds, and breath forth empty Threats,
182 The windy Births of melancholy Rage.
183 When in the dreary Horrors of the Dark,
[Page 11]184 As oft as Night return'd t' imbrown thy Waves,
185 Thou like a Bittern through thy doleful Reeds
186 Complaind'st in sullen and in moody Groans,
187 Expressing Manly Sorrow mixt with Rage;
188 While thy brown Billows sounding on thy Shore,
189 And swinging slow with hoarse and sullen Roar,
190 Kept murmuring Consort to thy threatning Moan.
191 Thou Danube to the Euxin durst not run,
192 To which insulting thou wert wont to fly,
193 Not to discharge the Tribute of thy Waves,
194 But carry Terrors to th' astonish'd Main,
195 And make the Crescent wear a deadlier Pale.
196 Now swiftly Danube to the Euxin fly,
197 And in thy rapid Flight thy Maker praise:
198 Sound, sound his Praise at all thy extended Mouths,
199 And let th' attending Euxin with a Groan,
200 That may to Constantine's proud Tow'rs resound,
201 Reflect how Heav'n confounds persidious Men.
202 Then turning to the distant Rhine thy Voice,
203 Raise it that all th' astonish'd Rhine may hear:
204 And lifting up thy Arms, now free from Bonds,
[Page 12]205 Lifting aloft thy now Victorious Arms;
206 Let him with Rapture see, with Rapture hear,
207 The Effects of Bleinheim's Field: He hears, he hears,
208 And rouzing up himself with generous Rage,
209 Prepares to shake off his ignoble Bonds,
210 And reap the Fruit of Bleinheim's glorious Day.
211 Germania, Raise thy tuneful Voice to Heaven;
212 Let thy fierce Eagle towring to the Skies,
213 In Thunder bear thy Maker's Praise to Heav'n,
214 Who has for thee perform'd amazing things,
215 Which but to hope had been Presumption thought,
216 And what had look'd like Wildness ev'n to wish.
217 Th' unconquer'd English from the Northern Main
218 March to thy Aid, O vast Surprize of Joy!
219 Heark! How thy ravish'd Offspring shout for Joy!
220 Heark! How they fiercely cry Revenge, Revenge,
221 O welcome, welcome to our longing Souls,
222 For whose dear Sake a thousand times we'll die.
223 See, see thy Sons in firm Battalions stand,
224 Dejected now, desponding now no more;
[Page 13]225 See great Revenge inflame their Martial Eyes,
226 And round their Temples spread its warlike Die?
227 But whence this Spirit? Whence this wond'rous Change?
228 The unconquer'd English from the Northern Main
229 March to thy Aid; O vast Surprise of Joy!
230 They whom thy wond'ring Eyes ne'er saw before,
231 Nor them, nor their Forefathers since the Time
232 Thy rugged Saxons left their horrid Clime,
233 For Britain's gentle Shore, at last are come,
234 Are unexpected and unhop'd for come;
235 See to their ancient wretched Mother's Aid
236 The Pious Nation march impetuous on.
237 Germania raise thy tuneful Voice to Heav'n,
238 And praise return to Heav'n, and gracious Ann,
239 Who sends them to thy Aid; she Day and Night
240 Breaks her own Rest to give the World Repose,
241 To give it Liberty and lasting Peace.
242 For only Gracious Ann can under Heav'n
243 Give Freedom to the World, and lasting Peace;
244 For only she o'er willing Nations reigns,
245 O'er free-born Souls, whose Glory, and whose Pride
[Page 14]246 Is to infranchize all the Christian World.
247 And she can give the lab'ring Nations Peace.
248 For as the Dove that from the Deluge fled
249 Brought her mild Olive to the shelt'ring Ark,
250 Fram'd by great Heav'ns Command to save Mankind,
251 And found Protection there; so gentle Peace,
252 Now Slaughter deluges the Nations round,
253 To Anna's sacred Breast for Shelter flies,
254 And finds sure Refuge there, and will from thence
255 Send its blest Influence out to glad the World.
256 But the French Tyrant's Breast had never Peace,
257 There endless Strife, there dire Ambition reigns,
258 He what he never had can ne'er bestow.
259 Peace without Freedom is an empty Name,
260 But he calls miserable Bondage Peace,
261 As Plunder, Murder, Rape he Empire calls.
262 Germania, Praise return to Heav'n and Ann,
263 'Tis Heav'n and she that from the Northern Main
264 Have sent the noblest Nation to thy Aid,
265 Which the wide Ocean from the World divides;
[Page 15]266 A Nation round the which wise Nature casts
267 The stormy Main subjected to her Sway,
268 That no usurping Tyrant might invade
269 The sacred Refuge of fair Liberty,
270 And the World's Champion People might annoy,
271 For wheresoever faithless Gallia sends
272 Her Grim Destroyers, there Britannia sends
273 Her glad Deliverers to preserve Mankind;
274 A Nation which the lovely Fame enjoys
275 Still to have fought for Liberty, for Truth,
276 For all the injur'd Nations common Rights,
277 Which speaks to dire Ambition in the Tone,
278 The thund'ring Tone that Heav'n reproves the Main,
279 Here know thy Bounds, here stop thy aspiring Waves.)
280 Her's are the shining Squadrons that descend
281 Aiong thy Shore in terrible Array,
282 Their Forms not wholly like, nor yet unlike thy Sons,
283 Resembling just as far as Brethren should,
284 As they who from the same brave Sires descend.
[Page 16]285 How thou art ravish'd with their lofty Meens,
286 The Joy that in their Looks severely shines,
287 And all the dreadful Spirit in their Eyes
288 Dauntless, unparalell'd, invincible,
289 Secure of Victory, secure of Fame!
290 Such Spirit never did thy Eyes behold;
291 No, never, thy Heroick Eugene cries,
292 Such mighty Eugene never saw before;
293 No, wond'rous Prince, thou such couldst never see,
294 Tho' thou hast long Triumphant Armies led,
295 Tho' thou hast conquer'd Foes of every kind,
296 Humbling the Pride of the perfidious East,
297 And the more faithless Tyrant of the West;
298 Tho' thou hast been victorious in more Lands
299 Than wand'ring Travellers have seen, yet thou
300 Couldst ne'er before this Hour such Spirit see,
301 Because thou ne'er before this Hour beheldst
302 An Army from a free-born People chose:
303 For only Briton's of the Race of Men
304 Their Liberties entirely have maintain'd,
305 Nobly maintain'd against the joint Assaults
[Page 17]306 Of Homebred Treason, and external Rage,
307 The Pride of Foreign Tyrants, and their own.
308 Know 'tis from Liberty, thou wond'rous Man,
309 Master of daring Councils yet of wise,
310 From Godlike Liberty this noble Fire,
311 This dauntless, this immortal Spirit flows.
312 Germania, raise thy tuneful Voice on high,
313 This is the Nation preordain'd by Fate
314 To save thee Daughter of Imperial Rome,
315 Just sinking in the vast Abyss of Time,
316 Like thy great Mother under barb'rous Rage.
317 Hear this, y' aspiring Rulers of the Earth,
318 Ye who for empty Noise or transient Pow'r
319 Oppress the weak, and undermine the strong,
320 Ye Plagues of God to scourge a guilty World
321 By vain Pursuits of Arbitrary Sway!
322 Who this magnanimous People would destroy,
323 That stands between your proud Designs and you;
324 Hear this, and think that nothing's lasting here,
325 Empires like Men insensibly decay,
[Page 18]326 Think that the time must come when you or yours
327 Must tast the sad Vicissitudes of Fate,
328 And in your Turns by proud Oppression groan;
329 Then hate so brave a People, if you can.
330 A People the sure Hope of the distress'd,
331 The brave Defenders of the Rights of Kings,
332 And the just Guardians of fair Liberty,
333 Europe's immortal Body of Reserve
334 Against the Squadrons of Tyrannick Pow'r.
335 Oh Austria, Austria, had thy Philip known
336 That time e'en then was harnessing the Years,
337 When this brave People, Object of his Rage
338 And of his Hate, should prove thy noblest Friends'
339 Should rescue both thy bright Imperial Crowns,
340 Deliver Germany, recover Spain.
341 Raise up thy drooping Eagle from the Dust,
342 And fix new Thunder on his soaring Wings;
343 Then deep Reflection on the just Returns
344 Of Fate had dash'd his proud aspiring Thoughts.
345 The chief Ambition of his Soul had been
[Page 19]346 To be allied to such a generous Race.
347 He great Eliza would have courted then
348 For Friendship, as Maria for Desire,
349 That strict inviolable League which joins
350 Our Int'rests now, e'en then had been begun.
351 And Philip then like Leopold or Charles
352 With great Britannia's awful Queen had joyn'd
353 To establish Right and Peace, and from the Proud
354 And strong Oppressor vindicate Mankind.
355 Ye Nations, who profess the Christian Faith,
356 Together raise your tuneful Notes on High,
357 So High that all the list'ning World may hear
358 And let th' attending Universe reply,
359 Let Earth and Heav'n repeat the lofty Song,
360 While the bright Church Triumphant in the Sky,
361 And the blest Church Triumphing here below,
362 Joyn in one Chorus of Immortal Praise.
363 But let the Sound of thy aspiring Song,
364 Britannia, be distinguish'd from them all,
365 As among all thy Offspring Anna's fam'd
366 For pious Praise and Gratitude to Heav'n;
367 So o'er thy Sister Nations be thy Song
368 Renown'd, for Heaven and Nature have bestow'd
369 On thee, the Talent of exalted Song.
370 Britannia, Thou canst sing such lofty Strains,
371 As Heav'n and Nature may rejoice to hear;
372 And Heav'n superlatively honours thee;
373 And o'er thy Sister Nations lifts thy Name;
374 Thee they all bless, and thee they all admire,
375 Among them like the Morning Star thou shin'st;
376 But to Oppressors like the Fiery‖
‖ (Mars)
Star,377 Or like a Comet that with sanguine Blaze
378 Denounces War and Revolutions dire,
379 To purple Tyrants a portentous Light.
380 Such new unheard of Fame thou hast acquir'd,
381 As never old, nor modern Nations knew,
382 Grecians indeed, and Romans, Persians, Medes,
[Page 21]383 And modern Spaniards too, and modern Gauls
384 Have conquering fought for universal Sway;
385 For universal Freedom only thou,
386 By so much more illustrious than them all,
387 As 'tis more truly glorious to redeem
388 Than 'tis to damn the wretched Race of Men.
389 Then stretch thy lofty Voice to Heav'n, and sing
390 Thy Maker's Praise, that Earth and Heav'n may hear.
391 By him thou freed'st the World at Bleinheim's Field;
392 'Twas he supplied thee with the Godlike Will,
393 His Terrors and his Thunders arm'd thy Pow'rs;
394 He thy Great Queen with sovereign Wisdom blest,
395 Instructing her to choose the glorious Chief,
396 Deserving to command her daring Troops,
397 Embattel'd for the Freedom of the World.
398 A general Worthy of Heroick Times,
399 For Marlborough now fills the Breath of Fame.
400 Like Grecian, or the Godlike Roman Names,
401 But who shall paint thee wond'rous Chief, in whom
402 Repugnant Qualities are reconciled;
403 Secret thy Soul as is the dead of Night,
404 Yet chearful as the Smile of opening Day,
405 That lofty, awful, and commanding Brow
406 With sweet atractive Majesty invites.
407 Calm are his Thoughts in his profound Designs,
408 Yet swift tho' sure his executing Might,
409 His Breast supply'd with all the glorious Fire
410 That burns with inextinguishable Flame
411 In the aspiring Minds of those brave Men,
412 Who by great Actions court eternal Fame.
413 Yet he by a transcendent Force of Mind,
414 Entirely Master of that tow'ring Fire,
415 Which, like his Slave, he absolutely sways
416 With a Controuling and a Lordly Pow'r.
417 Calm are his Gestures, his Majestick Brow
418 Compos'd, ne'er dark with Grief, nor rough with Rage,
[Page 23]419 But always mild, attractive, bright, serene.
420 In whom deep Foresight dwells unknown to fear,
421 And Intrepidity unknown to Rage.
422 The Love of Fame that urges him away
423 T' immortal Actions still severely curb'd,
424 Always obedient to cool Wisdom's Voice,
425 And guided like the Chariot of the Sun,
426 Whose animating Fires preserve the World
427 Far, far above the Tempests stormy Rage.
428 Wisely he manages the Nerves of War,
429 Yet a Contemner of the vastest Sums
430 When Glory and the general Cause require,
431 Tho new to the Command on Danube's Shore
432 His Essay an Heroick Master-piece,
433 Whose Brightness dazles all Spectators Eyes,
434 Astonishes our Friends, confounds our Foes.
435 Stupendous the Design in ev'ry Part
436 Whether the vast Conception we regard,
437 Or the surprizing Secresy with which
438 'Twas long conceal'd from penetrating Eyes,
[Page 24]439 Or the amazing Swiftness of his March
440 When from the Maese his wond'ring Troops he led.
441 Or the judicious Boldness of his Choice
442 When he began with dreadful Schellenbourgh,
443 Which Conquest open'd the Bavarian Plains,
444 And made them to victorious Flames a Prey.
445 That their perfidious Chief impatient grown
446 Under his Country's irritating Spoil
447 Might force the backward French t'engage as soon
448 As Marlborough the bright Occasion found.
449 How great is he who in his ample Thought
450 Could comprehend and afterwards prepare
451 By the illustrious Toils of two Campagns,
452 (In which a large Extent of Ground he gain'd
453 A strengthning Barrier for the cautious Dutch)
454 Th' astonishing Design, which all at once,
455 Like Magick changes all the Face of War;
456 Confounds the Gallick Tyrants proud Designs,
457 Dashes him headlong from his tow'ring Thoughts
458 The Mountains heap'd on Mountains in his Head,
[Page 25]459 From which his proud Imagination thought
460 To drive our Reason, God's Vicegerent here,
461 And rule the Earth with Hells dispotick Sway.
462 He like a hoary Wizard close immur'd
463 In his enchanted Castle sat retir'd,
464 And there unseen he mutter'd secret Sounds,
465 And there Infernal Characters he drew
466 That muster'd up black Clouds t'obscure the Day,
467 And scare the Nations with their dreadful Gloom,
468 And then the Tempest rag'd, the Thunder roar'd,
469 Threatning the World with universal Wreck.
470 At length the time ordain'd by Fate is come,
471 The Conq'ring Hero's come who breaks the Charm,
472 And now the old Enchanter looks aghast,
473 Forlorn, forsaken by th' Infernal Pow'rs,
474 And trembling at th' impending Wrath of Heav'n
475 But of the Talents of thy mighty Mind
476 Immortal Marlbro' what we most admire
[Page 26]477 Is that Rapidity by which to Fame
478 Thro' all the Bars that Art or Nature cast,
479 Thro' hardest Rocks thou hew'st thy wond'rous Way,
480 Daring yet wise thy Conduct, and resolv'd
481 With all the Judgment of discerning Thought,
482 For the great Juncture call'd for all thy Speed.
483 Th' insulting French were overturning all,
484 And Liberty in dire Convulsions lay;
485 The Empire foundring like a vast Galloon
486 That's by the Tempest beat on ev'ry side,
487 When raging Ocean in a general Storm
488 Sends his sonorous Billows to th' Assault:
489 Savoy was sinking, and the cruel French,
490 Climbing the Summits of the horrid Alps,
491 Embrue'd their murd'ring Hands in guiltless Blood,
492 Ev'n in the dreadful Region of the Thunder.
493 The Lusitanian grumbled at the Chance
494 Of adverse War, and unexpected Rout,
495 And fondly sighed for ancient Leagues again.
496 With Terror more then cold Helvetia shook,
[Page 27]497 Whiter than Ambient Snow her deadly Hue,
498 And howling o'er her Alpine Rocks she ran,
499 Tho' fenc'd with Alpine Rocks yet unsecure,
500 And trembling with pale Fear, her hoary Hair
501 That hung dishevel'd, and the Sport of Winds,
502 She tore, and would have wrung her wretched Arms,
503 But her own Sons for mercenary Sums
504 Had bound her wretched Arms with Chains of Gold;
505 And her Majestick Robe had rudely torn,
506 And naked left her to the killing Cold.
507 A Gyant o'er the Neighbouring Mountains stalk'd,
508 With mad Deportment and with savage Mein.
509 And cruel Eyes that threaten'd instant Fate.
510 Italia, Ah how faln, how chang'd from her,
511 Who won the World with her victorious Arms,
512 With the wide Ocean circumscrib'd her Sway,
[Page 28]513 And with the Stars her never dying Fame,
514 Was basely into vile Submission brav'd.
515 Brittain in dreadful Expectation lay
516 By two contending Daughters to be torn,
517 Both stubborn Foes to Union, and yet both
518 Unless united hopelesly undone.
519 England was plagu'd with an unnatural Race,
520 A Race expecting but the Blow of Fate,
521 The cutting off one slender royal Thread,
522 That Thread on which the Christian World depends,
523 And then (but long avert that Hour ye Heavens)
524 Resolving infamously to betray
525 Their Country to a Foreign Tyrants Pow'r.
526 These were the potent Reasons for Dispatch,
527 Beside th' undaunted Spirit that appear'd
528 In the brave Squadrons and Batallions joyn'd,
529 That flash'd victorious Lightning from their Eyes;
[Page 29]530 Which their great Leader soon perceiv'd with Joy;
531 Too wise their boyling Ardor to restrain,
532 And check their Fire impatient to be freed.
533 Rais'd and inflam'd by that stupendious March,
534 Such as their fam'd Forefathers never knew,
535 And which attracted the admiring Eyes
536 Of all the gazing World, and seem'd to cry
537 They had not time to cool, but must do things
538 To satisfy th' expecting World, so great
539 As scarce their great Forefathers e'er perform'd.
540 Besides, 'tis not the Valour of their Troops
541 To which the French their boasted Conquests owe,
542 'Tis not their Discipline which makes them dreadful,
543 'Tis Treason, Subornation, Daggers, Poison,
544 Besides a thousand other Arts obscene.
545 Could they by Discipline or Force prevail,
546 'Tis manifest they bravely would disdain
[Page 03]547 To have Recourse to such inglorious ways.
548 And wisely the sagacious General thought
549 The sooner he compell'd them to decide
550 The Contest by the last Event of War,
551 The less Occasion would the Traytors find
552 To try detestable infernal Arts.
553 Add that th' exhausted Empire could afford
554 No long Supply to such a numerous Host.
555 Lastly, this War was an Appeal to Heav'n
556 And this great Cause the darling Cause of Heav'n,
557 For 'twas for Truth they appear'd in glorious Arms
558 For Justice, Liberty, Religion, God.
559 And shewing his brave Troops that he repos'd
560 His Confidence in Heav'n would fire their Souls,
561 And would sustain them in the dreadful Field
562 More than a thousand Bodies of Reserve.
563 And what could more convince th' impatient Troops
[Page 31]564 That he repos'd his Confidence in Heav'n,
565 Than sudden and determinate Recourse
566 To the decisive Vengeance of the Field.
567 Urg'd by these pow'rful Motives to Dispatch,
568 He his bold English leads to Schellenbourgh,
569 Where the Bavarian and the Gallick Troops
570 Lie with the utmost Skill of Art intrench'd,
571 To guard th' important Pass of Donawert,
572 Of Donawert, Bavaria's fatal Key;
573 Upon possessing which the great Success,
574 Of this illustrious Enterprize depends:
575 There he the Orders for the fierce Assault
576 Issues, with chearful Majesty serene,
577 Valour in human Hearts too oft proceeds
578 From ardent Temper, or from glowing Rage,
579 Provok'd by mortal Wrongs, or Fear of Shame.
580 But here remote from Fear or Rage behold
581 A Valour worthy of the Heroick Chief,
582 Who leads the Squadrons that appear in Arms
[Page 32]583 For Liberty at once, and spotless Faith,
584 The two great Causes of the Earth and Sky.
585 And here the French their Maxim may recant*
* Le Soleil ny la mortne se peuvent Regarder Fixement. Roche. Refl. 30.
586 That no Man can with fix'd Regards survey
587 The dazling Front of Death, or of the Sun.
588 For as an Eagle with a stedfast Eye
589 Stares on th' effulgent Fountain of the Day,
590 Which streaming with impetuous Floud of Light
591 Blinds other Gazers with its torrent Fire;
592 So Marlbro' with a calm considerate Soul
593 Undazle'd view'd the King of Terrors Front,
594 That cruel Front that with its ghastful Glare,
595 Without his Adamantine Mace can bill
596 Expos'd to Gallick and Bavarian Fire,
597 He all his chearful Majesty maintains,
598 His Orders to exact Advantage gives,
599 Commanding all the Movements of his Soul
[Page 33]600 With independant and with Lordly Pow'r.
601 He who himself thus absolutely rules,
602 Seems by wise Nature fram'd for martial Sway;
603 His shouting Troops exalt him to the Sky,
604 Him they all imitate, him all admire.
605 On pointed Cannon they have run before,
606 Here they do more, and hush'd and passive stand
607 While their invincible Brigades are form'd,
608 Awaiting what Commands their wond'rous Chief
609 Has to impose, while all the murd'ing Fire
610 Of the Bavarian Cannon tears their Ranks,
611 Troubling whole Squadrons with the Tyrant Rage
612 Of missionary Thunder, they mean while
613 Who by no Rage, no Fury are sustain'd,
614 The Frenzy that on Brutal Courage waits,
615 But by true Valour, by Heroick Minds
616 Unmov'd, unshaken keep the dangerous Posts
617 Which were assign'd them by their dread Commander.
618 The Friends and dear Companions of their Toyls,
[Page 34]619 Those whom they cherish equal to themselves
620 Torn from their Sides without Concern they see,
621 A nobler Care possesses all their Souls;
622 Themselves too torn they from themselves behold
623 Their mangled Trunks divided from their Limbs,
624 Yet all their dauntless Spirit they retain,
625 E'en for themselves no Grief no Pity shew;
626 They see the King of Terrors in their View,
627 They see him stalking near with hideous Stride,
628 They see him frowning with a ghastful Scowl,
629 Threatning to grasp their Hearts with Iron Gripe,
630 Yet see it all untroubled, undismay'd.
631 O Greatness worthy Greece or Ancient Rome!
632 O Valour worthy of eternal Fame!
633 The great Epaminondas thus expir'd
634 For his dear Thebes, for his great Cause concern'd,
635 Regardless of his Blood, regardless of his Life.
636 And they, like him, would think themselves too blest
637 To see their Party Victors e'er they expire;
[Page 35]638 If any shew Concern, 'tis only Fear
639 Least they should fall before their General's Voice
640 Allows them to discharge th' impetuous Fire,
641 That now pent inward choaks their generous Hearts;
642 Thrice happy if permitted, e'en in Death,
643 To be the Instruments imploy'd by Fate
644 To bestow Freedom on the Christian World,
645 And on their Country never dying Fame.
646 But what are they unable to perform,
647 Who such Extreams with Godlike Patience bear?
648 They who appear'd so calm, so meek before,
649 Are now all Rage, all storming Fury grown.
650 Now Fate looks frowning from their wrathful Brows,
651 Now from their flaming Eyes red Lightning flies,
652 While in their Arms th' avenging Thunder roars,
653 And now of dying they can think no more,
654 Their General's fatal Order is to kill.
655 His Voice they as the Voice of Fate regard,
656 And as the Ministers of Fate themselves.
[Page 36]657 Rushing like sounding Waters they assault
658 The strong Retrenchments, so with bellowing Sound,
659 Old Oceans Rage attacks some lofty Digue,
660 Which sturdy Swains have rais'd t' oppose his Pow'r.
661 He Billows upon Billows storming pours,
662 Which rise, and swell, and rage, and foam, and roar;
663 Till the victorious Tenth at last comes on,
664 O'erwhelming all with dismal Inundation.
665 In vain the Foe outragiously resists,
666 The Trumpet kindles Mars with fiercer Sounds,
667 And in their Ears it clangs its martial Roar;
668 Which to the English sounds the Voice of Fame,
669 That to immortal Glory calls them on.
670 Now all War's Godhead rages in their Breasts,
671 And to themselves they Demy Gods appear,
672 Oh the transporting Fury! Has the World
673 An Enemy that can resist them now?
674 In vain grim Death in his most hideous Shape;
675 With haughty Strides along th' Intrenchments stalts,
[Page 37]676 Whom all his Terrors, all his Plagues sustain.
677 Th' undaunted English turn him on the Foe,
678 He sees Britannia's Genius in their Eyes,
679 And in a dreadful Tone cries out my Friends;
680 These are my Friends, my Benefactors these,
681 Lead on, ye Race of Demy Gods, lead on,
682 I follow you, and all your Steps attend,
683 Fortune and Fate are on the Conqueror's Side.
684 Impetuous now they rush conducting Fate,
685 To their resistless Fury all things bow,
686 For what must not submit to Fate or them?
687 Now ev'ry thing against the Foe conspires,
688 And Fire and Water to confound them League.
689 Behind them conqu'ring Death in fiery Cart
690 Drives on, and urges furiously the Chase,
691 Discharging Lightnings and the vollied Thunder.
692 Before them the revenging Danube swells,
693 And then he gaping with a hideous Yawn,
694 And roaring swallows down his impious Prey.
695 Britannia, Let thy Joy salute the Skies,
696 And to thy Maker tuneful Praise return,
697 For he the Valour of thy matchless Sons,
698 And thy great General's Conduct he inspir'd.
699 Let the whole Earth enquire of Bleinheim's Field,
700 And that immortal Field will cry aloud
701 To all enquiring Nations, all enquiring times,
702 Thy matchless Sons no mortal Valour shew'd,
703 And thy great General's Conduct was Divine.
704 And thou too with thy Maker's Praise resound,
705 Thou Field of Bleinheim, once obscure accurst,
706 But now great Bleinheim's happy glorious Field!
707 Thou who wert charm'd with the Transporting Sight,
708 Who sawst the Godlike Men, the Godlike Deed,
709 Who sawst them thund'ring in the fierce Pursuit,
710 While Danube rising with revenging Floud,
711 Swallow'd whole Legions with a hideous Roar;
712 Immortal Bleinheim, preordain'd by Fate
713 To be the blissful Spot that frees the World;
714 Raise to the ravish'd Skies thy Thund'ring Voice,
715 And for thy mighty Bliss thy Maker praise,
[Page 39]716 For thou to all Posterity art blest,
717 Blest above all the beauteous Fields o'er which
718 The winding Danube curls his amorous Arms,
719 No Length of Days thy Glory shall deface,
720 Nor ever Darkness of the Night obscure.
721 All times, all Nations thee shall happy call,
722 By whom all times, all Nations shall be blest,
723 Thou lovely Field of happy Bleinheim Hail!
724 Mayst thou be ever fortunate as fam'd!
725 Thy Sons above the Race of Men be blest!
726 May proud Oppression and revenging Care,
727 As they their executing Circuit go,
728 Fly from thy blissful Borders far away!
729 O mayst thou still be happy, still be free,
730 Thou who hast made the happy Nations free!
731 And pour ye Heav'ns into her lovely Lap
732 Your sweetest and your most refreshing Dews!
733 That flowing Plenty all her Days may crown,
734 And golden Slumbers all her blissful Nights;
735 And when from Heav'n the murd'ring Angel comes
736 To visit with consuming Plagues the Earth;
[Page 40]737 May he behold upon thy blissful Soil
738 The Stains of Gallick and Bavarian Blood,
739 And passing by revere the sacred Ground!
740 And thou, O sacred, O Majestick Day,
741 Who gav'st to the great Deed auspicious Light,
742 O thou who broughtst to Light the noblest Birth
743 That ever Fate begat on fertile time;
744 Still as thy Light revolves O sacred Day,
745 Resounding with thy Maker's Praise return!
746 For highly has thy Maker honoured thee
747 Above all Days of the revolving Year!
748 His Praise then in a thousand Tongues resound,
749 Let Millions of glad Voices raise it high!
750 So mayst thou still be charmingly serene;
751 So may thy Halcyon Hours drive smoothly on,
752 Illustrious far above the rest of Days!
753 On thee may thy bright Sire profusely pour
754 A double Portion of his flowing Gold!
755 O mayst thou still with sacred Joy return
756 With all the Rapture of transporting Song!
757 And let the World forget the sprightly May,
[Page 41]758 The Day accomplishing the Joyful Spring
759 To celebrate thy lovelier Festival.
760 For Freedom is more joyful than the Spring,
761 Fairer than Light, and lovelier than the Morn.
762 Let never any Cloud thy Lustre stain
763 And never any Grief pollute thy Joy!
764 May Grief and Care and Pain at thy Approach
765 As from descending Angels disappear!
766 Mayst thou auspicious prove to ev'ry Deed,
767 Accomplish ev'ry Act begun on thee!
768 Thee may great Minds for mighty Actions choose!
769 By high Foreknowledge, sure O sacred Day,
770 Thou wert ordain'd t' accomplish wond'rous things,
771 Thy happy Influence once before preserv'd
772 The lab'ring World from universal Sway,
773 At least a while delay'd its dismal Fate.
774 'Twas upon thee the Carthaginian Chief,
775 Making the World's aspiring Tyrants yield,
776 Vanquish'd proud Rome at Canne's fatal Field.
777 But time was teeming with a nobler Birth,
778 And Bleinheim's Day surpasses Canne's Field;
779 At Cannae the contending Rivals strove
780 Which of them should enslave the vanquish'd World.
781 The great Contention was at Bleinheim's Field,
782 On one side to oppress immortal Liberty,
783 To make her wing her Flight from Earth to Heav'n,
784 And there for ever with Astrea dwell,
785 Her divine Sister, on the other side,
786 Th' Intent was solidly to fix her here
787 In lasting Peace, and make of Earth a Heav'n;
788 And never two more powerful Armies met,
789 Than that which strove to drive thee from below,
790 And that, O Goddess, which maintain'd thy Pow'r.
791 On the Oppressors side the Hostile French
792 With the Bavarian Squadrons now were joyn'd.
793 The fierce Bavarians were by Nature fram'd
[Page 43]794 Hardy and rough, and fit for Bloody Fields,
795 And Victory had rais'd their Spirits high.
796 Expert was their perfidious Chief and brave,
797 And now the Memory of past Success,
798 And Hope of future Empire fir'd his Soul,
799 And the wild Prospect of his flaming Tow'rs
800 Stung him, till frantick with his Rage he roar'd'
801 And call'd on Heav'n and Hell for dire Revenge.
802 The French were all of Gallick Troops the Flow'r,
803 Experienc'd and Victorious were their Chiefs,
804 Soldiers and Chiefs inur'd to vast Success:
805 And claiming Right to Conquest and Renown
806 From long Possession; with their dearest Blood
807 Resolv'd their lofty Title to defend.
808 By long Success presumptious grown and vain,
809 Aspiring to the Conquest of the World;
810 Believed by all the Nations and themselves
811 To be unequall'd and invincible.
812 Proud of their Junction with Bavarian Pow'rs,
[Page 44]813 Which they with so much Hazard, so much Toil,
814 Inspight of all great Eugene's Force atchiev'd;
815 From which the Empire sure Destruction waits,
816 And all the Christian World perpetual Bonds.
817 But O how vain are human Hopes and Fears!
818 How blind is the poor Providence of Man,
819 And what a Fool to the Designs of Fate!
820 The dreadful Moment comes upon the Wing,
821 When they who make this Junction now their Boast,
822 Their Pride, their Hope, their Joy, their Extasy,
823 When they whole conquer'd Provinces would give
824 That this accursed Junction ne'er had been,
825 When that which now deludes their glorious Minds,
826 With the vain Hope of Empire and of Fame,
827 Will prove the gawdy Lure thrown out by Fate
828 To bring them down from their aspiring Flight,
829 And leave them in the Dust.
830 For now the conqu'ring English are in view,
831 Inspiriting the whole Confederate Pow'r;
832 For what to them can be impossible,
833 After the glorious Rout at Schellenbourgh
834 A Conquest gain'd, when scarce their March was o'er;
835 A March like what great Philip's greater Son,
836 Or the first Caesar, took to win the World;
837 A March almost incredible to those,
838 Who saw at Schellenbourgh its great Effect;
839 A March so swift that it prevented Fame,
840 For such Dispatch transcends the Germans Thought;
841 At which their listless Nations look amaz'd.
842 They gazing seem the English to regard
843 As if descended to their Aid from Heav'n;
844 And their illustrious Chief on Danube's Shore,
845 No less astonishes the various Powers.
846 Whose Squadrons the Confederate force compose,
847 Than a Bright Star that all at once appears
848 With new Effulge in the Hemisphere,
[Page 46]849 Amazes all the planatary Worlds,
850 Who gazing cry 'tis sent express from Heav'n,
851 To change the Fortune of the Universe.
852 The Nations in the British Squadrons Eyes
853 Divine Presage of Victory behold.
854 Full of their Islands noble Pride they march,
855 Full of their fierce Forefathers conqu'ring Fire,
856 And while they deathless Vigour in them feel,
857 Esteem themselves invincible alone;
858 Believing firmly that to conquer France
859 Is but their old Hereditary Right,
860 Which from remote Progenitors descends;
861 Who then were wont to triumph over France,
862 Ev'n when they were a People fierce and free;
863 When for their Country and their Friends they fought,
864 Fought for their dear Relations and themselves.
865 How must they then disdain to yield to those,
866 Who to support a Griezly Tyrants Pride
867 Against their Country and their Friends contend,
868 Against their dear Relations and themselves?
[Page 47]869 That for their Parts they fight for Justice, Truth,
870 For God, and for Celestial Liberty.
871 That Fate the first Occasion now presents,
872 When they the Foe may in the Field surprize
873 Without oppressing Numbers on their Side;
874 Whom they resolve like Englishmen t' attack,
875 That is like Men resolv'd to o'ercome or die.
876 That now the Eyes of all the Christian World
877 Are on this great decisive Action bent;
878 That all the Christian World expects from them
879 Deeds worthy of the Champions of Mankind
880 Against oppressing Tyrants, Beasts more wild
881 Than Africk e're produc'd, and which proceed
882 To render Europe yet more waste than her;
883 That they must fight like Heroes who support
884 The Glory of their conqu'ring Ancestors,
885 Who great Britannia's Liberties assert,
886 And those of other sinking Realms restore;
887 Who vindicate their own undoubted Rights,
888 And those of all Posterity defend.
[Page 48]889 With Godlike Sentiments like these inflam'd,
890 They under their heroick Leader march
891 T' attack the Foe encamp'd on Bleinheim's Field.
892 The rest to deathless Lyres ye Angels sing!
893 To such a Height no mortal Force can soar,
894 And now the Inspiration leaves my Soul.
895 Or if I must with feeble Wings essay
896 Th' Aetherial Flight, assist y' Aetherial Pow'rs!
897 And thou the brightest Angel of the Sky,
898 With whose enchanting Beauties all the Host
899 Of Heav'n above, all Heav'nly Minds below
900 Are charm'd, with whom the great Creator's charm'd!
901 Eternal Fame! Thee Goddess I invoke,
902 For nothing without thy Aid was e'er produc'd,
903 Or great or fair in Earth or Heav'n above,
904 (So the great Maker will'd, and made it Fate)
905 Descend bright Goddess to my Aid, descend
906 T' infuse a Beam of thy Celestial Fire
907 Into my Soul, and raise my adventurous Song.
[Page 49]908 If with thy Beauties all my Soul is fir'd,
909 If all that wretched Mortals here call great,
910 I sacrifice to Liberty and thee;
911 Instruct me, Goddess, for thou only knowst,
912 For thou with all thy Hundred Eyes wert by
913 When stooping on thy azure Wings thou leftst
914 The Fields of Light for Bleinheim's glorious Field;
915 Thou Goddess with thy own Celestial Trump
916 Didst sound the Charge through all th' Aetherial Vault,
917 When at th' Immortal Blast the Pow'rs above,
918 Look'd wond'ring from the Battlements of Heav'n.
919 Thou saw'st how all the Host of Heav'n look'd down,
920 And shouting fill'd the eternal Realms with Joy,
921 To see bold Man the Cause of Heav'n maintain;
922 The Souls of British Heroes from the Sky
923 Upon the Glories of that Field look'd down,
924 Thither their Eyes the Conq'ring Edwards bent,
925 On that magnanimous Henry wond'ring gaz'd.
926 All charm'd to see their times of Gold return,
[Page 50]927 All charm'd to see bright Victory descend.
928 And perch upon an English General's Plume.
929 There the blest Patron of Britannick Knights,
930 The Red Cross Champion look'd transported down
931 To see the Honour of his Order rais'd.
932 And there look'd down the blissful Souls of those
933 Who in the same immortal Cause expir'd
934 At Fleury and at Landen's fatal Plain.
935 And Godlike William look'd with Rapture down
936 To see great Marlborough do what he had done,
937 Had but the false Bavarian been his Foe.
938 The preexisting Souls of future Kings
939 On that important Field look'd down, on which
940 Their future Right and future Pow'r depends.
941 Mean while the Sun, the World's great Eye and Soul,
942 With all his Pow'r seren'd th' Aetherial Space,
943 That no invidious Cloud might intercept
944 Th' eternal Deeds of Bleinheim's wond'rous Day;
945 Which shew'd a nobler Sight than all the World's,
946 And all the Space immense that with one Kenn
[Page 51]947 He views, could all afford him, when it shew'd
948 So many Myriads of Heroick Souls
949 Resolve to conquer or devove themselves
950 In the great Cause of Liberty and Truth.
951 The Nations here below had all their Eyes
952 Intent upon that Field, on whose Event
953 Depended all their Freedom, all their Peace.
954 The very Elements attend in Truce
955 The dreadful Issue, silent were the Winds,
956 And hush'd the Voice of Danube's angry Roar.
957 All Nature in all others Parts had Peace,
958 Discord had now no Leisure to attend
959 Inferiour Strife, for Bleinheim claim'd her all;
960 For there were all her Stygian Snakes employ'd,
961 There were the Fates and all the Furies there;
962 Who shap'd like Faulcons waiting for their Prey,
963 were perch'd on baleful Eughs by Danube's Shore:
964 So that both Earth, and Heav'n, and Hell below,
965 Times present, past, and future, all appear'd
966 To be concern'd on that important Day.
967 But heark! The Goddess gives the dreadful Charge,
968 I hear th' enchanting Sound, I feel its Magick Pow'r,
969 That Sound can like the last Angelick Trump,
970 From their eternal Mansions rouze the Dead;
971 That Magick Sound brings future times in view,
972 And makes the past return, that mighty Sound,
973 Swift as the Movement of quick Thought, transports
974 The Hearer to the World's remotest Ends.
975 I feel, I feel ev'n now that I am rapt
976 O'er Lands and Seas to Bleinheim's wond'rous Field!
977 Do you see how the tempestuous Squadrons move,
978 Like Clouds with Thunder charg'd along the Plain!
979 Oh the transporting Sight! The noble Sound!
980 The sprightly Neighing of the Warlike Steed,
981 And the impatient Champions eager Shouts.
982 The Trumpets roar! The Thunder of the Drum!
983 How Danube rears his hoary Head aghast!
[Page 53]984 Th' adjacent Forrest frightfully surveys,
985 Th' adjacent Forrests darts a dreadful Gloom,
986 And on his Floud with double Horror frowns.
987 On to th' Attack the thund'ring Squadrons move,
988 The very Heav'ns above them seem to smoak,
989 And the resounding Earth beneath them shakes;
990 The noble Rage of Battel fires the Plain:
991 Me too the noble Fury has inspir'd
992 Of Registring in Fame's Eternal Roll
993 Their Actions worthy the recording Muse,
994 The Daughter of Celestial Memory,
995 And th' immortal Mother of Renown.
996 Eternal Fame, thy Summons I obey,
997 Like them thy Charge, great Goddess, I obey.
998 But while the Verse which thou inspir'st I sing,
999 Do thou, great Goddess, thou my numerous Song
1000 Accompany with that Angelick Trump,
1001 Whose Sound by all the list'ning Globe is heard,
1002 And to the World's remotest times descends.
1003 But now the Trumpet's Clangor's heard no more,
1004 No more th' impatient Warriors eager Shouts.
1005 For now the Cannon thunders thro' the Plain,
1006 And drowns all dreadful Noises in its own;
1007 The moving Squadrons are no longer seen,
1008 The very Earth and Heavens are seen no more.
1009 For Earth and Heav'ns seem all involv'd in Night,
1010 A Night of Dust and of tumultuous Smoak;
1011 Or hid in Brightness of tempestuous Flames,
1012 Too dazling to be pierc'd by mortal Eyes.
1013 But now the Goddess with Celestial Light
1014 Dispells the Mist that veil'd these mortal Eyes,
1015 And now thro' Clouds of stormy Dust I see
1016 Thro' curling Smoak, thro' dazling Flames I see;
1017 Say, Goddess, what heroick Forms are those,
1018 Who the bold Britons lead impetuous on;
1019 Who between them and Danger interpose,
1020 And shield them with their very Breasts from Fate:
[Page 55]1021 At once in Danger foremost and Renown;
1022 Esteeming Glory cheaply bought with Life,
1023 And frankly off'ring up their noble Hearts
1024 A great unblemish'd Sacrifice to thee.
1025 How each looks worthy of his high Command,
1026 Each looks as if on his heroick Deeds
1027 The Fate depended of this dreadful Day.
1028 Ay, now their Shapes distinctly I discern,
1029 Ay, now I know the herolck Leaders well!
1030 And thou eternal Goddess knowst them well,
1031 And thou with all thy Hundred Tongues wilt spread
1032 Their deathless Actions, and extend their Praise
1033 Wherever thou expand'st thy sounding Wings.
1034 Hail Race of Heroes! British Worthies Hail!
1035 Hail noble Churchill, Lumley, Villars, Wood!
1036 And thou great Ingolsby, great Orkney thou!
1037 Hail thou, the foremost in the dire Assault,
1038 Brave Cuts, the Lightning of the British Thunder
1039 Great Favourites of Deathless Fame, All Hail!
1040 Those are th' immortal Heroes whose Commands
[Page 56]1041 The freeborn English joyfully obey,
1042 The Pride and Flow'r of Britain's Godlike Sons.
1043 Upon their Eyes the fierce Batallions gaze,
1044 And from their Beams derive a glorious Fire,
1045 And the Remembrance of great Henry's Days.
1046 Now after them they move impatient on,
1047 Impatient for the horrid Shock they earn;
1048 Now meet the French and we with hideous Noise,
1049 In Thunder, Lightning, and in Iron Hail.
1050 Y' Immortal Pow'rs assist Britannia's Cause!
1051 Assist ye bright Spectators of the Sky!
1052 The Cause of Justice and of Truth support!
1053 The Cause of all the Christian World defend!
1054 Ah miserable me! Th' immortal Pow'rs
1055 Either against their own great Cause declare,
1056 Or else blind Fortune governs all below.
1057 For see th' unconquer'd English are repell'd,
1058 Bright Honour is repell'd and Virtue lost,
1059 And false Ambition wins, O dismal Sight!
1060 O dire Calamity! Surprzing Fate! That such
[Page 57]1061 As fought like these should ever know repulse!
1062 Can they from such Heroick Chiefs retire!
1063 O can they poorly yield in such a Cause!
1064 No, see they Rally with a noble Fire,
1065 And Shame grown Fury to the Charge returns,
1066 But to the Valour of the Foe I hate,
1067 I must do Justice here, a braver Foe
1068 By Britain's Godlike Sons was never charg'd,
1069 The French undaunted all their Fury meet,
1070 And all with double Fury they repel,
1071 And drive the English Horse like Lightning back,
1072 See how once more confounded they retire!
1073 O cursed Fate! O Fortune! O Despair!
1074 Aloud methinks I hear all Nature groan,
1075 Aloud methinks I hear th' immortal Pow'rs
1076 Lament the Honour of Britannia lost,
1077 The wretched Fate of Liberty lament.
1078 O fond Imagination! Vain Conceit!
1079 Immortal is the Date of Liberty,
1080 And Britain's Honour never can be lost:
1081 For see where now Heroick Marlborough comes!
1082 Comes to maintain them, to revenge them comes.
[Page 58]1083 See where the dusty Squadrons he collects
1084 As Homer's Jove convenes the threatning Clouds
1085 That with his dire Artillery are fraught!
1086 With what exalted Air he leads them on,
1087 Terror before him marches, Fame behind,
1088 And Conquest like the Austrian Eagle shap'd,
1089 Over his Head flies tow'ring to the Skies.
1090 With such Majestick Air in Ancient Days
1091 Phidias or great Euphranor form'd his Jove;
1092 But warring Jove preparing to discharge
1093 Vindictive Thunder on the impious World.
1094 Death his August Appearance sees from far,
1095 And sees him worthy all his direful Rage;
1096 T' attack him mounts upon a fiery Globe,
1097 But as more near the Griezly Monarch draws,
1098 He knows the Hero doom'd t' oercome by Fate;
1099 And then his fiery Thunderbolt he shoots
1100 Into the Earth, and all its Entrails tears;
1101 About the Hero casts a Mount of Clay,
1102 And buries him almost alive with Hast,
1103 To shun him sacred to eternal Fame. !
[Page 59]1104 The Squadrons all with shudd'ring Horror shake,
1105 And Ruin from that dreadful Moment wait,
1106 He in that dreadful Moment is alone,
1107 Fearless and calmly of them all takes Care.
1108 An Intrepidity so like their own
1109 Charms all the bright Spectators of the Sky;
1110 The Squadrons now redouble all their Rage,
1111 And catch Heroick Fortitude from him.
1112 Their Flame rekindled rages in their Breasts,
1113 And sparkling in their fatal Eyes it rowls,
1114 Unanimous they to the Charge return,
1115 With Resolution never seen before;
1116 Each Champions with the Fate of Nations big,
1117 All, All resolve to conquer or to die,
1118 Ay now, e'en now, the dreadful Moment comes
1119 On which the Destiny of Men depends;
1120 Their raging Blood like fiery Torrents rowls,
1121 Their Hearts e'en burst with Rage, their noble Hearts
1122 That utterly disdain, that utterly abhor
[Page 60]1123 Th' inglorious Thoughts of Flight or foul Retreat.
1124 Again with dreadful Shouts rhey rend the Skies,
1125 And now their murd'ring Carabines they sling,
1126 With matchless Rage their flaming Swords they draw;
1127 In missionary Death they trust no more,
1128 But in their Hands they carry hideous Fate.
1129 Now, now, with all their Might, with all their Souls
1130 They rush on Death and Wounds, their dismal Way
1131 With their protended bloody Points they plough,
1132 Or brandishing aloft the horrid Edge,
1133 Like ripen'd Corn the adverse Squadrons mow,
1134 Extending them in Heaps upon the Plain,
1135 The adverse Squadrons can no longer bear
1136 Their fatal Weapons or their fatal Eyes,
1137 Or their victorious Cries, but Slaughter some,
1138 Some Pain and Anguish seize, Confusion all.
1139 And now in Heaps they fall, in Crowds they fly;
1140 They fly, fair Europe's proud Oppressors fly!
1141 And Godlike Liberty's for ever fix'd,
[Page 61]1142 And to the Stars is England's Glory rais'd.
1143 Victoria the transported Britons cry,
1144 With Rapture Bleinheim's blissful Plain resounds,
1145 To Bleinheim's Field the ravish'd Heav'ns reply;
1146 And with victorious Shouts the Welkin rings,
1147 Both Heav'n and Earth, and Gods, and Men are charm'd,
1148 And Phebus with redoubled Glory shines,
1149 And on the blest Event all ravish'd Nature smiles.
1150 Danube transported drives his rapid Floud
1151 With double Fury by his ecchoing Shores,
1152 And to the Euxin sends th' enchanting Sound;
1153 Adown his Shores the Acclamation runs,
1154 That Godlike Liberty's for ever fix'd,
1155 And to the Stars is England's Glory rais'd.
1156 Oh Joy! oh Rapture never to be born!
1157 They fly! Fair Europe's proud Oppressors fly!
1158 The Victors rushing tear their trembling Rear;
1159 Shouting they rage, and raging they pursue;
1160 A dismal Joy is on their ratling Tongues,
1161 Fate in their Arms and Fury in their Eyes.
[Page 62]1162 Now Discord stalking with Gigantick Stride
1163 Wades through a Crimson Stream of torrent Gore,
1164 And hideous is the Face of Slaughter now,
1165 And yet e'en now when all the conq'ring Troops,
1166 Soldiers and Chiefs are all e'en wild with Joy,
1167 All frantick with the Transport of their Rage.
1168 Their great Commanders calm, he who before
1169 In his own Danger dauntless was alone
1170 Lord of himself in universal Joy,
1171 Serenely doubts for all; yet his the Praise,
1172 The Glory of th' immortal Day is his,
1173 He to a Pitch of human Glory rais'd,
1174 To which no Subject ever rose before;
1175 And by this great deciding Moment made
1176 Darling of Nations, and Mankinds Delight,
1177 Britannia's second Pride, Batavia's Hope;
1178 The Roman Empires Ornament and Fame,
1179 The everlasting Blessing of the Good,
1180 And constant Panegyrick of the Brave:
1181 E'n in this great deciding Moment he
1182 Th' impetuous Movements of his Soul commands,
[Page 63]1183 Commands himself with more imperious Sway
1184 Than e'en the meanest Warrior of his Troops;
1185 To no unruly Transport he gives way,
1186 To all Attacks remains invincible,
1187 And stands the noble Conqueror of himself;
1188 For now his Genius whispers him within
1189 That while the Day is doubtless on his Side
1190 Heroick Eugene is severely prest,
1191 And by the false Bavarian's Pow'r distrest,
1192 And wants the Succour of the Conq'ring Wing.
1193 Then as great Virgil's Neptune with his Voice
1194 Tames the wild Horrors of his frantick Waves,
1195 And flattens with a Breath the refluent Main,
1196 So mighty Marlborough with a Word, a Nod
1197 The Fury of his Conq'ring Troops restrains,
1198 E'n raging Madness hears that awful Voice,
1199 And in a Moment sinks into a Calm;
1200 That Voice the stormy King of Terrors hears,
1201 He hears that Voice, and in mid-way arrests
1202 His furious Arm descending to destroy.
1203 And as the Hero with a Breath can calm
[Page 64]1204 The raging Storm in forty thousand Breasts,
1205 So with a Breath he reinflames them all.
1206 Again like stormy Seas they waving rowl,
1207 And rise, and foam with far resounding Roar,
1208 And tenfold Joy, and tenfold Rage succeeds.
1209 For on the Spur the blissful News arrives,
1210 That happy Eugene no Support requires;
1211 That conqu'ring Eugene making vast Efforts,
1212 Efforts which ne'er will be forgot by Fame,
1213 A Third time rallied his disorder'd Troops,
1214 And turn'd Confusion back upon the Foe.
1215 Again great Marlborough gives the fatal Word,
1216 Again the Goddess gives the dreadful Charge,
1217 And the victorious Squadrons of the left
1218 Again fall on with terrifying Cries.
1219 Conquest before, now great Revenge they seek,
1220 The French astonish'd, all Resistance loose,
1221 All Resolution, Courage, Order, Thought.
1222 Their Squadrons now confounded, all disband,
1223 Each for himself takes sordid Care alone,
[Page 65]1224 Sure Ruin both to Armies and to States.
1225 The Victors with immortal Rage pursue,
1226 And smite th' affected French, like Wrath divine
1227 That sweeps whole People, and lays Nations waste.
1228 See this ye proud aspiring Tyrants, see,
1229 And let the Face of Bleinheim's dreadful Field
1230 Teach you to rremble at the Wrath of Heav'n,
1231 And the just Judgments of th' avenging God!
1232 Do you see that Heap of abject Wretches there,
1233 That fall by Hundreds, and by Thousands fly.
1234 How is Ambition faln! How in his Turn
1235 The insolent Oppressor faints and dies!
1236 Are these the Brave, th' Invincible? Are these
1237 The Royal Houshold of th' immortal King?
1238 Are these the Bands so proud of Triumphs past,
1239 So vain upon the Hopes of those to come?
1240 And with the Spoils of conquer'd Nations big?
1241 Are these the Gyants who their Tyrant swell'd
1242 With the fond Hope of universal Sway?
1243 How they fly! How they fall! How they tremble! How they die!
[Page 66]1244 An Iron Tempest galls them in the Flank,
1245 And the fierce Victor with ten thousand Swords
1246 Insulting hangs upon their broken Rear.
1247 Before them Danube rises on their Flight,
1248 And loudly for Revenge, Revenge he roars,
1249 Arresting their precipitated Flight,
1250 He strikes them backward with his stormy Brow,
1251 Or with his angry Voice their guilty Souls he scares.
1252 But tenfold Horror drives them headlong on!
1253 Down, down ten thousand take the fatal Leap,
1254 And plunge among the Waves; the Danube raves,
1255 And calls his stormy Billows to the Spoil,
1256 His stormy Billows to the mighty Spoil
1257 Drive on, advancing with a hideous Roar.
1258 Ten thousand Warriors rowling in the Floud,
1259 Horses and Men reverst midst scatter'd Arms,
1260 And floating Ensigns on each other Plunge,
1261 Drive one another drowning to th' Abyss,
1262 And with tremendous Prospect strike the Eye.
1263 The very Victors grow with Horror chill,
1264 Shake at the dire Catastrophe they cause,
1265 And tremble at the Terrors of a Scene,
[Page 67]1266 Such as no no Nation of the World, no Age
1267 Since the great Hebrews wond'rous Passage saw.
1268 Here Heavenly Goddess couldst thou but impart
1269 To my weak Mind the Force, th' immortal Force,
1270 To paint with lively Strokes the dismal Scene,
1271 To paint the Cries, the Shrieks, the dying Groans,
1272 The Grief, the Rage, the Fury of their Fear,
1273 And all the Horrors of their baleful Eyes,
1274 And all th' Astonishment, th' Amazement of their Souls,
1275 With ev'ry dreadful ghastful Circumstance;
1276 Not Milton's wond'rous Piece should mine transcend
1277 In which Messiah with his Thunders arm'd
1278 Drove down th' infernal Tyrants warring Host
1279 With Terrors and with Furies thro' th' Abyss,
1280 Not Michael Angelo's stupendous Work;
1281 Where the last dreadful Doom sends guilty Souls
1282 Down to eternal Punishments in Hell;
1283 Hell seizes them, Hell meets them on the Way,
1284 For in their Air and in their Looks is Hell,
1285 And endless Torments in their Baleful Eyes.
1286 Thus fell the French before the Victor's Wrath,
1287 They who had stood so many Storms of War,
1288 Yet still unshaken kept their Ground in all.
1289 Thus of tall Oaks I've known a goodly Row,
1290 That grac'd the winding Margin of the Floud,
1291 Defy the Rage of many a wintry Blast,
1292 The Tempest saw their Strength, and sigh'd, and past them by.
1293 But when a Hurrican by Wrath divine
1294 Came lately bellowing o'er the Western Main,
1295 That with immortal Fury on them fell,
1296 That made them tremble at impending Fate;
1297 And rent at once their sturdy Trunks in twain,
1298 Or twisted up their Roots, and whirl'd them in the Air.
1299 That tore their lofty Branches down from Heav'n,
1300 And brought to light theirSerpent Roots fromHell.
1301 Down they came rushing with a fatal Groan,
1302 And strew'd the River with their scatter'd Limbs,
1303 And with their mangled Trunks his Channel pil'd,
1304 Till Devastation choak'd the incumber'd Stream.
1305 O Conqu'ring Death, like Sampson, blind tho' strong,
1306 Hadst thou the glorious Hecatombs foreseen.
1307 Which noble Marlborough was ordain'd by Fate
1308 To offer up to thy insatiate Pow'r,
1309 Thou surely then hadst sav'd one Godlike Youth,
1310 And to th' Heroick Father giv'n the Son.
1311 But Blanford in his early Bloom was snatch'd
1312 To make the Glory of the Sire compleat;
1313 Had noble Blandford still remain'd below,
1314 He was good, so charming and so great,
1315 So worthy all the Fathers fond Desire;
1316 Th' invidious World might have pretended then
1317 That Marlboro' had atchiev'd his Godlike Deeds,
1318 For private Ends to make his Offspring great;
1319 Now clearly for his Country and his Queen,
1320 For Liberty, and for the World he acts.
1321 Thou too great Queen by whose auspicious Care
1322 And Wisdom these astonishing Events
1323 Were brought to Light, thou for thy Country act'st,
1324 And for the World, for Children thou hast none,
[Page 70]1325 Too rigid Fate has ravish'd all away.
1326 Oh Royal Gloucester had but cruel Death
1327 Permitted thee to see this wond'rous Day,
1328 How had great Marlbro's Actions rais'd thy Blood,
1329 And rouz'd the Hero in thy Blooming Breast!
1330 Till grown impatient thou hadst call'd to Arms,
1331 Hadst like young Edward crost the ambient Main
1332 Attended with the Flow'r of British Youth,
1333 Display'd thy Ensigns in the Galliek Plains,
1334 While France had trembled at thy conq'ring Arms;
1335 Once more had France an English Sovereign own'd,
1336 Once more had Spain its rightful Monarch seen,
1337 Plac'd by a British Hero on his Throne.
1338 But thou art gone, Britannia's Hope is gone,
1339 For thee Britannia mourns like Royal Ann;
1340 Thy Fate thy Mother's Happiness impair'd,
1341 But it has rais'd her Glory to the Stars;
1342 The Wonders which she ev'ry Day performs:
1343 Mov'd by the noblest Motives she performs,
1344 Now for her Conntry and the World she acts,
[Page 71]1345 For Liberty the Darling Cause of Earth,
1346 For spotless Faith the darling Cause of Heav'n.
1347 Her Children all were snatch'd away in thee,
1348 O fond Mistake! Whate'er the best of Queens
1349 Performs, she does it for her Children all,
1350 Her happy People are her Children now.
1351 And oh so good, so excellent is she
1352 So tender of their Happiness and Fame,
1353 So watchful o'er their Rights, so studious of their Peace,
1354 To all extending her impartial Care;
1355 So grateful and so dutiful are they,
1356 Such Honour and such awful Love return,
1357 Such Love as Heav'n of Human Hearts requires;
1358 That Fame is doubtful which she most shall praise,
1359 The Childrens Duty or the Mother's Care.
1360 The Dutiful'st of Children sure are they,
1361 The very Best of tender Mothers she.
1362 And not the fancied Mother of the Gods,
1363 Great Queen, could boast a more Heroick Race;
1364 And as that fancied Mother of the Gods
1365 Was charm'd at Sight of her immortal Sons.
[Page 72]1366 With all my Pow'r I've rouzed my Genius up,
1367 That thy victorious Subjects thou mightst see
1368 Made like to Gods at Bleinheim's deathless Field.
1369 What glorious Sight can more delight thy Soul
1370 Than Conquest which thy Subjects Bliss ensures
1371 Thy Glory, and the World's Felicity?
1372 Yes Bleinheim still can shew a nobler Sight,
1373 A Sight that for thy Zeal has stronger Charms
1374 Than all the World's vain Greatness can supply.
1375 See there thy conq'ring Heroes who before
1376 Were like to Gods, now equal to the Worm,
1377 All low and prostrate as the vanquish'd now;
1378 Humbling themselves before the God of Hosts,
1379 Off'ring to him the Glory and the Praise,
1380 The Sacrifice most worthy of the God,
1381 Th' Almighty God of War, the God of great Revenge.
FINIS.
About this text
Author: John Dennis
Themes:
politics; monarchy (heads of state); war; glory of the British nation
Genres:
blank verse
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Source edition
Dennis, John, 1657-1734. Britannia triumphans: or the Empire sav'd: and Europe deliver'd. By the success of her Majesty's forces under the wise and heroick conduct of his Grace the Duke of Marlborough. A poem, by Mr. Dennis. London: printed for J. Nutt, 1704, pp. 1-72. [16],72p.; 8⁰. (ESTC T29691; Foxon D222; OTA K033915.000)
Editorial principles
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.