[Page 276]

The GENIUS.

An ODE, written in 1717, on occasion of the Duke of MARLBOROUGH'S Apoplexy.

I.
1 AWEFUL [hero], Marlb'rough, rise:
2 Sleepy charms I come to break:
3 Higher turn thy languid eyes:
4 Lo! thy Genius calls: awake!
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II.
5 Well survey this faithful plan,
6 With records thy life's great story;
7 'Tis a short, but crowded span,
8 Full of triumphs, full of glory.
III.
9 One by one thy deeds review,
10 Sieges, battles, thick appear;
11 Former wonders, lost in new,
12 Greatly fill each pompous year.
IV.
13 This is Blenheim's crimson field,
14 Wet with gore, with slaughter stain'd!
15 Here retiring squadrons yield,
16 And a bloodless wreath is gain'd!
V.
17 Ponder in thy godlike mind
18 All the wonders thou hast wrought;
19 Tyrants, from their pride declin'd,
20 Be the subject of thy thought!
VI.
21 Rest thee here, while life may last:
22 Th' utmost bliss, to man allow'd,
23 Is to trace his actions past,
24 And to own them great and good.
VII.
25 But 'tis gone — a mortal born!
26 Swift the fading scenes remove —
27 Let them pass with noble scorn,
28 Thine are worlds, which roll above.
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VIII.
29 Poets, prophets, heroes, kings,
30 Pleas'd, thy ripe approach foresee;
31 Men, who acted wond'rdus things,
32 Tho' they yield in same to thee.
IX.
33 Foremost, in the patriot-band,
34 Shining with distinguish'd day,
35 See thy friend, Godolphin stand!
36 See! he beckons thee away.
X.
37 Yonder seats and fields of light
38 Let thy ravish'd thought explore;
39 Wishing, panting for thy flight!
40 Half an angel; man no more.

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About this text

Title (in Source Edition): The GENIUS. An ODE, written in 1717, on occasion of the Duke of MARLBOROUGH'S Apoplexy.
Author: Leonard Welsted
Themes: war; visions
Genres: song; panegyric
References: DMI 665

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Source edition

Dodsley, Robert, 1703-1764. A Collection of Poems in Six Volumes. By Several Hands. Vol. IV. London: printed by J. Hughs, for R. and J. Dodsley, 1763 [1st ed. 1758], pp. 276-278. 6v.: music; 8⁰. (ESTC T131163; OTA K104099.004) (Page images digitized by the Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive from a copy in the archive's library.)

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