[Page]
CARMEN SECULARE, For the Year 1700.
TO THE KING.
Aspice, venturo lætentur ut Omnia Sæc'lo: O mihi tam longæ maneat pars ultima vitæ, Spiritus & quantum sat erit tua dicere facta! Virg. Eclog. 4.
I.
1 Thy elder Look, Great Janus, cast
2 Into the long Records of Ages past:
3 Review the Years in fairest Action drest
4 With noted White, Superior to the rest;
5 Æra's deriv'd, and Chronicles begun
6 From Empires founded, and from Battels won:
[Page 134]7 Show all the Spoils by valiant Kings achiev'd,
8 And groaning Nations by Their Arms reliev'd;
9 The Wounds of Patriots in their Country's Cause,
10 And happy Pow'r sustain'd by wholesom Laws:
11 In comely Rank call ev'ry Merit forth:
12 Imprint on ev'ry Act it's Standard Worth:
13 The glorious Parallels then downward bring
14 To Modern Wonders, and to Britain's King:
15 With equal Justice and Historic Care
16 Their Laws, Their Toils, Their Arms with His compare:
17 Confess the various Attributes of Fame
18 Collected and compleat in William's Name:
19 To all the list'ning World relate
20 (As Thou dost His Story read)
21 That nothing went before so Great,
22 And nothing Greater can succeed.
II.
23 Thy Native Latium was Thy darling Care,
24 Prudent in Peace, and terrible in War:
25 The boldest Virtues that have govern'd Earth
26 From Latium's fruitful Womb derive their Birth.
27 Then turn to Her fair-written Page:
28 From dawning Childhood to establish'd Age,
29 The Glories of Her Empire trace:
30 Confront the Heroes of Thy Roman Race:
31 And let the justest Palm the Victor's Temples grace.
III.
32 The Son of Mars reduc'd the trembling Swains,
33 And spread His Empire o'er the distant Plains:
[Page 135]34 But yet the Sabins violated Charms
35 Obscur'd the Glory of His rising Arms.
36 Numa the Rights of strict Religion knew;
37 On ev'ry Altar laid the Incense due;
38 Unskill'd to dart the pointed Spear,
39 Or lead the forward Youth to noble War.
40 Stern Brutus was with too much Horror good,
41 Holding his Fasces stain'd with Filial Blood.
42 Fabius was Wise, but with Excess of Care;
43 He sav'd his Country; but prolonged the War:
44 While Decius, Paulus, Curius greatly fought;
45 And by Their strict Examples taught,
46 How wild Desires should be controll'd;
47 And how much brighter Virtue was, than Gold;
48 They scarce Their swelling Thirst of Fame could hide;
49 And boasted Poverty with too much Pride.
50 Excess in Youth made Scipio less rever'd:
51 And Cato dying seem'd to own, He fear'd.
52 Julius with Honor tam'd Rome's foreign Foes:
53 But Patriots fell, e'er the Dictator rose.
54 And while with Clemency Augustus reign'd;
55 The Monarch was ador'd; the City chain'd.
IV.
56 With justest Honour be Their Merits drest:
57 But be Their Failings too confest:
58 Their Virtue, like their Tyber's Flood
59 Rolling, it's Course design'd the Country's Good:
60 But oft the Torrent's too impetuous Speed
61 From the low Earth tore some polluting Weed:
[Page 136]62 And with the Blood of Jove there always ran
63 Some viler Part, some Tincture of the Man.
V.
64 Few Virtues after These so far prevail,
65 But that Their Vices more than turn the Scale:
66 Valour grown wild by Pride, and Pow'r by Rage,
67 Did the true Charms of Majesty impair:
68 Rome by Degrees advancing more in Age,
69 Show'd sad Remains of what had once been fair;
70 'Till Heav'n a better Race of Men supplies;
71 And Glory shoots new Beams from Western Skies.
VI.
[Page 137]72 Turn then to Pharamond, and Charlemain,
73 And the long Heroes of the Gallic Strain;
74 Experienc'd Chiefs, for hardy Prowess known,
75 And bloody Wreaths in vent'rous Battels won.
76 From the First William, our great Norman King,
77 The bold Plantagenets, and Tudors bring;
78 Illustrious Virtues, who by turns have rose,
79 In foreign Fields to check Britannia's Foes;
80 With happy Laws Her Empire to sustain,
81 And with full Pow'r assert Her ambient Main:
82 But sometimes too Industrious to be Great,
83 Nor Patient to expect the Turns of Fate,
84 They open'd Camps deform'd by Civil Fight,
85 And made proud Conquest trample over Right:
86 Disparted Britain mourn'd Their doubtful Sway,
87 And dreaded Both, when Neither would obey.
VII.
88 From Didier, and Imperial Adolph trace
89 The Glorious Offspring of the Nassaw Race,
90 Devoted Lives to Publick Liberty;
91 The Chief still dying, or the Country free.
92 Then see the Kindred Blood of Orange flow,
93 From warlike Cornet, thro' the Loins of Beau;
94 Thro' Chalon next; and there with Nassaw join,
95 From Rhone's fair Banks transplanted to the Rhine.
96 Bring next the Royal List of Stuarts forth,
97 Undaunted Minds, that rul'd the rugged North;
98 'Till Heav'n's Decrees by rip'ning Times are shown;
99 'Till Scotland's Kings ascend the English Throne;
100 And the fair Rivals live for ever One.
VIII.
[Page 138]101 Janus, mighty Deity,
102 Be kind; and as Thy searching Eye
103 Does our Modern Story trace,
104 Finding some of Stuart's Race
105 Unhappy, pass Their Annals by:
106 No harsh Reflection let Remembrance raise:
107 Forbear to mention, what Thou canst not praise:
108 But as Thou dwell'st upon that Heav'nly*
* MARY.
Name,109 To Grief for ever Sacred, as to Fame,
110 Oh! read it to Thy self; in Silence weep;
111 And Thy convulsive Sorrows inward keep;
112 Lest Britain's Grief should waken at the Sound;
113 And Blood gush fresh from Her eternal Wound.
IX.
114 Whither would'st Thou further look?
115 Read William's Acts, and close the ample Book:
116 Peruse the Wonders of His dawning Life;
117 How, like Alcides, He began;
118 With Infant Patience calm'd Seditious Strife,
119 And quell'd the Snakes which round his Cradle ran.
X.
120 Describe His Youth, attentive to Alarms,
121 By Dangers form'd, and perfected in Arms:
122 When Conqu'ring, mild; when Conquer'd, not disgrac'd;
123 By Wrongs not lessen'd, nor by Triumphs rais'd:
124 Superior to the blind Events
125 Of little Human Accidents;
126 And constant to His first Decree,
127 To curb the Proud, to set the Injur'd free;
128 To bow the haughty Neck, and raise the suppliant Knee.
XI.
129 His opening Years to riper Manhood bring;
130 And see the Hero perfect in the King:
131 Imperious Arms by Manly Reason sway'd,
132 And Power Supreme by free Consent obey'd:
133 With how much Haste His Mercy meets his Foes:
134 And how unbounded His Forgiveness flows:
135 With what Desire He makes His Subjects bless'd,
136 His Favours granted ere His Throne address'd:
137 What Trophies o'er our captiv'd Hearts He rears,
138 By Arts of Peace more potent, than by Wars:
[Page 139]139 How o'er Himself, as o'er the World, He Reigns,
140 His Morals strength'ning, what His Law ordains.
XII.
141 Thro' all His Thread of Life already spun,
142 Becoming Grace and proper Action run:
143 The Piece by Virtue's equal Hand is wrought,
144 Mix'd with no Crime, and shaded with no Fault:
145 No Footsteps of the Victor's Rage
146 Left in the Camp, where William did engage:
147 No Tincture of the Monarch's Pride
148 Upon the Royal Purple spy'd:
149 His Fame, like Gold, the more 'tis try'd,
150 The more shall its intrinsic Worth proclaim;
151 Shall pass the Combat of the searching Flame,
152 And triumph o'er the vanquish'd Heat,
153 For ever coming out the same,
154 And losing nor it's Lustre, nor it's Weight.
XIII.
155 Janus be to William just;
156 To faithful History His Actions trust:
157 Command Her, with peculiar Care
158 To trace each Toil, and comment ev'ry War:
159 His saving Wonders bid Her write
160 In Characters distinctly bright;
161 That each revolving Age may read
162 The Patriot's Piety, the Hero's Deed:
163 And still the Sire inculcate to his Son
164 Transmissive Lessons of the King's Renown:
165 That William's Glory still may live;
166 When all that present Art can give,
[Page 140]167 The Pillar'd Marble, and the Tablet Brass,
168 Mould'ring, drop the Victor's Praise:
169 When the great Monuments of His Pow'r
170 Shall now be visible no more:
171 When Sambre shall have chang'd her winding Flood;
172 And Children ask, where Namur stood.
XIV.
173 Namur, proud City, how her Towr's were arm'd!
174 How She contemn'd th'approaching Foe!
175 'Till She by William's Trumpets was allarm'd,
176 And shook, and sunk, and fell beneath His Blow.
177 Jove and Pallas, mighty Pow'rs,
178 Guided the Hero to the hostile Tow'rs.
179 Perseus seem'd less swift in War,
180 When, wing'd with Speed, he flew thro' Air.
181 Embattl'd Nations strive in vain
182 The Hero's Glory to restrain:
183 Streams arm'd with Rocks, and Mountains red with Fire
184 In vain against His Force conspire.
185 Behold Him from the dreadful Height appear!
186 And lo! Britannia's Lions waving there.
XV.
187 Europe freed, and France repell'd
188 The Hero from the Height beheld:
189 He spake the Word, that War and Rage should cease:
190 He bid the Maese and Rhine in Safety flow;
191 And dictated a lasting Peace
192 To the rejoicing World below:
193 To rescu'd States, and vindicated Crowns
194 His Equal Hand prescrib'd their ancient Bounds;
[Page 141]195 Ordain'd whom ev'ry Province should obey;
196 How far each Monarch should extend His Sway:
197 Taught 'em how Clemency made Pow'r rever'd;
198 And that the Prince Belov'd was truly Fear'd.
199 Firm by His Side unspotted Honour stood,
200 Pleas'd to confess Him not so Great as Good:
201 His Head with brighter Beams fair Virtue deck't,
202 Than Those which all His num'rous Crowns reflect:
203 Establish'd Freedom clap'd her joyful Wings;
204 Proclaim'd the First of Men, and Best of Kings.
XVI.
205 Whither would the Muse aspire
206 With Pindar's Rage without his Fire?
207 Pardon me, Janus, 'twas a Fault,
208 Created by too great a Thought:
209 Mindless of the God and Day,
210 I from thy Altars, Janus, stray,
211 From Thee, and from My self born far away.
212 The fiery Pegasus disdains
213 To mind the Rider's Voice, or hear the Reins:
214 When glorious Fields and opening Camps He views;
215 He runs with an unbounded Loose:
216 Hardly the Muse can sit the headstrong Horse:
217 Nor would She, if She could, check his impetuous Force:
218 With the glad Noise the Cliffs and Vallies ring;
219 While She thro' Earth and Air pursues the King.
XVII.
220 She now beholds Him on the Belgic Shoar;
221 Whilst Britain's Tears His ready Help implore,
[Page 142]222 Dissembling for Her sake his rising Cares,
223 And with wise Silence pond'ring vengeful Wars.
224 She thro' the raging Ocean now
225 Views Him advancing his auspicious Prow;
226 Combating adverse Winds and Winter Seas,
227 Sighing the Moments that defer Our Ease;
228 Daring to wield the Scepter's dang'rous Weight,
229 And taking the Command, to save the State:
230 Tho' e'er the doubtful Gift can be secur'd,
231 New Wars must be sustain'd, new Wounds endur'd.
XVIII.
232 Thro' rough Ierne's Camp She sounds Alarms,
233 And Kingdoms yet to be redeem'd by Arms;
234 In the dank Marshes finds her glorious Theme;
235 And plunges after Him thro' Boyn's fierce Stream.
236 She bids the Nereids run with trembling Haste,
237 To tell old Ocean how the Hero past.
238 The God rebukes their Fear, and owns the Praise
239 Worthy that Arm, Whose Empire He obeys.
XIX.
240 Back to His Albion She delights to bring
241 The humblest Victor, and the kindest King.
242 Albion, with open Triumph would receive
243 Her Hero, nor obtains His Leave:
244 Firm He rejects the Altars She would raise;
245 And thanks the Zeal, while He declines the Praise.
246 Again She follows Him thro' Belgia's Land,
247 And Countries often sav'd by William's Hand;
248 Hears joyful Nations bless those happy Toils,
249 Which freed the People, but return'd the Spoils.
[Page 143]250 In various Views She tries her constant Theme;
251 Finds Him in Councils, and in Arms the Same:
252 When certain to o'ercome, inclin'd to save,
253 Tardy to Vengeance, and with Mercy, Brave.
XX.
254 Sudden another Scene employs her Sight:
255 She sets her Hero in another Light:
256 Paints His great Mind Superior to Success,
257 Declining Conquest, to establish Peace:
258 She brings Astrea down to Earth again,
259 And Quiet, brooding o'er His future Reign.
XXI.
260 Then with unweary'd Wing the Goddess soars
261 East, over Danube and Propontis Shoars;
262 Where jarring Empires ready to engage,
263 Retard their Armies, and suspend their Rage;
264 'Till William's Word, like That of Fate, declares,
265 If They shall study Peace, or lengthen Wars.
266 How sacred His Renown for equal Laws,
267 To whom the World defers it's Common Cause!
268 How fair His Friendships, and His Leagues how just,
269 Whom ev'ry Nation courts, Whom all Religions trust!
XXII.
270 From the Mæotis to the Northern Sea,
271 The Goddess wings her desp'rate Way;
272 Sees the young Muscovite, the mighty Head,
273 Whose Sov'reign Terror forty Nations dread,
274 Inamour'd with a greater Monarch's Praise,
275 And passing half the Earth to His Embrace:
[Page 144]276 She in His Rule beholds His Volga's Force,
277 O'er Precipices, with impetuous Sway
278 Breaking, and as He rowls his rapid Course,
279 Drowning, or bearing down, whatever meets his Way.
280 But her own King She likens to His Thames,
281 With gentle Course devolving fruitful Streams:
282 Serene yet Strong, Majestic yet Sedate,
283 Swift without Violence, without Terror Great.
284 Each ardent Nymph the rising Current craves:
285 Each Shepherd's Pray'r retards the parting Waves:
286 The Vales along the Bank their Sweets disclose:
287 Fresh Flow'rs for ever rise: and fruitful Harvest grows.
XXIII.
288 Yet whither would th'advent'rous Goddess go?
289 Sees She not Clouds, and Earth, and Main below?
290 Minds She the Dangers of the Lycian Coast,
291 And Fields, where mad Belerophon was lost?
292 Or is Her tow'ring Flight reclaim'd
293 By Seas from Icarus's Downfall nam'd?
294 Vain is the Call, and useless the Advice:
295 To wise Perswasion Deaf, and human Cries,
296 Yet upward She incessant flies;
297 Resolv'd to reach the high Empyrean Sphere,
298 And tell Great Jove, She sings His Image here;
299 To ask for William an Olympic Crown,
300 To Chromius' Strength, and Theron's Speed unknown:
301 Till lost in trackless Fields of shining Day,
302 Unable to discern the Way
303 Which Nassaw's Virtue only could explore,
304 Untouch'd, unknown, to any Muse before,
[Page 145]305 She, from the noble Precipices thrown,
306 Comes rushing with uncommon Ruin down.
307 Glorious Attempt! Unhappy Fate!
308 The Song too daring, and the Theme too great!
309 Yet rather thus She wills to die,
310 Than in continu'd Annals live, to sing
311 A second Heroe, or a vulgar King;
312 And with ignoble Safety fly
313 In sight of Earth, along a middle Sky.
XXIV.
314 To Janus' Altars, and the numerous Throng,
315 That round his mystic Temple press,
316 For William's Life, and Albion's Peace,
317 Ambitious Muse reduce the roving Song.
318 Janus, cast Thy forward Eye
319 Future, into great Rhea's pregnant Womb;
320 Where young Ideas brooding lye,
321 And tender Images of Things to come:
322 'Till by Thy high Commands releas'd;
323 'Till by Thy Hand in proper Atoms dress'd,
324 In decent Order They advance to Light;
325 Yet then too swiftly fleet by human Sight;
326 And meditate too soon their everlasting Flight.
XXV.
327 Nor Beaks of Ships in Naval Triumph born,
328 Nor Standards from the hostile Ramparts torn,
329 Nor Trophies brought from Battles won,
330 Nor Oaken Wreath, nor Mural Crown
[Page 146]331 Can any future Honours give
332 To the Victorious Monarch's Name:
333 The Plenitude of William's Fame
334 Can no accumulated Stores receive.
335 Shut then, auspicious God, Thy Sacred Gate,
336 And make Us Happy, as our King is Great.
337 Be kind, and with a milder Hand,
338 Closing the Volume of the finish'd Age,
339 (Tho' Noble, 'twas an Iron Page)
340 A more delightful Leaf expand,
341 Free from Alarms, and fierce Bellona's Rage:
342 Bid the great Months begin their joyful Round,
343 By Flora some, and some by Ceres Crown'd:
344 Teach the glad Hours to scatter, as they fly,
345 Soft Quiet, gentle Love, and endless Joy:
346 Lead forth the Years for Peace and Plenty fam'd,
347 From Saturn's Rule, and better Metal nam'd.
XXVI.
[Page 147]348 Secure by William's Care let Britain stand;
349 Nor dread the bold Invader's Hand:
350 From adverse Shoars in Safety let Her hear
351 Foreign Calamity, and distant War;
352 Of which let Her, great Heav'n, no Portion bear.
353 Betwixt the Nations let Her hold the Scale;
354 And as She wills, let either Part prevail:
355 Let her glad Vallies smile with wavy Corn:
356 Let fleecy Flocks her rising Hills adorn:
357 Around her Coast let strong Defence be spread:
358 Let fair Abundance on her Breast be shed:
359 And Heav'nly Sweets bloom round the Goddess' Head.
XXVII.
360 Where the white Towers and ancient Roofs did stand,
361 Remains of Wolsey's or great Henry's Hand,
362 To Age now yielding, or devour'd by Flame;
363 Let a young Phenix raise her tow'ring Head:
364 Her Wings with lengthen'd Honour let Her spread;
365 And by her Greatness show her Builder's Fame.
366 August and Open, as the Hero's Mind,
367 Be her capacious Courts design'd:
368 Let ev'ry Sacred Pillar bear
369 Trophies of Arms, and Monuments of War.
370 The King shall there in Parian Marble breath,
371 His Shoulder bleeding fresh: and at His Feet
372 Disarm'd shall lye the threat'ning Death:
373 (For so was saving Jove's Decree compleat.)
374 Behind, That Angel shall be plac'd, whose Shield
375 Sav'd Europe, in the Blow repell'd:
376 On the firm Basis, from his Oozy Bed
377 Boyn shall raise his Laurell'd Head;
378 And his Immortal Stream be known,
379 Artfully waving thro' the wounded Stone.
XXVIII.
[Page 148]380 And Thou, Imperial Windsor, stand inlarg'd,
381 With all the Monarch's Trophies charg'd:
382 Thou, the fair Heav'n, that dost the Stars inclose,
383 Which William's Bosom wears, or Hand bestows
384 On the great Champions who support his Throne,
385 And Virtues nearest to His own.
XXIX.
386 Round Ormond's Knee Thou ty'st the Mystic String,
387 That makes the Knight Companion to the King.
388 From glorious Camps return'd, and foreign Feilds,
389 Bowing before thy sainted Warrior's Shrine,
390 Fast by his great Forefather's Coats, and Shields
391 Blazon'd from Bohun's, or from Butler's Line,
392 He hangs His Arms; nor fears those Arms should shine
393 With an unequal Ray; or that His Deed
394 With paler Glory should recede,
395 Eclips'd by Theirs; or lessen'd by the Fame
396 Ev'n of His own Maternal Nassaw's Name.
XXX.
397 Thou smiling see'st great Dorset's Worth confest,
398 The Ray distinguishing the Patriot's Breast:
399 Born to protect and love, to help and please;
400 Sov'reign of Wit, and Ornament of Peace.
401 O! long as Breath informs this fleeting Frame,
402 Ne'er let me pass in Silence Dorset's Name;
403 Ne'er cease to mention the continu'd Debt,
404 Which the great Patron only would forget,
405 And Duty, long as Life, must study to acquit.
XXXI.
406 Renown'd in Thy Records shall Ca'ndish stand,
407 Asserting Legal Pow'r, and just Command:
408 To the great House thy Favour shall be shown,
409 The Father's Star transmissive to the Son.
410 From Thee the Talbot's and the Seymour's Race
411 Inform'd, Their Sire's immortal Steps shall trace:
[Page 149]412 Happy may their Sons receive
413 The bright Reward, which Thou alone canst give.
XXXII.
414 And if a God these lucky Numbers guide;
415 If sure Apollo o'er the Verse preside;
416 Jersey, belov'd by all (For all must feel
417 The Influence of a Form and Mind,
418 Where comely Grace and constant Virtue dwell,
419 Like mingl'd Streams, more forcible when join'd.)
420 Jersey shall at Thy Altars stand;
421 Shall there receive the Azure Band,
422 That fairest Mark of Favour and of Fame,
423 Familiar to the Vilier's Name.
XXXIII.
[Page 150]424 Science to raise, and Knowledge to enlarge,
425 Be our great Master's future Charge;
426 To write His own Memoirs, and leave His Heirs
427 High Schemes of Government, and Plans of Wars;
428 By fair Rewards our Noble Youth to raise
429 To emulous Merit, and to Thirst of Praise;
430 To lead Them out from Ease e'er opening Dawn,
431 Through the thick Forest and the distant Lawn,
432 Where the fleet Stag employs their ardent Care;
433 And Chases give Them Images of War.
434 To teach Them Vigilance by false Alarms;
435 Inure Them in feign'd Camps to real Arms;
436 Practise Them now to curb the turning Steed,
437 Mocking the Foe; now to his rapid Speed
438 To give the Rein; and in the full Career,
439 To draw the certain Sword, or send the pointed Spear.
XXXIV.
440 Let Him unite His Subjects Hearts,
441 Planting Societies for peaceful Arts;
442 Some that in Nature shall true Knowledge found,
443 And by Experiment make Precept sound;
444 Some that to Morals shall recal the Age,
445 And purge from vitious Dross the sinking Stage;
446 Some that with Care true Eloquence shall teach,
447 And to just Idioms fix our doubtful Speech:
448 That from our Writers distant Realms may know,
449 The Thanks We to our Monarch owe;
450 And Schools profess our Tongue through ev'ry Land,
451 That has invok'd His Aid, or blest His Hand.
XXXV.
452 Let His high Pow'r the drooping Muses rear.
453 The Muses only can reward His Care:
454 'Tis They that guard the great Atrides' Spoils:
455 'Tis They that still renew Ulysses' Toils:
456 To Them by smiling Jove 'twas giv'n, to save
457 Distinguish'd Patriots from the Common Grave;
458 To them, Great William's Glory to recal,
459 When Statues moulder, and when Arches fall.
460 Nor let the Muses, with ungrateful Pride,
461 The Sources of their Treasure hide:
462 The Heroe's Virtue does the String inspire,
463 When with big Joy They strike the living Lyre:
464 On William's Fame their Fate depends:
465 With Him the Song begins: with Him it ends.
466 From the bright Effluence of His Deed
467 They borrow that reflected Light,
[Page 151]468 With which the lasting Lamp They feed,
469 Whose Beams dispel the Damps of envious Night.
XXXVI.
470 Through various Climes, and to each distant Pole
471 In happy Tides let active Commerce rowl:
472 Let Britain's Ships export an Annual Fleece,
473 Richer than Argos brought to ancient Greece;
474 Returning loaden with the shining Stores,
475 Which lye profuse on either India's Shores.
476 As our high Vessels pass their wat'ry Way,
477 Let all the Naval World due Homage pay;
478 With hasty Reverence their Top-Honours lower,
479 Confessing the asserted Power,
480 To Whom by Fate 'twas given, with happy Sway
481 To calm the Earth, and vindicate the Sea.
XXXVII.
482 Our Pray'rs are heard, our Master's Fleets shall go,
483 As far as Winds can bear, or Waters flow,
484 New Lands to make, new Indies to explore,
485 In Worlds unknown to plant Britannia's Power;
486 Nations yet wild by Precept to reclaim,
487 And teach 'em Arms, and Arts, in William's Name.
XXXVIII.
488 With humble Joy, and with respectful Fear
489 The list'ning People shall His Story hear,
490 The Wounds He bore, the Dangers He sustain'd,
491 How far he Conquer'd, and how well he Reign'd;
492 Shall own his Mercy equal to His Fame;
493 And form their Children's Accents to His Name,
494 Enquiring how, and when from Heav'n He came.
[Page 152]495 Their Regal Tyrants shall with Blushes hide
496 Their little Lusts of Arbitrary Pride,
497 Nor bear to see their Vassals ty'd:
498 When William's Virtues raise their opening Thought,
499 His forty Years for Publick Freedom fought,
500 Europe by His Hand sustain'd,
501 His Conquest by His Piety restrain'd,
502 And o'er Himself the last great Triumph gain'd.
XXXIX.
503 No longer shall their wretched Zeal adore
504 Ideas of destructive Power,
505 Spirits that hurt, and Godheads that devour:
506 New Incense They shall bring, new Altars raise,
507 And fill their Temples with a Stranger's Praise;
508 When the Great Father's Character They find
509 Visibly stampt upon the Hero's Mind;
510 And own a present Deity confest,
511 In Valour that preserv'd, and Power that bless'd.
XL.
512 Through the large Convex of the Azure Sky
513 (For thither Nature casts our common Eye)
514 Fierce Meteors shoot their arbitrary Light;
515 And Comets march with lawless Horror bright:
516 These hear no Rule, no righteous Order own;
517 Their Influence dreaded, as their Ways unknown:
518 Thro' threaten'd Lands They wild Destruction throw;
519 'Till ardent Prayer averts the Public Woe:
520 But the bright Orb that blesses all above,
521 The sacred Fire, the real Son of Jove,
[Page 153]522 Rules not His Actions by Capricious Will;
523 Nor by ungovern'd Power declines to Ill:
524 Fix'd by just Laws He goes for ever right:
525 Man knows His Course, and thence adores His Light.
XLI.
526 O Janus! would intreated Fate conspire
527 To grant what Britain's Wishes could require;
528 Above, That Sun should cease his Way to go,
529 E'er William cease to rule, and bless below:
530 But a relentless Destiny
531 Urges all that e'er was born:
532 Snatch'd from her Arms, Britannia once must mourn
533 The Demi-God: The Earthly Half must die.
534 Yet if our Incense can Your Wrath remove;
535 If human Prayers avail on Minds above;
536 Exert, great God, Thy Int'rest in the Sky;
537 Gain each kind Pow'r, each Guardian Deity,
538 That conquer'd by the publick Vow,
539 They bear the dismal Mischief far away:
540 O! long as utmost Nature may allow,
541 Let Them retard the threaten'd Day:
542 Still be our Master's Life Thy happy Care:
543 Still let His Blessings with His Years increase:
544 To His laborious Youth consum'd in War,
545 Add lasting Age, adorn'd and crown'd with Peace:
546 Let twisted Olive bind those Laurels fast,
547 Whose Verdure must for ever last.
XLII.
548 Long let this growing Æra bless His Sway:
549 And let our Sons His present Rule obey:
[Page 154]550 On His sure Virtue long let Earth rely:
551 And late let the Imperial Eagle fly,
552 To bear the Hero thro' His Father's Sky,
553 To Leda's Twins, or He whose glorious Speed
554 On Foot prevail'd, or He who tam'd the Steed;
555 To Hercules, at length absolv'd by Fate
556 From Earthly Toil, and above Envy great;
557 To Virgil's Theme, bright Cytherea's Son,
558 Sire of the Latian, and the British Throne;
559 To all the radiant Names above,
560 Rever'd by Men, and dear to Jove.
561 Late, Janus, let the Nassaw-Star
562 New born, in rising Majesty appear,
563 To triumph over vanquish'd Night,
564 And guide the prosp'rous Mariner
565 With everlasting Beams of friendly Light.
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Prior, Matthew, 1664-1721. Poems on Several Occasions [English poems only]. London: Printed for JACOB TONSON at Shakespear's-Head over against Katharine-Street in the Strand, and JOHN BARBER upon Lambeth-Hill. MDCCXVIII., 1718, pp. []-154. [42],506,[6]p.: ill.; 2°. (ESTC T075639) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [H 6.8 Art.].)
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Other works by Matthew Prior
- ADRIANI MORIENTIS ad Animam Suam. IMITATED. ()
- ALMA: OR, THE PROGRESS OF THE MIND. In Three Cantos. ()
- Another Reasonable Affliction. ()
- ANOTHER [EPIGRAM]. ()
- ANOTHER [EPIGRAM]. ()
- ANOTHER [EPIGRAM]. ()
- ANOTHER [Reasonable Affliction]. ()
- ANOTHER [TRUE MAID]. ()
- Answer to CLOE Jealous, in the same Stile. The AUTHOR sick. ()
- A Better Answer. ()
- CANTATA. ()
- CELIA TO DAMON. ()
- THE CHAMELEON. ()
- CHARITY. A PARAPHRASE On the Thirteenth Chapter of the First Epistle TO THE CORINTHIANS. ()
- CLOE HUNTING. ()
- CLOE JEALOUS. ()
- A Critical Moment. ()
- CUPID and GANYMEDE. ()
- CUPID Mistaken. ()
- Democritus and Heraclitus. ()
- THE DESPAIRING SHEPHERD. ()
- The DOVE. ()
- A Dutch Proverb. ()
- An English BALLAD, On the Taking of NAMUR By the King of Great Britain, 1695. ()
- AN ENGLISH PADLOCK. ()
- Engraven on a COLUMN In the Church of Halstead in Essex, The spire of which, burnt down by Lightning, was rebuilt at the Expense of Mr. Samuel Fiske, 1717. ()
- EPIGRAM. ()
- An EPIGRAM. Written to the Duke de Noailles. ()
- EPILOGUE TO LUCIUS. ()
- EPILOGUE TO PHÆDRA. ()
- AN EPISTLE TO FLEETWOOD SHEPHARD, Esq ()
- An EPISTLE, Desiring the Queen's Picture. Written at Paris, 1714. But left unfinish'd by the sudden News of Her Majesty's Death. ()
- An EPITAPH. ()
- Erle ROBERT's MICE. In Chaucer's Stile. ()
- An Extempore Invitation TO THE EARL of OXFORD, Lord High Treasurer. 1712. ()
- THE FIRST HYMN OF CALLIMACHUS. TO JUPITER. ()
- The FLIES. ()
- A FLOWER, Painted by SIMON VARELST. ()
- For my own Tomb-stone. ()
- FOR THE NEW YEAR: TO THE SUN. Intended To be Sung before Their Majesties on New-Years Day. 1693/4. (); HYMN to the SUN. Set by Dr. PURCEL, And Sung before their Majesties On New-Years-Day, 1694. ()
- FOR The Plan of a Fountain, On which is The Effigies of the Queen on a Triumphal Arch, The Figure of the Duke of Marlborough, beneath, and The Chief Rivers of the World round the whole Work. ()
- Forma Bonum Fragile. ()
- From the Greek. ()
- The Garland. ()
- GUALTERUS DANISTONUS. Ad Amicos. IMITATED. ()
- HANS CARVEL. ()
- HENRY and EMMA, A POEM, Upon the Model of The Nut-brown Maid. To CLOE. ()
- Her Right Name. ()
- Horace Lib. I. Epist. IX. Septimius, Claudi, nimirum intelligit unus, Quanti me facias: &c. Imitated. To the Right Honorable Mr. HARLEY. ()
- IN IMITATION OF ANACREON. ()
- In the same [Chaucer's] Style. ()
- In the same [Chaucer's] Style. ()
- THE LADLE. ()
- The Lady who offers her Looking-Glass to Venus. ()
- THE LADY's LOOKING-GLASS. ()
- A LETTER TO Monsieur Boileau Despreaux; Occasion'd by the VICTORY at BLENHEIM, 1704. ()
- Lisetta's Reply. ()
- LOVE Disarm'd. ()
- A LOVER's ANGER. ()
- MERCURY and CUPID. ()
- MERRY ANDREW. ()
- AN ODE, &c. ()
- AN ODE, Humbly Inscrib'd to the QUEEN. ON THE Glorious Success OF Her MAJESTY's Arms, 1706. Written in Imitation of Spencer's Style. ()
- An ODE. ()
- An ODE. ()
- An ODE. ()
- An ODE. Inscribed to the Memory of the Honble Col. George Villiers, Drowned in the River Piava, in the Country of Friuli. 1703. In Imitation of Horace, Ode 28. Lib. 1. ()
- On BEAUTY. A RIDDLE. ()
- On Exodus iii. 14. I am that I am. An ODE. Written in 1688, as an Exercise at St. John's College, Cambridge. ()
- On the Same Person. ()
- On the same Subject. ()
- On the Same. ()
- PALLAS and VENUS. AN EPIGRAM. ()
- A Passage in the MORIÆ ENCOMIUM of Erasmus Imitated. ()
- PAULO PURGANTI AND His WIFE: An Honest, but a Simple Pair. ()
- PHYLLIS's AGE. ()
- Picture of Seneca dying in a Bath. By Jordain. At the Right Honorable the Earl of Exeter's at Burleigh-House. ()
- A PINDARIQUE ON His Majesties Birth-Day. By Mr. PRIOR Sung before Their Majesties at WHITEHALL, The Fourth of November 1690. A Prophecy by APOLLO. ()
- PROLOGUE, SPOKEN AT COURT before the QUEEN, On Her Majesty's Birth-Day, 1704. ()
- Protogenes and Apelles. ()
- The Question, to Lisetta. ()
- Quid sit futurum Cras fuge quærere. ()
- A Reasonable Affliction. ()
- THE SECOND HYMN OF CALLIMACHUS. TO APOLLO. ()
- SEEING THE DUKE of ORMOND's PICTURE, AT Sir GODFREY KNELLER's. ()
- A SIMILE. ()
- SOLOMON ON THE VANITY OF THE WORLD. A POEM In THREE BOOKS. ()
- A SONG. ()
- A SONG. ()
- The THIEF AND THE CORDELIER, A BALLAD. ()
- To a LADY: She refusing to continue a Dispute with me, and leaving me in the Argument. An ODE. ()
- To a Person who wrote Ill, and spake Worse against Me. ()
- TO A Young Gentleman in Love. A TALE. ()
- To CLOE Weeping. ()
- TO Dr. SHERLOCK, ON HIS PRACTICAL DISCOURSE Concerning Death. ()
- To Mr. HARLEY. Wounded by Guiscard. 1711. ()
- TO Mr. HOWARD: An ODE. ()
- TO My LORD BUCKHURST, Very Young, Playing with a CAT. ()
- TO THE AUTHOR OF THE Foregoing PASTORAL. ()
- TO THE COUNTESS of DORSET. Written in her Milton. ()
- TO THE COUNTESS of EXETER, Playing on the Lute. ()
- To the Honorable CHARLES MONTAGUE, Esq ()
- TO THE KING, AN ODE, &c. (); An ODE. Presented to the KING, on his Majesty's Arrival in Holland, AFTER The QUEEN's Death. 1695. ()
- TO THE LADY DURSLEY On the same Subject. ()
- TO THE Lady Elizabeth Harley, Since Marchioness of Carmarthen, On a Column of Her Drawing. ()
- A TRUE MAID. ()
- VENUS Mistaken. ()
- VERSES Humbly presented to the KING At His Arrival in HOLLAND: After the DISCOVERY Of the late horrid CONSPIRACY Against His most Sacred Person. (); Presented to the KING, AT HIS ARRIVAL in HOLLAND, AFTER THE Discovery of the Conspiracy 1696. ()
- Written at Paris, 1700. In the Beginning of ROBE's GEOGRAPHY. ()
- Written in an OVID. ()
- Written in Montaigne's Essays, Given to the Duke of Shrewsbury in France, after the Peace, 1713. ()
- Written in the Beginning of MEZERAY's History of FRANCE. ()
- Written in the Nouveaux Interests des Princes de l'Europe. ()