Poetical Works of Edmund Waller and Sir John Denham Part 27

4 Could the resolve of love's neglect Preserve you from the violation Of coming years, then more respect Were due to so divine a fashion, Nor would I indulge my pa.s.sion.

[1] 'Egyptian Queen': Cleopatra.

TO MR GEORGE SANDYS,[1]

ON HIS TRANSLATION OF SOME PARTS OF THE BIBLE.

1 How bold a work attempts that pen, Which would enrich our vulgar tongue With the high raptures of those men Who, here, with the same spirit sung Wherewith they now a.s.sist the choir Of angels, who their songs admire!

2 Whatever those inspired souls Were urged to express, did shake The aged deep and both the poles; Their num'rous thunder could awake Dull earth, which does with Heaven consent To all they wrote, and all they meant.

3 Say, sacred bard! what could bestow Courage on thee to soar so high?

Tell me, brave friend! what help'd thee so To shake off all mortality?

To light this torch, thou hast climb'd higher Than he who stole celestial fire.[2]

[1] 'Sandys,' besides his 'Ovid,' which Pope read and relished in his boyhood, versified some of the poetical parts of the Bible.

[2] 'Celestial fire': Prometheus.

TO THE KING, UPON HIS MAJESTY'S HAPPY RETURN.

The rising sun complies with our weak sight, First gilds the clouds, then shows his globe of light At such a distance from our eyes, as though He knew what harm his hasty beams would do.

But your full majesty at once breaks forth In the meridian of your reign. Your worth, Your youth, and all the splendour of your state, (Wrapp'd up, till now, in clouds of adverse fate!) With such a flood of light invade our eyes, And our spread hearts with so great joy surprise, 10 That if your grace incline that we should live, You must not, sir! too hastily forgive.

Our guilt preserves us from th'excess of joy, Which scatters spirits, and would life destroy.

All are obnoxious! and this faulty land, Like fainting Esther, does before you stand, Watching your sceptre. The revolted sea Trembles to think she did your foes obey.

Great Britain, like blind Polypheme, of late, In a wild rage, became the scorn and hate 20 Of her proud neighbours, who began to think She, with the weight of her own force, would sink.

But you are come, and all their hopes are vain; This giant isle has got her eye again.

Now she might spare the ocean, and oppose Your conduct to the fiercest of her foes.

Naked, the Graces guarded you from all Dangers abroad; and now your thunder shall.

Princes that saw you, diff'rent pa.s.sions prove, For now they dread the object of their love; 30 Nor without envy can behold his height, Whose conversation was their late delight.

So Semele, contented with the rape Of Jove disguised in a mortal shape, When she beheld his hands with lightning fill'd, And his bright rays, was with amazement kill'd.

And though it be our sorrow, and our crime, To have accepted life so long a time Without you here, yet does this absence gain No small advantage to your present reign; 40 For, having view'd the persons and the things, The councils, state, and strength of Europe's kings, You know your work; ambition to restrain, And set them bounds, as Heaven does to the main.

We have you now with ruling wisdom fraught, Not such as books, but such as practice, taught.

So the lost sun, while least by us enjoy'd, Is the whole night for our concern employ'd; He ripens spices, fruits, and precious gums, Which from remotest regions. .h.i.ther comes. 50

This seat of yours (from th'other world removed) Had Archimedes known, he might have proved His engine's force, fix'd here; your power and skill Make the world's motion wait upon your will.

Much suffring monarch! the first English born That has the crown of these three nations worn!

How has your patience, with the barb'rous rage Of your own soil, contended half an age?

Till (your tried virtue, and your sacred word, At last preventing your unwilling sword) 60 Armies and fleets which kept you out so long, Own'd their great sov'reign, and redress'd his wrong; When straight the people, by no force compell'd, Nor longer from their inclination held, Break forth at once, like powder set on fire, And, with a n.o.ble rage, their king require.

So th'injured sea, which from her wonted course, To gain some acres, avarice did force, If the new banks, neglected once, decay, No longer will from her old channel stay; 70 Raging, the late got land she overflows, And all that's built upon't to ruin goes.

Offenders now, the chiefest, do begin To strive for grace, and expiate their sin.

All winds blow fair, that did the world embroil; Your vipers treacle yield, and scorpions oil.

If then such praise the Macedonian[1] got, For having rudely cut the Gordian knot, What glory's due to him that could divide Such ravell'd interests; has the knot untied, 80 And without stroke so smooth a pa.s.sage made, Where craft and malice such impeachments laid?

But while we praise you, you ascribe it all To His high hand, which threw the untouch'd wall Of self-demolish'd Jericho so low; His angel 'twas that did before you go, Tamed savage hearts, and made affections yield, Like ears of corn when wind salutes the field.

Thus, patience-crown'd, like Job's, your trouble ends, Having your foes to pardon, and your friends; 90 For, though your courage were so firm a rock, What private virtue could endure the shock?

Like your Great Master, you the storm withstood, And pitied those who love with frailty show'd.

Rude Indians, tort'ring all the royal race, Him with the throne and dear-bought sceptre grace That suffers best. What region could be found, 97 Where your heroic head had not been crown'd?

The next experience of your mighty mind Is, how you combat Fortune, now she's kind.

And this way, too, you are victorious found; She flatters with the same success she frown'd.

While to yourself severe, to others kind, With pow'r unbounded, and a will confined, Of this vast empire you possess the care, The softer parts fall to the people's share.

Safety, and equal government, are things Which subjects make as happy as their kings.

Faith, Law, and Piety, (that banished train!) Justice and Truth, with you return again. 110 The city's trade, and country's easy life, Once more shall flourish without fraud or strife.

Your reign no less a.s.sures the ploughman's peace, Than the warm sun advances his increase; And does the shepherds as securely keep From all their fears, as they preserve their sheep.

But, above all, the Muse-inspired train Triumph, and raise their drooping heads again!

Kind Heaven at once has, in your person, sent Their sacred judge, their guard, and argument. 120

Nec magis expressi vultus per ahenea signa, Quam per vatis opus mores, animique, virorum Clarorum apparent.... HOR.

[1] 'Macedonian': Alexander.

TO A LADY, FROM WHOM HE RECEIVED THE COPY OF THE POEM ENt.i.tLED 'OF A TREE CUT IN PAPER,' WHICH FOR MANY YEARS HAD BEEN LOST.

Nothing lies hid from radiant eyes; All they subdue become their spies.

Secrets, as choicest jewels, are Presented to oblige the fair; No wonder, then, that a lost thought Should there be found, where souls are caught.

The picture of fair Venus (that For which men say the G.o.ddess sat) Was lost, till Lely from your book Again that glorious image took.

If Virtue's self were lost, we might From your fair mind new copies write.

All things but one you can restore; The heart you get returns no more.

TO THE QUEEN, UPON HER MAJESTY'S BIRTHDAY, AFTER HER HAPPY RECOVERY FROM A DANGEROUS SICKNESS.[1]