The Poetical Works of John Dryden Volume I Part 19

Long David's patience waits relief to bring, With all the indulgence of a lawful king, Expecting still the troubled waves would cease, But found the raging billows still increase.

The crowd, whose insolence forbearance swells, While he forgives too far, almost rebels. 730 At last his deep resentments silence broke, The imperial palace shook, while thus he spoke--

Then Justice wait, and Rigour take her time, For lo! our mercy is become our crime: While halting Punishment her stroke delays, Our sovereign right, Heaven's sacred trust, decays!

For whose support even subjects' interest calls, Woe to that kingdom where the monarch falls!

That prince who yields the least of regal sway, So far his people's freedom does betray. 740 Right lives by law, and law subsists by power; Disarm the shepherd, wolves the flock devour.

Hard lot of empire o'er a stubborn race, Which Heaven itself in vain has tried with grace!

When will our reason's long-charm'd eyes unclose, And Israel judge between her friends and foes?

When shall we see expired deceivers' sway, And credit what our G.o.d and monarchs say?

Dissembled patriots, bribed with Egypt's gold, Even Sanhedrims in blind obedience hold; 750 Those patriots falsehood in their actions see, And judge by the pernicious fruit the tree.

If aught for which so loudly they declaim, Religion, laws, and freedom, were their aim, Our senates in due methods they had led, To avoid those mischiefs which they seem'd to dread: But first, e'er yet they propp'd the sinking state, To impeach and charge, as urged by private hate, Proves that they ne'er believed the fears they press'd, But barbarously destroy'd the nation's rest! 760 Oh! whither will ungovern'd senates drive, And to what bounds licentious votes arrive?

When their injustice we are press'd to share, The monarch urged to exclude the lawful heir; Are princes thus distinguish'd from the crowd, And this the privilege of royal blood?

But grant we should confirm the wrongs they press, His sufferings yet were than the people's less; Condemn'd for life the murdering sword to wield, And on their heirs entail a b.l.o.o.d.y field. 770 Thus madly their own freedom they betray, And for the oppression which they fear make way; Succession fix'd by Heaven, the kingdom's bar, Which once dissolved, admits the flood of war; Waste, rapine, spoil, without the a.s.sault begin, And our mad tribes supplant the fence within.

Since then their good they will not understand, 'Tis time to take the monarch's power in hand; Authority and force to join with skill, And save the lunatics against their will. 780 The same rough means that 'suage the crowd, appease Our senates raging with the crowd's disease.

Henceforth unbia.s.s'd measures let them draw From no false gloss, but genuine text of law; Nor urge those crimes upon religion's score, Themselves so much in Jebusites abhor.

Whom laws convict, and only they, shall bleed, Nor pharisees by pharisees be freed.

Impartial justice from our throne shall shower, All shall have right, and we our sovereign power. 790

He said, the attendants heard with awful joy, And glad presages their fix'd thoughts employ; From Hebron now the suffering heir return'd, A realm that long with civil discord mourn'd; Till his approach, like some arriving G.o.d, Composed and heal'd the place of his abode; The deluge check'd that to Judea spread, And stopp'd sedition at the fountain's head.

Thus, in forgiving, David's paths he drives, And, chased from Israel, Israel's peace contrives. 800 The field confess'd his power in arms before, And seas proclaim'd his triumphs to the sh.o.r.e; As n.o.bly has his sway in Hebron shown, How fit to inherit G.o.dlike David's throne.

Through Sion's streets his glad arrival's spread, And conscious faction shrinks her snaky head; His train their sufferings think o'erpaid to see The crowd's applause with virtue once agree.

Success charms all, but zeal for worth distress'd, A virtue proper to the brave and best; 810 'Mongst whom was Jothran--Jothran always bent To serve the crown, and loyal by descent; Whose constancy so firm, and conduct just, Deserved at once two royal masters' trust; Who Tyre's proud arms had manfully withstood On seas, and gather'd laurels from the flood; Of learning yet no portion was denied, Friend to the Muses and the Muses' pride.

Nor can Benaiah's worth forgotten lie, Of steady soul when public storms were high; 820 Whose conduct, while the Moor fierce onsets made, Secured at once our honour and our trade.

Such were the chiefs who most his sufferings mourn'd, And view'd with silent joy the prince return'd; While those that sought his absence to betray, Press first their nauseous false respects to pay; Him still the officious hypocrites molest, And with malicious duty break his rest.

While real transports thus his friends employ, And foes are loud in their dissembled joy, 830 His triumphs, so resounded far and near, Miss'd not his young ambitious rival's ear; And as when joyful hunters' clamorous train, Some slumbering lion wakes in Moab's plain, Who oft had forced the bold a.s.sailants yield, And scatter'd his pursuers through the field, Disdaining, furls his mane and tears the ground, His eyes inflaming all the desert round, With roar of seas directs his chasers' way, Provokes from far, and dares them to the fray: 840 Such rage storm'd now in Absalom's fierce breast, Such indignation his fired eyes confess'd.

Where now was the instructor of his pride?

Slept the old pilot in so rough a tide, Whose wiles had from the happy sh.o.r.e betray'd, And thus on shelves the credulous youth convey'd?

In deep revolving thoughts he weighs his state, Secure of craft, nor doubts to baffle fate; At least, if his storm'd bark must go adrift, To balk his charge, and for himself to shift, 850 In which his dexterous wit had oft been shown, And in the wreck of kingdoms saved his own.

But now, with more than common danger press'd, Of various resolutions stands possess'd, Perceives the crowd's unstable zeal decay Lest their recanting chief the cause betray, Who on a father's grace his hopes may ground, And for his pardon with their heads compound.

Him therefore, e'er his fortune slip her time.

The statesman plots to engage in some bold crime 860 Past pardon--whether to attempt his bed, Or threat with open arms the royal head, Or other daring method, and unjust, That may confirm him in the people's trust.

But failing thus to ensnare him, nor secure How long his foil'd ambition may endure, Plots next to lay him by as past his date, And try some new pretender's luckier fate; Whose hopes with equal toil he would pursue, Nor care what claimer's crown'd, except the true. 870 Wake, Absalom! approaching ruin shun, And see, O see, for whom thou art undone!

How are thy honours and thy fame betray'd, The property of desperate villains made!

Lost power and conscious fears their crimes create, And guilt in them was little less than fate; But why shouldst thou, from every grievance free, Forsake thy vineyards for their stormy sea?

For thee did Canaan's milk and honey flow, Love dress'd thy bowers, and laurels sought thy brow; 880 Preferment, wealth, and power thy va.s.sals were, And of a monarch all things but the care.

Oh! should our crimes again that curse draw down, And rebel-arms once more attempt the crown, Sure ruin waits unhappy Absalom, Alike by conquest or defeat undone.

Who could relentless see such youth and charms Expire with wretched fate in impious arms?

A prince so form'd, with earth's and Heaven's applause, To triumph o'er crown'd heads in David's cause: 890 Or grant him victor, still his hopes must fail, Who, conquering, would not for himself prevail; The faction whom he trusts for future sway, Him and the public would alike betray; Amongst themselves divide the captive state, And found their hydra-empire in his fate!

Thus having beat the clouds with painful flight, The pitied youth, with sceptres in his sight (So have their cruel politics decreed), Must by that crew, that made him guilty, bleed! 900 For, could their pride brook any prince's sway, Whom but mild David would they choose to obey?

Who once at such a gentle reign repine, The fall of monarchy itself design: From hate to that their reformations spring, And David not their grievance, but the king.

Seized now with panic fear the faction lies, Lest this clear truth strike Absalom's charm'd eyes, Lest he perceive, from long enchantment free, What all beside the flatter'd youth must see: 910 But whate'er doubts his troubled bosom swell, Fair carriage still became Achitophel, Who now an envious festival installs, And to survey their strength the faction calls,-- Which fraud, religious worship too must gild.

But oh! how weakly does sedition build!

For lo! the royal mandate issues forth, Dashing at once their treason, zeal, and mirth!

So have I seen disastrous chance invade, Where careful emmets had their forage laid, 920 Whether fierce Vulcan's rage the furzy plain Had seized, engender'd by some careless swain; Or swelling Neptune lawless inroads made, And to their cell of store his flood convey'd; The commonwealth broke up, distracted go, And in wild haste their loaded mates o'erthrow: Even so our scatter'd guests confusedly meet, With boil'd, baked, roast, all justling in the street; Dejecting all, and ruefully dismay'd, For shekel without treat or treason paid. 930 Sedition's dark eclipse now fainter shows, More bright each hour the royal planet grows, Of force the clouds of envy to disperse, In kind conjunction of a.s.sisting stars.

Here, labouring muse! those glorious chiefs relate, That turn'd the doubtful scale of David's fate; The rest of that ill.u.s.trious band rehea.r.s.e, Immortalized in laurell'd Asaph's verse: Hard task! yet will not I thy flight recall, View heaven, and then enjoy thy glorious fall. 940

First write Bezaliel, whose ill.u.s.trious name Forestalls our praise, and gives his poet fame.

The Kenites' rocky province his command, A barren limb of fertile Canaan's land; Which for its generous natives yet could be Held worthy such a president as he.

Bezaliel, with each grace and virtue fraught, Serene his looks, serene his life and thought; On whom so largely nature heap'd her store, There scarce remain'd for arts to give him more! 950 To aid the crown and state his greatest zeal, His second care that service to conceal; Of dues observant, firm to every trust, And to the needy always more than just; Who truth from specious falsehood can divide, Has all the gownsmen's skill without their pride.

Thus crown'd with worth, from heights of honour won, Sees all his glories copied in his son, Whose forward fame should every muse engage-- Whose youth boasts skill denied to others' age. 960 Men, manners, language, books of n.o.blest kind, Already are the conquest of his mind; Whose loyalty before its date was prime, Nor waited the dull course of rolling time: The monster faction early he dismay'd, And David's cause long since confess'd his aid.

Brave Abdael o'er the prophet's school was placed-- Abdael with all his father's virtue graced; A hero who, while stars look'd wondering down, Without one Hebrew's blood restored the crown. 970 That praise was his; what therefore did remain For following chiefs, but boldly to maintain That crown restored? and in this rank of fame, Brave Abdael with the first a place must claim.

Proceed, ill.u.s.trious, happy chief! proceed, Foreseize the garlands for thy brow decreed, While the inspired tribe attend with n.o.blest strain To register the glories thou shalt gain: For sure the dew shall Gilboa's hills forsake, And Jordan mix his stream with Sodom's lake; 980 Or seas retired, their secret stores disclose, And to the sun their scaly brood expose, Or swell'd above the cliffs their billows raise, Before the muses leave their patron's praise.

Eliab our next labour does invite, And hard the task to do Eliab right.

Long with the royal wanderer he roved, And firm in all the turns of fortune proved.

Such ancient service and desert so large Well claim'd the royal household for his charge. 990 His age with only one mild heiress bless'd, In all the bloom of smiling nature dress'd, And bless'd again to see his flower allied To David's stock, and made young Othniel's bride.

The bright restorer of his father's youth, Devoted to a son's and subject's truth; Resolved to bear that prize of duty home, So bravely sought, while sought by Absalom.

Ah, prince! the ill.u.s.trious planet of thy birth, And thy more powerful virtue, guard thy worth! 1000 That no Achitophel thy ruin boast; Israel too much in one such wreck has lost.

Even envy must consent to Helon's worth, Whose soul, though Egypt glories in his birth, Could for our captive-ark its zeal retain.

And Pharaoh's altars in their pomp disdain: To slight his G.o.ds was small; with n.o.bler pride, He all the allurements of his court defied; Whom profit nor example could betray, But Israel's friend, and true to David's sway. 1010 What acts of favour in his province fall On merit he confers, and freely all.

Our list of n.o.bles next let Amri grace, Whose merits claim'd the Abethdin's high place; Who, with a loyalty that did excel, Brought all the endowments of Achitophel.

Sincere was Amri, and not only knew, But Israel's sanctions into practice drew; Our laws, that did a boundless ocean seem, Were coasted all, and fathom'd all by him. 1020 No rabbin speaks like him their mystic sense, So just, and with such charms of eloquence: To whom the double blessing does belong, With Moses' inspiration, Aaron's tongue.

Than Sheva none more loyal zeal have shown, Wakeful as Judah's lion for the crown; Who for that cause still combats in his age, For which his youth with danger did engage.

In vain our factious priests the cant revive; In vain seditious scribes with libel strive 1030 To inflame the crowd; while he with watchful eye Observes, and shoots their treasons as they fly; Their weekly frauds his keen replies detect; He undeceives more fast than they infect: So Moses, when the pest on legions prey'd, Advanced his signal, and the plague was stay'd.

Once more, my fainting muse! thy pinions try, And strength's exhausted store let love supply.

What tribute, Asaph, shall we render thee?

We'll crown thee with a wreath from thy own tree! 1040 Thy laurel grove no envy's flash can blast; The song of Asaph shall for ever last.

With wonder late posterity shall dwell On Absalom and false Achitophel: Thy strains shall be our slumbering prophets' dream, And when our Sion virgins sing their theme; Our jubilees shall with thy verse be graced, The song of Asaph shall for ever last.

How fierce his satire loosed! restrain'd, how tame!

How tender of the offending young man's fame! 1050 How well his worth, and brave adventures styled, Just to his virtues, to his error mild!

No page of thine that fears the strictest view, But teems with just reproof, or praise as due; Not Eden could a fairer prospect yield, All Paradise without one barren field: Whose wit the censure of his foes has pa.s.s'd-- The song of Asaph shall for ever last.

What praise for such rich strains shall we allow?

What just rewards the grateful crown bestow? 1060 While bees in flowers rejoice, and flowers in dew, While stars and fountains to their course are true; While Judah's throne, and Sion's rock stand fast, The song of Asaph and the fame shall last!

Still Hebron's honour'd, happy soil retains Our royal hero's beauteous, dear remains; Who now sails off with winds nor wishes slack, To bring his sufferings' bright companion back.

But e'er such transport can our sense employ, A bitter grief must poison half our joy; 1070 Nor can our coasts restored those blessings see Without a bribe to envious destiny!

Cursed Sodom's doom for ever fix the tide Where by inglorious chance the valiant died!

Give not insulting Askelon to know, Nor let Gath's daughters triumph in our woe; No sailor with the news swell Egypt's pride, By what inglorious fate our valiant died.

Weep, Arnon! Jordan, weep thy fountains dry!

While Sion's rock dissolves for a supply. 1080

Calm were the elements, night's silence deep, The waves scarce murmuring, and the winds asleep; Yet fate for ruin takes so still an hour, And treacherous sands the princely bark devour; Then death unworthy seized a generous race, To virtue's scandal, and the stars' disgrace!

Oh! had the indulgent powers vouchsafed to yield, Instead of faithless shelves, a listed field; A listed field of Heaven's and David's foes, Fierce as the troops that did his youth oppose, 1090 Each life had on his slaughter'd heap retired, Not tamely, and unconquering, thus expired: But destiny is now their only foe, And dying, even o'er that they triumph too; With loud last breaths their master's 'scape applaud, Of whom kind force could scarce the fates defraud; Who for such followers lost, O matchless mind!

At his own safety now almost repined!

Say, royal Sir! by all your fame in arms, Your praise in peace, and by Urania's charms, 1100 If all your sufferings past so nearly press'd, Or pierced with half so painful grief your breast?

Thus some diviner muse her hero forms, Not soothed with soft delights, but toss'd in storms; Nor stretch'd on roses in the myrtle grove, Nor crowns his days with mirth, his nights with love, But far removed in thundering camps is found, His slumbers short, his bed the herbless ground.

In tasks of danger always seen the first, Feeds from the hedge, and slakes with ice his thirst, 1110 Long must his patience strive with fortune's rage, And long-opposing G.o.ds themselves engage; Must see his country flame, his friends destroy'd, Before the promised empire be enjoy'd.

Such toil of fate must build a man of fame, And such, to Israel's crown, the G.o.dlike David came.

What sudden beams dispel the clouds so fast, Whose drenching rains laid all our vineyards waste?