Long let this growing æra blefs his sway;
And let our fons his prefent rule obey :
On his fure virtue long let earth rely,
And late let the imperial eagle fly,
To bear the Hero through his father's sky,
To Leda's twins, or he whofe glorious speed
On foot prevail'd, or he who tam'd the steed;
To Hercules, at length abfolv'd by fate
From earthly toil, and above envy great;
To Virgil's theme, bright Cytherea's fon,
Sire of the Latian and the British throne :
To all the radiant names above,
Rever'd by men, and dear to Jove;
Late, Janus, let the Naffau-star
New-born, in rifing majefty appear,
To triumph over vanquish'd night,
And guide the profperous mariner
With everlasting beams of friendly light.
The REMEDY worse than the DISEASE.
SENT for Ratcliffe; was fo ill,
That other Doctors gave me over:
He felt my pulfe, prefcrib'd his pill,
And I was likely to recover.
But, when the wit began to wheeze,
And wine had warm'd the Politician,
Cur'd yesterday of my disease,
-I dy'd last night of my Phyfician.
Infcribed to the Memory of
The Honourable Colonel GEORGE VILLIERS, Drowned in the River PIAVA, 1703.
In Imitation of HORACE, I Od. xxviii.
"Te maris & terræ numeroque carentis arenæ "Menforem cohibent, Archyta, &c."
AY, dearest Villiers, poor departed friend
(Since fleeting life thus fuddenly must end);
Say, what did all thy bufy hopes avail,
That anxious thou from pole to pole didst sail,
Ere on thy chin the fpringing beard began
To spread a doubtful down, and promise man?
What profited thy thoughts, and toils, and cares,
In vigour more confirm'd, and riper years,
To wake,, ere morning dawn, to loud alarms,
And march till clofe of night in heavy arms;
To fcorn the fummer's funs and winter's fnows,
And fearch through every clime thy country's foes
That thou might'ft Fortune to thy fide engage;
That gentle Peace might quell Bellona's rage;
And Anna's bounty crown her foldier's hoary age?
In vain we think that free-will'd man has power
To haften or protract th' appointed hour.
Our term of life depends not on our deed :
Before our birth our funeral was decreed.
Nor aw'd by forefight, nor mifled by chance,
Imperious Death directs his ebon lance;
Peoples great Henry's tombs, and leads up Holben's
Alike muft every ftate and every age
Suftain the univerfal tyrant's rage:
For neither William's power, nor Mary's charms,
Could or repel or pacify his arms.
Young Churchill fell, as life began to bloom;
And Bradford's trembling age expects the tomb :
Wisdom and eloquence in vain would plead
One moment's refpite for the learned head :
Judges of writings and of men have dy'd;
Mæcenas, Sackville, Socrates, and Hyde:
And in their various turns the fons must tread
Thofe gloomy journies which their fires have led.
The ancient Sage, who did fo long maintain,
That bodies die, but fouls return again,.
With all the births and deaths he had in ftore,
Went out Pythagoras, and came no more.
And modern Afgyll, whofe capricious thought
Is yet with ftores of wilder notions fraught,
Too foon convinc'd, fhall yield that fleeting breath,
Which play'd fo idly with the darts of death.
Some from the stranded veffel force their way;
Fearful of fate, they meet it in the fea:
Some, who efcape the fury of the wave,
Sicken on earth, and fink into a grave:
In journies or at home, in war or peace,
By hardships many, many fall by ease.
Each changing feafon does its poifon bring;
Rheums chill the winter, agues blast the spring:
Wet, dry, cold, hot, at the appointed hour,
All act fubfervient to the tyrant's power:
And, when obedient Nature knows his will,
A fly, a grape-ftone, or a hair, can kill.
For reftlefs Proferpine for ever treads
In paths unfeen, o'er our devoted heads ;
And on the fpacious land, and liquid main,
Spreads flow difease, or darts afflictive pain :
Variety of deaths confirm her endless reign.
On curft Piava's banks the Goddefs ftood,
Shew'd her dire warrant to the rifing flood;
When what I long muft love, and long muft mourn,
With fatal fpeed was urging his return;
In his dear country, to difperfè his care,
And arm himfelf by reft for future war;
To chide his anxious friends officious fears,
And promife to their joys his elder years:
Oh! deftin'd head!' and oh! fevere decree!
Nor native country thou, nor friend, fhalt fee;
Nor war haft thou to wage; nor year to come :
Impending death is thine, and instant doom.
Hark! the imperious Goddefs is obey'd: Winds murmur; fnows defcend; and waters spread.. Oh! kinfman, friend-Oh! vain are all the cries Of human voice, ftrong Deftiny replies:
Weep, you on earth; for he fhall fleep below:
Thence none return, and thither all must go.
Whoe'er thou art, whom choice or business leads
To this fad river, or the neighbouring meads;
If thou may'st happen on the dreary shores
To find the object which this verse deplores,
Cleanse the pale corpfe with a religious hand
From the polluting weed and common fand;
Lay the dead Hero graceful in a grave
(The only honour he can now receive),
And fragrant mould upon his body throw,
And plant the warrior-laurel o'er his brow :
Light lie the earth, and flourish green the bough.
So may juft Heaven fecure thy future life
From foreign dangers and domestic ftrife!
And, when th' infernal judge's dismal power
From the dark urn fhall throw thy deftin'd hour ;
When, yielding to the fentence, breathlefs thou
And pale fhalt lie, as what thou buriest now;
May fome kind friend the piteous object fee,
And equal rites perform to that which once was thee !'
PROLOGUE,
Spoken at COURT before the QUEEN,
On her MAJESTY's Birth-Day, 1704.
SHINE forth, ye planets, with diftinguifh'd light,
As when ye hallow'd firft this happy night:
Again, tranfmit your friendly beams to earth,
As when Britannia joy'd for Anna's birth..
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