THE COURT OF

NEPTUNE.

ON KING WILLIAM'S RETURN FROM

HOLLAND, 1699.

ADDRESSED TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

CHARLES MONTAGUE, ESQ. BEGIN, celeftial Muse! a tuneful strain

Of Albion's prince conducted o'er the main ; Of courts conceal'd in waves, and Neptune's watery

reign;

Sing, from beneath, how the green deity

Rofe to the fovereign of the British fea;

To power confefs'd, the triple mace refign'd,
O'er-rul'd the floods, and charg'd the rebel wind;
Secur'd his paffage homeward, and reftor'd,
Safe to the loveliest ifle, the best lov'd lord.

The generous name of MONTAGUE has long
Been fam'd in verfe, and grac'd the poet's fong;
In verfe, himself can hippy wonders do,
The beft of patrons, and of poets too.
Amid the skillful choir that court his ear,

If he vouchfafe thefe ruder lays to hear,
His bright example, while to him I fing,

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Shall raife my feeble flight, and mount me on the wing.
On Albion's Eaftern coaft, an * ancient town
O'erlooks the fea, to mariners well known;
Where the swift + Stourus ends his fnaky train,
And pays his watery tribute to the main ;

*Harwich.

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Stourus,

+ The River Stoure, that runs between Suffolk and Effex.

Stourus, whofe ftream, prolific as it glides,
Two fertile counties in its course divides,
And rolls to feaward with a lover's pace :

There beauteous Orwell meets his fond embrace; 25
They mix their amorous ftreams, the briny tide
Receives them join'd ; their crooked shores provide
A fpacious bay within, for anchor'd ships to ride.
Here, on the margin of the rolling flood,

Divinely fair, like fea-born Venus, stood
Britannia's genius, in a robe array'd

Of broider'd arms, and heraldry display'd :
A crown of cities charg'd her graceful brows;
In waving curls her hair luxuriant flows;
Celestial glories in her eyes are feen ;

Her ftature tall, majestic is her miɛn.

'With fuch a pr. fence, through th' adoring skies. Shines the great parent of the deities;

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Such towery honours on her temples rise,
When, drawn by lions, fhe proceeds in state;

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Trains of attendant-gods around her chariot wait ;
The mother-goddefs, with fuperior grace,

Surveys, and numbers o'er her bright immortal race.-
While thus the lovely Genius hovers o'er
The water's brink, and from the fandy fhore
Beholds th' alternate billows fall and rife

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(By turns they fink below, by turns they mount the fkies):

"And muft, fhe faid

"Then paus'd, and drew a figh of anxious love ; "Muft my dear lord this faithless ocean prove;

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"Efcap'd

"Escap'd the chance of war, and fraud of foes,

"Wilt thou to warring waves thy facred life expofe; "Why am I thus divided by the fea,

"From all the world, and all the world in thee? "Could fighs and tears the rage of tempests bind, 55 "With tears I'd bribe the feas, with fighs the wind : "Soft-fighing gales thy canvas should inspire;

"But hence, ye

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boisterous ftorms! far hence retire "To inland woods; there your mad powers appease, "And fcour the dufty plains, or ftrip the foreft trees; 60 "Or lodg'd in hollow rocks profoundly fleep, "And rest from the loud labours of the deep! "Why should I fear?—If heroes be the care "Of heaven above, and heaven inclines to prayer, "Thou fail'ft fecure; my fons with lifted eyes, "And pious vows, for thee have gain'd the skies. "Come then, my much-lov'd lord! No more th' alarms "Of wasteful war require thee from my arms. "Thy fword gives plenteous peace; but without thee, "Peace has no charms, and plenty 's poverty: "At length enjoy, for whom you've fought, the queen "Of islands, bright, majestic, and ferene! "Unveil'd from clouds, which did her form disguise, "And hid a thousand beauties from thy eyes. "A thousand treafures unfurvey'd invite "Their lord to various fcenes of new delight. "Come fee the dower I brought! My fpacious downs, "My numerous counties, and my ancient towns; "Landskips of rifing mountains, fhaggy woods, "Green vallies, smiling meadows, filver floods,

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"And

"And plains with lowing herds enrich'd around, "The hills with flocks, the flocks with fleeces crown'd. "All these with native wealth thy power maintain, "And bloom with bleffings of thy easy reign.

"Hafte, hoift thy fails! and through the foamy "brine,

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"Rush to my arms! henceforth be wholly mine; "After nine toilfome years, let slaughter cease, "And flourish now fecure, in the foft arts of peace!" She faid; th' intreated winds her accents bore, And wing'd the meffage to the Belgic fhore. The pious hero heard, nor could delay

To meet the lovely voice, that fummon'd him away; The lovely voice, whose soft-complaining charms Before had call'd the fuccour of his arms,

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Nor call'd in vain; when fir'd with generous rage 95
T'oppose the fury of a barbarous age,

Like Jove with awful thunder in his hand,
Through ftorms and fleets at sea, and foes at land,
He urg'd his daring way; before his fight
On filver wings, bright Glory took her flight,
And left, to guide his course, long fhining tracks
of light!

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And now once more embark'd, propitious gales
Blow fresh from fhore, and fill his hollow fails.
As when the golden god, that rules the day,
Drives down his flaming chariot to the fea,
And leaves the nations here involv'd in night,
To diftant regions he transports his light;

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So

So WILLIAM's rays, by turns, two nations chear;
And when he fets to them, he rifes here.

Forfaken Belgia, ere the fhip withdrew, Shed generous tears, and breath'd this soft adieu; "Since empire calls thee, and a glorious throne, "Thy people's weighty interefts, and thy own; (Though ftruggling love would fain perfuade thy "stay)

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"Go, where thy better fortune leads the way! "Mean while my. lofs, allow me to complain, "And wish-ah no! that partial with were vain. "Though honour'd Crete had nurs'd the thundering "God,

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"Crete was not always bleft with his abode ; "Nor was it fit, that WILLIAM's godlike mind, 120 "For nations born, fhould be to One confin'd. "This only grant, fince I must ask no more, "Revifit once again your native shore ! "That hope my forrows fhall beguile; and thou, << My happy rival wilt that hope allow ; "'Tis all th' enjoyment, fate has left me now. "So may't thou, fair Britannia! ever be "Firm to thy fovereign's love, and his to thee! "While widow'd I"- -There rifing fighs reprefs'd Her fainting voice, and ftifled-in the reft. Now, while the bounding veffel drives before The gufty gales, and leaves the leffening fhore, Behold the parting clouds to distance fly, And golden glories, pouring from on high New dress the day, and chear th' enlighten'd sky ! 135

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