The Poems of Charles Sackville Sixth Earl of Dorset: Edited by Brice Harris |
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On the Young Statesmen
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 | The Poems of Charles Sackville |  |
50
On the Young Statesmen
51
[My muse and I are drunk tonight,
And both of us must spew;
This indigested stuff I write
To ease my mind I must indite,
And libel must ensue.
And both of us must spew;
This indigested stuff I write
To ease my mind I must indite,
And libel must ensue.
Shall I the morals of the Court
Or politics display?
Their morals will make the best sport,
For little wit of the worser sort
Will go a mighty way.
Or politics display?
Their morals will make the best sport,
For little wit of the worser sort
Will go a mighty way.
Of little cheats the Court is full;
Our princes only dream.
Nay even our new made Governor of Hull
By Dryden's help is not so dull
On such an ample theme.]
Our princes only dream.
Nay even our new made Governor of Hull
By Dryden's help is not so dull
On such an ample theme.]
Clarendon had law and sense,
Clifford was fierce and brave,
Bennet's grave look was a pretense,
And Danby's matchless impudence
Help'd to support the knave.
Clifford was fierce and brave,
52
And Danby's matchless impudence
Help'd to support the knave.
But Sunderland, Godolphin, and Lory
Turn politics to jests
And will appear such chits in story
To be repeated like John Dory,
When fiddlers sing at feasts.
Turn politics to jests
And will appear such chits in story
To be repeated like John Dory,
When fiddlers sing at feasts.
Protect us, mighty providence;
What would these madmen have?
First, they would bribe us without pence,
Deceive us without common sense,
And without power enslave.
What would these madmen have?
First, they would bribe us without pence,
Deceive us without common sense,
And without power enslave.
Shall freeborn men in humble awe
Submit to servile shame,
Who from consent and custom draw
The same right to be ruled by law,
Which kings pretend to reign?
Submit to servile shame,
Who from consent and custom draw
The same right to be ruled by law,
Which kings pretend to reign?
The Duke shall wield his conq'ring sword,
The Chancellor make a speech,
The King shall pass his honest word,
The pawn'd revenue sums afford—
And then come kiss my breech.
The Chancellor make a speech,
The King shall pass his honest word,
The pawn'd revenue sums afford—
And then come kiss my breech.
So have I seen a king at chess,
(His rooks and knights withdrawn,
His queen and bishops in distress)
Shifting about, grow less and less,
And here and there a pawn.
(His rooks and knights withdrawn,
His queen and bishops in distress)
Shifting about, grow less and less,
And here and there a pawn.
[But oh! the whore, the mighty whore,
Joined with thy hair-brain'd brother,
Will keep thee still despised and poor
'Till rebels turn thee out of door,
And France brings in another.]
Joined with thy hair-brain'd brother,
Will keep thee still despised and poor
'Till rebels turn thee out of door,
And France brings in another.]
| The Poems of Charles Sackville | |