 | Churchill defended, a poem |  |
Conway, in Heart and Speech, to Britain true,
Of private Int'rest dropt the sordid View;
He thought, no Doubt, he had a Corps in vain,
Since we were tir'd of drubbing France and Spain;
Happier in Devonshire's bequeathing Care,
Than curs'd by B---e to be his only Heir.
Horace and Virgil follow'd Freedom's Arms,
And scorn'd, tho' worsted, to resign her Charms.
Augustus, with the Love of Letters grac'd,
Mæcenas too, who had his Master's Taste,
Were forc'd to grant a Poet's honest Pride,
The Licence to a conquer'd Globe deny'd.
Restraint the modest Virgil could not bear,
He would have blush'd a Slave to draw the Air:
Horace, one Stroke of his pathetic Lyre,
Say what you will, exceeds all Pindar's Fire,
Had not a single Drop of servile Blood,
Just went, and came, and study'd as he wou'd;
Just as he chose, without a Master's Rule,
He rode his Pegasus, he rode his Mule;
Now stretch'd at Ease amidst fair Tiber's Bloom,
Now shew'd a Wonder in majestic Rome.
Of private Int'rest dropt the sordid View;
He thought, no Doubt, he had a Corps in vain,
Since we were tir'd of drubbing France and Spain;
Happier in Devonshire's bequeathing Care,
Than curs'd by B---e to be his only Heir.
Horace and Virgil follow'd Freedom's Arms,
And scorn'd, tho' worsted, to resign her Charms.
Augustus, with the Love of Letters grac'd,
Mæcenas too, who had his Master's Taste,
22
The Licence to a conquer'd Globe deny'd.
Restraint the modest Virgil could not bear,
He would have blush'd a Slave to draw the Air:
Horace, one Stroke of his pathetic Lyre,
Say what you will, exceeds all Pindar's Fire,
Had not a single Drop of servile Blood,
Just went, and came, and study'd as he wou'd;
Just as he chose, without a Master's Rule,
He rode his Pegasus, he rode his Mule;
Now stretch'd at Ease amidst fair Tiber's Bloom,
Now shew'd a Wonder in majestic Rome.
| Churchill defended, a poem | |