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 | Poems on Affairs of State |  |
Renowned
Blake, what Trumpet may be found,
That can thy matchless Praises duly sound;
Or what Seraphick Pen, that can set forth,
In fitting Measures thy transcendent Worth?
And justly warble forth in saddest Strains,
Thy Death, and Loss thereby the Land sustains?
Is that Sidneian Spirit, with his Dust,
Extinct? or for this mournful Subject must
Heroick Spencer, and that sweet Divine
Dubartas, rais'd be from their resting Shrine,
Thy signal unexampled Acts to sing,
Of which the whole World doth already ring?
Which if in order we must needs recount,
Our mean unpolish'd Quill they far surmount,
That to thy Merit we shall in debt remain,
So great a Sum not able to attain:
Leaving a richer Pen the same to pay,
Whilst in the common Stock our Mite we lay.
That can thy matchless Praises duly sound;
Or what Seraphick Pen, that can set forth,
In fitting Measures thy transcendent Worth?
And justly warble forth in saddest Strains,
Thy Death, and Loss thereby the Land sustains?
Is that Sidneian Spirit, with his Dust,
Extinct? or for this mournful Subject must
Heroick Spencer, and that sweet Divine
Dubartas, rais'd be from their resting Shrine,
Thy signal unexampled Acts to sing,
Of which the whole World doth already ring?
Which if in order we must needs recount,
Our mean unpolish'd Quill they far surmount,
That to thy Merit we shall in debt remain,
So great a Sum not able to attain:
Leaving a richer Pen the same to pay,
Whilst in the common Stock our Mite we lay.
When first Bellona did fair Albion greet
With dreadful Larums in the open Street;
And when that high and Roman-like Dispute
Of the Militia, did in Field recruit
Two Armies, 'twixt the late unhappy King
And Parliament, from whence, as from a Spring,
Ran Seas of Blood throughout this Isle, which had
Drown'd all, but that Jehovah it forbad:
Commissions of Array are issu'd out,
Which do disturb the trembling Land throughout.
Blake now stands up without Delay or Fear,
'Gainst the Tyrannick Levies doth appear;
And with those noble Patriots of the West,
A Captain of stout Foot, himself addrest
With their associate Troops to march, and face
The Royal Forces, who with nimble pace
Quitting the Field, to Sherborne do retreat,
That antient Castle, Digby's stately Seat:
From thence are forc'd with tedious March to fly
To the Cornubian Mountains strong and high;
And there divided, some away do post,
Through swelling Severn to the Cambrian Coast,
And fenced Hills of Wales for shelter, where
Th'old Britains by the Romans chased were.
With dreadful Larums in the open Street;
And when that high and Roman-like Dispute
Of the Militia, did in Field recruit
Two Armies, 'twixt the late unhappy King
And Parliament, from whence, as from a Spring,
275
Drown'd all, but that Jehovah it forbad:
Commissions of Array are issu'd out,
Which do disturb the trembling Land throughout.
Blake now stands up without Delay or Fear,
'Gainst the Tyrannick Levies doth appear;
And with those noble Patriots of the West,
A Captain of stout Foot, himself addrest
With their associate Troops to march, and face
The Royal Forces, who with nimble pace
Quitting the Field, to Sherborne do retreat,
That antient Castle, Digby's stately Seat:
From thence are forc'd with tedious March to fly
To the Cornubian Mountains strong and high;
And there divided, some away do post,
Through swelling Severn to the Cambrian Coast,
And fenced Hills of Wales for shelter, where
Th'old Britains by the Romans chased were.
So after many signal Proofs shewn forth
Of his Heroick Prowess and true Worth,
At Bodmyn, Bristol, and at Lansdown Fight,
And at Bridgewater (where he first saw Light)
Tho by just Providence and Heaven's Decree,
We were deny'd a Conquest yet to see;
And Royal Charles did subjugate the West,
And two full Winters had the same possest.
He now arriveth to the Council great,
Thereof a Member, to consult and treat
Of State-Concernments (where sometimes did vote
His grave Progenitors, there to promote
The Common Good) and so with great Applause,
'Mongst other Worthies, he that Publick Cause,
'Twixt Prince and People then in high Debate,
Is call'd with Dint of Sword to vindicate:
And speedily on Neptune's Chariot sent,
Commander of a valiant Regiment,
Rais'd by stout Popham of illustrious Rank,
And timely landing on the Western Bank.
Of his Heroick Prowess and true Worth,
At Bodmyn, Bristol, and at Lansdown Fight,
And at Bridgewater (where he first saw Light)
Tho by just Providence and Heaven's Decree,
We were deny'd a Conquest yet to see;
And Royal Charles did subjugate the West,
And two full Winters had the same possest.
He now arriveth to the Council great,
Thereof a Member, to consult and treat
Of State-Concernments (where sometimes did vote
His grave Progenitors, there to promote
The Common Good) and so with great Applause,
'Mongst other Worthies, he that Publick Cause,
'Twixt Prince and People then in high Debate,
Is call'd with Dint of Sword to vindicate:
And speedily on Neptune's Chariot sent,
Commander of a valiant Regiment,
276
And timely landing on the Western Bank.
| Poems on Affairs of State | |