 | The Genuine Works in Verse and Prose, Of the Right Honourable George Granville, Lord Lansdowne |  |
1
TO THE Earl of Peterborough,
ON HIS Happy Accomplishment of the Marriage between His Royal Highness and the Princess Mary D'Este of Modena. Written several Years after in Imitation of the Style of Mr. Waller.
His Juno barren in unfruitful Joys,
Our British Jove his Nuptial Hours employs:
So Fate ordains, That all our Hopes may be,
And all our Prospect, gallant York, in Thee.
Our British Jove his Nuptial Hours employs:
So Fate ordains, That all our Hopes may be,
And all our Prospect, gallant York, in Thee.
2
By the same Wish aspiring Queens are led,
Each languishing to mount his Royal Bed;
His Youth, his Wisdom, and his early Fame
Create in every Breast a Rival Flame:
Remotest Kings sit trembling on their Thrones,
As if no Distance cou'd secure their Crowns;
Fearing his Valour, wisely they contend
To bribe with Beauty so renown'd a Friend:
Beauty the Price, there need no other Arts,
Love is the surest Bait for Heroes Hearts:
Nor can the Fair conceal as high Concern,
To see the Prince, for whom, unseen, they burn.
Each languishing to mount his Royal Bed;
His Youth, his Wisdom, and his early Fame
Create in every Breast a Rival Flame:
Remotest Kings sit trembling on their Thrones,
As if no Distance cou'd secure their Crowns;
Fearing his Valour, wisely they contend
To bribe with Beauty so renown'd a Friend:
Beauty the Price, there need no other Arts,
Love is the surest Bait for Heroes Hearts:
Nor can the Fair conceal as high Concern,
To see the Prince, for whom, unseen, they burn.
Brave York, attending to the general Voice,
At length resolves to make the wisht for Choice,
To noble Mordaunt, generous and just,
Of his great Heart, he gives the sacred Trust:
“Thy Choice, said he, shall well direct that Heart,
“Where Thou, my best belov'd, hast such a Part,
“In Council oft, and oft in Battle try'd,
“Betwixt thy Master, and the World decide.
At length resolves to make the wisht for Choice,
To noble Mordaunt, generous and just,
Of his great Heart, he gives the sacred Trust:
“Thy Choice, said he, shall well direct that Heart,
“Where Thou, my best belov'd, hast such a Part,
“In Council oft, and oft in Battle try'd,
“Betwixt thy Master, and the World decide.
The chosen Mercury prepares t'obey
This high Command. Gently ye Winds convey
And with auspicious Gales his Safety wait,
On whom depend Great Britain's Hopes and Fate.
So Jason with his Argonauts, from Greece
To Cholcos sail'd, to seek the Golden Fleece.
As when the Goddesses came down of old
On Ida's Hill, so many Ages told,
With Gifts their young Dardanian Judge they try'd,
And each bad high to win him to her Side;
So tempt they him, and emulously vie
To bribe a Voice that Empires would not buy;
With Balls and Banquets, his pleas'd Sense they bait,
And Queens and Kings upon his Pleasures wait.
This high Command. Gently ye Winds convey
And with auspicious Gales his Safety wait,
On whom depend Great Britain's Hopes and Fate.
So Jason with his Argonauts, from Greece
To Cholcos sail'd, to seek the Golden Fleece.
3
On Ida's Hill, so many Ages told,
With Gifts their young Dardanian Judge they try'd,
And each bad high to win him to her Side;
So tempt they him, and emulously vie
To bribe a Voice that Empires would not buy;
With Balls and Banquets, his pleas'd Sense they bait,
And Queens and Kings upon his Pleasures wait.
Th'impartial Judge surveys with vast Delight
All that the Sun surrounds of Fair and Bright,
Then, strictly just, he with adoring Eyes,
To radiant Este, gives the Royal Prize.
Of Antique Stock her high Descent she brings,
Born to renew the Race of Britain's Kings;
Who could deserve, like her, in whom we see
United, all that Paris found in Three.
O equal Pair! when both were set above
All other Merit, but each other's Love.
All that the Sun surrounds of Fair and Bright,
Then, strictly just, he with adoring Eyes,
To radiant Este, gives the Royal Prize.
Of Antique Stock her high Descent she brings,
Born to renew the Race of Britain's Kings;
Who could deserve, like her, in whom we see
United, all that Paris found in Three.
O equal Pair! when both were set above
All other Merit, but each other's Love.
Welcome, bright Princess, to Great Britain's Shore,
As Berecynthia to high Heaven, who bore
That shining Race of Goddesses and Gods
That fill'd the Skies, and rul'd the blest Abodes:
From Thee, my Muse expects as noble Themes,
Another Mars and Jove, another James;
Our future Hopes, all from thy Womb arise;
Our present Joy and Safety, from your Eyes,
Those charming Eyes, which shine to reconcile
To Harmony and Peace, our stubborn Isle.
On brazen Memnon, Phoebus casts a Ray,
And the tough Metal, so salutes the Day.
As Berecynthia to high Heaven, who bore
That shining Race of Goddesses and Gods
That fill'd the Skies, and rul'd the blest Abodes:
From Thee, my Muse expects as noble Themes,
Another Mars and Jove, another James;
4
Our present Joy and Safety, from your Eyes,
Those charming Eyes, which shine to reconcile
To Harmony and Peace, our stubborn Isle.
On brazen Memnon, Phoebus casts a Ray,
And the tough Metal, so salutes the Day.
The British Dame, fam'd for resistless Grace,
Contends not now, but for the Second Place,
Our Love suspended, we neglect the Fair
For whom we burn'd, to gaze adoring here.
So sang the Sirens with enchanting Sound,
Enticing all to listen and be drown'd;
'Till Orpheus ravish'd in a nobler Strain,
They ceas'd to Sing, or Singing, charm'd in vain.
Contends not now, but for the Second Place,
Our Love suspended, we neglect the Fair
For whom we burn'd, to gaze adoring here.
So sang the Sirens with enchanting Sound,
Enticing all to listen and be drown'd;
'Till Orpheus ravish'd in a nobler Strain,
They ceas'd to Sing, or Singing, charm'd in vain.
This blest Alliance, Peterborow, may
Th'indebted Nation bounteously repay;
Thy Statues, for the Genius of our Land,
With Palm adorn'd, on every Threshold stand.
Th'indebted Nation bounteously repay;
Thy Statues, for the Genius of our Land,
With Palm adorn'd, on every Threshold stand.
------ Utinam modò dicere possem
Carmina digna Deâ: Certè est Dea carmine digna:
Carmina digna Deâ: Certè est Dea carmine digna:
| The Genuine Works in Verse and Prose, Of the Right Honourable George Granville, Lord Lansdowne | |