Miscellany Poems | ||
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I. PART I.
STANZA I.
Upon a Promontory's Point,That stretch'd out far into the Sea;
That of perpetual War had bore the dint,
Of foming Waves, and angry Surges sway:
A Desolate and lonely Place,
Where Seales securely play'd,
And feathered Fowl their winged off-spring laid;
But unfrequented by all Human Race,
I stood: By wild Meanders thither led,
My wearied Feet had wandred with my Head,
Lost in the Maze of thought:
Steep headlong Cliffs my eager footsteps stayd,
And I a Scene of Seas survey'd,
Which mixed Fear and Pleasure brought:
Whose beauteous Bosom smooth and fair,
Did all the charms and flattery wear,
With which she us'd to cheat the credulous Mariner;
When Smiling she invited to betray.
The Wanton waves did with the Sun-beams play:
(If any Waves did there appear)
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The wars of Nature seem'd to sleep:
Peace stretch'd her Downy feathers o're the Deep,
And the calm-brooding Halcyon built her Nest.
II.
A Sail far off dress'd in the height of prideTop and Top Gallant did in triumph ride:
The subject Waves did groan beneath the weight,
Which soon should by the Change of Fate,
(Such a Vicissitude of things is laid)
Exalt themselves above her Lofty head.
The careless Crue within in Mirth and Joy
Their few short Moments did employ,
Nor e're dream'd of their hast'ning Destiny.
For lo! a suddain Storm did rend the Air:
The sullen Heaven, curling in frowns its brow,
Did dire presaging Omens show;
Ill-boding Helena alone was there.
The starting Sun deny'd his Light,
Not willing to behold the sight;
Nothing so merciless as Night!
Mountainous Waves came crowding from afar,
That threatned even to Heaven a War.
The bonds of Nature seemed broak,
And her foundations with the Tempest shook:
As thô the loose disjoynted World
Was to be once more in a Chaos hurl'd.
The labouring Bark in vain doth strive
In Cataracts of Seas to live:
Her Mizen's gone, the Sail-yard cracks,
Her Rudder's lost, the Mainmast breaks:
On the deaf Gods in vain they call,
The Gods to their own Empire look,
Are more with Fear than Pitty strook,
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Into the vast Abyss they fall — —
They and their Great Designs:
The hopes of Merchandise and Gain,
The Dear-bought price of Dangerous pain,
Their Golden dreams of undiscover'd Mines.
III.
Bless me! cry'd I, what dubious FateOn mortall Men doth wait.
Blindly in deadly Paths we walk,
The Messengers of Death about us stalk;
Unseen their Ambushments are laid,
Arrest us, when there seems least cause of Dread.
In other things alike; with anxious Pain
We strive Discoveries to gain,
Which mock our wearied Expectation.
Skin-deep we only pierce, and what's behind
Is unknown Regions, we can never find:
The floting Islands show themselves and then they'r gone.
IV.
How despicable is our State below;What fetters choak the soaring Mind:
Little of Truth in all the Mass we find,
That may Rewards on Painfull years bestow.
Dark Mists and Errours us surround,
We walk upon Enchanted ground,
Spectres and Phantôms fill the Round.
Mormoes dress'd up in Antick shapes appear,
And what we grasp but fills our Arms with Air.
With wandring Eyes we Heaven behold,
And see the starry Orbs from far,
Percieve that they are rowl'd,
But yet the hidden Wheels a Secret are.
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Their Distance and their Magnitude;
And if they be inhabited, —
Are secrets that our Minds elude.
V.
So we the surface of the Earth behold:Where Joy and Plenty hath her Bosom crown'd,
Where burning Sands do curse the Barren ground:
Where with Prolifick heat she smiles,
And where she's fetter'd up with cold:
Where Craggy rocks lift their aspiring head;
Where she sinks down into a fruitfull Mead,
And with soft joy the Mind beguiles:
Where Beauteous Nymphs with silver feet do tread:
We see her Civil and her Antick dress,
Where she's a Paradise, and where a Wilderness.
VI.
But this our Knowledge and our Sight confines,What is below's a Secret made:
Where Precious stones in hidden beds are laid;
Where Quarries rise or Rivers wind,
That under Mighty rocks their passage find;
Or where's the Seat of undiscover'd Mines.
Where Princely Cities once did show their head,
Now in their Ruines buried.
Where Sacred Monuments of Kings were plac'd,
The false Repositories of the dead,
By Eating Time defac'd.
What is betwixt us and the Center set,
What are the Rocks, on which the Earth is rais'd:
How they endure the Subterraneous heat,
And keep in bounds the Central fire,
By which at last the Fabrick must expire.
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For when we would below the surface know,
Our native Soil an unknown Land doth grow.
VII.
But who of Thee, false Element, can speak;Thou treacherous Sea! that smil'st to wrack?
That dost new Faces every day put on,
As Variable, as thy Guide, the Moon.
What boundless Mind can fathom Thee,
That by thy Changing shun'st Discovery?
And why, Just Heaven, dost thou long Life bestow
O'th' senceless Hart and stupid Crow;
O'th' Serpent, that her Skin can cast,
And th' Eagle, that doth many Ages last:
To whom it nothing doth Import;
That can't to Noble Speculations rise,
Nor Nature's secrets view with sharp sagacious Eyes?
Why should swift Change snatch man's short Thread away,
That only can due Homage pay,
The great Attendant on thy Court:
And why should Art be long, and Life be short?
Why should Amphibious Creatures see
What doth to Man a Secret lye;
Into the Depth of the Abyss go down,
And in two Empires live, while Man's confin'd to one?
VIII.
May some kind Genius gratifyMy daring Curiosity,
That would the Seas surprising Bottom see!
The Wonders, Nature secret keeps
In her vast Storehouse of the Deeps;
The various Plants, that Deck the watry Plain;
The Trees and Shrubs, that it adorn,
And precious Products, that on them are born;
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The working Sea hath driven up in store;
With all the scatter'd Riches of the Main:
The numerous subjects of the Realm of Waves,
The Fountains of the Deep and Subterranean Caves!
IX.
— — Scarce had I spoke,When Neptune chanc'd my wish to hear,
That's often Deaf to shipwrack'd Wretches Prayer;
And lik'd my bold Ambition well.—
A sudden Numbness all my Members stroke:
The cheerfull Light, that welcome Comfort gives,
And th' wearied Mind with Joy relieves,
With an unpleasing force my Eyes did strike,
And the Sun's heat I did dislike.
Weary o'th' too-thin piercing Air,
Another Element my thoughts Employs:
The watry Plains I view'd with pleased Eyes.
Fearless the noise of Storms I hear,
The foaming Surges bring no cause of fear;
And Hurricanes become familiar.
I long'd to visit Neptune's Court,
And see the Tritons and the Sea-Nymphs sport.
Mean while within a Change I found;
Nature was working some new feat,
And summon'd all her Powers to meet,
Armour of scales enclos'd me round:
My Hands and Legs did nimble Fins display,
That could through yielding Water cut their way.
And from the Cliff, whose Downfall stemm'd the Eye,
And made even starting Nature fly,
Fearless I cast my self into the Sea.—
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Do unto Man my Ancient Love retain:
And Reason still and Curiosity remain.
X.
But oh! what Language doth suffice to tellThe Rapine and Oppression,
The Armed Force and Violence,
That in those liquid Regions dwell?
Justice and Equity were flown,
And Right and Property not known:
No Laws to be the Poor's defence,
No Tenderness to Innocence:
The Less became the Greaters Prey,
Only because they could not fight:
And while these others swallow, They,
And what they had devour'd, became anothers Right.
No one by Might or Subtlety's secur'd;
The Greater still commands the Lesser's fate;
Now this devours, and now he is devour'd:
All on unruly Appetite doth wait.
So cursed is an Anarchy
So insupportable Democrasie.
Insatiate Element! how well with Thee
Do thy Inhabitants agree!
Pitty from both of you is banished,
Justice from both of you is fled:
And when you do devour,
You both are hungry still and gape for more.
XI.
There was a Rock that overlook'd the flood,That the Seas Terminating Pillar stood;
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Or Earthquake's fury, from the Continent:
Whose Craggy Cliffs no other Race did bear,
But Birds, the wild Inhabitants o'th' Air,
That to the subject Sea for food repair:
Under whose side—whether by Nature's skill
By giddy Chance, or some Diviner will,
Or teeth of Time, or restless Waves, that tear
The hardest Rocks, and steeliest Mountains wear;
And (did not heavenly Powers their fury stay)
Even Nature's fixed Barrs would eat away,
A Cave was form'd—a Refuge for th' oppress'd,
Where injur'd Innocence secure might rest.
'Tis said, when Giants with the Gods did fight,
This shelter'd frighted Neptune in his flight:
Since which no armed Force may it invade,
But 'tis for Wretches an Asylum made.
XII.
Hither I fled, affrighted at the SightOf bleeding Justice and of injur'd Right,
Oppress'd by all-commanding unrelenting Might.
Hither the Love-sick Tritons oft did come
And to the Pittiless Rocks lament their doom:
With Mournfull strains their Sea-Nymphs pride rehearse
To the regardless Rocks in polish'd verse;
Whose tunefull Accents the rude Waves disperse.
Here wanton Meremaids often would resort,
And spend the Halcyon days in various sport:
Invent new Arts to make them look more Fair,
Comb and adorn their Green dis-shevell'd Hair.
And here be-nighted Neptune sometimes keeps his Court.
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XIII.
Hence from my Safe Retreat,With Eyes, that trembled yet for Dread,
I saw the Pearls ly in their Mother-Bed;
From Heavenly Dew and Drops of Night,
And from transparent Moisture bred:
Enlivened by Sol's Genial Heat:
How Drop by Drop the Films are made,
Th' Attracted Moisture o'r them spread,
Till they by New Accessions grown,
Adorn'd with Dazling Sparkling Light,
Are fit to' Inrich an Haughty Monarch's Crown.
The useless, undisturbed Store,
No Savage Hand had tore:
No daring Negro from the Bottom bore.
But th' o'rstock'd Soil, press'd with the too Rich Load,
Might send new Colonies abroad,
And Furnish all the Neighbouring Sea.
What boundless Riches in small space do ly;
When each one might a Province buy,
And Lavish Cleopatra feast and Anthony?
XIV.
Here Marchasites and unripe Mettals ly,From the next Promontory rent,
By th' never sparing Sea:
Useless as yet,
The Precious Compounds want
The Sun's engendring Heat;
Which by kind Nature's Aid,
And Hatching Time, will once Mature be made,
And ly for Future Days a Bless'd Discovery.
The Artfull Salts, the Chymists use,
That Wonders can produce:
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New Shapes to Mettals to impart,
And Monstrous Changes cause
In spight of Nature's fixed Laws:
Th' Ingredients, that Compose
(If such are unto Nature known)
The Philosophick Stone,
Which Thirsty Chymists (that so Dote on gain,
They Broyl in the Devouring Fire in vain;
While all their Hopes in Empty Smoke do fly)
At any Value would obtain,
Would at an Eastern Kingdom's Purchase buy.—
XV.
There lies a Broken Anker, on whose TrustThe Lives of all the Nautick Crew were Weigh'd;
That scarcely bore the first impetuous Gust,
But Them to Rocks and Gaping Sands betray'd,
Or to the dreaded Strand:
There Heaps of Bodies under Hills of Sand,
(The Mummies of the Sea)
That at the Resurrection-Day
Need take no Pains to make their Members hit,
Their Scatter'd Parts again to Knit;
But once inform'd with Heat and Active Fire,
Their Bodies will be found Entire,
And in one Moment be for Rising fit.
Here Guns and Swords and Instruments of War,
That Death do give near-hand, or from afar,
With those, they slew, One Fortune ran:
Peaceably now they ly and would do so,
They of themselves no Mischief do,
Nor would, without the Cruel Hand of Man.
XVI.
There Two, that strugling Sank into the Deep,With Deadly Hate grasping Each Other fast,
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The Enmity yet seems to last:
The senseless Bones Each Other hold,
Not Death th' unkind Embraces could unfold:
But when the Raging Tempests blow,
And Tydes move all the Deep below;
The Clashing Bones yet seem to Jar,
And keep up a Perpetual War.—
Another lies hard by,
That o'rboard fell with a far-stretch'd-out Blow,
Aim'd at his Eager Foe,
And i'th' same Posture fell, i'th' same doth ly.
His Threatning Arm his Deadly Sword doth wield,
Menacing Death i'th' watry Field;
And to Express His Ranker'd Hate within,
Dead He retains a Ghastly Grin.
XVII.
There Two in soft Embraces sleep;Death can't unclasp their folded Arms:
Love is a God above His reach,
Above His Injuries and Harms,
And even can Destiny Obedience teach:
They yet Love's Pleasures seem to reap,
Spight of Death's Adamantine Chain:
In spight of the great Change of Fate,
And all the Movings o'th' the unsetled Main.
A surly Billow bore Her into th' Sea,—
Th' inflamed Lover could not stay behind,
But bid Defiance to the Wind,
And to th' Insulting Ocean's sway:
He leap'd into the Floud and caught
The Fatal Treasure in His Arms;
Sunk with the Precious Weight,
Nor could refuse to die with that Dear Load of Charms.
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A tender Passion made Him grasp Her fast,
And He in Hopes of Safety was by Her embrac't.
Venus Her Self did the kind Lovers see,
(Venus her self sprang from the Sea;)
And by Consent of all the Powers above,
Fix't it down a firm Decree;
That from all Change and Injury free,
They should remain the Monuments of Love.
Their Bodies here below do Join,
Their Circling Limbs in Love-knots twine:
And i'th' Elyzian Shades (if we
May credit what's in other Regions done)
Their once-two Souls are now but One.—
XVIII.
There an Indulgent Mother lies,Embracing yet Her tender Child:
With anxious thoughts She her fair Bosom fill'd,
For Her dear Infants Safety not Her own.
Minding more its Piercing Crys,
That did to Her the Storms and Tempests drown;
Than the Ship's confused Noise.
When Prudence bad Her Safety seek,
And every Soul did at the Danger schreek;
She was singing Lullabies.
Her Head seems to'ward Her Child inclin'd,
Her Arms in tender Wreaths about it twin'd:
Upon its Cheeks Her Lips do rest,
And th' Infant yet doth seem to suck Her breast.
XIX.
To Friendship's Laws a Sacrifice,In State a Gallant Hero lies,
And in His Death Himself doth seem to Pride.
When His Friend's Lift-up Hands did help implore,
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And Tempests roar'd so loud, they could not hear:
The side, which Heaven forsook,
With Generous Pride He took:
He Jump'd into the Foaming Tide,
And Him even from the Jaws of Ruine tore.
But Fate, that envy'd Him his Praise,
Put a Period to His Days;
Lest He should stop the Destiny's power.
Tyr'd with the saving of His Friend;
(So hard 'tis Strugling with our Fate)
The angry Sea th' Occasion caught;
Commanded Tempests to attend,
And got a Worthless Victory
O'r One, that was half-dead before,
And yet o'r One, that cannot dy,
But in the Bosom of his Friend Survives;
And in the Book of Fame for ever Lives;
One step alone on this side Immortality.
XX.
Here a Ship's Hulk, that many Storms had bore,Visited many a Distant Shore,
Enrich'd with Eastern and with Western Store
Now sunk grows Richer, than it was before.
Oysters, that Pearls breed in their Fruitfull Womb,
Do in her empty Cabbins ly:
Mountains of Golden Sand do for Her Ballast come,
And Amber-grease doth all the Hold employ.
Nothing to' enrich a Kingdom doth remain,
But once to make Her Tight and Fit to Sail again
XXI.
There One, just sinking in a Storm, yet staidTo take with Him his God,
O'rwhelmed with the Precious Load,
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In's Arms the Fatal Chest He yet doth hold,
Embraces, what his Ruine was, his Gold.
And what far more than Life was priz'd above,
Retains below unalterable Love.
Here Shatter'd Limbs and Scatter'd Treasures ly,
And never nearer come:
The Greedy Hand, that all did clasp,
Insatiably for more did roam,
Now senseless don't at Gold and Jewels grasp,
Which in his reach do lie,
Death nums the Covetous Hand and blinds the Greedy Eye.
XXII.
See there an once-Insatiate Head,Ambitious, Covetous and Vain,
Whom never Bounds or Limits could contain!
Pearls stick his hollow Eye-holes full,
And Gold crams up his empty Skull.
And what alive He ne'r could gain
By Fraud, by Prayers, or by Command,
He Purchases when Dead:
Even Rings (by th' working of the Sea)
Which the last Wrack became the Ocean's Prey,
Are Shuffled Artfully upon his hands:
That if his Covetous Soul could see
The State, in which He Dead doth ly,
She'd choose 't before a Life of Immortality.
XXIII.
There One, new-dead, becomes the Fishes prey,And justling Crowds his Members gnaw;
His mangled Limbs around do draw.
Haddocks and Codds make Him their meat;
Lobsters and Crabs his Entrails eat,
And in his hollow Trunk their Eggs do lay.
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By pleasing Bait and deadly Hook,
Become to Men luxurious food.
Men do Mankind in Fishes eat, and they
On Men revenge their near Relations blood.
A Mixture in our Nature is,
And the next step's a Metempsychosis.
XXIV.
There One, by Chance, or by kind Fate,Entombed lay in so much state,
As might the Envy of the World create.
He was stretch'd out upon a Pearly Bed,
On sparkling Heaps of Gold his Head,
Branches of Corall round his Temples twind,
And like an artfull Shrowd his Limbs enshrind:
The Fyllegrin Case show'd all within,
And Studs of Pearls did at due distance shine.
No Mortal sure was ever laid
In so Magnificent, so rich a Room:
'Twas worth the Dying to have such a Tomb.—
A thousand Wonders more I did survey;
Round unregarded Heaps of Treasure lay
To every bold Adventurer a Prey;
But Fear still kept me in.—
From far the precious Mountains shine,
And every daring Soul invite:
And oh! thought I, might I be Guide
To English Ships, that there might freight,
I could do more than PHIPPS and all his Divers did.
XXV.
By chance it was a solemn DayNeptune made a Processive Round;
Rode in's Triumphal Chariot o'r the Sea
With Pride of all the Ocean's Beauties crownd.
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When he o'reburthen'd with the weight,
The Cares and Stings of his Imperial State,
When Hostile Robbers did his Realm infest,
Ravaged all the Watry Clime,
Broke up his Treasures in the West;
The richest Part of his Dominion,
That had to former Ages lain unknown;
When he in his own Court a Prisoner kept,
Durst not stir out for fear of Hostile Force:
But underneath th' Atlantick Island crept,
And in the hollow Ruines of her ancient Castles slept.
XXVI.
In such Distress the watry GodPrivately left his dark Aboad;
And under favour of the Night,
To Great ELIZA's Court did take his flight.
ELIZA, Brittain's thrice-Renowned Queen;
ELIZA, the Illustrious Heroine;
That Martial Spirit Patroniz'd his Cause,
And did assert his Injur'd Right.
Her tall Victorious Ships the Seas did scour,
Restor'd them to their Ancient Laws,
And Him unto his Native Power.
Great Soul! it was thy lucky Fate
The Sea and Land to vindicate:
Men to their Freedom to restore,
And Deities unto their Violated Power.
“To oblige Kings and Realms is Great,
“What then to put a God into thy Debt?
XXVII.
The Gratefull God the Favour own'd,And that the Gift he might repay,
I'th' Sovereignty o'th' Sea
Her and Her Successors enthron'd:
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The Noble Train near my Asylum drew:
Neptune th' Auspicious Place would see,
That once from dreaded Danger set him free.
My Transformation and my Fear he knew.
And, lifting up his awfull Trident High,
He smote the Face o'th' liquid Deep;
And charged all the watry Fry;
That they should safely me from force and Rapine keep.
XXVIII.
Neptune sate in his Chariot HighDrawn by Six Hippopotami;
Streamers of English Arms i'th' wanton Air did fly.
A Seagreen Robe was o'r his Shoulders spread,
Enrich'd with all th' unvaluable Store,
That Seas do breed or Storms devour:
And on his Head
A Crown of Rays from Phœbus sent
Or as Acknowledgment, or Rent;
For Revelling each Night i'th' Deep,
For's hours of Pastime or of Sleep.
On tunefull Shells the Tritons playd,
The Winds and Storms to sleep were laid,
And a profound Peace o'r the Deep was spread.
Mermaids in melting streins their Voices try'd,
And Sea-Nymphs in soft Airs reply'd;
That even rude Rocks & surly Seas took in the Musick pride.
XXIX.
Mountainous Whales before the Court were sent,That mov'd all Lets out of the way;
And, where the Road thrô Creeks or Inlets lay,
Shuffled up Isles into a Continent.
The Monstrous Norway-Whale was one
That cover'd many Acres of the Sea;
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Oft did the credulous Mariners betray,
Who moar'd their Ankers on his side,
And did beneath his Shelter ride.
Seas they drink down, and vomit up again;
And when they please do make an Ebb or Tyde;
Now 'tis Dry Land and now the Main.
Th' Aërial Beings (in a Fright)
That never since the Inundation
Such Cataracts of Seas had known,
Father retir'd toward the Orbs of Light;
And fear'd the Loss of their Dominion.
The troubled Sea around them boyls,
The Continent startles, and the Isles
For Fear shrink in their trembling Head;
And Earthquakes, as they turn their Course, are made.
XXX.
Near these their Place did takeSea-Elephants that on the Rocks do sleep,
That overlook the Deep;
Hang by the Teeth secure, nor wake,
Till treacherous Nets are set around,
Till they'r with Cords and Fetters bound,
Nor can one Struggle for their Freedom make.
The Sea-Mors, that's kill'd for his sovereign Horn,
And thought by some the onely Unicorn.
The Swordfish and the Thrasher, that engage
The Monster of the Sea;
And bloody Battels with the Whale do wage.
The Tortoyses, that Barren Islands court,
From far to Fruitless Sands resort,
And under them their Eggs do lay:
The Dolphin, that in Musick doth delight,
And all surpasses in a speedy Flight:
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And only before Dangerous Tempests play:
The Crocodile, for Power and Cunning fam'd,
Nor for his Cruelty less Nam'd:
That Eats, and Weeps; that He may Eat again.
The Shark, an Enemy to Man,
That craftily about the Ships doth stay,
And never Spares his Prey:
Seales, that in hollow Caves delight,
And shun Man's Dangerous Sight,
On Barren Rocks and Isles are bred,
Where foot of Man did never tread.
The Remora, the Wonder of the Sea,
That Ships even under sail can stay:
Small in his Bulk, but hoisting round their Keels,
No Waves or Tydes the Captive force away:
Whom Neptune did forbid to touch his Chariot-wheels.
XXXI.
Nor less those Swimmers added to the State,That Earthly Creatures personate:
The Lion, Bear, and Bull o'th' Sea;
The Horse and Hog, that do i'th' Ocean play:
The long-bill'd Fish, to Birds of kin,
And that, which flyes with Moistned Fin.
The Meremaid, that doth Virgin Looks acquire,
The Vayled Nunn and Cowled Fryer;
Besides a Thousand Kinds, that have no Name,
That never to our Sight, or Knowledge came:
All, that their Castles on their Backs do bear,
All, that Offensive Weapons wear;
And all the Innocent Fry, that still to Death are near:
All, that Luxurious Palates please,
The Lustfull Dainties of the Seas;
All, that Apicius Table fit,
Or Heliogabalus with Joy would meet;
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Did on the Ceremony wait,
Nor did the Usefull Herring fail,
Whose Numerous Shoals ('tis said) can choke the Whale.
XXXII.
Thrice Neptune and his CourtWith Mystick Rites and Songs of Joy
(While Milk-white Omens all around did fly)
Encompassed the British Isle,
And every River bless'd and every Port:
The British Isle! the best Beloved Seat
Of all the Off-spring of the Seas;
Whom He with Circling Arms doth ever greet.
And bad bless'd Plenty, Victory, and Ease
Upon her Charming Bosom smile:
Bad every Stream and every Rill
Plenty and Fruitfulness instill;
From Thames, that washes Stately Palaces,
Medway that Proud Victorious Navies sees,
To those that visit Humble Cottages.
Till all the whole Worlds Scatter'd good,
All, that's Esteem'd by th' Generous and Great,
Do in Her Lovely Bosom make aboad,
And there fix down their Glorious Shining Seat.
Till England be the Worlds Epitome:
And envy'd Britannie
The Lesser World, but yet the Happier, be.
Miscellany Poems | ||