 | Poems on Affairs of State |  |
The Prophecy, 1703.
1
When Great Nassau is dead and gone,That Hero of the British Throne,
Whose Equal never will be known.
59
2
When Rogues bare-fac'd appear in Packs,When State Physicians are all Quacks,
And Privy Counsellors are Jacks.
3
When Contradictions do meet,And Knaves are at the Helm of State,
Tho faithful and unfortunate.
4
When M---h, G---n, L---y,Have acted over the old Story,
And Ireland has been rul'd by Tory.
5
When S---, H---, and Jack H---Agree the Nation to undo,
Tho each would hang the other two.
6
When nauseous Jack can quiet sit,That is, when all his Venom's spit,
Of Constitution and of Wit.
7
When Gloucester has smelt out the Knave,And Patriot Jack Recourse must have
To Foreign Borough to inslave.
8
When England's Interest is seen clearly,When Parties carry matters fairly,
And Trimming is left off by H---y.
9
When S---r scorns Salt-Petre Pence,When Bolles to Bedlam 'as no pretence,
And any B---tie can talk Sense.
10
When H---ges, richly worth the Gallows,For what the Magdalen College tells us,
Shall represent those very Fellows.
60
11
When Worth's prefer'd without the Ready,When wav'ring B---le is once fixt steddy,
When H---s is less Knave than Ady.
12
When Harry B---le shall keep less PotherWith his no Hair, and be no Lover,
Or be as honest as his Brother.
13
When B---gton is in Disgrace,'Cause he won't vote to get a Place,
Tho promis'd, is not call'd his Grace.
14
When Tories fall into a Trance,And give up dear Non-Resistance,
And cease to wish Success to France.
15
When M---ve, who long seem'd proof-Place,The first that's vacant does embrace,
To Geese and Ganders the same Sauce.
16
When honest Men dare shew their Faces,When Wit and Sense are no Disgraces,
When C---by has no minc'd Places.
17
When R---h has left his Puns,When C---ts has only his Coach Duns,
And Jack's Lieutenant of the Guns.
18
When he has Places in Possession,For having open made Profession,
Against the Protestant Succession.
19
That chief of the informing kind,To whom old Escrick's Soul we find
By wondrous Transmigration join'd.
61
20
When England's Bulwark, our great Fleet,That never should fear odds they meet,
Shall basely on the Square retreat.
21
When comes to nought our great Descent,And most Men think 'twas never meant,
When R---ks are on such Errands sent.
22
When S---s, whom all Knaves do dread,The truest Britan e'er was bred,
Shall therefore lose his able Head.
23
When W---t one prudent thing has done,T'exchange the lopt one for his own;
Better have that that's off than none.
24
When Church to Charity is given,That is, when Numbers odd or even,
Or Rowe's in Chappel of St. Stephen.
25
When the dull Dutch turn merry Grigs,When true-born Englishmen turn Prigs,
When Bishops are condemn'd for Whigs.
26
When S---m shall leave off to swive,And under C---n's Trade shall thrive,
The dullest Clergy-man alive.
27
When Western Prelates swear and rant,And 't does appear that there's no want
Of Sense in Honest T--- of Cant.
28
When Ned, omniscient Proto-Martyr,To calver'd Salmon shall give Quarter,
Or leave his Trade of following after.
62
29
When E---x shall forswear the Rummer,And spend with his own Wife a Summer,
And for St. A---s leave dear P---r.
30
When W---m's crooked fulsom Relict,Of Sense and Shape intirely Belgick,
Shall be by B---d deem'd Angellick.
31
When Men can fancy such a Whale,And such old stuff is made a Stale,
To catch our silly Dukes withal.
32
When Tear-shirt W---n, fam'd for wenching,His Whores and Gardens is retrenching,
Or shall consent to let the French in.
33
When France shall faithfully keep Leagues,When Maintenon leaves State Intrigues,
And Men are born with two left Legs.
34
When these Strange things shall come to pass,England shall be, or I'm an Ass,
The strangest Queendom ever was.
| Poems on Affairs of State | |