The works of Sr William Davenant ... Consisting of Those which were formerly Printed, and Those which he design'd for the Press: Now published Out of the Authors Originall Copies |
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POEM upon His Sacred Majestie's most happy Return to His Dominions.
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 | The works of Sr William Davenant |  |
POEM upon His Sacred Majestie's most happy Return to His Dominions.
When from your Towns all hastned to the shore,
What shame could urge your peoples blushes more,
Than to behold their Royal Martyr's Son
Appeas'd, even with their grief for what was done?
So great your Mercy is, that you will grieve,
If your wise Senate cannot all forgive.
Nor can the Spies of Malice e're discern,
That you from Interest did this Vertue learn.
Great Julius in disguise, might act that part:
But Nature has in you out-done his Art.
What shame could urge your peoples blushes more,
Than to behold their Royal Martyr's Son
Appeas'd, even with their grief for what was done?
So great your Mercy is, that you will grieve,
If your wise Senate cannot all forgive.
Nor can the Spies of Malice e're discern,
That you from Interest did this Vertue learn.
Great Julius in disguise, might act that part:
But Nature has in you out-done his Art.
Your perfect Father to such height did come
Of God-like pitty, near his Martyrdom,
That he his Subject-Judges did forgive,
And left it as their punishment to live.
Pitty not onely flowes from him to you,
But doubly, from your Mother's Mercy too:
The limits of it none could ever know,
Nor to the bounds of her compassion go;
Whose Father in forgiveness did transcend
The insolence of all that durst offend;
When his Remorse seem'd led by their Despair,
Beyond the sight of Hope, or voice of Prayer.
No more shall your bold Subjects strive to Reign;
And fatal Honour on each other gain.
Their courage, which mistook the way to Fame,
(And may find pitty where it meets with shame)
Shall, by your valor guided, far out-shine
Our Glory got in France and Palestine.
Of God-like pitty, near his Martyrdom,
That he his Subject-Judges did forgive,
And left it as their punishment to live.
Pitty not onely flowes from him to you,
But doubly, from your Mother's Mercy too:
The limits of it none could ever know,
Nor to the bounds of her compassion go;
Whose Father in forgiveness did transcend
The insolence of all that durst offend;
When his Remorse seem'd led by their Despair,
Beyond the sight of Hope, or voice of Prayer.
No more shall your bold Subjects strive to Reign;
And fatal Honour on each other gain.
Their courage, which mistook the way to Fame,
(And may find pitty where it meets with shame)
Shall, by your valor guided, far out-shine
Our Glory got in France and Palestine.
No more shall sacred Priests fall from their own
Supported Pow'r, by shrinking from the Throne:
Nor in divided shapes that Garment tear,
Which their Great Chief did whole and seemless wear.
No more shall any Antient of our Law,
From old Records such Modern Meaning draw,
As made even Lawyers lawless, and enquire,
How justly Kings to armed Pow'r aspire?
The Civil Robe did Swords Power suspect,
Though onely Armed Pow'r can Law protect;
And rescue Wealth from Crowds, when Poverty
Treads down those Laws on which the Rich rely.
Yet Law, where Kings are arm'd, rescues the Crowd
Even from themselves, when Plenty makes them proud.
Supported Pow'r, by shrinking from the Throne:
Nor in divided shapes that Garment tear,
Which their Great Chief did whole and seemless wear.
No more shall any Antient of our Law,
From old Records such Modern Meaning draw,
As made even Lawyers lawless, and enquire,
How justly Kings to armed Pow'r aspire?
The Civil Robe did Swords Power suspect,
Though onely Armed Pow'r can Law protect;
And rescue Wealth from Crowds, when Poverty
Treads down those Laws on which the Rich rely.
Yet Law, where Kings are arm'd, rescues the Crowd
Even from themselves, when Plenty makes them proud.
No more shall any of the Noble Blood
Too faintly stem the People's rising Flood.
But when the Wind, Opinion does grow loud,
Moving like waves, the Many-headed Crowd;
Then those great Ships shall fast at Anchor ride,
And not be hurri'd backward with the Tyde.
The Throne's the Port to which their Course shall bear,
As well at distance too as sailing near:
Or, Anch'ring, shall for change of weather stay,
And never lose when they can gain no way.
Too faintly stem the People's rising Flood.
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Moving like waves, the Many-headed Crowd;
Then those great Ships shall fast at Anchor ride,
And not be hurri'd backward with the Tyde.
The Throne's the Port to which their Course shall bear,
As well at distance too as sailing near:
Or, Anch'ring, shall for change of weather stay,
And never lose when they can gain no way.
No more shall publick wealth on Spies be spent,
To hunt the Loyal and the Innocent:
Nor Jaylors in contracted Prisons be
The Keepers of the Peopl's Libertie:
Nor Chiefs in Civil Causes toyl, and do
The task of Judges, and of Jurors too;
In whose High-Courts their Wills for Laws were known.
And all the Civil Pow'r was Martial grown.
How useful must the Regal Office be,
Where both those Pow'rs for publick good agree?
Where Justice in a Ballance weighs the Cause,
And wears a Sword but to enforce the Laws.
When (Mighty Monarch) your Three Nations count
To what their gain, by gaining you, will mount;
They justly reckon, that the least you bring
Of Greatness is, that Blood which makes you King:
And casting up what Satisfaction they,
In full return of all your Vertues, pay;
The Product shews, you bring in value more,
Than those Three Realms, which they do but restore.
To hunt the Loyal and the Innocent:
Nor Jaylors in contracted Prisons be
The Keepers of the Peopl's Libertie:
Nor Chiefs in Civil Causes toyl, and do
The task of Judges, and of Jurors too;
In whose High-Courts their Wills for Laws were known.
And all the Civil Pow'r was Martial grown.
How useful must the Regal Office be,
Where both those Pow'rs for publick good agree?
Where Justice in a Ballance weighs the Cause,
And wears a Sword but to enforce the Laws.
When (Mighty Monarch) your Three Nations count
To what their gain, by gaining you, will mount;
They justly reckon, that the least you bring
Of Greatness is, that Blood which makes you King:
And casting up what Satisfaction they,
In full return of all your Vertues, pay;
The Product shews, you bring in value more,
Than those Three Realms, which they do but restore.
You bring such Clemency, as shews you have
More Pardons, than your God-like-Father gave.
Which shews a Greatness that does most incline
To what is greatest in the Pow'r Divine.
'Tis that to which all Human kind does bow,
And tend'rest sense of obligation owe.
For wretched Man (by ev'ry passion led,
Born sinful, and to many errors bred)
Has use of Mercy still, and does esteem
Creation a less work than to Redeem.
More Pardons, than your God-like-Father gave.
Which shews a Greatness that does most incline
To what is greatest in the Pow'r Divine.
'Tis that to which all Human kind does bow,
And tend'rest sense of obligation owe.
For wretched Man (by ev'ry passion led,
Born sinful, and to many errors bred)
Has use of Mercy still, and does esteem
Creation a less work than to Redeem.
You bring a Judgement deeper than the Sea:
And as in deepest Seas we fafest be,
So in your Judgement's depths we may endure
All Empire's suddain storms, and sleep secure.
And as in deaper Seas we never sound,
Or seek that Depth which never can be found,
(Unless as Pilots, who for trial, near
The Ocean's Borders, cast a Plummet there;
But cease to sound when they no bottom find)
So, whilst I try to measure your deep Mind,
I stop even at the Verges of your Court,
Knowing my Plummet light, and Line too short.
And as in deepest Seas we fafest be,
So in your Judgement's depths we may endure
All Empire's suddain storms, and sleep secure.
And as in deaper Seas we never sound,
Or seek that Depth which never can be found,
(Unless as Pilots, who for trial, near
The Ocean's Borders, cast a Plummet there;
But cease to sound when they no bottom find)
So, whilst I try to measure your deep Mind,
I stop even at the Verges of your Court,
Knowing my Plummet light, and Line too short.
You bring, with depth of Judgment, all the height
And fire of Thought, that can give wings to Weight.
A Mind so swift, that in a moment's space
Not only flies o're the Diurnal Race,
But does collect all objects of the Sun,
And marks, what through the Globe the Great have done.
You no endowment can like this possess,
Which will preserve what Valor can increase.
For Pow'r requires an universal Eye:
It should like yours, see all and suddainly.
If thus it watch not ever for the State,
It either sees too little, or too late.
And fire of Thought, that can give wings to Weight.
A Mind so swift, that in a moment's space
Not only flies o're the Diurnal Race,
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And marks, what through the Globe the Great have done.
You no endowment can like this possess,
Which will preserve what Valor can increase.
For Pow'r requires an universal Eye:
It should like yours, see all and suddainly.
If thus it watch not ever for the State,
It either sees too little, or too late.
You bring such Valour as dares farther tread,
Then Love dares follow; or Ambition lead.
Valour, so watchful as may safely keep
A Camp untrencht, and suffer Scouts to sleep:
Fit to surprise Surprizers early Spys,
It danger loves, as good for exercise.
The honor you near Severn's Banks obtain'd,
Did make the victors lose by what they gain'd;
When you reclaim'd their malice, who with shame
Blush't that they kept your Realms, yet gave you fame.
Then Love dares follow; or Ambition lead.
Valour, so watchful as may safely keep
A Camp untrencht, and suffer Scouts to sleep:
Fit to surprise Surprizers early Spys,
It danger loves, as good for exercise.
The honor you near Severn's Banks obtain'd,
Did make the victors lose by what they gain'd;
When you reclaim'd their malice, who with shame
Blush't that they kept your Realms, yet gave you fame.
You bring such charming vertues as move more
Then all the secret gifts of bounteous Pow'r:
Your kind approaches to invite access;
Your patient Eare to troublesome Distress.
Your nat'ral greatness, never artful made,
Nor so retir'd as if you sought a shade.
And by reserv'dness would misterious seem:
As formal men retire to get esteem.
But you would so be visible and free,
As Truth and Valor still would publick be.
Those hate obscureness and would still be shown,
They grow more lov'd as they become more known.
Then all the secret gifts of bounteous Pow'r:
Your kind approaches to invite access;
Your patient Eare to troublesome Distress.
Your nat'ral greatness, never artful made,
Nor so retir'd as if you sought a shade.
And by reserv'dness would misterious seem:
As formal men retire to get esteem.
But you would so be visible and free,
As Truth and Valor still would publick be.
Those hate obscureness and would still be shown,
They grow more lov'd as they become more known.
You bring Religion, which before like Fame,
Was nothing but a Trumpet and a Name.
Here most seem'd holy but in Masquerade;
Most vizards wore, and in disguise were clad.
Abroad, your firme Religion gain'd renown
Through all the trials of Comparison.
It will, at home, unmask dissembling Art;
And what was wholy Face shall grow all Heart.
Was nothing but a Trumpet and a Name.
Here most seem'd holy but in Masquerade;
Most vizards wore, and in disguise were clad.
Abroad, your firme Religion gain'd renown
Through all the trials of Comparison.
It will, at home, unmask dissembling Art;
And what was wholy Face shall grow all Heart.
Thus shewing what you are, how quickly we
Infer what all your Subjects soon will be!
For from the Monarchs vertue Subjects take,
Th' ingredient which does publick-vertue make.
At his bright beam they all their Tapers light,
And by his Dial set their motion right;
Infer what all your Subjects soon will be!
For from the Monarchs vertue Subjects take,
Th' ingredient which does publick-vertue make.
At his bright beam they all their Tapers light,
And by his Dial set their motion right;
Your Clemency has taught us to believe
It wise, as well as vertuous, to forgive.
And now the most offended shall proceed
In great forgiving till no Laws we need:
For Laws slow progresses would quickly end,
Could we forgive as fast as men offend.
Revenge of past offences is the cause
Why peaceful minds consented to have Laws.
Yet Plaintiffs and Defendants much mistake
Their cure, and their diseases lasting make;
For to be reconcil'd, and to comply,
Would prove their cheap and shortest remedy.
The length and charge of Laws vex all that sue;
Laws punish many, reconcile but few.
Intire forgiveness, thus deriv'd from you,
Does Clients reconcile and Factions too.
No Faction shall hereafter own a name;
But their distinctions vanish with their shame.
It wise, as well as vertuous, to forgive.
And now the most offended shall proceed
In great forgiving till no Laws we need:
For Laws slow progresses would quickly end,
Could we forgive as fast as men offend.
Revenge of past offences is the cause
Why peaceful minds consented to have Laws.
Yet Plaintiffs and Defendants much mistake
Their cure, and their diseases lasting make;
259
Would prove their cheap and shortest remedy.
The length and charge of Laws vex all that sue;
Laws punish many, reconcile but few.
Intire forgiveness, thus deriv'd from you,
Does Clients reconcile and Factions too.
No Faction shall hereafter own a name;
But their distinctions vanish with their shame.
Your careful judgment teaches us to prize
Affliction, and to grow, by troubles, wise.
To clear the sullen count'nance of Distress;
And not with haste precipitate redress.
Your judgments patience has ev'n vertue taught
That her reward should be with patience sought.
Tis else requir'd too boldly and too soon;
As if she boasted that her work was done.
We shall not boast of constant Loyalty,
Whose Light goes out, when held by us too high.
It is a vertue, but 'tis duty too;
And our reward is had in having you.
Affliction, and to grow, by troubles, wise.
To clear the sullen count'nance of Distress;
And not with haste precipitate redress.
Your judgments patience has ev'n vertue taught
That her reward should be with patience sought.
Tis else requir'd too boldly and too soon;
As if she boasted that her work was done.
We shall not boast of constant Loyalty,
Whose Light goes out, when held by us too high.
It is a vertue, but 'tis duty too;
And our reward is had in having you.
Your minds swift motion (which hath often brought
Actions, even farther past, to instant thought;
Which in a moment does all compass run;
And then contract all objects into one:
And judge all Empires as the Sun might do,
If he had life and reason too like you.)
Has taught our feeble Thoughts to mend their pace;
And follow though they lose you in the Race.
And now your Nations shall with early Eves,
Watch the first Clouds e're storms of Rebels rise.
Though Orators (the Peoples Witches) may
Raise higher Tempests then their skill can lay;
Making a civil and staid Senate rude,
And stopless as a running multitude:
Yet can they not to full rebellion grow;
Not knowing how much now the People know;
Who from your influence have' attain'd the wit
Not to proceed from grudgings to a Fit.
Your Valour has our rasher courage taught
To do, not what we dare, but what we ought;
Not to pretend renown from high offence;
Nor braver boldness turn to impudence?
Nor claim a right where we by force enjoy;
Nor boast our strength from what we can destroy.
Actions, even farther past, to instant thought;
Which in a moment does all compass run;
And then contract all objects into one:
And judge all Empires as the Sun might do,
If he had life and reason too like you.)
Has taught our feeble Thoughts to mend their pace;
And follow though they lose you in the Race.
And now your Nations shall with early Eves,
Watch the first Clouds e're storms of Rebels rise.
Though Orators (the Peoples Witches) may
Raise higher Tempests then their skill can lay;
Making a civil and staid Senate rude,
And stopless as a running multitude:
Yet can they not to full rebellion grow;
Not knowing how much now the People know;
Who from your influence have' attain'd the wit
Not to proceed from grudgings to a Fit.
Your Valour has our rasher courage taught
To do, not what we dare, but what we ought;
Not to pretend renown from high offence;
Nor braver boldness turn to impudence?
Nor claim a right where we by force enjoy;
Nor boast our strength from what we can destroy.
Your other Vertues bear instructive sway:
Their fair examples we like Laws obey;
Which through your Realms such Harmony disperse,
As if Love rul'd, and Laws were writ in Verse.
Whilst our Civilities grow so refin'd
That now they more then former Statutes bind,
The high in pow'r, make their approaches low,
To meet and lift the humble when they bow.
Such English-stifeness freely they forsake,
As made wise Strangers wonder and go back.
Their fair examples we like Laws obey;
Which through your Realms such Harmony disperse,
As if Love rul'd, and Laws were writ in Verse.
Whilst our Civilities grow so refin'd
That now they more then former Statutes bind,
The high in pow'r, make their approaches low,
To meet and lift the humble when they bow.
Such English-stifeness freely they forsake,
As made wise Strangers wonder and go back.
260
Your firm Religion shall our firmness breed,
And turn into a Rock our shaken Reed.
A Rock, which like a rowling wave before
Flow'd with the Flood, and ebb'd with ebb's of Pow'r,
And that respect which your indulgent Eye,
Pays as your blessed Fathers Legacy.
To sacred Priests, with chearful bounty's too,
Does teach what we with rev'rence ought to do,
And well may Priests (who are Heav'ns Liegers) be
Nobly defray'd in ev'ry Embasie:
They treat not for the profit of that King,
From whose bright Palace they Credentials bring.
But for the Peoples benefit to whom
They are in pitty sent and charg'd to come.
To these we shall with rev'rence Off'rings make;
Which they may justly and with honour take.
'Tis done with some respect when Princes give
Gifts to Ambassadours, and they receive
Those gifts with confidence, as if they knew,
Though they are gifts, yet Custom makes them due.
And turn into a Rock our shaken Reed.
A Rock, which like a rowling wave before
Flow'd with the Flood, and ebb'd with ebb's of Pow'r,
And that respect which your indulgent Eye,
Pays as your blessed Fathers Legacy.
To sacred Priests, with chearful bounty's too,
Does teach what we with rev'rence ought to do,
And well may Priests (who are Heav'ns Liegers) be
Nobly defray'd in ev'ry Embasie:
They treat not for the profit of that King,
From whose bright Palace they Credentials bring.
But for the Peoples benefit to whom
They are in pitty sent and charg'd to come.
To these we shall with rev'rence Off'rings make;
Which they may justly and with honour take.
'Tis done with some respect when Princes give
Gifts to Ambassadours, and they receive
Those gifts with confidence, as if they knew,
Though they are gifts, yet Custom makes them due.
Too boldly, (awful Monarch) am I gone,
Through all your Guards, to gaze about your Throne.
Yet 'tis the use of Greatness to excuse,
The daring progress of the sacred Muse:
She taught the Lover, love, and Warriour, war;
And is the Guide, when Honour would go far,
The Studious follow, till they lose their sight,
When to the upper Heav'n she makes her flight.
She mounts above what they pretend to know,
And leaves their soaring Thoughts in depths below.
Through all your Guards, to gaze about your Throne.
Yet 'tis the use of Greatness to excuse,
The daring progress of the sacred Muse:
She taught the Lover, love, and Warriour, war;
And is the Guide, when Honour would go far,
The Studious follow, till they lose their sight,
When to the upper Heav'n she makes her flight.
She mounts above what they pretend to know,
And leaves their soaring Thoughts in depths below.
Why nam'd I Heav'n, where all meet all reliefs,
Where best of joys succeed the worst of Griefs;
Yet naming it, must Clouds of sorrow wear,
For that dire cause which brought your Father there?
Kings must to Heav'n through shades of sorrow pass,
And taking leave of Nature, Death imbrace.
But he, with more then a devout intent,
To people soon that Heav'n to which he went.
Did, dying, leave three Nations (when they count
To what his vallew, and their loss will mount.
What he did suffer, and what they did do)
Sorrow enough to bring them thither too.
Where best of joys succeed the worst of Griefs;
Yet naming it, must Clouds of sorrow wear,
For that dire cause which brought your Father there?
Kings must to Heav'n through shades of sorrow pass,
And taking leave of Nature, Death imbrace.
But he, with more then a devout intent,
To people soon that Heav'n to which he went.
Did, dying, leave three Nations (when they count
To what his vallew, and their loss will mount.
What he did suffer, and what they did do)
Sorrow enough to bring them thither too.
Much was he favour'd by the Pow'r Divine,
Which to encourage Vertue with some signe,
Or likely taste of future happiness,
Did let him many blessings here possess.
Your Royal Mother, in his life, fulfill'd
All griefs that Mourning Widowhood could yield;
And has continu'd, since he reign'd above,
Her care o're all the Pledges of their love.
Which to encourage Vertue with some signe,
Or likely taste of future happiness,
Did let him many blessings here possess.
Your Royal Mother, in his life, fulfill'd
All griefs that Mourning Widowhood could yield;
And has continu'd, since he reign'd above,
Her care o're all the Pledges of their love.
You, in your Manhoods bloome, exprest an aw,
Not of his Regal but of Natures Law:
Obeying him in all, by no designe,
Or force, but so as Nature did incline.
And with your growth your kind obedience grew;
Which love, not precept shew'd you was his due.
You rev'renc'd him in deep afflictions more,
Then on those heights where he did shine before.
This vertuous softness made your people melt;
Who in your triumph all that kindness felt
Which to their Saint your duty had exprest,
And drew from ev'ry Eye, and ev'ry Breast,
Such tears and sighs, as in a happy time,
Pay'd back your sorrows, and excus'd their crime.
Not of his Regal but of Natures Law:
Obeying him in all, by no designe,
Or force, but so as Nature did incline.
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Which love, not precept shew'd you was his due.
You rev'renc'd him in deep afflictions more,
Then on those heights where he did shine before.
This vertuous softness made your people melt;
Who in your triumph all that kindness felt
Which to their Saint your duty had exprest,
And drew from ev'ry Eye, and ev'ry Breast,
Such tears and sighs, as in a happy time,
Pay'd back your sorrows, and excus'd their crime.
And your heroick Brothers (early grown
Fame's Favorites, and Rivals in renown)
Did in their Dawne such beams of comfort give
As they had almost made him wish to live.
That he might see the Glory of their Noon:
But ah! Lifes glass he shook to make it run.
The mighty-Martyr gaz'd on Heav'ns reward:
Then struggling Nature found him strait too hard
For all her force, Religion watcht the strife;
And Honour call'd him back from proffer'd Life.
Fame's Favorites, and Rivals in renown)
Did in their Dawne such beams of comfort give
As they had almost made him wish to live.
That he might see the Glory of their Noon:
But ah! Lifes glass he shook to make it run.
The mighty-Martyr gaz'd on Heav'ns reward:
Then struggling Nature found him strait too hard
For all her force, Religion watcht the strife;
And Honour call'd him back from proffer'd Life.
T'will not suffice (best King) that we have shown
Your Picture, with Two worthy's next your Throne:
But we would now of all the Copy's boast
From such a great Orig'nal as is lost.
Two, of the gentler Sex, remain to grace
The matchless number of his Royal Race.
The First, with practis'd patience, even when young,
Whilst various winds made storms of Empire long)
Has liv'd the great example, and the good,
Of graceful and of prudent Widow-hood.
The other has fit vertue to dispence,
Even to a Cloyster'd Virgin, innocence;
And such discretion as might Factions guide;
And so much beauty as She much might hide,
Yet lend that Court, where Lilly's wildly grow,
More then their glorious Nuptials now can show.
Your Picture, with Two worthy's next your Throne:
But we would now of all the Copy's boast
From such a great Orig'nal as is lost.
Two, of the gentler Sex, remain to grace
The matchless number of his Royal Race.
The First, with practis'd patience, even when young,
Whilst various winds made storms of Empire long)
Has liv'd the great example, and the good,
Of graceful and of prudent Widow-hood.
The other has fit vertue to dispence,
Even to a Cloyster'd Virgin, innocence;
And such discretion as might Factions guide;
And so much beauty as She much might hide,
Yet lend that Court, where Lilly's wildly grow,
More then their glorious Nuptials now can show.
Tell me, (O Fame!) what triumph thou would'st sound?
In all thy boasted Flights thou scarce hast found
One Theam like mine. Ascend! and strait disperse
(As far as ever Thou wert led by Verse,
Or Light ere flew) my Sov'raign's full renown:
Then rest thy wings, and lay thy Trumpet down.
In all thy boasted Flights thou scarce hast found
One Theam like mine. Ascend! and strait disperse
(As far as ever Thou wert led by Verse,
Or Light ere flew) my Sov'raign's full renown:
Then rest thy wings, and lay thy Trumpet down.
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