The Works of Mr Abraham Cowley Consisting of Those which were formerly Printed: And Those which he Design'd for the Press, Now Published out of the Authors Original Copies ... The Text Edited by A. R. Waller |
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Upon the Death of the Earl of Balcarres. |
 | The Works of Mr Abraham Cowley |  |
Upon the Death of the Earl of Balcarres.
1.
Tis folly all, that can be saidBy living Mortals of th' immortal dead,
And I'm afraid they laugh at the vain tears we shed.
'Tis, as if we, who stay behind
In Expectation of the wind
Should pity those, who pass'd this strait before,
And touch the universal shore.
Ah happy Man, who art to sail no more!
414
Because our Friends are newly come from Sea,
Though ne're so fair and calm it be;
What would all sober men believe
If they should hear us sighing say:
Balcarres, who but th' other day
Did all our Love and our respect command,
At whose great parts we all amaz'd did stand,
Is from a storm, alass! cast suddenly on land?
2.
If you will say: Few persons upon EarthDid more then he, deserve to have
A life exempt from fortune and the grave;
Whether you look upon his Birth,
And Ancestors, whose fame's so widely spred,
But Ancestors alas, who long ago are dead!
Or whither you consider more
The vast increase, as sure you ought,
Of honor by his Labour bought,
And added to the former store.
All I can answer, is, that I allow
The priviledge you plead for; and avow
That, as he well deserv'd, he doth injoy it now.
3.
Though God for great and righteous ends,Which his unerring Providence intends,
Erroneous mankind should not understand,
Would not permit Balcarres hand,
That once with so much industry and art
Had clos'd the gaping wounds of ev'ry part,
To perfect his distracted Nations Cure,
Or stop the fatal bondage, 't was t'endure;
Yet for his pains he soon did him remove
From all th' oppression and the woe
Of his frail Bodies Native Soil below,
To his Souls true and peaceful Count'ry above:
So God, like Kings, for secret causes known
Sometimes, but to themselves alone,
415
And send abroad to Treaties, which th' intend
Shall never take effect.
But, though the Treaty wants a happy end,
The happy agent wants not the reward,
For which he Labour'd faithfully and hard;
His just and righteous Master calls him home,
And gives him near himself some honourable room.
4.
Noble and great endeavours did he bringTo save his Country and restore his King;
And whilst the Manly half of him, which those,
Who know not Love, to be the whole suppose;
Perform'd all parts of Virtues vigorous Life;
The beauteous half his lovely Wife
Did all his Labors and his cares divide;
Nor was a lame, nor paralitick side.
In all the turnes of human state,
And all th' unjust attacques of fate
She bore her share and portion still,
And would not suffer any to be ill.
Unfortunate for ever let me be,
If I believe that such was he,
Whom, in the storms of bad success,
And all that error calls unhappiness,
His virtue, and his virtuous Wife did still accompany.
5.
With these companions 't was not strangeThat nothing could his temper change.
His own and Countries union had not weight
Enough to crush his mighty mind.
He saw around the Hurricans of State,
Fixt as an Island 'gainst the waves and wind.
Thus far the greedy Sea may reach,
All outward things are but the [beach];
A great Mans Soul it doth assault in vain.
Their God himself the Ocean doth restrain
416
And bid it to go back again:
His Wisdom, Justice, and his Piety,
His Courage both to suffer and to die,
His Virtues and his Lady too
Were things Celestial. And we see
In spight of quarrelling Philosophie,
How in this case 'tis certain found,
That Heav'n stands still, and only Earth goes round.
| The Works of Mr Abraham Cowley | |