The Second Part of the Vision, a Pindarick Ode Occasioned by Their Majesties Happy Coronation. By Edm. Arwaker |
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 | The Second Part of the Vision, a Pindarick Ode |  |
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THE SECOND PART OF THE VISION.
[I.]
Now the great Jubilee was hasting on!That happy welcome Day,
When Royal JAMES and MARY were to grace the Crown,
Which only cou'd for CHARLES's Loss attone;
And now remain'd but one injurious Night
The Glorious Triumph to delay,
One envious Night alone
Kept from our longing Eyes th' expected sight,
Which more than all its other joys endear'd th' approaching Light;
While happier Subjects, whose Auspicious Fate
Might Introduce 'em to that Scene of State,
Were ev'n with expectation Extasied,
I wretch, by my Cross Stars that Bliss deny'd;
And to a sad unwholesome Soyl confin'd,
A Soyl by Health and Pleasure long since left behind;
A Soyl where unresisted Death has chose
To make his General Rendezvouse,
Where a vast Army of Diseases Reigns,
And more pernicious Faction daily Conquest gains;
Such various Arts the old Seducer finds
T'infect at once Mens Bodies and their Minds.
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With Tears, the Festival I desecrate;
Which feign I would, but could not better Celebrate:
For no such happy opportunity
Was by my step-Dame Fortune e're indulg'd to me.
II.
While musing thus disconsolate I lay,The kind Salutes of a soft pleasing Voice,
In gentle whispers summon'd me away,
And cry'd, Rejoyce! Rejoyce!
O blest for ever be the grateful noise!
For now, by some strange secret impulse Born,
I flew through Regions of the yielding Air,
Safe as the wing'd Inhabitants there,
'Till tow'ring Eagles were become my scorn;
When lo! the Pile of fam'd Antiquity,
That Patern of Magnificence,
In all whose monumental work we see
The just Encomiums of its Founder-Prince,
That Sacred structure of Renown;
Since there our Kings receive their Unction and their Crown,
That welcome Object entertain'd my Eye,
With what it most desir'd, the grand Solemnity.
III.
As once Zachæus from the Fav'ring Tree,Beheld with Ravishment the great God-Man,
Such Mighty Joy, such wond'rous Extasie
Possest my Soul, when the bright Pomp began,
When God-like JAMES with his own Majesty Array'd,
His dazling Beams around display'd;
And like the Glorious Ruler of the Day,
Cheer'd the inferiour World with Heat and Light,
While like the Beauteous Empress of the Night
(Save that than her more Bright)
His Splendid CONSORT, Partner of His Sway,
But greater in the Empire of His Heart,
Shines with Him all the way,
And to each other still new Luster they impart:
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A vast Retinue of attending Stars,
Whom their great Leader for their Service Loves,
Their signal Courage in his Wars;
When Second Lucifer, with his Rebellious Train,
Strove to Exclude him from his Right,
But all, (thanks to th' immortal Pow'rs!) in vain;
Their routed Armies put to flight,
Were damn'd to Regions of Eternal Night.
IV.
But now the Mystick Oyl's prepar'd, and nowThe Glorious Diadem's made ready too;
Which by reflection from their brighter Eyes,
The Native Splendour of its Gems out-vies:
Angels look glad Spectators down,
And bright Saint CHARLES from His Immortal Throne
Applauds His just Succession to the Crown:
That Crown which he, by many a weighty care,
Made easie, to Adorn the Royal Heir!
V.
But something yet was to be done,Before the great Solemnity begun;
I lookt and saw the Teeming Womb of Hell
Begin to heave and swell,
Till after many painful Pangs and Thro's,
It did its Dismal Mouth unclose,
And to the hated Light a Dreadful Birth expose;
Monsters Deform'd, and odious to the sight,
Yet to be view'd with less affright
Than was their own, when in the Chair they found
The Royal Hero ready to be Crown'd,
And not Excluded, blest be Heaven! nor Drown'd.
With strange Confusion at his Presence struck
Like Paralitick Men they shook,
And Back towards Hell a hasty flight they took;
His Godlike Presence did confound 'em more
Than all the Miseries of the Damn'd before:
But Entrance ev'n to Hell was yet deny'd,
The greater Torment they must still abide;
At which their Chief, the Raging Lucifer,
An ugly Fiend, though once a Glorious Star,
(Such the Rewards of Treason and Rebellion are;)
Lashing his Body with his Snakey Tayl,
With Impious Blasphemy at Heav'n did rail,
And thus his insuccessful Villany bewail.
VI.
Is th'Effect of all my black Designs,Of all my Plots, Caballs, and deep-wrought Mines;
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To keep my Prince in awe,
To Varnish Treason with a specious Name,
And justify Rebellion by a Law!
Did I for His Exclusion boldly Vote,
And subt'ly Bills against His Right promote?
Nay, have I impiously pusht others on
To their eternal Ruine and my own,
And after all, to find HIM on the Throne!
Have I earn'd Hell for this!—
The angry Fiend had not so quickly done,
But that the Hallow'd Scene begun,
The Scene I long'd to see, as much as He to Shun.
VII.
The Sacred Vial ready stands,And by Heaven's great Commissioners hands
Down on the Royal Pair is shed;
And with it, Blessings light on either head!
Oh! may Their Power like that Diffusive prove!
May it unbounded spread!
And may Their Fame the Odor's scent exceed,
Ador'd by all below, approv'd by all above.
May ne're their Brows be bent beneath the weight
Of an oppressive care,
To cause untimely wrinkles there,
But let eternal quiet bless their State,
And as without, let all be calm within,
Peaceful as Innocence, as Heav'n Serene!
VIII.
Come and Adore, ye happy Nations all!And at your Sov'raign's feet with low Prostration fall!
But You who dare with Sanctify'd pretence
Rebell against your Prince;
You who Sedition Practice, you who Preach
That easy Lesson, there's no need to teach;
You who pervert the Sacred Scriptures Sense,
And when you please wrest Proofs for Treason thence;
Whose whole Religion's disobedience:
Hence Damn'd Impostors, Hence!
No more Your old Rebellious Trade promote,
Nor entertain one Treasonable thought.
Let Icy horror chill your Fiery Rage,
And feeble Nerves, as in decrepit Age,
Your Villanous Attempts upbraid,
And piously refuse their Aid.
Let dislocation all your joints possess,
And impotence befool and check your Wickedness;
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The mention of you sure is odious there,
And thence your due reward must needs be giv'n,
Whence th' old Republican your Father fell
Down to the lowest Hell,
For Heav'n of its Vicegerents took such care,
'Twould not Rebellion, though in Angels spare.
IX.
But now the Royal Heads are Crown'd,And joyful Shouts throughout the Sacred Walls re-sound,
Which busie Angels catch at the rebound;
And up to Heav'n with eager haste convey,
Ecchoing the pleasing accents all the way;
Long live the King! they cry, Long live the Queen!
And down they quickly bring agen
Heav'n's Royal Assent, a triple loud AMEN!
X.
Here by Two shining Forms conducted in,EUSEBIA enter'd, with an alter'd Mein,
Not as before clad in a Mourning dress,
But such as did the great occasion fit,
For by her Garb she wou'd her Joy express,
Regardless how the vulgar censur'd it.
Much cost and care on Her Attire She spent,
Nor deem'd she her intrinsick Beauty less,
For any outward Pomp or Ornament;
Remembring, when Her LORD in Triumph rode,
He chose that Grandeur to Proclaim the GOD:
Now humbly on Her Knees the Heav'nly Fair
With this Address salutes the Royal Pair.
XI.
England's become another Eden now,With Peace and Plenty Crown'd,
And you, great Rulers of Our Paradice,
Like those which in the first were found,
With Innocence abound;
With Innocence and Knowledge too,
A Miracle the others never knew;
Who lost their Innocence attempting to be Wise.
All Hail! Great Queen in whom your Realms are blest,
Glorious as Morning Sun-beams in the East!
Richer within, and lovelier to the Eye
Than the fair Fruit of the forbidden Tree;
'Tis You, beyond Your Sex alone,
That have the noblest Grandeur shown;
Grandeur improv'd by Condescention.
To You, as Heav'n all Suppliants have access,
Nor do they find Your God-like Bounty less;
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Than that Your Pity makes to their Relief;
So excellent You are in each degree,
That You a powerful argument Create,
To prove Perfection in the humane state:
Not Eve, at best, deserv'd so much to be
Queen of a Universal Monarchy!
But You a nobler Empire have than she;
You in our Monarchs larger Heart are great,
And You alone deserve that happy Seat;
Long may your Reign be there!
And long and peaceful may His Rule be here.
XII.
Hail best of Monarchs! without parallel!Go on in Vertue, till (if possible)
As now all others, You Your self excell!
Hail Great Preserver of EUSEBIA's Peace,
In whom Her Wishes gladly acquiesce!
Your early Care did Her Request prevent,
Your Bounteous Promise Her Desires exceed;
She from Your Pow'r no Injury cou'd dread,
But labour'd long for its Establishment;
So well Your Soul she understood,
And knew You so Divinely-good,
That to be guilty of the smallest ill
To you, as Heav'n, must be impossible.
Here at your Princely Feet her self she throws,
Her Life, her All's at your dispose,
Who nothing dear as her Obedience knows.
Safe in the great Asylum of your Arms,
She can't be fright'ned at Alarms;
While your Indulgence is her Confidence
She knows your Pow'r a strong secure defence;
Within the Verge of whose protecting Shade
No Danger can approach, nor Enemies invade.
Vouchsafe then, mighty Sov'raign, to allow
The humble Tribute of Eusebia's Vow:
If e're she does your Royal Word distrust,
Or to your Int'rest proves unjust,
May greater Plagues light on her perjur'd Head
Than all her Foes can wish, or Fav'rers dread;
And may just Heav'n give her no longer date
Than Cæsar finds her Faith to him inviolate.
Here bowing low, she ended, and retir'd
To view, at leisure, what she most admir'd;
No sight so well employ'd her Eyes as this,
The Object of her Love, and Author of her Bliss.
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XIII.
And now Great JAMES, with God-like Clemency,Gives blest Presages of his gracious Reign;
Death lays its useless Weapons by,
The hungry Skeleton expects his Prey in vain.
'Tis mighty James's Pleasure none shall dye.
This wonder more than Eden knew, we see
The Tree of Life unguarded stands, and free!
But back too forward Muse to thy Obscurity,
For no Indemnity can sure extend to thee!
Who do'st their Sacred Majesties prophane
With low expression and ignoble strain;
Say what pretence,
What can'st thou urge in thy defence?
Thou hast alas this only Plea,
That though thou did'st presume too near,
It was not in Iscariot's way,
That with a false Salute thou might'st betray;
But 'twas with pious Reverence, awful Fear,
With humble and untainted Innocence,
And with a Mind still firm to Loyalty,
The Earliest Lesson of thy Infancy:
Thou did'st no Tyrants Rise Congratulate,
Nor, to encrease his Pageant State,
In Panegyricks on his Chariot wait;
Nor mourn his Fall when hurl'd to Hell by Fate:
Then while thy King his Blessings does dispence,
Thou may'st some transient drop receive,
Warm'd by whose powerful Influence
Thy fading Laurels may revive;
So the exhausted Patient in the Crowd
With dread the blest Physician's Robe approach'd,
And thence receiv'd the expected good,
Because with Faith and Reverence she touch'd.
FINIS.
| The Second Part of the Vision, a Pindarick Ode | |