A Collection of Poems on Various Subjects By Sir Richard Blackmore |
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 | A Collection of Poems on Various Subjects |  |
Distracted States, if Faction sound th' Alarm,
Against their rightful Lords seditious arm:
How oft have Nations, which in Strength encreast,
Triumph'd in Peace, and Empire long possest,
With Discord mad, and with Resentment spur'd,
In their own Bowels plung'd th' unnatural Sword?
And when to foreign Arms superiour grown,
Have Self-Assassins perish'd by their own?
And while their Humane Faculties decline,
In Nature's Roll they their high Rank resign,
Degrade the Man, and chuse the brutal Line.
Dissolv'd in soft Enjoyments, which unbrace
The vig'rous Sinew, this degenerate Race
Become too weak to bear the pond'rous Shield,
And the hard Labours of the Martial Field,
They purchase Scenes of Joy at vast Expense,
Where, with their Wealth, they dissipate their Sense.
Amid'st the Dreggs of Sloth unactive sink,
Unapt for Labour, yet averse to think.
Such is their busy Idleness, they find
No vacant Hour to cultivate the Mind:
For liberal Arts appoint no narrow Room,
But lazy Life in Indolence consume.
Against their rightful Lords seditious arm:
How oft have Nations, which in Strength encreast,
Triumph'd in Peace, and Empire long possest,
With Discord mad, and with Resentment spur'd,
In their own Bowels plung'd th' unnatural Sword?
And when to foreign Arms superiour grown,
Have Self-Assassins perish'd by their own?
263
See, when the Ship of State distends her Sails,
Not with too strong, nor with too feeble Gales,
Do's on the Deep of Fear unconscious dance,
And o'er the peaceful Waves secure advance,
While able Masters at the Helm preside,
And guide her safe from Rocks on either Side;
See suddain Storms blown up by Discord rise,
Embroil the Main, and terrify the Skies!
Tempest with Tempest wages furious War,
And Clouds o'ercharg'd with inbred Thunder bear
A while th' imprison'd Wrath, then bursting rend the Air
And while conflicting Winds the Fight maintain,
And doubtful claim the Empire of the Main,
The suff'ring Ship is this and that way driv'n,
Oft sunk to Hell, uplifted oft to Heav'n;
Is now insulted by the Tempest's Shocks,
And now the Billows dreads, and now the Rocks:
Ar length grown leaky, and her Rigging lost,
Splits on her own inhospitable Coast.
Not with too strong, nor with too feeble Gales,
Do's on the Deep of Fear unconscious dance,
And o'er the peaceful Waves secure advance,
While able Masters at the Helm preside,
And guide her safe from Rocks on either Side;
See suddain Storms blown up by Discord rise,
Embroil the Main, and terrify the Skies!
Tempest with Tempest wages furious War,
And Clouds o'ercharg'd with inbred Thunder bear
A while th' imprison'd Wrath, then bursting rend the Air
And while conflicting Winds the Fight maintain,
And doubtful claim the Empire of the Main,
The suff'ring Ship is this and that way driv'n,
Oft sunk to Hell, uplifted oft to Heav'n;
Is now insulted by the Tempest's Shocks,
And now the Billows dreads, and now the Rocks:
Ar length grown leaky, and her Rigging lost,
Splits on her own inhospitable Coast.
264
Unhappy States, where raging Discord reigns,
And with fierce Flames inspires the Nation's Veins!
Where guideless Passions bear superior Sway,
And Right and Order Violence obey:
Where Factions, urg'd with Jealousy and Pride,
Led by designing Heads on either Side,
Determin'd, deaf, and obstinate of Mind,
Nor by their Country's mournful Cries inclin'd,
Furious contend, and while the various Field
They often win and loose, and neither yield,
They waste their Vigour, languishing decay,
And grow to foreign Pow'rs an easy Prey!
Conflicting Parties thus subvert the State,
Which sad, and yet inevitable Fate
In Ruin both united see too late.
And with fierce Flames inspires the Nation's Veins!
Where guideless Passions bear superior Sway,
And Right and Order Violence obey:
Where Factions, urg'd with Jealousy and Pride,
Led by designing Heads on either Side,
Determin'd, deaf, and obstinate of Mind,
Nor by their Country's mournful Cries inclin'd,
Furious contend, and while the various Field
They often win and loose, and neither yield,
They waste their Vigour, languishing decay,
And grow to foreign Pow'rs an easy Prey!
Conflicting Parties thus subvert the State,
Which sad, and yet inevitable Fate
In Ruin both united see too late.
As struggling Vapours deep in central Caves
Imprison'd lie, till by exhaling Waves
In Fight engag'd with Subterranean Fire,
Their Numbers grow, and mighty Strength acquire;
In Spite of Vaults coercive now they heave
And urge th' incumbent Rocks, the Mountains cleave
With ghastly Chasms, in Ruin lay the Earth,
And burst the Caverns, where they had their Birth:
Such Mischiefs inbred Discord do's create,
So twists, and rends the Bowels of a State.
Imprison'd lie, till by exhaling Waves
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Their Numbers grow, and mighty Strength acquire;
In Spite of Vaults coercive now they heave
And urge th' incumbent Rocks, the Mountains cleave
With ghastly Chasms, in Ruin lay the Earth,
And burst the Caverns, where they had their Birth:
Such Mischiefs inbred Discord do's create,
So twists, and rends the Bowels of a State.
Degenerate Manners, and immoral Life
Are no less fatal, than Domestick Strife.
As when the Ocean with impetuous Roar,
Breaks the high Fences of Batavia's Shore,
Sweeps the wide Valley with his spreading Train,
And drowns the Hopes and Labour of the Swain;
If then a Dome, tho' reer'd with mighty Cost,
And greater Skill than Angelo could boast,
Obstructs its Way, the Deluge foams and swells,
And with its batt'ring Waves the Walls impells;
Till the proud Tow'rs, that long unshaken stood,
Sink, and with holy Spoils enrich the Flood:
So, if enormous Vice with rapid Force
Rushes o'er Mounds, and urges on its Course,
Disdainful of Restraint, do's far and wide
Roll the black Billows of th' Infernal Tide,
And o'er insulted Law in Triumph ride;
Plung'd in Pollution, and o'erwhelm'd with Guilt,
The Fabrick, tho' by artful Masters built,
Must fall, nor can the ablest Heads of State
Uphold the Structure, or prevent its Fate.
Are no less fatal, than Domestick Strife.
As when the Ocean with impetuous Roar,
Breaks the high Fences of Batavia's Shore,
Sweeps the wide Valley with his spreading Train,
And drowns the Hopes and Labour of the Swain;
If then a Dome, tho' reer'd with mighty Cost,
And greater Skill than Angelo could boast,
Obstructs its Way, the Deluge foams and swells,
And with its batt'ring Waves the Walls impells;
266
Sink, and with holy Spoils enrich the Flood:
So, if enormous Vice with rapid Force
Rushes o'er Mounds, and urges on its Course,
Disdainful of Restraint, do's far and wide
Roll the black Billows of th' Infernal Tide,
And o'er insulted Law in Triumph ride;
Plung'd in Pollution, and o'erwhelm'd with Guilt,
The Fabrick, tho' by artful Masters built,
Must fall, nor can the ablest Heads of State
Uphold the Structure, or prevent its Fate.
Those, who their Wealth and Hours more precious waste
In finding Pleasures to regale their Taste,
For which they search the Hill, and range the Wood,
And of its finn'd Delights defraud the Flood;
Who with delicious Wines inflame their Veins,
And give to loose Desire the slacken'd Reins;
Will find all generous Instincts soon effac'd,
Their Nerves enfeebled, and their Minds defac'd.
In finding Pleasures to regale their Taste,
For which they search the Hill, and range the Wood,
And of its finn'd Delights defraud the Flood;
Who with delicious Wines inflame their Veins,
And give to loose Desire the slacken'd Reins;
Will find all generous Instincts soon effac'd,
Their Nerves enfeebled, and their Minds defac'd.
267
In Nature's Roll they their high Rank resign,
Degrade the Man, and chuse the brutal Line.
Dissolv'd in soft Enjoyments, which unbrace
The vig'rous Sinew, this degenerate Race
Become too weak to bear the pond'rous Shield,
And the hard Labours of the Martial Field,
They purchase Scenes of Joy at vast Expense,
Where, with their Wealth, they dissipate their Sense.
Amid'st the Dreggs of Sloth unactive sink,
Unapt for Labour, yet averse to think.
Such is their busy Idleness, they find
No vacant Hour to cultivate the Mind:
For liberal Arts appoint no narrow Room,
But lazy Life in Indolence consume.
| A Collection of Poems on Various Subjects | |