 | Poems on Affairs of State |  |
404
On King William's Statue at Dublin in Memory of the Victory at the Boyne, July 1st, 1690.
Monumentum Ære perennius.
How Nobly did our grateful City join
To represent King William at the Boyne;
And yet their Statue (we must all confess)
Tho it speaks Dublin great, makes William less:
For where are Heaps of slain, where Streams of Blood?
Where does it shew how Guardian Angels stood,
405
And in one Royal Person sav'd us all?
Where may we see the dreadful Scombergh lost,
And William routing all that trembling Host,
Which once did like the fam'd Armado boast?
He could no less in just Revenge intend,
Than such a General Fall for such a Friend.
Where do we see them all disorder'd fly,
As if their safety in their Heels did lie,
And they would basely live, not bravely die?
The Artist knew no Skill could fully shew
That Conquest, all to his bold Conduct owe.
No Hand can make his warlike Spirit known
To long succeeding Ages, but his own;
And when all Brass consumes, all Marbles wast,
Great Nassau's Glories, and the Boyne shall last.
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