 | Poems (1717) |  |
A PROLOGUE Spoken to His Royal Highness the Duke of York, at Edinburgh.
Folly and Vice are easie to Describe,
The common Subjects of our Scribling Tribe;
But when true Virtues, with unclouded Light,
All Great, all Royal, shine divinely Bright,
Our Eyes are dazl'd, and our Voice is weak;
Let England, Flanders, let all Europe speak,
Let France acknowledge that her shaken Throne
Was once supported, Sir, by you alone:
Banish'd from thence for an Usurper's Sake,
Yet trusted then with her last Desp'rate Stake:
When Wealthy Neighbours strove with us for Pow'r,
Let the Sea tell, how in their fatal Hour,
Swift as an Eagle, our Victorious Prince,
Great Britain's Genius, flew to her Defence;
His Name strook Fear, his Conduct won the Day,
He came, he saw, he seiz'd the struggling Prey,
And while the Heav'ns were Fire and th'Ocean Blood,
Confirm'd our Empire o'er the Conquer'd Flood.
The common Subjects of our Scribling Tribe;
But when true Virtues, with unclouded Light,
All Great, all Royal, shine divinely Bright,
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Let England, Flanders, let all Europe speak,
Let France acknowledge that her shaken Throne
Was once supported, Sir, by you alone:
Banish'd from thence for an Usurper's Sake,
Yet trusted then with her last Desp'rate Stake:
When Wealthy Neighbours strove with us for Pow'r,
Let the Sea tell, how in their fatal Hour,
Swift as an Eagle, our Victorious Prince,
Great Britain's Genius, flew to her Defence;
His Name strook Fear, his Conduct won the Day,
He came, he saw, he seiz'd the struggling Prey,
And while the Heav'ns were Fire and th'Ocean Blood,
Confirm'd our Empire o'er the Conquer'd Flood.
Oh happy Islands, if you knew your Bliss!
Strong by the Sea's Protection, safe by His,
Express your Gratitude the only Way,
And humbly own a Debt too vast to pay:
Let Fame aloud to future Ages tell
None e'er Commanded, none Obey'd so well;
While this high Courage, this undaunted Mind,
So Loyal, so submissively Resign'd,
Proclaim that such a Hero never springs
But from the Uncorrupted Blood of Kings.
Strong by the Sea's Protection, safe by His,
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And humbly own a Debt too vast to pay:
Let Fame aloud to future Ages tell
None e'er Commanded, none Obey'd so well;
While this high Courage, this undaunted Mind,
So Loyal, so submissively Resign'd,
Proclaim that such a Hero never springs
But from the Uncorrupted Blood of Kings.
| Poems (1717) | |