Poems on Several Occasions With Imitations from Horace, Ovid, Martial, Theocritus, Bachylides, Anacreon, &c. To which is prefix'd A Discourse on Criticism, and the Liberty of Writing. In a letter to a Friend. By Samuel Cobb ... The Third Edition. To which is added, Poems on the Duke of Marlborough, Prince Eugene, the Electoral Prince of Hannover, with other Poems. Never before Printed |
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To William Jordan of Gatwick,
Esq. Horace's 9th Ode, B. 2d. imitated.
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 | Poems on Several Occasions |  |
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To William Jordan of Gatwick, Esq. Horace's 9th Ode, B. 2d. imitated.
Quid bellicosus Cantaber & Scythes. &c.
May the 29th. 1705.
I.
Hence the Unseasonable Thoughts of War!Nor ask who in Livonia will succeed,
Whether the Warlike Pole, or Russian Czar,
The sleeping Genius of the North will rouze,
Against the Fury of th' Unthinking Swede,
And ravish their lost Laurels from his Youthful Brows.
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To storm Saar-Louis, or attack the Lines.
Campaigns, My Friend, and Sieges are
Below Thy more important Care.
Nor should such ruffling Storms molest
The Halcyon Smoothness of thy Breast
Doubt, Avarice, and the pale Multitude
Of greedy Harpyes, which intrude
Ev'n at our Meals, no Entrance find
On the strong Armour of your Mind,
Which You can straiten or unbend;
Skill'd in those generous Arts which bless
Whom Fortune and the Muse caress,
The Gentleman, the Scholar, and the Friend
II.
On gilded Earth we're fondly bent:Short Life with Little is content.
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Inlarg'd the Veins, and flush'd the Face:
Which wanton'd in the lively Eye,
Will ebb, and leave the Channel dry.
Smooth Youth will, like the Sun, retreat,
Drive backward its Solstitial Heat.
Time will the Winter of our Years expose
To frigid Age and hoary Snows.
Then Love with all his Ammunition flies,
And wanders for some nobler Prize;
Some active Youth, for his performing Dart,
No more to strike your worthless Heart;
No more shall gentle Slumber close your waking Eyes.
III.
Succeeding Months change Nature's Face,Dethroning with a swift Decay
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Which blossom'd in the flow'ry May:
The Mistress of the Skies, the Moon,
Which now the azure Heav'n adorns,
Shall rowl her less'ning Orb from her Nocturnal Noon,
With feeble Beams and waining Horns;
Nor will she always rule the Night
With equal Blushes, equal Light.
The present Minutes are the best;
To Providence commit the rest.
Let trifling To---d and his empty Tribe
Presumptuously attempt to find
The Counsels of th' Eternal Mind,
And shallow Reason for a Rule prescribe.
With Arms uncapable to swim,
He labours in his Fairy Dream,
Till with inferiour Strength he plunge th' unfathomable Stream.
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IV.
To Wisdom Infinite we wisely leaveWhat our short Opticks never can conceive.
We justle in the Dark to know
The secret Cause of Things below.
And if We some small Knowledge get,
'Tis hammer'd out with Pains and Sweat.
Then let old Nature's Mysteries alone
To Ray, to Lister, or to Sloane.
While thus more chearfully we sit,
And taste the Season of the Year
Beneath this spreading Oak, and hear
The sportive Innocence of Wit.
Round us the merry Poets of the Spring
Instruct us how to Live and Sing.
'Tis SECOND CHARLES's glorious Day;
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What to his Memory we owe;
What Bankrupt we can never pay,
To Him, who sav'd a sad distracted Nation,
By happy Omens of his Birth, and happier Restoration.
V.
ANN, British Monarch, Pious and Divine,Sprung from the Royal STUART's Line.
Fill up the Glass: Let every Man
Begin a Health to Royal ANN;
Wish she may still survive to see
Her Second Self in some immortal Progeny!
Thus in good Friendships were I always blest,
I could with Joy my Fortunes bear,
Nor envy D---'s poor Estate:
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Above th' ambitious Hunger of the Great:
Slacken'd from all importune Care,
But that which SERAPHINA blows into my glowing Breast.
Go, Muse, and bring her home, and tell
How much her Beauty and her Love
Our Happiness will heighten and improve:
A Happiness which nothing can excel,
But that we hope to find ABOVE.
| Poems on Several Occasions | |