 | The Tryal of Hercules |  |
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The Tryal of Hercules, AN ODE.
TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE Sir JOHN LIGONIER.
I.
In Manhood's Prime, uprising strong,All like the sacred Tree of Jove,
Ordain'd thro Storms to flourish long
The Glory of Dodona's Grove,
In that bright Season of the Year,
When Summer with her lavish Hand
Bids Nature's fairest Gifts appear,
And scatters Plenty thro the Land,
High on a Mountain's aweful Brow,
Impending o'er the flow'ry Vale,
Where the transparent Currents flow,
And gently breathes the balmy Gale,
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Of golden Price the pond'rous Fleece,
The waving Grain, the Past'rage green,
And all the pamper'd Herds of Greece,
Where flourish'd fair Minerva's Tree,
And Bacchus, smiling o'er the Bowl,
Inspir'd the careless Heart with Glee,
Seducer of the mirthful Soul,
There in the sweetest Hour of Morn,
Their Fragrance while the Plains diffuse,
While the Sun gilds the ripen'd Corn
Still glitt'ring with the pearly Dews,
The Thund'rer's Son, Alcides, stood,
The vast Horizon in his Eye,
Deep musing on the Wise and Good,
His Thoughts unbounded by the Sky.
II.
On this proud Eminence the godlike Youth,With solemn Contemplation by his Side,
Weigh'd the great Ends of Falsehood and of Truth,
Sollicitous to chuse thro Life a Guide:
While thro the vast Expanse, thro Worlds of Light,
Thro Worlds remov'd far from the solar Ray,
Imagination rov'd from Sight to Sight,
To find the Tract of everlasting Day,
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Full of his Sire while the young Hero gaz'd,
Herbs, Flow'rs, and Trees, assum'd a lovelyer Hue,
And all the Hill with Beauty's Lustre blaz'd:
So bright a Vision, so replete with Charms,
On Ida's Top appear'd not to the Swain
Whose fatal Choice rous'd the stern Greeks to Arms,
And ended Hector's Life and Priam's Reign.
Surpris'd the Youth at his sinister Side
Beheld a gentle Nymph of placid Mein,
Smiling, and dress'd all like a Lydian Bride,
And form'd for Conquest like the Cyprian Queen:
Her Eye, bright Rival of the morning Star,
Her sloping Neck white as the new fall'n Snow,
Her golden Tresses glitt'ring from afar.
By Art adorn'd in wanton Ringlets flow,
Pleasure her Name, attended by a Throng
Of blooming Loves, with laughter-loving Mirth,
Of Virgins fair to join the Dance and Song,
And all that gives to thrilling Raptures Birth:
In Admiration fix'd the Hero stands,
While she, sweet Mistress of the Lover's Lure,
To lead him Captive in her silken Bands,
Strives with her Voice to make her Conquest sure.
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III.
Gentle Hero, manly Youth,Listen to the Voice of Truth:
Pleasure calls thee to her Train;
All that she bestows is Gain:
See how Beauty's Smiles invite;
Men and Gods in her delight.
Comus leads the cheerful Band,
Phœbus takes the Harp in Hand,
While the Virgins fair advance
Skilful in the mazy Dance:
See how Beauty's Smiles invite;
Men and Gods in her delight.
Bacchus now the Bowl extends,
To exhilerate his Friends;
Gentle Hero come away;
Join the lovely and the gay:
See how Beauty's Smiles invite;
Men and Gods in her delight.
IV.
She ended here the pleasing Sound;Deep went her Words into his Heart:
His noble Breast receiv'd a Wound;
And Pleasure kindly drew the Dart.
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Of Tenderness ne'er felt before;
He long'd to hasten to the Lawn
Where Pleasure pointed to her Store;
When on his right a Maiden fair,
As fair as Nature's Hand could draw,
Appear'd: majestic was her Air,
While Mildness moderated Awe:
Her right Hand grasp'd th'unerring Spear,
Her left had seiz'd the fenceful Shield,
And on her Breast, which knew no Fear,
A Plate of Gold gleam'd o'er the Field:
Her graceful Brows a Helmet bound,
Her Waist an azure Cincture ty'd;
And, when she mov'd, the Trumpet's Sound
Proclaim'd aloud the World's best Guide:
Of Earth and Heav'n the sov'reign Queen,
Eternal as the Throne of Jove,
Where Wisdom is she's always seen,
With her Attendants Joy and Love,
The Joy from Innocence which flows,
Not that which springs from thoughtless Mirth,
The Love of Truth, not that which owes
To Wine and Wantonness his Birth:
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V.
Virtue the Virgin's Name, so call'd below,So call'd in ev'ry Orb where Reason reigns,
A Goddess she, whose Excellence to know
Gives Joy to Men, and mitigates their Pains:
A Train of Beautys, and of hardy Knights,
Her Steps pursue, not such as swarm in Courts
Where Falsehood triumphs, and impure Delights
Uncheck'd prevail, and where Silenus sports:
Her fair Attendants bear their Sov'reign's Name;
They're Virtues all, Divinitys, and Pow'rs:
First Charity that Nothing does for Fame,
Mild as the Dove and watchful as the Hours:
Undaunted Courage here, his Bever up,
A rusty Bever o'er a furrow'd Brow,
Prepar'd, dread Foe to the Circæan Cup,
O'er sultry Plains to march, or Hills of Snow:
Near to this Champion Perseverance stands,
Bloody and maim'd, a Stranger to Repose,
Yet ready still to traverse distant Lands,
To combat Monsters, such as Virtue's Foes:
Sweet Temperance is always by his Side,
Plain her Attire, with scanty Viands fed,
Who shuns the Revels of the House of Pride,
Her Feasts the lympid Stream and homely Bread:
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Who bears without Complaint the Weight of Crowns,
Or feels the Tyrant's Chains without a Tear,
Serene alike if Fortune smiles or frowns:
With these her Friends celestial Virtue stood,
Heroic Queen, great Patroness of Truth,
And with these Words, full of important Good,
Address'd Alcmena's Son, the heav'n-born Youth.
VI.
Would'st thou Happyness attain,Would'st thou Fame and Glory gain,
Think thyself for others born,
All that is not godlike scorn:
See how Virtue's Smiles invite;
Men and Gods in her delight.
Early quench the raging Fire
Kindled up by loose Desire;
Fly the wanton and the vain;
All their Pleasure ends in Pain:
See how Virtue's Smiles invite;
Men and Gods in her delight:
Leave the flatt'ring Syren's Bow'rs:
Hunger, Toil, and sleepless Hours,
March with Patience on the Way
Leading to eternal Day:
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Men and Gods in her delight.
VII.
Alcides hear'd, and cast his EyeOn Pleasure and her gaudy Train,
But soon discover'd lurking nigh
Black Infamy and sordid Pain:
With Virtue's plain and hardy Band
He saw, bright rising in the Rear,
Fair Health with Comfort in her Hand,
And Truth and Beauty, always near:
There Glory, with her votive Shield
Emblazon'd with heroic Deeds,
Atchievements in the well-fought Field
Where triumphs Right nor Honour bleeds,
Blaz'd on the youthful Hero's Mind,
And fill'd the fair celestial Part
With Images which never find
A Passage to th'ignoble Heart:
He caught the more than lambent Flame,
And banish'd from his manly Breast
The tender and voluptuous Dame,
Soft Sov'reign of inglorious Rest:
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Proclaim aloud his early Worth:
One glorious Enterprise scarce o'er,
Another calls the Hero forth:
On Calpe's adamantine Brow,
The Period of his warlike Care,
He pay'd to Jove supreme the Vow,
And fix'd th'immortal Pillars there:
VIII.
There, Ligonier, th'Herculean Labours close,Follow'd by spreading Fame and fair Renown:
By virtuous Toils the dauntless Hero rose
To Bliss, to Glory, and a deathless Crown:
He sits a God amidst celestial Flow'rs,
With beauteous Hebe smiling by his Side,
Chastly possessing, in olympian Bow'rs,
Thro one eternal Day the blooming Bride.
O! thou who calm and cheerfully can'st go
Where Danger stalks in Blood, if Honour leads,
Thro Heats of June or thro December's Snow,
Thou who can'st sport in Fancy's flow'ry Meads,
Thou who delight'st to crop the fragrant Bays
Which in poetic Regions ever bloom,
Who well deserv'st, and shalt enjoy, the Praise
Due to th'illustrious Chiefs of Greece and Rome,
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Receive the pleasing and instructive Tale,
Whose Moral, as the chrystal Fountain clear,
Is the fair Produce of the Greecian Vale:
Thou Ligonier, 'e'rewhile hast Captive been,
A willing Captive led in silken Bands,
To Pleasure, gentle and alluring Queen,
Tho like Ulysses you escap'd her Hands,
Escap'd her, and a faithful Friend became
Of Virtue and her ever shining Train:
Devoted to the Bliss-bestowing Dame,
You rise superior to the Sense of Pain:
Attend, great Captain, to the virtuous Lay,
Fraught with good Wishes and heroic Truth;
Assist me while melodiously I pray
For thy much lov'd the royal-minded Youth.
IX.
As the gen'rous Eaglet springs,Tow'ring Emblem he of Kings,
From his Airy, scenting Blood,
On the Serpent's noxious Brood
Trying first his martial Fire,
Facing Danger like his Sire,
Early so our William rose
On his King's and Country's Foes:
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Spurn'd at Law and sacred Right,
He the Sword of Justice drew,
And the dreadful Hydra slew:
May he, after Length of Days
Worn with Honours, fill'd with Praise,
Like the great Alcides rise,
Cloath'd with Glory, to the Skys,
Leaving to the World a Name
Fairest in the Lists of Fame.
The END.
| The Tryal of Hercules | |