 | A collection of letters and state papers |  |
An ODE to the Right Honourable Sir John Ligonier,
occasioned by the several Accounts in the public Papers of his Death.
I
The carrion crow, that hovers o'erThe armies on the blood-stain'd shore,
The vilest of the feather'd race,
Is like the scribling crew which run,
From morning to the setting sun,
Collecting praises and disgrace.
II
The virgin's triumphs in her bloom,Her early passage to the tomb,
Or her lamented follies pass'd,
Her pains, her transports, or her ease,
Alike the servile wretches please,
Whose breath is like the eastern blast.
III
On falshood or on truth they prey,The ministers of rumour they,
Creeping in darkness and in light:
Vermin like them none can be found,
In water, air, or under ground,
Detestable to human sight.
IV
Often the brazen lye they flingFrom the nocturnal raven's wing,
Pointed with anguish and despair,
Heedless whose gentle breast they rend:
Nor lover they regard, nor friend,
The brave, the virtuous, nor the fair.
V
E'en now, dear Ligonier, the dartOf rumour rancles in my heart,
Which spread the tydings of thy fall:
Still hangs the chrystal on my eye,
Still in my bosom heaves a sigh,
Obedient they to friendship's call.
VI
And is he gone my sorrows cry'd,In camps, in courts more dang'rous try'd?
Then break the warlike spear in twain;
Turn loose the gallant martial steed,
To neigh thro' Cobham's flow'ry mead,
For he'll a second lord disdain.
VII
These were the words of grief; but nowWith roses will I bind my brow,
And offer at Minerva's shrine,
(Who still her soldier's life regards
With glory who his worth rewards,)
The cheerful juices of the vine.
| A collection of letters and state papers | |