The Poetical Works of the Late Thomas Warton ... Fifth Edition, Corrected and Enlarged. To which are now added Inscriptionum Romanarum Delectus, and An Inaugural Speech As Camden Professor of History, never before published. Together with Memoirs of his Life and Writings; and Notes, Critical and Explanatory. By Richard Mant |
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| XV. | ODE XV. ON HIS MAJESTY's BIRTH-DAY, JUNE 4th, 1785. |
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| XVII. |
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 | The Poetical Works of the Late Thomas Warton |  |
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ODE XV. ON HIS MAJESTY's BIRTH-DAY, JUNE 4th, 1785.
I.
Amid the thunder of the war,True glory guides no echoing car;
Nor bids the sword her bays bequeath,
Nor stains with blood her brightest wreath;
No plumed hosts her tranquil triumphs own;
Nor spoils of murder'd multitudes she brings,
To swell the state of her distinguish'd kings,
And deck her chosen throne.
On that fair throne, to Britain dear,
With the flow'ring olive twin'd
High she hangs the hero's spear,
And there with all the palms of peace combin'd,
Her unpolluted hands the milder trophy rear.
To kings like these, her genuine theme,
The Muse a blameless homage pays;
To George of kings like these supreme
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Nor prostitutes the tribute of her lays.
II.
'Tis his to bid neglected genius glow,And teach the regal bounty how to flow.
His tutelary sceptre's sway
The vindicated arts obey,
And hail their patron king;
'Tis his to judgment's steady line
Their flights fantastic to confine,
And yet expand their wing;
The fleeting forms of fashion to restrain,
And bind capricious Taste in Truth's eternal chain.
Sculpture, licentious now no more,
From Greece her great example takes,
With Nature's warmth the marble wakes,
And spurns the toys of modern lore:
In native beauty simply plann'd,
Corinth, thy tufted shafts ascend;
The Graces guide the painter's hand,
His magic mimicry to blend.
III.
While such the gifts his reign bestows,Amid the proud display,
Those gems around the throne he throws,
That shed a softer ray:
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He wafts his favour's universal gale,
With those sweet flow'rs he binds a crown,
That bloom in Virtue's humble vale:
With rich munificence the nuptial tie
Unbroken he combines,
Conspicuous in a nation's eye
The sacred pattern shines.
Fair Science to reform, reward, and raise,
To spread the lustre of domestic praise,
To foster Emulation's holy flame,
To build society's majestic frame,
Mankind to polish, and to teach,
Be this the monarch's aim;
Above Ambition's giant-reach
The monarch's meed to claim.
| The Poetical Works of the Late Thomas Warton | |