Poems on Several Occasions by Samuel Wesley. The Second Edition, with Additions |
On the Siege of Saguntum.
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Poems on Several Occasions | ||
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On the Siege of Saguntum.
I
Ah, poor Saguntum! evil star'd,Twice miserable City!
By Punic Foes and English Bard
Subjected to our Pity.
II
Thy Sons drop dead for want of FoodNor War its heat assuages:
Yet rampant Lust in midst of Blood
And spight of Famine rages.
III
What tho' by Rome's neglect they dye,They perish unrepining;
Praise Roman vertue to the sky,
And fall like Lover's whining.
IV
No pains on earth to bring 'em to 'tHas Sicoris i'th' Story.
He bids them burn themselves—they do't
And there's an exit for ye.
V
To leave one's Friends in such extremesIs Roman Faith befitting,
Tho' basest treachery, it seems,
In any Queen of Britain.
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VI
To these the Bard prophetic showsA prospect but unpleasant,
Gives them for comfort future Woes
When sinking with the present.
VII
A New Saguntum shall, he saith,Rise in the self-same Nation,
Not near the first in Fall or Faith
Or Cause or Situation.
VIII
Like in Misfortunes and Renown,Or Theron is mistaken;
Tho' ne'er forsook before, the Town
Again shall be forsaken.
IX
Thy Glory, Phil, shall never failAs Poet or as Prophet,
For Truth in telling of thy Tale
And Wit in timing of it.
Poems on Several Occasions | ||