University of Virginia Library

Search this document 
The Works of the Right Honourable Sir Chas. Hanbury Williams

... From the Originals in the Possession of His Grandson The Right Hon. The Earl of Essex and Others: With Notes by Horace Walpole ... In Three Volumes, with Portraits

collapse section 
collapse sectionI. 
  
  
AN ODE TO THE DUKE OF ARGYLE,
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
collapse sectionII. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 III. 


14

AN ODE TO THE DUKE OF ARGYLE,

AS FROM MR. DODDINGTON, (Written in June 1740.)

Scriberis Vario fortis et hostium,
Victor Mœnii carminis alite, &c.

LET loftier poets stretch the wing,
Pope should alone attempt to sing,
In the Mœonian style,
The vast renown that you have got,
For speeches made, and battles fought,
Brave, eloquent Argyle.

15

He shall with wond'rous art relate,
How you on either side debate
For and against a question;
Nor match'd by any mortal yet,
For well-judg'd turns, for useful wit,
For thought, and for digestion.
Then place you like the god of war,
Seated on a triumphant car,
In Flanders, or in Spain;
Or in your fertile native land,
When you, for once, had chief command,
And sing the fam'd Dunblain.
The conquering right wing shall there,
With all that martial fire appear
That made the foe retreat;
The Poem shall be like the fight,
Just as you fought the bard shall write,
And the left wing forget.

16

But such debates, and such campaigns,
Are far above my humble strains,
Nor suit my peaceful Lyrick;
And I will ne'er be tempted more,
Grown wise from what I've done before,
To write a panegyric.