The Poetical Works of John Langhorne :: :: University of Virginia Library

The free-born Muse her tribute rarely brings,
Or burns her incense to the power of kings;
But Virtue ever shall her voice command,
Alike a spade or sceptre in her hand.
Is there a prince untainted with a throne,
That makes the interest of mankind his own;
Whose bounty knows no bounds of time or place;
Who nobly feels for all the human race:
A prince that acts in Reason's steady sphere,
No slave to passion, and no dupe to fear;
A breast where mild humanity resides,
Where virtue dictates, and where wisdom guides;
A mind that, stretch'd beyond the years of youth,
Explores the secret springs of taste and truth?
These, these are virtues which the Muse shall sing;
And plant, for these, her laurels round a king!
Britannia's monarch! this shall be thy praise;
For this be crown'd with never-fading bays!