And as she wills, let either part prevail :
Let her glad valleys smile with wavy corn:
Let fleecy flocks her rising hills adorn :
Around her coast let strong defence be spread:
Let fair abundance on her breast be shed:
And heavenly sweets bloom round the goddess' head.
Where the white towers and ancient roofs did stand,
Remains of Wolsey's,* or great Henry's hand, 361
To age now yielding, or devour'd by flame;
Let a young phoenix raise her towering head;
Her wings with lengthen'd honour let her spread;
And by her greatness show her builder's fame :
August and open, as the hero's mind,
Be her capacious courts design'd:
Let every sacred pillar bear
Trophies of arms, and monuments of war.
The king shall there in Parian marble breathe, 370
His shoulder bleeding fresh: and at his feet
Disarm'd shall lie the threatening Death:
(For so was saving Jove's decree complete.)
Behind, that angel shall be plac'd, whose shield
Sav'd Europe in the blow repell'd:
On the firm basis, from his oozy bed
Boyne shall raise his laurell'd head;
And his immortal stream be known,
Artfully waving through the wounded stone.
• Whitehall, once belonging to the Archbishop of York. It was taken from Cardinal Wolsey by Henry the 8th, who made great improvements therein, and converted it into a royal palace. In 1698 the whole of it, except the Banqueting House, was destroyed by fire, and has not since been rebuilt.
And thou, imperial Windsor, stand enlarg'd,
With all the monarch's trophies charg'd:
Thou, the fair Heaven, that dost the stars inclose,
Which William's bosom wears, or hand bestows
On the great champions who support his throne,
And virtues nearest to his own.
Round Ormond's knee, thou tiest the mystic string,
That makes the knight companion to the king.
From glorious camps return'd, and foreign fields,
Bowing before thy sainted warrior's shrine,
Fast by his great forefather's coats, and shields 390
Blazon'd from Bohun's, or from Butler's line,
He hangs his arms; nor fears those arms should shine
With an unequal ray; or that his deed
With paler glory should recede,
Eclips'd by theirs, or lessen'd by the fame
E'en of his own maternal Nassau's name.
Thou smiling see'st great Dorset's worth confest,
The ray distinguishing the patriot's breast:
Born to protect and love, to help and please;
Sovereign of wit, and ornament of peace.
O! long as breath informs this fleeting frame,
Ne'er let me pass in silence Dorset's name;
Ne'er cease to mention the continued debt,
Which the great patron only would forget,
And duty, long as life, must study to acquit.
Renown'd in thy records shall Caʼndish stand,
Asserting legal power, and just command:
To the great house thy favour shall be shown,
The father's star transmissive to the son.
From thee the Talbot's and the Seymour's race Inform'd, their sires' immortal steps shall trace: Happy, may their sons receive
The bright reward, which thou alone canst give.
And if a god these lucky numbers guide;
If sure Apollo o'er the verse preside;
Jersey, belov'd by all (for all must feel
The influence of a form and mind,
Where comely grace and constant virtue dwell,
Like mingled streams, more forcible when join'd)—
Jersey shall at thy altars stand;
Shall there receive the azure band,
That fairest mark of favour and of fame,
Familiar to the Villiers' name.
Science to raise, and knowledge to enlarge,
Be our great master's future charge;
To write his own memoirs, and leave his heirs
High schemes of government, and plans of wars;
By fair rewards our noble youth to raise
To emulous merit, and to thirst of praise;
To lead them out from ease ere opening dawn, 430
Through the thick forest and the distant lawn,
Where the fleet stag employs their ardent care,
And chases give them images of war.
To teach them vigilance by false alarms;
Inure them in feign'd camps to real arms;
Practise them now to curb the turning steed,
Mocking the foe; now to his rapid speed
To give the rein, and in the full career,
To draw the certain sword, or send the pointed spear.
Let him unite his subjects' hearts, Planting societies for peaceful arts;
Some that in nature shall true knowledge found;
And by experiment muke precept sound;
Some that to morals shall recall the age,
And purge from vicious dross the sinking stage;
Some that with care true eloquence shall teach,
And to just Idioms fix our doubtful speech:
That from our writers distant realms may know,
The thanks we to our monarch owe;
And schools profess our tongue through every land,
That has invok'd his aid, or blest his hand.
Let his high power the drooping Muses rear,
The Muses only can reward his care:
"Tis they that guard the great Atrides' spoils;
'Tis they that still renew Ulysses' toils:
To them by smiling Jove 'twas given, to save
Distinguish'd patriots from the common grave;
To them, great William's glory to recall,
When statues moulder, and when arches fall.
Nor let the Muses, with ungrateful pride,
The sources of their treasure hide:
The Hero's virtue does the string inspire,
When with big joy they strike the living lyre:
On William's fame their fate depends:
With him the song begins: with him it ends.
From the bright effluence of his deed
They borrow that reflected light,
With which the lasting lamp they feed,
Whose beams dispel the damps of envious night.
Through various climes, and to each distant pole, 370
In happy tides let active commerce roll:
Let Britain's ships export an annual fleece,
Richer than Argos brought to ancient Greece:
Returning loaden with the shining stores,
Which lie profuse on either India's shores.
As our high vessels pass their watery way,
Let all the naval world due homage pay;
With hasty reverence their top-honours lower,
Confessing the asserted power,
To whom by fate 'twas given, with happy sway 380
To calm the earth, and vindicate the sea.
Our prayers are heard, our master's fleets shall go
As far as winds can bear, or waters flow,
New lands to make, new Indies to explore,
In worlds unknown to plant Britannia's power;
Nations yet wild by precept to reclaim,
And teach them arms, and arts, in William's name.
With humble joy, and with respectful fear
The listening people shall his story hear,
The wounds he bore, the dangers he sustain'd, 390
How far he conquer'd, and how well he reign'd;
Shall own his mercy equal to his fame,
And form their children's accents to his name,
Enquiring how, and when from Heaven he came.
Their regal tyrants shall with blushes hide
Their little lusts of arbitrary pride,
Nor bear to see their vassals tied;
When William's virtues raise their opening thought,
His forty years for public freedom fought,
Europe by his hand sustain'd,
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