He'll shut them up, from coming to molest
The merriments of Hymen's holy feast,
Where shall be knit that sacred Gordian knot,
Which in no age to come shall be forgot;
Which policy nor force shall ne'er untie,
But must continue to eternity;

Which for the whole world's good was fore-decreed,
With hope, expected long, now come indeed;
And of whose future glory, worth, and merit,
Much I could speak with a prophetic spirit.
Thus by my muse's dear assistance finding
The cause of this disturbance, with more minding
My country's welfare than my own content,
And longing to behold this tale's event,
My lonely life I suddenly forsook,

And to the court again my journey took.

Meanwhile I saw the furious winds were laid, The risings of the swelling waters staid ; The winter 'gan to change in every thing, And seem'd to borrow mildness of the spring: The violet and primrose fresh did grow, And as in April, trimm'd both copse and row; The city, that I left in mourning clad, Drooping as if it would have still been sad, I found deck'd up in robes so neat and trim, Fair Iris would have look'd but stale and dim

In her best colours, had she there appear'd.
The sorrows of the court I found well clear'd;
Their woeful habits quite cast off, and tir'd
In such a glorious fashion, I admir'd
All her chief peers and choicest beauties too,
In greater pomp than mortals us'd to do,
Wait as attendants. Juno's come to see,
Because she hears that this solemnity

Exceeds fair Hippodamia's (where the strife
"Twixt her, Minerva, and lame Vulcan's wife
Did first arise), and with her leads along
A noble, stately, and a mighty throng:
Venus, attended with her rarest features,
Sweet lovely-smiling and heart-moving creatures,
The very
fairest jewels of her treasure,

Able to move the senseless stones to pleasure,
Of all her sweetest saints hath robb'd their shrines,
And brings them for the courtiers' valentines.
Nor doth dame Pallas from these triumphs lurk;
Her noblest wits she freely sets on work :
Of late she summon'd them unto this place
To do your masks and revels better grace.
Here Mars himself too, clad in armour bright,
Hath shewn his fury in a bloodless fight,
And both on land and water, sternly drest,
Acted his bloody stratagems in jest ;

Which to the people, frighted by their error,
With seeming wounds and death did add more terror.
Besides, to give the greater cause of wonder,
Jove did vouchsafe a rattling peal of thunder.
Comets and meteors, by the stars exhal'd,
Were from the middle region lately call'd,
And to a place appointed made repair
To shew their fiery friscols in the air.
People innumerable do resort,

As if all Europe here would keep one court;
Yea, Hymen, in his saffron-coloured weed,
To celebrate his rites is full agreed.

All this I see; which seeing, makes me borrow
Some of their mirth awhile, and lay down sorrow;
And yet not this, but rather the delight
My heart doth take in the much-hoped sight
Of these thy glories, long already due;
And this sweet comfort, that my eyes do view
Thy happy bridegroom, Prince Count Palatine,
Now thy best friend and truest Valentine;
Upon whose brow my mind doth read the story
Of mighty fame and a true future glory :
Methinks I do foresee already, how
Princes and Monarchs at his stirrup bow;
I see him shine in steel, the bloody fields
Already won, and how his proud foe yields.

God hath ordain'd him happiness great store,
And yet in nothing is he happy more

Than in thy love, fair Princess! For, unless
Heaven, like to man, be prone to fickleness,
Thy fortunes must be greater in effect
Than time makes show of, or men can expect.
Yet, notwithstanding all those goods of fate,
Thy mind shall ever be above thy state;
For over and beside thy proper merit,

Our last Eliza grants her noble spirit
To be redoubled on thee; and
your names
Being both one, shall give you both one fames.
O blessed thou, and they to whom thou giv'st
The leave for to be attendants where thou liv'st!
And hapless we, that must of force let go
The matchless treasure we esteem of so.

But yet we trust 'tis for our good and thine,

Or else thou shouldst not change thy Thame for

Rhine:

We hope that this will the uniting prove

Of countries and of nations by your love,

And that from out your blessed loins shall come
Another terror to the Whore of Rome;

And such a stout Achilles as shall make

Her tottering walls and weak foundation shake;
For Thetis-like, thy fortunes do require

Thy issue should be greater than his sire.

But, gracious Princess! now, since thus it fares, And God so well for you and us prepares,

Since he hath deign'd such honours for to do you And shown himself so favourable to you,

Since he hath chang'd your sorrows and your sadness Into such great and unexpected gladness,

O now remember you to be at leisure

Sometime to think on Him amidst your pleasure!
Let not these glories of the world deceive you,
Nor her vain favours of yourself bereave you :
Consider yet, for all this jollity,

Y'are mortal, and must feel mortality;
And that God can, in midst of all your joys,
Quite dash this pomp, and fill you with annoys.
Triumphs are fit for princes, yet we find,

They ought not wholly to take up the mind,
Nor yet to be let pass as things in vain ;
For out of all things wit will knowledge gain:
Music may teach of difference in degree,

The best tun'd common-weals will framed be;
And that he moves and lives with greatest grace,
That unto time and measure ties his pace.
Then let these things be emblems to present
Your mind with a more lasting true content.
When you behold the infinite resort,

The glory and the splendour of the court,