DELIGHT of Heaven! sole honour of the Earth!
Jove (courting thine ascendant) at thy birth
Proclaimed thee a King, and made it true,
That to thy worth great monarchies are due:
He gave thee what was good, and what was great,
What did belong to love, and what to state;
Rare gifts, whose ardours burn the hearts of all ;
Like tinder, when flint atoms on it fall.
The Tramontane, which thy fair course directs,
Thy counsels shall approve by their effects;
Justice, kept low by giants, wrongs, and jars,
Thou shalt relieve, and crown with glistering stars;
Whom nought, save law of force, could keep in awe,
Thou shalt turn clients to the force of law;
Thou arms shalt brandish for thine own defence,
Wrongs to repel, and guard weak innocence,
Which to thy last effort thou shalt uphold,
As oak the ivy which it doth enfold.
All overcome, at last thyself o'ercome,
Thou shalt make Passion yield to Reason's doom:
For smiles of Fortune shall not raise thy mind,
Nor shall disasters make it e'er declin'd:
True Honour shall reside within thy court,
Sobriety and Truth there still resort;
Keep promis'd faith, thou shalt all treacheries
Detest, and fawning parasites despise ;
Thou, others to make rich, shalt not make poor
Thyself, but give, that thou may'st still give more :
Thou shalt no paranymph raise to high place,
For frizzled locks, quaint pace, or painted face :
On gorgeous raiments, womanizing toys,
The works of worms, and what a moth destroys,
The maze of fools, thou shalt no treasure spend,
Thy charge to immortality shall tend;
Raise palaces, and temples vaulted high;
Rivers o'er-arch; of hospitality
And sciences the ruin'd inns restore;
With walls and ports encircle Neptune's shore;
To new-found worlds thy fleets make hold their course,
And find of Canada the unknown source;
People those lands which pass Arabian fields
In fragrant woods, and musk which zephyr yields.
Thou, fear'd of none, shalt not thy people fear;
Thy people's love thy greatness shall up-rear:
Still rigour shall not shine, and mercy lower;
What love can do, thou shalt not do by power;
New and vast taxes thou shalt not extort,
Load heavy those thy bounty should support.
Thou shalt not strike the hinge nor master-beam
Of thine estate; but errors in the same,
By harmless justice, graciously reform.
Delighting more in calm than roaring storm,
Thou shalt govern in peace, as did thy sire;
Keep, save thine own, and kingdoms new acquire
Beyond Alcides' pillars, and those bounds
Where Alexander gain'd the eastern crowns,
Till thou the greatest be among the Greats:
Thus Heavens ordain, so have decreed the Fates.
SON of the Lion! thou of loathsome bands
Shalt free the earth, and whate'er thee withstands
Thy noble paws shall tear; the God of Thrace
Shall be thy second; and before thy face,
To Truth and Justice whilst thou trophies rears,
Armies shall fall dismay'd with panic fears.
As when Aurora in sky's azure lists
Makes shadows vanish, doth disperse the mists,
And in a twinkling with her opal light
Night's horrors checketh, putting stars, to flight:
More to inflame thee to this noble task,
To thee he here resigns his sword and casque.
A wall of flying castles, armed pines,
Shall bridge thy sea; like heaven with steel that shines
To aid Earth's tenants by foul yokes opprest,
And fill with fears the great King of the West:
To thee already Victory displays ·
Her garlands twin'd with olive, oak, and bays;
Thy triumphs finish shall all old debates:
Thus Heavens decree, so have ordain'd the Fates.
WEALTH, wisdom, glory, pleasure, stoutest hearts,
Religion, laws, Hyperion imparts
To thy just reign, which shall far, far surpass
Of emperors, kings, the best that ever was:
Look how he dims the stars; thy glories' rays
So darken shall the lustre of these days:
For in fair Virtue's zodiac thou shalt run,
And in the heaven of worthies be the sun.
Nor more contemn'd shall hapless Learning lie;
The maids of Pindus shall be raised high;
For bay and ivy which their brows enroll'd,
Thou shalt 'em deck with gems and shining gold;
Thou open shalt Parnassus' crystal gates;
Thus Heavens ordain, so do decree the Fates.
THE Acidalian Queen amidst thy bays
Shall twine her myrtles, grant thee pleasant days;
She did make clear thy house, and, with her light,
Of churlish stars put back the dismal spight;
The hymenean bed fair brood shall grace,
Which on the earth continue shall their race;
While Flora's treasure shall the meads endear
While sweet Pomona rose-cheek'd fruits shall bear ;
While Phoebus' beams her brother's emulates:
Thus Heavens decree, so have ordain'd the Fates.
GREAT Atlas' nephew shall the works of peace,
The springs of plenty, tillage, trade, increase;
And arts, in time's gulphs lost, again restore
To their perfection; nay, find many more,
More perfect artists: Cyclops in their forge
Shall mould those brazen Typhons, which disgorge
From their hard bowels metal, flame, and smoke,
Muffling the air up in a sable cloke.
Geryons, harpies, dragons, sphinges strange
Wheel, where in spacious gires the fume doth range;
The sea shrinks at the blow, shake doth the ground,
The world's vast chambers doth the sound rebound;
The Stygian porter leaveth off to bark;
Black Jove, appall'd, doth shroud him in the dark ;
Many a Typhis, in adventures toss'd,
By new-found skill shall many a maiden coast
With thy sail-winged Argoses find out,
Which, like the sun, shall run the earth about;
And far beyond his paths score wavy ways,
To Cathay's lands by Hyperborean seas;
He shall endue thee, both in peace and war,
With wisdom, which than strength is better far;
Wealth, honour, arms, and arts shall grace thy states: Thus Heavens ordain, so do decree the Fates.
O How the fair Queen with the golden maids,
The sun of night, thy happy fortunes aids!
Though turban'd princes for a badge her wear,
To them she wains, to thee would full appear;
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