Nor France on universal fway intent,
Oft' breaking leagues, and oft' renewing wars;
Nor (frequent bane of weaken'd government)
Their own inteftine feuds and mutual jars :
Thofe feuds and jars, in which I trusted more,
Than in my troops, and fleets, and all the Gallic power.
XXVI.
To fruitful Rheims, or fair Lutetia's gate,
What tidings fhall the meffenger convey?
Shall the loud herald our fuccefs relate,
Or mitred priest appoint the folemn day?
Alas! my praises they no more must sing;
They to my ftatue now muft bow no more :
Broken, repuls'd is their immortal king:
Fallen, fallen for ever, is the Gallic power.
The Woman Chief is mafter of the war :
Earth she has freed by arms, and vanquish'd Heaven by
While thus the ruin'd foe's defpair commends
Thy council and thy deed, victorious Queen,
What shall thy fubjects fay, and what thy friends?
How shall thy triumphs in our joy be feen?
Oh! deign to let the eldest of the Nine
Recite Britannia great, and Gallia free:
Oh! with her fifter Sculpture let her join
To raife, great Anne, the monument to thee;
To thee, of all our good the sacred spring;
To thee, our dearest dread; to thee, our fofter King.
Let Europe fav'd the column high erect,
Than Trajan's higher, or than Antonine's;
"Where fembling art may carve the fair effect
And full atchievement of thy great designs.
In a calm heaven, and a ferener air,
Sublime the Queen shall on the fummit stand,
From danger far, as far remov'd from fear,
And pointing down to earth her dread command.
All winds, all ftorms, that threaten human woe,
Shall fink beneath her feet, and fpread their rage below.
XXIX.
Their fleets fhall ftrive, by winds and waters toft,
Till the young Auftrian on Iberia's ftrand,
Great as Æneas on the Latian coaft,
Shall fix his foot: and this, be this the land,
Great Jove, where I for ever will remain,
(The empire's other hope fhall fay) and here
Vanquish'd, intomb'd I'll lie; or, crown'd, I'll reign-
O virtue to thy British mother dear!
Like the fam'd Trojan fuffer and abide;
For Anne is thine, I ween, as Venus was his guide. XXX.
There, in eternal characters engrav'd,
Vigo, and Gibraltar, and Barcelone.
Their force deftroy'd, their privileges fav'd,
Shall Anna's terrors and her mercies own:
Spain, from th' ufurper Bourbon's arms retriev'd,
Shall with new life and grateful joy appear,
Numbering the wonders which that youth atchiev'd,
Whom Anna clad in arms, and fent to war;
Whom Anna fent to claim Iberia's throne;
And made him more than king, in calling him her fon. XXXI.
There Ifther, pleas'd by Blenheim's glorious field,
Rolling fhall bid his eastern waves declare
Germania fav'd by Britain's ample shield,
And bleeding Gaul afflicted by her spear;
Shall bid them mention Marlborough on that shore,
Leading his iflanders, renown'd in arms,
Through climes, where never British chief before
Or pitch'd his camp, or founded his alarms;
Shall bid them blefs the Queen, who made his streams
Glorious as thofe of Boyne, and fafe as those of Thames.
Brabantia, clad with fields, and crown'd with towers, With decent joy fhall her deliverer meet;
Shall own thy arms, great Queen, and blefs thy powers, Laying the keys beneath thy fubject's feet.
Flandria, by plenty made the home of war,
Shall weep her crime, and bow to Charles reftor'd;
With double vows fhall bless thy happy care,
In having drawn, and having fheath'd the sword;
From these their sister provinces shall know,
How Anne fupports a friend, and how forgives a foe.
Bright fwords, and crefted helms, and pointed fpears, In artful piles around the work fhall lie; And fhields indented deep in ancient wars,
zon'd with figns of Gallic heraldry;
And standards with distinguish'd honours bright,
Marks of high power and national command,
Which Valois' fons, and Bourbon's bore in fight,
Or gave to Foix', or Montmorancy's hand :
Great fpoils, which Gallia must to Britain yield,
From Creffy's battle fav'd, to grace Ramilia's field.
XXXIV.
And, as fine art the fpaces may difpofe,
The knowing thought and curious eye fhall fee
Thy emblem, gracious Queen, the British rofe,
Type of fweet rule and gentle majefty:
The northern thistle, whom no hoftile hand
Unhurt too rudely may provoke, I ween;
Hibernia's harp, device of her command,
And parent of her mirth, fhall there be feen :
Thy vanquish'd lilies, France, decay'd and torn,
Shall with disorder'd pomp the lafting work adorn.
XXXV.
Beneath, great Queen, oh! very far beneath,
Near to the ground, and on the humble base,
To fave herself from darknefs and from death,
That Mufe defires the laft, the lowest place;
Who, though unmeet, yet touch'd the trembling string,
For the fair fame of Anne and Albion's land,
Who durft of war and martial fury fing;
And when thy will, and when thy fubject's hand,
Had quell'd those wars, and bid that fury cease;
Hangs up her grateful harp to conqueft, and to peace.
S Nancy at her toilet fat,
Admiring this, and blaming that;
Tell me, fhe faid; but tell me true;
The Nymph who could your heart subdue.
What fort of charms does the poffefs?
Abfolve me, fair-one: I'll confefs;
With pleasure I reply'd. Her hair,'
In ringlets rather dark than fair,
Does down her ivory bofom roll,
And, hiding half, adorns the whole.
In her high forehead's fair half round
Love fits in open triumph crown'd:
He in the dimple of her chin,
In private ftate, by friends is feen.
Her eyes are neither black nor gray;
Nor fierce nor feeble is their ray;
Their dubious luftre feems to show
Something that speaks nor Yes, nor No.
Her lips no living bard I weet,
May fay, how red, how round, how fweet;
Old Homer only could indite
Their vagrant grace and foft delight:
They ftand recorded in his book,
When Helen fmil'd, and Hebe fpoke-
The gipfey, turning to her glafs,
Too plainly fhew'd, the knew the face;
And which am I moft like, fhe faid,
Your Cloe, or your Nut-brown Maid?
|