And, ebbing, here retires; within its fides,
In roomy caves the god of fea refides.
Pillars unhewn, of living stone, bear high
His vaulted courts; in storms the billows fly
O'er th' echoing roof, like thunder through the
skies,
And warn the ruler of the floods to rife,
And check the raving winds, and the swoln
waves chaftife.
Rich spoils, by plundering tempefts hither borne,
An univerfe of wealth, the palace-rooms adorn.
Before its entrance, broken wrecks are feen
In heaps deform'd, a melancholy scene.
But far within, upon a moffy throne,
With washy ooze and famphire overgrown,
The fea-green king his forky fceptre rears;
Awful his afpect, numerous are his years.
A pearly crown eircles his brows divine;
His beard and dewy hair fhed trickling drops of brine. The river-gods, his numerous progeny,
On beds of rushes round their parent lie.
Here Danube and the Rhine; Nile's fecret fource
Dwells here conceal'd; hence Tiber takes his course; 185 Hence rapid Rhodanus his current pours ;
And, iffuing from his urn, majestic Padus roars; And Alpheus feeks, with filent pace, the lov'd Sicilian flores.
But, chief in honour, Neptune's darling son,
The beauteous Thames lies nearest to his throne. 190
Nor thou, fair Boyne! fhalt pass unmention'd by,
Already fung in ftrains that ne'er fhall die.
These, and a thousand more, whose winding trains
Seck various lands, the wealthy fire maintains;
Each day, the fluid portions he divides,
And fills their craving urns with fresh-recruited tides. But not alike; for oft his partial care
Beftows on fome a disproportion'd fhare;
From whence their fwelling currents, o'er-fupply'd,
Through delug'd fields in noify triumph ride.
The God was juft preparing to renew
His daily task, when fudden in his view
Appear'd the guardian power, all dazzling-bright;
And, entering, flash'd the caves with beamy light.
Boyne, Rhine, the Sambre, on their banks had feen 205
The glorious form, and knew his martial mien;
In throngs th' admiring Nereids round him prefs'd,
And Tritons croud to view the heavenly gueft.
Then thus, advancing, he his will explains,
"O mighty fovereign of the liquid plains!
"Hafte, to the furface of the deep repair,
"This folemn day requires thy prefence there,
To rule the ftorms, the rifing waves reftrain, "And shake thy fceptre o'er the govern'd main.
By breathing gales on thy dominions driven 215 "To thee, three kingdoms hopes in charge are given, "The glory of the world, and beft belov'd of heaven. "Behold him figur'd here!"He faid, and held, Refulgent to his view, the guardian shield.
On the rich mould, inwrought with skill divine, 220
Great WILLIAM's wars in fplendid fculpture fhine.
Here, how his faving power was first display'd,
And Holland refcued by his youthful aid;
When, kindling in his foul, the martial flame
Broke fiercely out, preluding future fame,
And round the frontiers dealt avenging fire;
Swift from the hot pursuit the blafted foes retire.
Then battles, fieges, camps are grav`d afar,
And the long progrefs of the dreadful war.
Above the reft, Seneffe's immortal fight,
In larger figures offer'd to the fight,
With martial terror charms, and gives a fierce delight.
Here the confederate troops are forc'd to yield,
Driven by unequal numbers through the field :
With his bright fword, young NASSAU there withstands
Their flight; with prayers and blows he urges his
Upbraids their fainting force, and boldly throws
Himself the first amidst the wondering foes.
What dare not men, by fuch a general led?
Rallying with fhouts, their Hero at their head,
Fir'd with new rage, asham'd they once did fly,
Resolv'd t' o'ercome, or refolute to die,
Through trampled heaps of flain they rush to victory.-
Earth trembles at the charge; Death, Blood, and Prey,
Infatiate riot all the murderous day;
Nor night it felf their fury can allay;
Till the pale moon, that fickens at the fight,
Retires behind a cloud, to blind the bloody fight.
Again, the shield in savage prospect shows
An ancient abbey, which rough woods inclofe; 250
And precipices vaft abruptly rise,
Where, fafe encamp'd, proud Luxemburgh defies
All open violence, or clofe furprize.
But fee! a fecond Hannibal from far,
Up the steep height, conducts th' entangled war. 255
Brave Offory, attended with the pride
Of English valour, charges by his fide.
Inclos'd they fight; the forefts shine around
With flashing fires; the thunder'd hills rebound,
And the shock'd country, wide beneath, rebel-
Forc'd from their holds, at length they speed their flight; Rich tents, and stores of war, the victor's toils requite. Then peace enfues; and, in a shining train,
The friendly chiefs affemble on the plain.
An ardent zeal the Gallic general warms
To fee the youth, that kindled fuch alarms;
Wondering he views; fecure the foldiers prefs
Round their late dread, and the glad treaty blefs.
Next, on the broad circumference is wrought
The nine years war for lov'd Britannia fought; 270
The cause the fame: fair Liberty betray'd,
And banish'd Juftice, fly to him for aid.
Here failing fhips are drawn, the crowded strand,
And heaven's avenger haftening to the land.
Oppreffion, Fraud, Confusion, and Affright,
Fierce fiends, that ravag'd in the gloomy night
So to th' eclipfing moon, by the ftill fide
Of fome lone thicket, reveling haggs provide
Dire charms, that threat the fleeping neighbourhood, 280 And quaff, with magic mix'd, vaft bowls of human blood;
But, when the dawn reveals the purple east,
They vanish sullen from th' unfinish'd feast.
Here joyful crouds triumphant arches rear
To their deliverer's praife; glad fenates there, 285
In fplendid pomp, the regal state confer.
Hibernia's fields new triumphs then supply;
The rival kings, in arms, the fate of empire try.
See where the Boyne two warring hofts divides,
And rolls between the fight his murmuring tides! 290
In vain-hills, forefts, streams, must all give place,
When William leads, and victory 's the chace.
Thou faw'ft him, Boyne! when thy charg`d waters
bore
The swimming courfers to th' oppofing shore,
And, round thy banks, thou heard'st the murdering
What more than mortal bravery infpir'd
The daring troops, by his example fir'd !
Thou faw'ft their wondrous deeds; to Neptune's court
Thy flying waves convey'd the swift report,
And, red with flaughter, to their father show'd
Streams not their own, and a difcolour'd flood.
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