Page images
PDF
EPUB

VII.

How unconcern'd in things to come !

If here uneasy, finds at Rome,
At Paris, or Madrid, his home.

VIII.

Secure from low and private ends,
His life, hiş zeal, his wealth, attends
His prince, his country, and his friends.

IX.

Danger and honour are his joy;
But a fond wife or wanton boy

May all those gen'rous thoughts destroy.

Χ.

Then he lays by the public care,
Thinks of providing for an heir;
Learns how to get, and how to spare,

XI.

Nor fire, nor foe, nor fate, nor night,
The Trojan hero did affright,
Who bravely twice renew'd the fight:

XII.

Tho' still his foes in number grew,
Thicker their darts and arrows flew,
Yet left alone no fear he knew.

XIII.

But Death in all her forms appears
From ev'ry thing he sees and hears
For whom he leads and whom he bears *.

* His father and son.

20

25

30

35 XIV.

Love, making all things else his foes,
Like a fierce torrent overflows
Whatever doth his course oppose.

XV.

This was the cause, the poets sung,
Thy mother from the sea was sprung;
But they were mad to make thee young.

XVI.

Her father, not her son, art thou :
From our desires our actions grow;

And from the cause th' effect must flow.

XVII.

Love is as old as place or time;

'Twas he the fatal tree did climb,

Grandsire of father Adam's crime.

XVIII.

Well may'st thou keep this world in awe;

Religion, wisdom, honour, law,
The tyrant in his triumph draw.

ΧΙΧ.

'Tis he commands the powers above; Phœbus resigns his darts, and Jove His thunder to the god of Love.

xx.

To him doth his feign'd mother yield;
Nor Mars (her champion) his flaming shield
Guards him, when Cupid takes the field.

40

45

56

55

60 ΧΧΙ.

He clips Hope's wings, whose airy bliss

Much higher than fruition is,
But less than nothing if it miss.

XXII.

[ocr errors]

:

65

When matches Love alone projects,
The cause transcending the effects,
That wildfire's quench'd in cold neglects:

XXIII.

Whilst those conjunctions prove the best
Where Love's of blindness dispossest

By perspectives of interest.

XXIV.

Tho' Sol'mon with a thousand wives

To get a wise successor strives,
But one (and he a fool) survives.

XXV.

Old Rome of children took no care;
They with their friends their beds did share,

Secure t' adopt a hopeful heir.

XXVI.

:

Love drowsy days and stormy nights
Makes, and breaks friendship, whose delights

Feed, but not glut, our appetites.

XXVII.

Well-chosen friendship, the most noble

Of virtues, all our joys makes double,
And into halves divides our trouble.

1

70

75

80 XXVIII.

But when th' unlucky knot we tie,
Care, av'rice, fear, and jealousy,
Make friendship languish till it die.

XXIX.

The wolf, the lion, and the bear,
When they their prey in pieces tear,
To quarrel with themselves forbear:
xxx.

Yet tim'rous deer and harmless sheep
When love into their veins doth creep,
That law of Nature cease to keep.

XXXI.

Who then can blame the am'rous boy
Who, the fair Helen to enjoy,

To quench his own set fire on Troy ?

ΧΧΧΙΙ.

Such is the world's prepost'rous fate,
Amongst all creatures mortal hate
Love (tho' immortal) doth create.

XXXIII.

But Love may beasts excuse, for they
Their actions not by reason sway,
But their brute appetites obey.

XXXIV.

!

But man's that savage beast, whose mind,
From reason to self-love declin'd,
Delights to prey upon his kind.

:

:

85

90

95

100

102

E

A SPEECH AGAINST PEACE

AT THE

CLOSE COMMITTEE.

To the tune of, " I went from England."

BUT will you now to peace incline,
And languish in the main design,
And leave us in the lurch?
I would not monarchy destroy,
But as the only way t' enjoy
The ruin of the church.

Is not the Bishop's bill deny'd,
And we still threaten'd to be try'd?
You see the King embraces
Those counsels he approv'd before;
Nor doth he promise, which is more,
That we shall have their places.

Did I for this bring in the Scot ?
(For 'tis no secret now) the plot
Was Saye's and mine together.
Did I for this return again,
And spend a winter there in vain,
Once more t' invite them hither ?

5

10

15

« PreviousContinue »