LVDVS SCACCHIAE: A SATYR AGAINST UNJUST WARS: Representing the intemperate lust of a Wanton and never satisfied Ambition.

‘Dum Vacat.—’

LONDON: Printed for Robert Clavel at the Peacock in St. Pauls Church-yard, 1676.

To the Reader.

PApers of this nature, having no coherence with each other, but passing abroad, loose, and name­less, are oftentimes (as Children straying from their Parents) seiz'd on, and possess'd by Wanderers; who do not yet think them stoln sure enough, till by distorting their Limbs, and newfashioning, and moulding them into unknown shapes (as the same Tribe deal with stoln Garments) they have alter'd the Property of the child; thus doubly lost, to its Parents first, and to it self after. Such having been the luck of some of these Papers, the Author thought [Page] himself concern'd, by suffering them to appear as when he first parted with them, to repair the Injury done to them, Himself, and the Rea­der.

Ludus Scacchiae.

BEtwixt two Potent Shecks an endless Fewd
Begun, decided, and agen renew'd,
Where Equal Powers Equal Powers invade,
By turnes who Triumph'd, and were Triumphs made;
Where Vertu [...] never did on Fortune wait,
But drew at home the Lot of its own Fate;
Death, both alike, or Victory pursue,
'Cause other men had nothing else to do,
We sing. But first, according to the Law [...]
Of story, though some thus [...]ightly speak oth' cause,
We must not so pass't o'r, le [...]t it be thought
We knew as little on't, as they [...]h [...]t fought.
The common Souldier, by Pro [...]idence
Call'd forth to Fight for Conscience, or for pence,
(Both which he wanted▪ and return'd hom, fraught
With full as much of either, as he brought)
Made that his cause, oblig'd to kill and slay
By [...] Religio [...]s, or more sacr [...]d pay.
Some talk'd of Fame▪ and Honour; gain'd by spoil,
Rapine, destruction, and the Virtuous Toyle
[Page 6]Of shedding Blood; in which crimes alone
They plac'd All Honour, and without e'm, none.
But these were private ends, which might be gain'd
Whether their party Right, or Wrong maintain'd;
But the Grand cause it self, is still a Mistery,
Mention'd by no Authentique Rime, or History;
Only one Nameless Author, (who shall still
Be so for us since 'twas his own good-will)
Says, that they quarrell'd not 'bout Wrong, or Right;
But cause the one was Black and t'other white:
So that although in shape, both sides were one,
In substance, Power, Value, Motion;
And for the same, did as the friend appear,
The fewds, through deadly Colours, mortal were▪
So for like cause to death, the Veneti
Pursu'd and were pursu'd by th' Prassini;
Though both were Greeks, though one were as much Christi­an
As t'other; both subjects of the same Iustinian:
Had took no Covenant, fram'd no Cross-Religion
By serpents Innocence, and wit oth' Pidgeon;
Fought for no good nor hurt, Honour nor Riches;
But 'cause the O [...]e wore Blew, t'Other Green Breeches:
Yet, which with wonder must be told agen,
These Veneti and Prassini were men,
Though to all wise Mens Judgment, and the Tryal
Of Reason, their madness seem'd a Self-denial.
And so when minds from minds divided are,
Th [...]se Colours, oft give causeless, endless War;
For Minds take Colours too, and the deep taint
Blots him a Devil, and guilds him a Saint:
[Page 7]For, As Light simple, uncompounded Ray,
Strikes all eyes with the same, One sense of Day:
But that same Light, if through a mist it stream,
Is Colour, in the Clouds, was Light, ith' Beam;
And is as various, and Phantastical,
As is its various Passage, or its Fall:
So the first pure Descents of Truth, and Right,
Shed in all hearts, express One Native Light;
A Simple, primitive▪ untainted Flame,
One; as is One, that Glory whence it came.
But this same Truth, beheld through Interest,
Adherence, Folly, Pride, or other mist;
Is then discolour'd: And her own Chast Ray
Is varied by the tincted Term, or Way;
And she, whose simple, naked Candour's still
The same, false Colours takes of Good and Ill,
And through those Mists stains all she shines upon,
With differing Colour, and Opinion;
Who, for Truth's self, embracing the Disguise,
(The false Clowde's Beauty for the Goddesse's)
Do, for that Colours sake, hate those, who be
Vested in any Other Livery;
And make it Capital, for all who Stray
By diff'ring Rules, and Err, Another way.
Some say they fought, as Indians, by Tradition;
And from the States Below, took their Commission.
Some, to enlarge their Empire; Not to ease
The wretched, as the glorious Hercules,
(Who, for th' Oppressed, broke th' Oppressour's yoke,
When he lop'd Hydra, and made Cacus smoke:
[Page 8]No preys from th' Helpless ravish'd, brand his Story;
He left the Spoiles, and only [...]ook (the Glory;)
But, to detain the Captiv'd Liberty
Still [...]aptive, and Translate the Tyranny;
Grasp [...]ng f [...]lse Glories and di [...]honour'd Power,
Judg'd [...], when most it can devoure;
Th [...] they themselves may spoyl Alone, whilst they
Th' Oppres [...]ed, and th' Oppres [...]our, make One prey;
Like Thieves an [...] Murtherers, as the bold Pirate
Talk [...]ng to A [...]xander at a High rate,
Told [...]hat Great Conquerour, he had to all
The Ships he [...]ook by Sea, as good a Call,
As he and's Ma [...]edonians had, to seize
The Eastern World, and make Persia Prize;
That th [...]refore he, the vanquish'd World's chief,
Was but a Gre [...]t, himself, a Lesser Thief;
And those were Vulgar, and unjust decrees
Which Crown the greater Crimes, but D [...]mn the less;
For the same guilty Facts, advancing him
To the due Scaffold; him, toth' Diadem.
Some say they Fought only for their Own Qui [...]t,
For Body politique, keeping ill dyet,
Full of diseases growes, Rebellious Tumors,
Caus [...]d, as the Natural, by peccant Humors;
Which to discharge, the cleanlyest way is found
To purge: But let it work on Neighbours Ground.
What e'r the Cause was, they resolv'd to fight,
Success would make One of 'em in the Right;
For few pursue their Right, but their Advantage,
And having Power once, They never want-adg-Ust
[Page 9]cause, for Power can make Powerful Laws:
Laws, make what's just, what's just, makes a good Cause;
So that whater'e the Cause seem at First sight,
All victours, first or last, are in the Right.
Wherefore, no Field yet fought, we shall forbear
To say the Righteous cause was Here, or There;
Despairing to be able to determine
More knowingly what 'twas, than the poor vermine,
Who Covenanted to Fight for't with their Lives,
Their Goods, Their Fortunes, and their pregnant Wives:
But the Success alone shall here demonstrate,
To which, with greatest speed we shall go on straight;
Not staying to rehearse the General's speeches,
Counting the Wealth stow'd in Foes Camp, or Breeches;
What ble [...]ed Change of Fortune, Quarters, Linnen,
( Gol [...] they had long been out of, Shirts had bin-in;)
The Victory would yield 'em, Victory,
That would indulg a houndless Liberty;
Such, as in Peaceful times, were dangerous,
Where men of Valour oft are caught ith' Noose,
When for their Private ends, They practise ought
Which for the Publick good they had been taught;
Committin [...] in the High-ways, or oth' Borders,
Some Honourable Action without Ord [...]rs;
Whereas▪ for the same deeds, performed here,
The Noble Hero straight would Lawrel weare;
For th' happy swo [...]d, All Rights, All Bonds dissolves,
All Actions sacred, with prophane involves;
And the freed Victour, from those Bonds releas'd,
places above a God, beneath a Beast:
[Page 10]For ev'n from Nature's Laws, (which Gods decree,
And themselves keep,) Conquest shall set him free;
His licenc'd Rage and Lust, no Bounds regard,
Those Crimes, are his bold Trophies, and Reward;
Midst which Atchievments, triumphing, he can
Insult o'r th' vanquish'd, and forget the Man;
When torn by his wild Rage, defac'd shall lye
The Others, and His own Humanity;
All Laws forgot, born, or deliver'd; All,
But the Good Orders of the General.
Prepared thus with powerful speech, and pay,
And grant of ev'ry thing came in their way;
Both sides advance: But e'r we farther tell
What in this memorable fight befel,
We should, the motions of each piece, and worth,
And th' Reasons for it, briefly first set forth:
For here, the Art of War, as sure is told,
As Chymists, taught by Orpheus Hymns, make Gold;
Yet Dark and subject to Interpretation,
As in revealing Misteries is the Fashion
For prime and leading Authors: For they make sure
Of Fame who darkly render things Obscure;
(For objects which in Mists are shewn, and Night,
Their Terms being broken, and indefinite;
Are floating, doubtful, loose; and manifold,
Which now as stated, can, and one, behold:
This, their presenters render Safe and Great,
The veil, at once honours, and hides the Cheat)
Keep in the Learned, Ignorant, and Lo [...]de,
Themselves confounding, and th' amazed crowd [...];
[Page 11]For whom they understand, and for whose sake,
They Errours oft expound, and oft-times make;
Yet, by a wide Interpretation,
Can th' Authors fame, bring safe off, and their Own;
That Fame, which th' Author gain'd, and th' world allots
For profound Gravity, and Knitting knots;
Who, had he spoke his Words out, plain and clear,
Men had been quiet, 'cause th'ad spi'd Nothing there.
Which we espying here, (for any One
May day at small hole see, and Night at none)
We shall not much, Our selves, or Others, trouble
Why some piece singly moves, and some moves double;
Nor of the place, or shape, what is the Moral,
Shall Reason any give, for some, or for All;
But leave it to the sage Mythologist,
Who may be free to wander as he list;
To hide, what-ere he please, and he please, what tell.
We must go forward to describe the Battel,
Which thus began: Betwixt each Camp, there lay
An equal space, fit to begin the Fray,
From that side, which by lot, Fate did decree
In this sad war should the Agressours be
A bold Pawn sallies out, and having run
Double the Race of his slow motion,
He halted in the middle of that space,
Lest if he should pursue his violent Race,
Breathless, and spent, he might presented be,
A Tyr'd, and not an Equal enemy.
But t'Other side, whose Resolution
Was great as theirs, scorning to be faln on
[Page 12]Within their Trenches, with like speed, send forth
A valiant Pawn, of Equal strength, and worth;
These sight with Rage unheard of, for how could
They any Otherwise, since both were Wood?
Yet both stood firm; For with an easy ward
'Gainst downright Blowes, their Station was their Guard▪
Whilst int' each Others Heads, they lay about
To beat their Own Cause, in, or Foes Brains, Out,
Intentive only to each Others Blowes,
(How great they were, none but who felt them knows)
One of the Black-side's Pawnes of the next Rank
Obliquely strikes the white Pawn through the Flank,
He fell, and his fall had been sung aloud,
But Common Names are lost among a Crowde.
The Pawn who guarded him reveng'd his Blood,
And o'r the late proud Victour, Victour stood;
But without guard, which spi'd by adverse Bi [...]hop,
He shoots an Arrow at him, which by mishap;
Pierc'd his Habergeon, though of toughest Leather,
Armour of proof (alas) against cold weather,
But not cold Iron; That went quite through, and [...]etter,
He fell to Earth, but rose in Fame much greater;
And to his wretched Heirs bequeath'd it, who
To live upon't, had more than they could do;
Fame may be good to th' Dead, who eat not: But
When in the Scale 'gainst Living-hunger put,
It proves too light: For though Fame, e'vry-where
Sound wondrous loude, The Belly has no ea [...];
But to provide for them, he cared not,
As long as he himself was gon to Pot.
[Page 13]An Adverse Knight espi'd this, and leaping here
And there about the Field, and every-where
O're Neighbours Shoulders, at the last falls on
The King and Bishop with his * The Pythagorean Y, and the Logician's Dilemma, are both of them Horned; Because they present two Objects of Choice, both dangerous, and one of them [...]evitable; rendring the mind anxious and perplex'd, being inforc'd to a Necessity of Election, yet not knowing which peril to choose. Chawcer, in his Troilus and Cresseid, when Cresseid was in a like Ex­tremity, maks her say? Dulcarnon.
I am till God mee better mind send
At Dulcarnon right at my wits end.
Note:

Meaning, she was reduc'd to the same Condition as is affected by the Powers of the Y, or the Dilemma, for either of which Expressions, Chawcer substitutes, this new One of his Own, of the very same import, taking it from the Aera Dhilcarnain, which was Alexander's Aera: Who, to establish that Opinion of his being the Son of Jupiter Hammon (who was Corni­ger) caus'd a coin to be stamp'd, having his Own Image or it with Two Hornes as well as his Father Hammon; whose Image also was on the Reverse, (a Coin of which I have by me) And the Greeks, in memory of Him, substituted Ano­ther Aera in place of their Olimpiad, and call'd it (Aera Alex­andrea) Alexanders Aera. This Aera, the Arabians call'd Aera Dhilcarnair, viz. Aera habentis duo Cornua: which our Excellent Poet, though in those dull times, saw as clearly as Scaliger did after; and accordingly made use of.

Whoever observes the Knight's Cheque, That it equally threatens Two Opposites, and unavoidably destroyes One, will allow the Expression; and not take Dulcarnon for the name of the Knights Sword.

[Page 14]No passage open 'gainst the Knight there lay,
For Numerous Pawnes obstructed all the way;
Wherefore, the King first from the danger freed,
Himself, the Bishop off'red in his steed;
The Knight incontinent in his place did stand,
And having cast him down, Possessed his Land.
Fortune now doubtfull stood; here, victory
Crowns the succesful; Others bleed and dye;
In differing Fates, their Glories Equal be,
This boasts his Conquest; He, his Destiny.
Time, and succeeding Charges, buries All,
And levels t'Others Triumph, with his Fall.
But to describe Each Private Fate, or Glory
Or th' different Wounds and Deaths to lay before ye,
As Grave Historians well-seen in Poetry,
Do, when plain Narratives they beautifie,
Telling, how many ways wild Man had found
To ruine Man; Here, One dye without wound,
Trod under Foot; There, (which might be thought Fiction)
Knight, all-berai'd in Blood, Or his Own miction,
Lyes drown'd in Open Fields; or midst the Host,
Here closing lips beneath, breaths, out the Ghost:
We, who to Truth and Brevity pretend,
Shall here omit, and hasten to an end.
Nor shall we tell what Salvid Aben Patrick
Deposes, how One oth' Shecks design'd by a-trick,
To ruine t'Other, making the War cease,
And during pleasure, an Eternal Peace;
That▪ ith' mean time, watching the Others water,
Whilest he lay still, and dreamt of no such matter,
[Page 15]This, who was Watchful, did embrace th' Occasion,
And following the present Dispensation;
Which Providence held forth, (and he had Grace
To take, being a Saint of Mahomet's Own Race)
Quitting that Honour, by which Men draw nigh
The Gods; those Garlands, which veracity
Plants on their Glorious, their still-flourishing Brow,
Who truth revere, and to its Altars bow,
For th' fading Glories, successful perjury
Does yield, fell on, and gain'd the victory:
But what Ben Patrick says, is nought to us,
We follow better Authors, who write thus.
Each Sheck had by his side a bold virago,
Penthesilea such was long time ago;
And she, who did of late so stoutly pull-a-Crow
with Sr. Hudibras, Our modern Trulla;
One of these Dames, whose Valou [...], and bold worth
Safely forgot, when Honour call'd Her forth
Oppres [...]'d with Number, fell; and drew upon
The Foe, a Numerous Ruine, with Her One:
The Victours, by her Death grown confident,
Against the frighted Sheck, their whole Force be [...]t;
Who, with his small strength guarded, sometimes flies,
Then stands, charges, retires, and all ways tryes;
Till at the last he gain'd, a Pass, where, free
From Check, he breaths, and faces th' Enemy.
Whilst thus they stand at gaze, designing how
These may o'recome; This, shun Overthrow,
A valiant Pawn oth' distress'd Parties side,
Who, Fortune, Follower took; and Vertue, Guide;
[Page 16]To the Foes last, and greatest strength, made on,
Which he possess'd, maintain'd, and reach'd a Crown;
The spoyles of that late glorious Amazon,
Who had before been Partner of the Throne;
He, since in him Her vertues are enshrin'd,
Is now the Queen; No sex in the mind;
Vertue, whom it adornes, it equals; All
With her bright Lawrel bound, are Laureats All;
And with this wrath, Each circles his Own Brow;
The vertuous, to Themselves their Garland owe;
Which, men ( aloof) beholding, deck with Praise,
These, do but Honour; Theirselves Plant their Bayes.
Amaz'd, with this so generous, self-rais'd supply,
The Sheck, with joy, with dread, the Enemy;
She takes th' Advantage of that Fear, and Charges,
And their thin, opening Troops, urging, enlarges;
Down falls a Rook, and Bishop, Knight withdrawes
To place of safety; Fear has no shame, nor Laws;
To the abandon'd Sheck, shee then gives Mate,
The Hand that gave it forth, Honour'd the Fate.
Thus was this scene of Blood once acted, when
These which are puppets now, at first were Men,
As is recorded by a Bard oth' Chinois,
From whom, Great Naso, so call'd from his high-nose,
Borrow'd much matter in's Metamorphosis;
But, none knowes why has wholly left out this;
Which truth, out of that Bards own words, we here
Hold forth, as by comparing 'twill appear.
Fate (quoth he) which in its deeds is dark and ample,
Decreed to make these Miscreants an Example;
[Page 17]And though she some, for causes like, does dignifie,
Enraged now, she did these Arabs lignifie;
Their close designs and Frauds, a Patern made
To all, who drive of War the guilty Trade,
And in this wanton Field, since 'twas unknown
Which party did the Iuster Armes put on;
Whose cause for Current went, and whose did lag;
She shuffled Both of 'em into One Bag;
From whence drawn forth, as if they still were then,
Upon the like Good cause, They'th to't agen.

To the Memory of my Dear Friend and Tutor, Mr. John Gregory of Christ-Church.

I'Le not accuse thy fall; that well-plac'd Fate
Made thee th' Desire of th' Age, no more the Fate,
'Tis just, it wants, what it contemns; that they
Wander unpittied, who despise the way;
Fools their Own sentence, still, and Judgment are,
They beg their ill; and suffer that false Pray'r.
Nor will we pitty thee; since, what thy mind,
In its Restraint, and Prison, could not find,
Press'd with its Body, and the time, it now,
Free'd from th' ungrateful Loads, does clearly know;
Truth's thy possession; And what e'r began,
Of Knowledg here, ends now in vision;
Errour, and wonder cease, and that pure Fire,
Which, when it cover'd lay, and shaded here,
Thou couldst not fully, by its languishing,
Faint Ray, discover the true Face of Things,
(As Colours are not judg'd ith' twilight, where,
Wants Darkness, to be hid, and Light, t' appear:)
Shines out unclouded now; and does enjoy
All its high Essence dares, a Bright, full day,
Of knowledg, where, th' Light, pure, and unmix'd doe▪ stream
No false Refraction, nor Errour's in the Beam:
No doubtful Colour (that veile of shade and Light)
Disguises things, no distance breaks the sight:
[Page 19]But that unbounded Glory, that certain light,
Commands all Objects; sure and Infinite.
Let it not wrong thy Memory, that we
Admiring what thou Now art, do pass by
Thy knowledg H [...]re, as if 'twere wanting, No;
What Man could find. Thou needst not Die, to know,
Language was thine, and what that language frames,
Thou wert not seen only in empty Names;
Those, the Materials of thy knowledg were,
[...]ut not the Work: Thou only enterd'st there
Where Other rest; and fraught with their rich prey,
Thou brought'st home thence, Arts, numerous as they.
'Twere idle to recount them▪ By thine Own
Remains th' hast left us, They are greater known
Than by Our faint Report, th' are they, must raise
Trophies, that will outlive all Lesser praise.
For to the same Duration, sacred be,
The Aged Reliq [...], and the Memory.

To the Memory of Mr. William Cartwright of Chr. Ch.

CRown'd with thine Own choice Bay, we do not bring
Hither Our cheap, and humble Offering,
As by it we could raise up Ought to thee;
There's no Access comes to the Deity
By th' sacrifices that to th' Altar fall;
(The God is worthy of his Honour) All
Those wealthy vows, not Make him, but Confess,
They Testi [...] the Worth, not it encrease;
That scorns to Owe to the poor Votary,
Worth were thence less, whence it could Greater be.
And such was thine, not born from Others Fame,
Parent, and Honour th' art, of thine Own Name;
'Twere wrong t' attest it; when th' Sun to his Mid-way
Has dimb'd, who needs Bear witness to the day?
'Twere to Sus [...]ect his Lustre, and betray
The Truth and Evidence of his Own Ray.
C [...] as that Fire, and high as is that Fire,
Which did, as that, break fo [...]th, as that, aspire;
Thine was, 't took wing, disdain'd, and left the Ground,
Great, and unusual, and with wonder Crown'd:
Reach'd at, and gain'd the H [...]ight; touch'd the bold Thirse,
Made known the Pow'r and the high Rage of verse.
All, but th' Short Lif [...] oth' Ray, (like th' Lightning Ray
Which Shines, and dyes, glances, and dar [...]s away,)
[Page 21]Thine lasting was; As that continual Fire
Which t' after Ages wakes ith' Sephulcher;
Wild wit, like Wild-fir [...]s, Once alone we see,
They shoot, and Blare, but ith' presentment dye.
Nor was there Light, and H [...]at alone, but thence
(That Act of Both) a quick strong Influence;
Through All the parts divided, made them One,
Gave to each Part, t' it self proportion,
And to the Whole; And in that Union
Made Life, and Order, strength, and Beauty join.
Nor did this Active mind, and influence
Reflect upon it Self alone: [...]ut thence,
(As the Sun's quickning Operation, can
Perfect the Mass begun, and finish Man)
Inform the Hearers; Raise, and inspire them, with
Those Numbers only, that high and greater Breath:
(As did the happy Thracian's Powerful Song,
Which forc'd the Lyon, and his Den along,
And plac'd a Soul there:) As if Each had been
The Is [...]ue, and the Creature of thy Pen.
That Life which thou on Others couldst confer,
Assume thy self; And know no Sepulcher,
'Tis to thee, both thy Crown, and Recompence,
The Glory, and Reward of Eloquence.
Live then Great Shade' and spight of Time and Death,
Take of thine Own, Another; farther Breath ▪

Vpon Ben. Johnson's Picture.

THus look'd, the Guide, and Raiser of the stage,
Whom. first the Age saw Great, then he the Age;
Iohnson: in whom, those distant Parts (ne'r great
But when divided Iudgment and Fancy met.
All was not Rapture; Nor (to shun that) Supine,
(Like their dull works who put their Prose in Rime)
But a just, Equal Heal, Each part inform'd
Which, both at once, Beauty and strength adornd.
Thy plaies were not only ith' Action seen,
As when St. George, and Dragon Both, came in;
And good Sr. Lancelot with his trenchard Blade,
Broke the Gyants Head in earnest, and made
The Boyes, and (wiser than the Boyes) the Me [...],
Laugh, and cry out, Let's ha' that Iest agen!
No; by it self, we could approve thy play,
Though Bevis and the Champions were away.
No General Muster came upon thy stage,
No Piques, nor Errant Prentijes did rage;
No Batteries were made, nor did the Drum
With direful Noise, Summon the Tyring Room,
'Twas Peace in thy time Ben! Some Messenger
Brought in th' Event, but carried off the War.
Thou ne'r such Tragique words, or sense, didst choose
Which did the People, and thy self amuse;
No Caytiff vile was plung'd in speckling Troubles
Of Sinking Grief, rowld up in sevenfold Doubles
[Page 23] Of plagues unvanquishable: Though thy Muse flew high
And lessen'd to the City, some might descry,
Thou, didst not alter Nature; Things came in
Such as th' are Born▪ no Outrage wrong'd the scene:
No Ship was cast away in Open Field;
Nor fort, in Perjõn, did come in, and yield;
Nor was't all One to thee, which crost the Seas,
The sad Ambassadour, or Tripolis;
Things had their just proportion, Colour, Light,
Nature ne'r fell, nor Reason, both kept their [...]ight.
The Poets Fictions, though didst resign
To Boyes, and Pedants; Thou didst not vex Each line
With Harpyes, Gorgons, Hydra's, Bears, and Goddesses,
Beyond Tim Corgats works; or Homer's Odysses;
Such Antique draughts ne'r Issued from thy Pen,
Thou turnd'st the Centaurs Out, and brough [...]'st in Men.
But he was slow, and heavy, a year scarce brings
One play forth! Fools! The wary growth of things
Precludes to their Continuance; delays
Crown Poems, the price, and emblem of the Bays:
Plants that live Ages, creep slowly from the Earth;
They came forth late, and Aged in the Birth;
So steddy, careful, and ( So) slow, grew thine,
Perfect, Full-tim'd, and truly Masculine;
Born to Posterity, and the long stay.
Of Ages; such, as shall ne'r decay
Till time fall with e'm, till the Muses grace
Prin's Poems, Or nice Ladyes court thy Face.

To the Lady B. Vpon the first coming to E. after her Marriage.

MAke ready the Libation! Bring the wine
Hither, and the choycest Flowers, as when
We invoke the Genius of the Pla [...]e, to bless
It, with a solemn, farther Happiness.
Such be the Rites, while to this happy seat
(Fit for so fair Receipt) we call as Great,
But a diviner Presence; which, to th' place
New Beauties shall divide, and its Own Grace.
So when a Temple, or an Altar's rais'd,
Not yet devo [...]ed, though the Building's prais'd,
The Height, firm Beauty, and silent Awe's admir'd,
'Tis still Imperfe [...]t yet, while th' Go [...]'s desir'd,
Whose Presence must po [...]ess, and fill that space,
And Own the common Beauty of the place.
Such here, both th' want, and Lustre was, where All,
For which, or Greatness, or delight could call,
Was met together like th' dwellings Fancy reares,
When parti [...]g from Obscure and humble Lares,
It raises palaces, advances Towers,
Plants those continual Shades, and living Bowers
Where Lovers o [...] the Blessed dwell; and bring
Flow [...]s which [...]ver Breath, and stay the spring;
To whos [...] quick stains, All Colours f [...]de, and set,
But [...], to whom ev'n those seem Counterset.
[Page 25]Tis not the Rose's Blush, nor the first Day
Oth' Lillies new-disclos'd, Own whiteness, may
Express that Beauty, which Triumphs, like that staind,
Which, through a crimson veil, the Sun's Rays strain'd.
Shed on [...]n Ivory Table, where th' Light streams
More Glorious from the Clo [...]d ▪ than from the Beam.
Fair Copy to th' Endeavours of these Flowres,
Whose [...]olours, shadow only are to yours,
But Life, and pattern t'Other Beauties give
That wonder hither! and with it relieve
The Shade, and Faintness, of their Lustre; where
May it still flouri [...]h! Nor Age nor sickness bear
Spoyls from that Face: But like that Beauty, which
This Outward Form encloses (your, far more rich
And lovely vertue) Or those Chast equal Fires
Kindled in either Breast, which still aspire;
And know no want, no failing, or decay,
But ever climb, their stedfast, earnest way;
May that endure! From this blest Union
Where all those Beauties, and Perfections join
In their full Height, and Bounty, which Others own
Les [...]en'd and maim'd, in their Descent alone;
Where we, (your Bloud's or Fortune's Eminence
Being spar'd,) might place, and count you from the Cense
Of vertue only, and from thence begin
Your long Descent, may a like Issue spring!
On whom, amongst those Other that attend
Their Birth, may that Best Part, Vertue descend.

Vpon One Vaulting.

THE Pindar he leap'd full thirty Foot back,
'Twas a good jump i' those da [...]s, but short yet of Jack;
Nay though 'thad forty been, Iohn yet were safe,
You know the Pindar had a Quarter-staff;
Which, (as when th' fellows careless Head it broke
Which stood int's way, so here) Strikes a good stroke:
But he needs no such help; He, by his Own
Meer motion, gets up, and by the same gets down,
Not so old Sinon. the Treacherous Posti [...]ion,
Who rod the Great-horse charg'd with Greeks to Ilion,
And those walls, o'r which, not ten years prevail'd,
In one short night, he and his Ambush scal'd;
They came not off so well, for why? They slid
Down by a Rope, says Vi [...]gil, (And so they did)
But he at Once can, fetching a compass quite
About his Courser, both get up, and alight:
Hence then persidious Greeks, who did not faulter
By Ladder to get up, and down by Halter;
Thou doest defie such Ominous Motions O Iohn
Oth' Traytrous Greeks, and mount'st like a true T [...]oj [...]r.
The best oth' Greeks thou put'st down, ev'n no Worse-man
Then Chiron, who his Own self, was a Horse-Man;
Which greater Worth than his, if some require
That it should plainly here be made appear,
With this one Argument let Iohn be rited,
Iohn can dismount, No centaure ever lighted:
[Page 27]As Antient Authors write, Sages and Poets,
Profound Mythologists, and the small No-wits,
Therefore Iohn, is both in the History
Greater than Chiron, and eke in the Mistery;
Since he alone oth' twain, must needs be best,
Whose Region of the Man, can quit the Beast.
O Pacolet! who with a wooden pin
Didst guide thy nimble steed through th' Air so thin.
To teach us vertue; Boast not thy wonderous course,
Nor vaunt O Knight, who on thy steddy Horse
Brave Clavileno, for Trifalds fair,
Didst Malambruno seek, pacing the Air;
And ( all at length) didst leap, some say, fall down,
This was thy Horse [...] Prowess, not thine Own;
Nor any henceforth boast, their Horses force
Leaps hedg, Or ditch, Iohn shall leap o'r their Horse.

A Pastoral Ode by T. Randolph.

(SHEPHEARD.)
COy Caelia, dost Thou see
Yon' hollow Mountain tottering o'r the plain,
O'r which, a fatal Tree
With Treacherous Shade, betraid the sleepy Swain?
Beneath it is a Cell,
As full of Horrour, as my Breast of Care:
Ruine therein might dwell;
As a fit Room for Guilt, and black Despair:
Thence will I headlong throw
This wretched weight, this heap of Misery;
And in the dust below
Bury my Carcass, and the Thought of thee:
Which when I finish'd have,
O hate the dead, as thou hast done Alive!
But come not neer my Grave,
Last I take Heat from thee, and so revive.

[Page 29]The Answer.

CAELIA:
STay hapless swain, Return!
Love's Altar knowes no Bloody Sacrifice;
No Guilty Fires there burn,
He only Wounds, not kills his Votaries.
Stay Sheepherd! pitty Me,
Since to thy s [...]lf, thou bear'st such stubborn Hate,
Is thy try'd Constancy
Faithful to Plagues? That's though thy wonted Fate:
Death with all thy Griefs end,
They'l lye forgotten in the same dust with thee;
My sorrows enter then,
And the long mischief still will torture Me.
Why wouldst thou perish Now?
Twas the Coy CAELIA made thee hate thy Breath,
Shee'l be no more so now:
O Turn fond Friend, and do not loose thy Death.
Chorus.
Let the Tree flourish! And
Forget his F [...]tal Name; but adorn'd thus
Cast a New Sh [...]de; and stand
For ever Sacred unto Love, and us.
[Page 30]Crown the dry and wither'd Hill
With fresher Roses, then h' has yet had on,
And may he now be still!
Or if he totter, Let him fall Alone.

Horat. Ode 7. Lib. Car. 4. Ad Manlium torquatum.

THe Snow's dissolv'd, and the Chas'd Flowers, return
Back to their Field: By the Trees, Leaves are worn,
Earth Shifts her Habit; The Bank (but now despis'd,)
Checks the Whole River; and it self doth Rise,
The Graces, with the Nymphs, now naked, may
Visit the Field; smiling, and Fair, as they,
The year tells us w'are mortal, and th' gliding stay
Of the prone Hours, hurrying the Light away;
The Gentle, easy Blasts awake the Spring,
The Hot remove it hence and Summer bring:
That's fled when th' Trees bow down their Loads, and then,
The dull, cold Winter binds up all agen.
But the Swift Moons r [...]turn the yeare, But we!
When once we fall, shall with Aeneas lye,
Tullus and Ancus; And ( born no more) shall fade
Into our Urns, Dust and forgotten Shade.
Who's sure the next Sun shall Shine on Him? and raise
The small spent Sum, and moment of his Days?
[Page 32]That which thou leav'st, thy heaps of Wealth and Care,
Shall perish too, and slide from thy glad Heir,
When once th' hast left the Day, and the just Judg, shall
Fix thy Eternal Doom, (thy truest fall)
'Tis not thy Birth, nor Eloquence, can free
And quit thee from't, nor thy late Piety.

Boet. de Consol. Phil. lib. 2. Metr. 4.

WHol'd fix a Sure Retreat,
A lasting, wary seat;
Safe, when the wild storms blow,
And the Seas overflow;
Let him the Hills proud Height,
And th' Sands false Bottom sleight:
That, the loud Tempests shake,
These, the vain Pile forsake.
Shunning the envious Fate,
Does pleasant seats await?
Let thy low, humble cell
In a Rock's Bosom dwell:
Though Seas and Tempests join
In One Confusion,
Hid in that quiet space,
Thy stedfast Rock's Embrace,
Thou shalt compleat thine Age,
And scorn the Cloud's vain Rage.

SONG.

[...] WIthdraw my Caelia! Cloud thine eye,
Smile on an Enemy;
Those Glances M [...]rther where they flye,
Retire that piercing▪ earnest Light!
And my faint wounded sight,
Bless rather with a Sh [...], and night:
The bliss, which in a boundless▪ wantou Flood,
Showres on the narrow Soul, a vaster Good,
With Excessive joys,
Th' or'whelmed Pow'r destroys.
2. Those lovely Aires be far away!
Which, of the Syren's Lay
The sweetness, and the D [...]ath conveigh:
In these, mor [...] Fate, mor [...] Magique lye,
[...], must the Syren flee,
Or hearing, charm'd, must follow thee:
But since those Deaths, where Souls flye ravish'd hence,
Have more of j [...]y, than Life can e'r dispence,
Smile and sing, Caelia, Life's an Ill,
Where Smi [...]es, and Soft Aires kill.
3. Thus, Souls with Raptures charmed lye,
When from their Cells they fly,
Call'd, not by Death, but Exstacy:
Thus the Divine Nepenthe, gives
Life, which in Slumbers lives,
When Fate it urges and retrieves.
And thus, whilst by that voice and eye, betrayd,
My Soul, (as motions like, their like obey)
Does to Elizium stray,
Elizium is the way.

The Cyprian Virgin.

When Cyprus fatal Hour drew nigh,
And only One year was untold
Decreed by impartial Destiny
That Venice should that Island hold,
The Turkish General Mustap [...]
Sate down before Nicosiae.
To the Venetian Seignory
Cyprus a hundred years did bow;
But to a greater Tyranny
Its vanquish'd Head it must yield now;
Dominions cease, and scepters dye,
And low, as their fal'n Princes lye.
Nicosia long had peace enjoy'd,
Seated ith' midst oth' fertile Isle;
And by no Enemy annoy'd,
Had all the thoughts of War exil'd;
War followes peace; And that War may
Prevail, Peace does it Self betray.
Wak'd with the Rumor of this War,
With a new strong defensive Wall,
With Bulwarks firm and Regular
Their City they encompass'd All:
Who knowes whe'r Fates are fix'd? Or we
May Fate retrieve by Industry?
But all this Guard unequal was
To the Opposers violence;
The Cannons Thunderbolts took place,
And rent in sunder All Defence.
Mans strength, far weaker than Mans Rage,
Does borrow'd Powers, and Furies wage.
The Fo [...] prevailes; and, as a Flood
Whose weight all Banks, and Dams bear down,
Swells high, and loud, by nought withstood;
So the proud Foe o'rewhelms the Town.
But Floods are calm to him, what can
Equal the Boundless Rage of Man?
Who thirst for Blood may glutted be,
Who lusts, may gratifie that vice;
For, the Reward of Victory,
Of Cities storm'd the glorious price,
Is, That the Souldier is left free
To put off his Humanity.
But what's forbid by Heaven's Decrees,
Can Generals to their Souldiers give?
Laws against Lusts, and Cruelties
In Heaven sign'd, Dare they retrieve?
The happy sword may give new Law
To th' vanquish'd, must not Heaven awe.
Forbidden Lusts whilst they permit,
And Fury raging beyond Death,
They, that themselves are Men, forget,
And with the vanquish'd draw One Breath:
Swords licenc'd thus, 'gainst Heav'n are drawn,
They gain the Day, but lose the Man.
By th' Sword 'bove fifteen thousand fall,
And twenty thousand Captives led:
These, do the slain more happy call;
And closely chain'd, envy the Dead.
The slain, no Victour can enslave,
Eternal Freedom dwells i'th' Grave.
Who ere has Beauty, strength, or Art,
Now yi [...]lds it up, as Sp [...]y [...]s to th' Foe,
Captives have in themselves no part,
But to the Victour All forgo [...]:
They breath for Him; who, as their Fate
Dispences Life, or gives it Date.
Three Ships, with Dead and living Spoyls,
(Treasure and Captives) loaden were;
The [...]arve [...] of that Summers toyls
To S [...]i [...] sent by th' Conqueror:
The Blood and Guilt of Th [...]sands, must
Serve O [...] Ma [...]s Luxury, and Lust.
The Mothers, spread alongst the Shoare,
Follow the Ships with big-swoln eyes,
To see those, they should see no more,
And to the Heavens send their Cryes;
Uncertain what from thence to seek,
A happy Voyage, or a wreck.
For to what end should their vain Pray'r
Beg Prosperous Gales, and Happy winds,
That wafred by a gentler Air,
They might at length Safe Bondage find?
Let rather Rocks in sunder rend
Their Limbs, and their swift thraldom end.
But what soft Mother, ever could
To hardned Rocks for Pitty call?
'Twere too too fearful to behold
Their mangled Limbs in pieces fall;
Wherefore, of Heav'n, they beg Heaven's will,
Ready to suffer't, or fulfill.
A Virgin 'mongst the Captives was,
Who seated by that Cy [...]ri [...]n Queen,
Which Poets in this Island place,
That Venus had less Venus been;
For this, more Goddess, held enshrin'd
In her Fair shape, a fairer mind.
She, with some Others, destin'd was
To the Grand Seignor's lustful Bed,
To suffer an enforc'd embrace,
As victims are to altars led,
Who die for Others Crimes; As these
To Others Lusts are sacrific'd.
But She above Captivity
A Freedom held in her great mind,
Which soar'd beyond their Victory
And their dull Triumphs left behind:
Vertue born up oth' Soule's great wing.
No sword can into Bondage bring.
To that loath'd Fate I am reserv'd,
I scarce dare think upon, Said she;
Ye Pow'rs who th' helpless still preserve,
Mine Honour guard, and Chastity!
Which e're i'le yield to violate,
I'le be my self mine Own bold Fate.
Full of Great thoughts, She moves about
Slowly, not minding of her way,
And follows One amidst the Rout
Who at the Magazine did stay;
A Torch he bore in's hand, which gave
Light to the Horrour of the Cave.
The suddain Change of Objects, made
Her retir'd Spirits sally out,
To view, what in that dismal Shade
Had interrupted her fix'd Thought;
The Object pleas'd, fit to wait on
Her glorious Resolution.
Snatching the Torch out of his hand
Who held it, not regarding Her,
She straightway hurl'd the flaming Brand
Into the Powder that lay there
And as into the Heap it fell,
I'me Free (said She) Tyrant Far [...]well
As swift as thought, a dreadful Cloud,
(Where ribs of Ships, and Mens Limbs rent
Floated, in One confused Flood)
With Horrour to the Heavens went:
What the same moment saw, the same
Saw vanquish'd and without a Name.
Where's the insulting Victour now?
Where does the Captiv'd wretch remain?
One Blast, the Lawrel from his Brow,
Has strook, and from his Neck, the Chain:
Victour and vanquish'd both are lost
And equall'd in One Common Dust.
Nothing escap'd but each fled Mind
With its Deeds vertuous, or unjust;
Which both went with't and staid behind
To punish or Reward its Dust.
Good Deeds, from Men, Fame and Renown
Receive; And from just Heav'n a Crown.
Learn Justice then yet livi [...]g Souls!
And an unblemish'd purity;
Which both the Earth, and Heav'n enrolls,
And will S [...]vive, when Bodies dye.
The Glories of the Chast, and Iust
Renew and spring out of their dust.
'Mongst these Records of Earth and Heav'n,
Bless'd Virgin be thy Nam [...] enroll'd!
Who by thy great Example given
To aged Time and Flame, hast told
The following world, 'Tis less to dye
Than to dishonour Chastity.
Live! great Example of it then!
And with it twine thy Honour'd Name,
By the succeeding Race of Men
Plac'd high in the Record of Fame.
Where the Cha [...] C [...]pria [...] Vi [...]gi [...] Shines
Amongst the A [...]ci [...]t H [...]oins.

EPITAPH. On two Young Children, M. and A. R. Who were kill'd in their Beds by the fall of a Chimney.

SLeep boldy on! No careless Ruine's nigh,
No second heap to bid you Wake and Dye:
This Earth will press you gently, This weight, must
Securely yield up, and reveal its Dust.
Since then This, Rest; That, Death and Ruine gave;
Call this your Bed! 'Twas 'Tother was your Grave.
When sleep betrayes, and Our Breath Slumbers seize;
O Let all Sleep as Innocent as these!

EPITAPH, On Mrs. E. G.

BEauty, youth, and what e're we
Lovely call, Here Buried lye:
Dust has e'm; And their choice Forms, they
Have lost ith' undistinguish'd Clay.
But the Beauties of her mind
No Grave seals up, No Earth can bind,
They, with her Soul; And they alone,
Live Beauteous still, and still her Own:
The spoyls due to the Grave value no more!
Call all those Pageants (Reader) Dust, Before.

EPITAPH, On Mrs. V. H. Aged 62 Years.

LIke th' Shock of Corn, which its full Age has seen,
She came to th' Grave, not snatch'd, but gather'd'm;
Whose Life, not only from the years she told
We Aged call, But from her vertues, Old:
These gave her years; and Crown'd those years they gave,
Her Life erst lasting made; and now, her Grave:
For these enshrine our Dust; These, from Change free
Make few years, Age; and Age, Eternity.

EPITAPH. On Mrs. M. M.

REader! In vain, you search for memory
Of Ought, ith' Land when All forgotten lye
Silence, and Night, here their dark Mansions have;
These make, and Seal the Sto [...]y of the Grave▪
Here lyes Dust: Unfashion [...]d now,
Moulded Once, and form'd, as Thou,
Beauty sate there, and youth, Life's fairest Flowers;
Pleasant, but swift, and passing as its Houres:
Those Garlands, with the Brow that wore them, wither;
Life, and its vainer Blossoms fell together.
But within her Soul enshrin'd,
Vertue waits on the fled mind,
Whose leaves fade not, measur'd by
Time, or by Eternity:
Whence the Soul divided never,
Wear [...]s a Crown, and Triumphs ever.
Reader! No more, declining Shadows trust,
Call Vertue, Beauty; Other Beauty, dust.

A Reflection upon that Discourse of, Lipsius de Constantia, the discourse having been rendred into English by the Author in our troublesome Times, and printed with it.

ANd what is't that can harm thee now? I'me Free,
Yet by no monstrous, tainted Liberty;
Above All Human Power; serene and high,
I quietly attend All Misery.
For judgment, nor the Act of Chance, is found,
Nor Man; (Affliction springs not from the Ground)
No; from th' Eternal, Wakeful, Providence;
(That most Confess'd, most unknown Influence)
All things, as they their Life and Being have,
Their Act and Motion; so their e [...]st and Grave.
All struggling's then in vain: Proud, Feeble clay,
Look whence the stroke proceeds, and Learn t' Obey.
But Cheerfully Obey! as thou wert Free,
And couldst resist; 'Tis Imbecillity,
And not Obedience, that suffers, cause
N [...]cessity enjoynes, and the hard Laws
Of Fate: Choose what befalls thee then! And lay
Thy bold repinings, and vain strengths away;
Obedience is thy surest Guard, To will
What must befall, shuns and deceives the Ill;
[Page 48]But he's twice harm'd; who, when there's no Defence,
Endures both th' ill, and's Own Impatience.
And what should fright thy will? What from Above
Descends, where nought but Goodness dwells, and Love,
Is Good and Loving too; No plague comes nigh,
Nor from that Dwelling; those Emissions, high,
And Healthful are; Divine Beatitude
Is not from henc [...] alone, 'cause 't does exclude
All evil from it self; and comprehend
All Good; But, 'cause that Good descend,
Joys in that Bliss it does to Others bring,
Spread a full Shad [...], an universal Wing;
Under whose cool Defence, All Creatures rest;
A Pow'r still Blessing, and for ever Blest.
Say not, from thence, that each Affliction,
Each unkind mixture, Each distress comes down,
And these are evils; No! We falsly guess
That Love, by Outward pain or Happiness;
Those smiles do neither Cure, nor those Griefs kill;
For neither joy is Good, nor pain is ill.
Not the poor joys of Earth: nor its false pain,
Which while th' affect us, do withdraw again,
(As when a storm, gives, or a Sun, to th' Flow'r,
The Beauty, or the sickness of an Hou'r)
And when th' are fled, (As Flowres their drooping Head
Never to rise, let fall;) Th' are Ever fled;
Fled like a pleasing, or unquiet Dream,
Or like the smooth, or the complaining stream,
Which Yesterday (ne'r to return) pass'd by:
Their Torment, and their joy, Then, Equal be;
[Page 49]And in One Ev'n State, together lye
The Glorious, and the Wretched, Memory
Is All that does divide 'em; For what's past,
Time has seal'd up, and the dark Grave holds fast;
Their Present Sence of what is fled, is One:
The wretched, Suffers not His pain that's gone;
Nor th' happy, feels his joy: But One deep Night
Has drawn it's heavy Wing, and clos'd Each Light;
No pleasing, or ingrateful Sense remains,
But the faint Story of the Joys or Pains.
Such shadows are th' Affections Good or Ill,
Fleet as their Objects: But the Soul's great will
Pursues no dying Good; but those, that be
Companions of its Own Eternity;
For th' Good that's Chosen, must proportion'd be
To th' Pow'r that Chose, that it may satisfie
Its utmost Cravings, when reposing there
It shall enjoy and lose its Vast desire:
But 'mongst the Mines of Earth, there's none can fill
Th' Embraces of the Soul, nor bound its will:
False to their Love, they do but Cheat the mind;
For parting, those dull Goods will stay Behind.
It therefore Courts a lasting Happiness,
And hates that Evil, which no Change can bless;
Enjoys the Peace of Truth and Vertue; flies
The pain of Errour, and Impieties.
Rectitude measures what it Loves, and Shu [...]s;
Guide of its knowledg, and its Actions.
Such is the Soul's delight! Such its high Love!
A Pure, Immortal Beauty, lodg'd Above,
[Page 50]Which outlives Change; and unconcern'd, looks on
The Torreent of a Desolation;
When All the Things, which here we Glorious call,
Stoop to their First Earth; And together fall
Low as their Foundations: When nought withstand
The Fury of the Glo [...]ious, Guilty Hand,
But One heap made, shew, what Confusion
Deforms the World, when Strength and Madness joyn.
There, (like a steep, bold Rock, which midst the flood
Has thousand storms, and thousand Thunders stood;
Whose Safe Foundations laid Beneath the Deep,
Quiet, and low, ith' Earth's firm Bosom sleep,
Free from the War oth' Tempest, whilst his proud
Advanced head, rais'd 'bove both Sea, and Cloud,
Views Either storm Beneath; and safe does lye
Though midst the Rage, yet 'bove the Injury)
Thy Great Mind stand Secure; High, and Alone,
It Self intire, and its Possession:
For who can wound, Or lead thy Mind away
Captive? Or take thy Vertue 'mongst the Prey?
It Conquers Time and Death: And does abide
When th' sence of suff'ring, Or enjoyings fled;
For when the pleasure, or the pain is gone,
The Conscience of a Vertuous Action
Liv [...]s, and Rewards the doer: These joys Alone
Know not the Grave, Nor see Corruption;
But with the Soul, whose Good they are, ascend;
Pure, Immaterial, Aged as the mind.
N'er to be parted, For the Good desir'd,
Though sever'd ith' pursuit, yet when acquir'd,
[Page 51]Is with the Pow'r desiring it, made One;
For All Desire tends to Perfection,
(The high Reward of Love) which then's attain'd,
When the Imp [...]rfect Pow'r, t' its Fair Hope chain'd;
Weds the Beloved Object to its Own
Being; From which intire Perfection
Crowning its Being, and with it made One
Who shall divide it, makes the Being None.
If then the Soul's Enjoyments are Above;
If it's high, well-aim'd wishes thither move,
If Truth, and Goodness only, are its end;
All things befall us, as they thither tend
Are Good, or Bad; Since things subservient
To Other ends, are nam'd from the Event.
What then unwings the Soul, and stops its Flight,
Which or depresses, or suspends its height,
Wrongs th' End; which, if unskilful Happiness
Shall do, is from its weight this Motion cease,
That flattring Bliss will to thy sorrows add;
'Tis but a Death sent Smiling; ill, Well-clad.
Or, If Affliction shall Promote its way,
If by it, (free'd from th' Hindrance, and delay
Of Outward Things,) The Soul, now left Alone
(Preluding to its Separation)
Shall view these perishing Objects, with those Eyes
Which both their Presence, and their Want despise;
And with a pure and rectifi'd desire
To Goodness only shall, and Truth aspire:
Th' Afflicted shall lament no more: But bless
The Mercy of the wound; The Happiness,
[Page 52]To which, (as when dark storms or Clouds conceal
A God descending,) Sorrow was the veil.
Aim then aright, thy ill-plac'd Hope and Fear!
For since the Glorious, and the Scorn'd Things Here
Wait for One Change; (as when the last great Flame
Shall mingle Stars and Dust:) And since No Name
Shall know them any more when parted hence,
Nor their Effects, return, and strike the sense;
(For who enjoys the faln Flower? Who can tell
Where th' Rose has hid its Colour? l [...]ft 'its smell?
Whither, its fair, its untaught Blast did str [...]y?
Or what rude wind stole its last Breath away?
That can new-dress the scatter'd Flower, can tye
The Leaves into their knot again, which flye
The vain winds scorn?) Leave the delights of Earth!
(Those Flowers oth' Field.) And whence thy Soul its Birth
Derives, Ascend! kindle a new Desire
Within thy Breast; A genuine Native Fire;
Which to that Beauty climbs that dwells Above,
That Glorious Endless Form! Be this thy Love!
'Tother, Embrace, or Shun, as They Serve this;
Call 'em th' Attendants On it, not the Bliss;
Follow the End! 'Tis that alone can stay
The Soul, No Rest's to them who dwell ith' way.
ETERNAL POWER! Cause of our joy and Grief,
From whom, All Sorrow comes and All Relief,
Guide us in Either! If Thou'lt have us tri'd
With Outward Blessings, Teach us to abide
The strong Temptations of Happiness:
But if (Our Frailty known) Thou'lt rather Bless
[Page 53]Us with Affliction (since Prosperity
Of Fools destroys 'em) Let's not repine, that we
Are freed from th' Curious Danger; Nor be cast down,
And murmur at thy mercy, 'cause thy Frown
Saves us; But cheerfully submit to Thee;
Since Our Distresses, and Our Suffrings, be
The Care of Heaven; Since the Pow'r directs
And which commands the Plague, That Pow'r protects.
Thus when we have devolv'd Our selves on thee,
Whate'r befalls us, joy, or Misery,
We shall be Safe in Either; plac'd on High
(As our Defence is) when the storms pass by,
The wild impatient storms, Beneath us, we
(As the safe Lawrel, when each blasted Tree
Oth' Grove the last Mark stand oth' Lightnings way)
Shall still be Green, and Flourish like that Bay:

That of Ovid Met. 12.

Iam timor ille Phrygum, Deus et tutela pelasgi
Nominis Aeacides, &c.

Transfer'd to Our CHARLES I

AND now the Erittains Crown and Gu [...]rd, the Dread
Of jealous — whose unconquer'd Head
Nor Tongues nor Arms subdu'd, oth' low Block laid,
By th' votes which Glory promis'd, is betraid.
Hee's Dust now; And of that Great Prince, we have
Only what scarce fills up a Nameless Grave;
But his vast Fame, spread o'r the world, still lives
And fills it; and his Endless Name retrives:
This to his worth's Commensurate, and this
Equ [...]ls Thee, CHARLES! And shall contemn th' Abiss.

PANEGYRICK, To His Excellency the thrice-noble General, General MONK.

WHat Honour, th' Ancients to their Vertue gave
Who Monsters quell'd and the Oppressed sav'd,
Though clad in Fable, (and thence, bolder drawn,
As not by th' Life, but heightned Fancy tane)
Is due to you, Who, a more ravenous Crew,
Of Hidra's, Harpi [...]s, (Monsters of prey) subdue,
Than they or knew, or fain'd: whilst thus, to you,
Both All True Story yield, and Fable too,
Those vanquish'd Acts, which they, as Wond [...]rs tell,
Gain our B [...]lief, but lose their Miracle;
And your Deeds, make, whilst They thus stand alone,
Their ravish'd Garlands, and Their Wreaths, your Own.
After a Twenty years restless Expence
Of Treasure, Prudence, Blood, and Innocence:
The Gre [...]t Work in Our hands still prospering, we
At length atchiev'd Bondage and Inf [...]my;
A Bondage, where we did unpitied lye,
Since 'twas Our Crime, not Infelicity;
Gain'd, to the d [...]er, unvalued losses, of Th [...]se
Who to successful Guilt, vain Arms oppos'd:
Brave Souls! Who, when the Torrent [...]igh [...]st stood,
Cast your [...]el [...]es in, to stein th' Impatient [...]lood;
[Page 56]But swallow'd by the Gulph, to th' greedy wave
All, but your Conscience and your Honour, gave:
They, their Own Heav'n attaining whence they came,
Left us your Great Example, and long Name;
For though Our Crimes must in Oblivion lye,
(The Stress oth' Times) your Vertues ne'r shall die.
Thus, deep in Guilt, which its Own vengeance drew,
Suffring true ills, whilst we false Fears eschew;
Reaping the Guilt of Our ill-guided pray'r,
Which against sacred things we durst prefer,
We lay, The Conquest of those vows, and Tears,
Which Heav'n in Wrath alone, and judgment hears.
Caught thus ith' snare which Our Own Folly laid,
All Civil, and Religious Rites betraid,
As of pass'd streams, or a fled Life stoln by,
Only the Fable of Our Liberty
Remain'd; whose Worth its Loss made greater known;
As heightned Glories, by deep'st, Shades are shown.
This, after freedom Our vain Wishes led,
But not Our Hopes; they, with Our freedom, fled.
Souls in Eternal Night, may Wish for Day,
Not hope it, Hope leaves that End which has No way.
So wholly shut up, so deplor'd seem'd Ours;
Stop'd, and forbidden by devoted Powr's:
Whom the great Gain of Guilt, and greater Fear,
Heightned by Art or Conscience to Despair,
Made Sure to the Black Cause; Thus misled, They
Fell to their Chi [...]fs; We unto B [...]th, a prey.
And now Confusion pour'd in; All Our world
By vi [...]lence, and Fanatique Fury hurld:
[Page 57]The Victours quarrel, Not to make us free,
But whose Inheritance the Slaves shall be;
How to cut out, and Share the Bleeding prey,
And keep the Saints in Everlasting pay;
Whose Feaver highest beats, and does present
The Closest, Heaviest yoke of Government;
His, who, of Helots dreamt, and Gibeonites,
Placing o'r Each, the Spartan Israelites
In the select Senate; Or his, who saw
The longer vision of Oceana.
These, and what-e'r some New-Trance might reveal▪
One Heat enact, and the next Fit repeal,
From their Prodigious Lights what rais'd could be
To th' scorn of Reason and Humanity,
More horrid yet, we fear'd; more without Name,
Or Bottomless, than th' pit from whence it came.
But he, whom Seas, and the deaf winds obey,
And th' people, more enrag'd, more deaf than they,
Whose presence, the swift Checks of ill declare,
And o'r the Helpless, a Surprizing Care;
(That Dread, to Guilty Powers may still be nigh;
And Hope to th' wretched's low Calamity:)
Look'd down; And (by your Hand!) parting each wave
To Peace, and Liberty a passage gave;
Our King, to Us did; Us, unto Our King,
The Sum, and Measure of Our Blessing) bring▪
What Statue shall preserve you? Or, to your Fame
Equal, what loud Inscription bear Monke's Name?
Who, not misled b' Ambition's vain Desires,
(Those erring, and those swiftly-falling Fires)
[Page 58]But guided by those Laws firm Vertue gives,
And that Fair Honour, which by Her still lives,
Did a bless'd Order from Confusion bring,
Faithful to God, your Country, and your King.

On the City of S. purchase of the Cap of Maintenance.

THis Relique cost us 'bove three hundred pound,
Badg of Our Honour, and Discretion:
But, what did make't a saving Bargain, was,
We got the Close in, and St. Nicholas:
Now we may throw Our Cap at 'em; All's gone!
Our wit, Our money, and Dominion:
Should They requite us, 'twere much Cheaper done;
We bought the Close, but they might beg Our Town.

Strada's Nightingale In Imitation of Claudian's stile.

NOw the prone Sun stoop'd to his Western way,
From his bright hairs darting a softer Ray,
When, by cool Tibur's streams, a Lutanist
On his full mellow Lute his Cares releas'd;
From the Heat's pow'r defended by the Shade,
Which, as an Arbour form'd, the dark Holme made.
Him, in th' adjoining woods, close armes embrac'd;
A Nightingale o'rehears, the muse oth' place,
Its Siren, (harmless Siren) Who, stoln neer,
Stood listning midst the thicker Branches; Where
The sounds he strikes, She takes; and from her Breast,
Those, his swift fingers gave, her voice exprest.
The Lutanist, the emulous Notes o'reheard;
And meaning t' entertain the lovely Bird,
With swiftest touch he does each Nerve explore,
Strains, those were lax, looses th' o'restretch'd before;
Nor slower She, Coynes into thousand Notes
The melted Air through her dividing Throat.
Th' Artists skill'd hand then drawn o'r th' trembling Nerves,
Sometimes his Nail the careless plecter serves;
Which, in a bold, contemning motion thrown,
With One, smooth, Equal duct, all Chords kembs down;
[Page 61]Then Beats, and with his trembling fingers tops,
Breaks the Whole Sound into Swist parts, then stops.
She, with as many modes, his Art repaies
With Art; Now, as She had forgot her laies,
She, a plain, Single Tone, unvaried, strikes;
Then trilling, with a Second, that Note breakes;
O're Both which hov'ring, but assur'd to None,
She 'twixt two Notes, divides the floating Tone.
The Artist wonders, so exile a Throat
Should yield so various, and so sweet a Note,
Wherefore, with bolder strokes, the differing strings
By turnes he moves, whilst with a quicker Spring
The smaller Nerves do vibrate: But the Base
Their Wide excursions make, with slower pace;
Whose hoarser Notes, which with those loud Tones jar
He joynes, as when the Trumpet sounds in War.
This too the sweet Bird Sings; whose liquid Breast
Having a smart and trembling Note exprest,
She on the suddain from that Height falls down
To the low murmur of a hollow Tone,
Purling within Her Breast; Then does excite
By turnes, both tones, as sounding to a Fight.
The Lutanist, with Shame and Anger fill'd,
That th' untaught voice, Notes 'bove his Art should yield,
Or this (saies he) Thou woods wild Chorister
Shall ne'r return, Or I will break my Li [...]e!
This said, He with inimitable Straines
Urges his Lute; mounts, and descends again
Through all the Chord; beats, stings, divides, and trills,
And in the dying Close all Numbers fills:
[Page 62]Then staies, expecting what the Bird would do.
But she, although her weari'd Throat grew rough
With her late toyle, yet touch'd with the disdain
Of being vanquish'd, She unites (in vain!)
All her spent powers; For whilest the Numerous Tone
Of differing Strings, She strives to match with One,
Unequal to th' attempt, but more, to Grief,
Faints; And in a Soft Tone, breathing forth Life,
Falls on the Victours Lute; A decent Grave!
Such Aimes at Vertue, All, ev'n least Souls, have.
FINIS. [Page]

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