"At laft the reeling monfter, drunk with gore,
"Falls at thy feet fubdued, and quells his roar ;
"Tamely to thee he bends his flaggy mane,
"And on his neck admits the long-rejected chain.
"At thy protecting court, for this bleft day,
"Attending nations their glad thanks shall pay :
"Not Belgia, and the rescued ifle alone,
"But Europe fhall her great deliverer own.
"Rome's mighty grandeur was not more confeft,
"When great Antonius travel'd through the East,
"And crouds of monarchs did each morning wait
"With early homage at his palace gate.
"Hafte then, bright prince! thy Britain's transport
"Hafte to her arms, and make her blifs complete!
"Whate'er glad news has reach'd her liftening ear
"While her long-abfent lord provokes her fear,
"Her joys are in fufpence, her pleasures unfincere.
"He comes, thy hero comes! O beauteous ifle !
"Revive thy genius with a chearful smile!
"Let thy rejoicing fons fresh palms prepare,
To grace the trophies of the finish'd war ;
"On high he hung the martial sword infheath'd, 100 "The fhield with ribbons dress'd, and spear with ivy "wreath'd!
Let speaking paint in various tablets show Paft fcenes of battle to the croud below! "Round this triumphant pile, in ruftic dance,
"The fhouting fwains shall hand in hand advance; 105
"The wealthy farmer from his toils fhall cease;
"The ploughman from the yoke his smoking steers
"release,
"And join to folemnize the festival of peace.
"No more for want of hands th' unlabour'd field, "Choak'd with rank weeds, a fickly crop fhall yield: 110 "Calm peace returns; behold her shining train! "And fruitful plenty is reftor'd again."
-The Mufes take the found, From voice to voice th' harmonious notes rebound, And echoing lyres transmit the volant fugue a
Mean while the fteady bark, with profperous gales, Fills the large fheets of her expanded fails, And gains th' intended port; thick on the strand, Like swarming bees, th' affembled Britons stand, And prefs to fee their welcome fovereign land: 120 At his approach, unruly transport reigns In every breast, and rapture fires their veins. A general fhout fucceeds, as when on high Exploded thunder rends the vaulted sky. A fhort convulfion shakes the solid shore, And rocks th' adjacent deep, unmov'd before; Loud acclamations through the valleys ring, While to Augufta's wall the croud attend their king. And now behold a finish'd temple rife,
On lofty pillars climbing to the skies!
The choir of St. Paul's was firft opened on the
day of thanksgiving for the peace.
Of bulk ftupendous, its proud pile it rears,
The gradual product of fucceffive years.
An inner gate, that folds with iron leaves,
The charm'd fpectator's entering fteps receives,
Where curious works in twisted stems are feen
Of branching foliage, vacuous between.
O'er 'this a vocal organ, mounted high
On marble columns, ftrikes the wondering eye;
And feeds at once two fenfes with delight,
Sweet to the ear, and splendid to the fight.
Marbie the floor, enrich'd with native stains
Of various dye, and streak'd with azure veins.
Ev'n emulous art with nature seems to strive,
And the carv'd figures almost breathe and live;
The painted altar, glorious to behold,
Shines with delightful blue, and dazzling gold.
Here first th' illuftrious three, of heavenly race,
Religion, Liberty, and Peace, embrace;
Here joyful crouds their pious thanks exprefs,
For Peace reftor'd, and heaven's indulgence blefs 150
Aufpicious structure! born in happy days,
Whofe first employment is the noblest, praise !
So, when by juft degrees th' eternal Thought
His fix days labour to perfection brought,
With laws of motion first endued the whole,
And bade the heavens in deftin'd circles roll,
The polish'd spheres commenc'd their harmony;
All nature in a chorus did agree,
And the world's birth-day was a jubilee.
THE COURT OF NEPTUNE. ON KING WILLIAM'S RETURN FROM HOLLAND, 1699.
ADDRESSED TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
CHARLES MONTAGUE, ESQ.
EGIN, celeftial Mufe! a tuneful train
Of Albion's prince conducted o'er the main ;
Of courts conceal'd in waves, and Neptune's watery
Sing, from beneath, how the green deity
Rose to the fovereign of the British sea;
To power confefs'd, the triple mace refign'd,
O`er-rul'd the floods, and charg'd the rebel wind;
Secur'd his paffage homeward, and restor'd,
Safe to the lovelieft ifle, the best lov'd lord.
The generous name of MONTAGUE has long
Been fam'd in verfe, and grac'd the poet's fong;
In verfe, himself can hippy wonders do,
The belt of patrons, and of poets too.
Amid the skillful choir that court his ear,
If he vouchfafe thefe ruder lays to hear,
His bright example, while to him I fing,
Shall raife my feeble flight, and mount me on the wing.
On Albion's Eastern coast, an * ancient town
O'erlooks the fea, to mariners well known;
Where the fwift + Stourus ends his fnaky train,
And pays his watery tribute to the main :
†The River Stoure,that runs between Suffolk and Effex.
Stourus, whofe ftream, prolific as it glides,
Two fertile counties in its courfe divides,
And rolls to feaward with a lover's pace:
There beauteous Orwell meets his fond embrace; 25
They mix their amorous ftreams, the briny tide
Receives them join'd; their crooked thores provide
A fpacious bay within, for anchor'd ships to ride.
Here, on the margin of the rolling flood,
Divinely fair, like fea-born Venus, ftood
Britannia's genius, in a robe array'd
Of broider'd arms, and heraldry display'd :
A crown of cities charg'd her graceful brows;
In waving curls her hair luxuriant flows;
Celeftial glories in her eyes are seen ;
Her ftature tall, majestic is her mien.
With fuch a pr.fence, through th' adoring skies
Shines the great parent of the deities;
Such towery honours on her temples rife,
When, drawn by lions, fhe proceeds in state;
Trains of attendant-gods around her chariot wait;
The mother-goddess, with superior grace,
Surveys, and numbers o'er her bright immortal race.
While thus the lovely Genius hovers o'er
The water's brink, and from the fandy fhore
Beholds th' alternate billows fall and rife
(By turns they fink below, by turns they mount the fkies):
"Then paus'd, and drew à figh of anxious love; "Muft my dear lord this faithlefs ocean prove ;
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