r

Stands but to fall reveng'd on thofe that dare
Tempt the last fury of extreme despair.

So fares the ftag, among th' enraged hounds,
Repels their force, and wounds returns for wounds.
And as a hero, whom his bafer foes

In troops furround, now these affails, now those,
Though prodigal of life, difdains to die

By common hands; but if he can defcry
Some nobler foe approach, to him he calls,
And begs his fate, and then contented falls./
So when the king a mortal shaft lets fly,
From his unerring hand, then glad, to die,
Proud of the wound, to it resigns his blood,
And ftains the crystal with a purple flood.
This a more innocent, and happy chace,
Than when of old, but in the self-fame place,
Fair liberty pursued, * and meant a prey
To lawless power, here turn'd, and stood at bay.
When in that remedy all hope was plac'd,

Which was, or should have been at least, the last.

Here was that charter feal'd, wherein the crown

All marks of arbitrary power lays down:

Tyrant and flave, those names of hate and fear,
The happier stile of king and subject bear :
Happy, when both to the fame center move,
When kings give liberty, and subjects love.
Therefore not long in force this charter ftood;
Wanting that feal, it must be seal'd in blood.

* Runny Mead.

The

The fubjects arm'd, the more their princes gave,
Th' advantage only took, the more to crave :
Till kings, by giving, give themselves away,
And even that power, that should deny, betray,
"Who gives conftrain'd, but his own fear reviles,
"Not thank'd, but fcorn'd; nor are they gifts, but spoils."
Thus kings, by grasping more than they could hold,
First made their subjects, by oppreffion, bold:
And popular fway, by forcing kings to give
More than was fit for subjects to receive,
Ran to the fame extremes; and one excefs
Made both, by striving to be greater, lefs.
When a calm river rais'd with fudden rains,
Or fnows diffolv'd, o'erflows th' adjoining plains,
The husbandmen with high-rais'd banks secure
Their greedy hopes, and this he can endure.
But if with bays and dams they strive to force
His channel to a new, or narrow course;
No longer then within his banks he dwells,
First to a torrent, then a deluge fwells :
Stronger and fiercer by restraint he roars,

And knows no bound, but makes his power his fhores.

J

THE

DESTRUCTION OF TROY.

AN ESSAY ON THE

SECOND BOOK OF VIRGIL'S NEIS.

WRITTEN IN THE YEAR 1636.

THE

ARGUMENT.

The first Book fpeaks of Æneas's voyage by fea, and how, being caft by tempeft upon the coast of Carthage, he was received by Queen Dido, who, after the feast, defires him to make the relation of the deftruction of Troy; which is the Argument of this Book.

WHILE

THILE all with filence and attention wait, Thus fpeaks Æneas from the bed of state Madam, when you command us to review

Our fate, you make our old wounds bleed anew,
And all thofe forrows to my fense restore,
Whereof none faw fo much, none fuffer'd more:
Not the most cruel of our conquering foes
So unconcern'dly can relate our woes,
As not to lend a tear; then how can I
Reprefs the horror of my thoughts, which fly

The

The fad remembrance? Now th' expiring night
And the declining stars to reft invite;

Yet fince 'tis your command, what you fo well
Are pleas'd to hear, I cannot grieve to tell.
By fate repell'd, and with repulfes tir'd,
The Greeks, fo many lives and years expir'd,
A fabrick like a moving mountain frame,
Pretending vows for their return; this fame
Divulges, then within the beast's vast womb
The choice and flower of all their troops entomb;
In view the isle of Tenedos, once high,

In fame and wealth, while Troy remain'd, doth lie, (Now but an unfecure and open bay)

Thither by stealth the Greeks their fleet convey.
We gave them gone, and to Mycenæ fail'd,
And Troy reviv'd, her mourning face unvail'd;
All through th' unguarded gates with joy refort
To fee the flighted camp, the vacant port.
Here lay Ulyffes, there Achilles; here
The battle join'd, the Grecian fleet rode there;
But the vast pile th'amazed vulgar views,
Till they their reafon in their wonder lofe.
And first Thymates moves (urg'd by the power
Of fate or fraud) to place it in the tower;
But Capys and the graver fort thought fit
The Greeks fufpected prefent to commit
To feas or flames, at least to fearch and bore
The fides, and what that space contains t' explore.
Th' uncertain multitude with both engag'd,
Divided ftands, till from the tower, enrag'd

Laocoon ran, whom all the crowd attends,
Crying, what defperate frenzy's this, (oh friends)
To think them gone? Judge rather their retreat
But a design, their gifts but a deceit;

For our deftruction 'twas contriv'd no doubt,
Or from within by fraud, or from without
By force; yet know ye not Ulyffes' fhifts?
Their fwords lefs danger carry than their gifts.
(This faid) against the horse's fide his spear
He throws, which trembles with inclofed fear,
Whilft from the hollows of his womb proceed
Groans, not his own; and had not fate decreed
Our ruin, we had fill'd with Grecian blood
The place; then Troy and Priam's throne had stood.
Meanwhile a fetter'd prifoner to the king
With joyful fhouts the Dardan fhepherds bring,
Who to betray us did himself betray,

At once the taker, and at once the prey;
Firmly prepar'd, of one event fecur'd,
Or of his death or his defign affur'd.
The Trojan youth about the captive flock,
To wonder, or to pity, or to mock.

Now hear the Grecian fraud, and from this one
Conjecture all the rest.

Difarm'd, diforder'd, casting round his eyes
On all the troops that guarded him, he cries,
What land, what fea, for me what fate attends?
Caught by my foes, condemned by my friends,
Incensed Troy a wretched captive feeks

To facrifice; a fugitive, the Greeks.

To