ODE for the NEW YEAR, 1784.
By WILLIAM WHITEHEAD, Efq, Poet Laureat.
NOUGH of arms--to happier ends
Her forward view Britannia bends.
The generous hofts who grafp'd the fword
Obedient to her awful word,
Tho' martial glory ceafe;
Shall now with equal induftry,
Like Rome's brave fons when Rome was free,
Refume the arts of peace.
O come! ye toil-worn wanderers! come!
To genial hearths, and focial home,
The tender housewife's bufy care,
The board with temperate plenty crown'd,
And fmiling progeny around,
That liften to the tale of war!
Yet be not war the favourite theme,
For what has war with blifs to do?
Teach them more justly that to deem,
And own experience taught it you;
Teach them 'tis in the will of fate,
Their frugal induftry alone
Can make their country truly great,
And in her blifs fecure their own!
Be all their fongs that foothe their toil,
And bid the brow of labour finile ;
When through the loom the thuttle glides,
Or thining share the glebe divides ;
Or, bending to the Woodman's throke,
To waft her commerce, falls the British oak!
Be all their fongs that foften the fe,
Of calm content, and future well-earn'd ease!
Nor dread, left inborn fpirit die!
One glorious leffon early taught;
Will all the boafted pow'rs fupply,
Of practis'd rules, and ftudied thought!
K 2
From the first dawn of reason's ray,
On the young bofom's yielding clay,
Strong be their country's love imprefs'd,
And let your own example fire their breaft;
Tell them 'tis their's to grafp the fword
If Britain gives the awful word;
To bleed, to die, in Britain's cause,
And guard, from faction nobly free,
Their birth-right bleffing, liberty;
True liberty that loves the laws.
ODE for his MAJESTY's Birth-Day, June 4, 1784.
By WILLIAM WHITEHEAD, Efq; Poet Laureat,
AIL to the day whofe beams, again
H Returning, claim the coral ftrain,
And bid us breathe our annual vows
To the firft pow'r that Britain knows ;
The power which, though itself restrain'd,
And fubject to that juft controul
Which many an arduous conflict gain'd,
Connects, unites, and animates the whole.
Yon radiant fun, whofe central force
Winds back each planet's vagrant course,
And through the fyftems holds imperial fway,
Bound by the fame inherent laws,
Even whilft it feeins the active cause,
Promotes the gen'ral good, as much confin'd as they.
That wond'rous plan, through ages fought,
Which elder Egypt never taught,
Nor Greece with all her letter'd lore,
Nor ftruggling Rome could e'er explore,
Though many a form of rule the try'd:
That wond'rous plan has Britain found,
Which curbs licentioufnefs and pride,
Yet leaves true liberty without a wound.
The fierce Plantagenets beheld.
It's growing ftrength, and deign'd to yield;
Th' imperious Tudors frown'd, and felt aggriev'd;
Th' unhappy race whofe faults we mourn,
Delay'd awhile it's with'd return,
Till Brunfwick perfected what Naffau had atchiev'd.
From that bright æra of renown
Aftrea walks the world again;
Her fabled form the nations own,
With all the attendant bleffings in her train.
Hark! with what gen'ral loud acclaim
They venerate the British name,
When forms of rule are in the balance weigh'd;
And pour their torrents of applause
On the fair ifle, whofe equal laws
Controul the fceptre, and protect the spade.
The triple chain, which binds them faft,
Like Homer's golden one, defcends from Jove:
Long may the facred union laft,
And the mix'd pow'r in inutual concert move,
Each temp'ring each, and lift'ning to the call
Of genuine public good, bleft fource and end of all!
Shall ftretch protecting branches round,
Extend the thelter, and forget the wound.
Two Britains thro' th' admiring world
Shall wing their way with fails unfurl'd,
Each from the other kindred state
Avert, by turns, the bolts of fate;
And acts of mutual amity endear
The Tyre and Carthage of a wider fphere.
When Rome's divided eagles flew,
And different thrones her empire knew,
The varying language foon disjoin'd
The boafted m fters of mankind.
But here no ills like thofe we fear,
No varying la guage threatens here:
Congenial worth, congenial flame,
Their manners and their arts the fame,
To the fame tongue fhall glowing themes afford,
And Brith heroes act, and British bards record.
Fly fwift ye years, ye minutes hafte,
And in the future lofe the past;
O'er many a thought-affecting tale,
Oblivion, caft thy friendly veil;
Let not memory breathe a figh,
Or backward turn th' indignant eye;
Nor the infidious arts of foes
Enlarge the breach, that longs to close ;
But acts of amity alone infpire
Firm faith aud cordial love, and wake the willing lyre.
ODE for his MAJESTY's Birth-day, June 4, 1785.
On that fair throne, to Britain dear,
With the flow'ring olive twin'd,
High fhe hangs the hero's fpear;
And there, with all the palms of peace combin'd,
Her unpolluted hands the milder trophy rear.
To Kings like thefe, her genuine theme,
The muse a blameless homage pays;
TO GEORGE, of kings like thef: supreme,
She wishes honour'd length of days,
Nor prostitutes the tribute of her lays.
'Tis his to bid neglected genius glow,
And teach the regal bounty how to flow.
His tutelary scepter's sway
The vindicated arts obey,
And hail their patron-king;
'Tis his, to judgment's fteady line Their flights fantastic to confine, And yet expand their wing:
The fleeting forms of fashion to restrain,
And bind capricious tatte in truth's eternal chain.
Sculpture, licentious now no more,
From Greece her great example takes ;
With nature's warmth the marble wakes,
And spurns the toys of modern lore:
In native beauty, fimply plann'd,
Corinth, thy tufted thafts afcend;
The graces guide the painter's hand,
His magic mimicry to blend.
While fuch the gifts his reign bestows,
Amid the proud display,
Thofe gems around the throne he throws
That shed a fofter ray :
While from the fummits of fublime renown
He wafts his favour's univerfal gale,
With those sweet flowers he binds a crown
That bloom in virtue's humble vale :
With rich munificence the nuptial tye
Unbroken he combines :-
Confpicuous in a nation's eye,
The facred pattern shines !
Fair science to reform, reward, and raise;
To spread the luftre of domestic praise;
To fofter emulation's holy flame;
To build fociety's majeftic frame;
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