John Dryden - Delphi Poets Series

by John Dryden

  6

  What peace can be, where both to one pretend?

  (But they more diligent, and we more strong)

  Or if a peace, it soon must have an end;

  For they would grow too pow’rful were it long.

  7

  Behold two nations then, ingag’d so far, 25

  That each seven years the Fit must shake each Land;

  Where France will side to weaken us by War,

  Who only can his vast Designs withstand.

  8

  See how he feeds th’ Iberian with delays,

  To render us his timely Friendship vain; 30

  And, while his secret soul on Flanders preys,

  He rocks the Cradle of the babe of Spain.

  9

  Such deep designs of Empire does he lay

  O’re them, whose Cause he seems to take in hand:

  And, prudently would make them Lords at Sea, 35

  To whom with ease he can give Laws by Land.

  10

  This saw our King; and long within his breast

  His pensive counsels ballanc’d too and fro;

  He griev’d the Land he freed should be oppress’d,

  And he less for it than Usurpers do. 40

  11

  His gen’rous mind the fair Ideas drew

  Of Fame and Honor, which in dangers lay;

  Where wealth, like Fruit on precipices, grew,

  Not to be gather’d but by Birds of prey.

  12

  The Loss and Gain each fatally were great; 45

  And still his Subjects call’d aloud for War:

  But peaceful Kings, o’re martial people set,

  Each other’s poize and counter-ballance are.

  13

  He, first, survey’d the Charge with careful eyes,

  Which none but mighty Monarchs could maintain; 50

  Yet judg’d, like vapours that from Limbecks rise,

  It would in richer showers descend again.

  14

  At length resolv’d t’ assert the watry Ball,

  He in himself did whole Armado’s bring:

  Him aged Sea-men might their Master call, 55

  And choose for General were he not their King.

  15

  It seems as every Ship their Sovereign knows,

  His awful Summons they so soon obey;

  So hear the skaly herd when Proteus blows,

  And so to Pasture follow through the Sea. 60

  16

  To see this Fleet upon the Ocean move,

  Angels drew wide the Curtains of the Skies:

  And Heav’n, as if there wanted Lights above,

  For Tapers made two glaring Comets rise.

  17

  Whether they unctuous Exhalations are, 65

  Fir’d by the Sun, or seeming so alone;

  Or each some more remote and slippery Star,

  Which loses footing when to Mortals shown.

  18

  Or one that bright companion of the Sun,

  Whose glorious aspect seal’d our new-born King; 70

  And now, a round of greater years begun,

  New influence from his walks of light did bring.

  19

  Victorious York did first, with fam’d success,

  To his known valour make the Dutch give place:

  Thus Heav’n our Monarch’s fortune did confess, 75

  Beginning conquest from his Royal Race.

  20

  But since it was decreed, Auspicious King,

  In Britains right that thou shouldst wed the Main,

  Heav’n, as a gage, would cast some precious thing,

  And therefore doom’d that Lawson should be slain. 80

  21

  Lawson amongst the formost met his fate,

  Whom Sea-green Syrens from the Rocks lament:

  Thus as an off’ring for the Grecian state,

  He first was kill’d who first to Battel went.

  22

  Their Chief blown up in air, not waves expir’d, 85

  To which his pride presum’d to give the Law;

  The Dutch confess’d Heav’n present, and retir’d,

  And all was Britain the wide Ocean saw.

  23

  To nearest Ports their shatter’d Ships repair,

  Where by our dreadful Canon they lay aw’d: 90

  So reverently Men quit the open air,

  When Thunder speaks the angry Gods abroad.

  24

  And now approach’d their Fleet from India, fraught

  With all the riches of the rising Sun:

  And precious Sand from Southern Climates brought, 95

  (The fatal Regions where the War begun.)

  25

  Like hunted Castors, conscious of their Stor

  Their way-laid wealth to Norways coast they bring:

  There first the North’s cold bosome spice bore,

  And Winter brooded on the Eastern Spring 100

  26

  By the rich scent we found our perfum’d Prey,

  Which flanck’d with Rocks, did close in covert lie;

  And round about their murdering Canon lay,

  At once to threaten and invite the Eye.

  27

  Fiercer than Canon, and than Rocks more hard, 105

  The English undertake th’ unequal War:

  Seven Ships alone, by which the Port is barr’d,

  Besiege the Indies, and all Denmark dare.

  28

  These fight like Husbands, but like Lovers those:

  These fain would keep, and those more fain enjoy: 110

  And to such height their frantick Passion grows,

  That what both love, both hazard to destroy.

  29

  Amidst whole heaps of Spices lights a Ball,

  And now their Odours arm’d against them flie:

  Some preciously by shatter’d Porc’lain fall, 115

  And some by Aromatick Splinters die.

  30

  And though by Tempests of the Prize bereft,

  In Heavens inclemency some ease we find;

  Our foes we vanquish’d by our valour left,

  And only yielded to the Seas and Wind. 120

  31

  Nor wholly lost we so deserv’d a prey;

  For storms, repenting, part of it restor’d:

  Which, as a tribute from the Baltick Sea,

  The British Ocean sent her mighty Lord.

  32

  Go, Mortals, now, and vex yourselves in vain 125

  For Wealth, which so uncertainly must come:

  When what was brought so far, and with such pain

  Was onely kept to lose it nearer home.

  33

  The Son, who twice three months on th’ Ocean tost,

  Prepar’d to tell what he had pass’d before, 130

  Now sees in English Ships the Holland coast,

  And parents Arms, in vain, stretcht from the shore.

  34

  This careful Husband had been long away,

  Whom his chaste Wife and little Children mourn;

  Who on their fingers learn’d to tell the day 135

  On which their Father promis’d to return.

  35

  Such are the proud Designs of human kind,

  And so we suffer Shipwrack every where!

  Alas! what port can such a Pilot find,

  Who in the night of Fate must blindly steer. 140

  36

  The undistinguish’d Seeds of Good and Ill,

  Heaven, in his bosom, from our knowledge hides;

  And draws them in contempt of human skill,

  Which oft, for friends, mistaken foes provides.

  37

  Let Munsters Prelate ever be accurst, 145

  In whom we seek the German Faith in vain:

  Alas, that he should teach the English first,

  That Fraud and Avarice in the Church could reign!

&nb
sp; 38

  Happy who never trust a Strangers will,

  Whose Friendship’s in his Interest understood! 150

  Since Money giv’n but tempts him to be ill,

  When pow’r is too remote to make him good.

  39

  Till now, alone the Mighty Nations strove;

  The rest, at gaze, without the Lists did stand:

  And threatning France, place’d like a painted Jove, 155

  Kept idle Thunder in his lifted hand.

  40

  That Eunuch Guardian of rich Hollands trade,

  Who envies us what he wants pow’r t’ enjoy;

  Whose noiseful valour does no Foe invade,

  And weak assistance will his Friends destroy. 160

  41

  Offended that we fought without his leave,

  He takes this time his secret Hate to show:

  Which Charles does with a mind so calm receive,

  As one that neither seeks, nor shuns his Foe.

  42

  With France, to aid the Dutch, the Danes unite, 165

  France as their Tyrant, Denmark as their slave.

  But when with one three Nations join to fight,

  They silently confess that one more brave.

  43

  Lewis had chas’d the English from his shore;

  But Charles the French as Subjects does invite: 170

  Would Heav’n for each some Solomon restore,

  Who, by their mercy, may decide their right:

  44

  Were Subjects so but only by their choice,

  And not from Birth did forc’d Dominion take,

  Our Prince alone would have the publique voice; 175

  And all his Neighbours Realms would desarts make.

  45

  He without fear a dangerous War pursues,

  Which without rashness he began before.

  As Honour made him first the danger choose,

  So still he makes it good on virtues score. 180

  45

  46The doubled charge his Subjects love supplies,

  Who, in that bounty, to themselves are kind:

  So glad Egyptians see their Nilus rise,

  And in his plenty their abundance find.

  47

  With equal pow’r he does two Chiefs create, 185

  Two such, as each seem’d worthiest when alone;

  Each able to sustain a Nations fate,

  Since both had found a greater in their own.

  48

  Both great in Courage, Conduct and in Fame,

  Yet neither envious of the other’s Praise; 190

  Their Duty, Faith, and Int’rest too the same,

  Like mighty Partners equally they raise.

  49

  The Prince long time had courted Fortune’s love,

  But once possess’d did absolutely reign;

  Thus with their Amazons the Heroes strove, 195

  And conquer’d first those Beauties they would gain.

  50

  The Duke beheld, like Scipio, with disdain,

  That Carthage which he ruin’d, rise once more;

  And shook aloft the Fasces of the Main,

  To fright those Slaves with what they felt before. 200

  51

  Together to the watry Camp they haste,

  Whom Matrons passing to their children shew:

  Infants first vows for them to Heav’n are cast,

  And future people bless them as they go.

  52

  With them no riotous pomp, nor Asian train, 205

  T’ infect a Navy with their gaudy fears:

  To make slow fights, and victories but vain;

  But war, severely, like it self, appears.

  53

  Diffusive of themselves, where e’re they pass,

  They make that warmth in others they expect; 210

  Their Valour works like Bodies on a glass,

  And does its Image on their men project.

  54

  Our Fleet divides, and straight the Dutch appear,

  In number, and a fam’d Commander, bold:

  The Narrow Seas can scarce their Navy bear 215

  Or crowded Vessels can their Soldiers hold.

  55

  The Duke, less numerous, but in Courage more,

  On wings of all the winds to Combat flies;

  His murdering Guns a loud Defiance roar,

  And bloody Crosses on his Flag-staffs rise. 220

  56

  Both furl their Sails, and strip them for the Fight,

  Their folded Sheets dismiss the useless Air:

  Th’ Elean plains could boast no nobler sight,

  When struggling Champions did their Bodies bare.

  57

  Born each by other in a distant Line, 225

  The Sea-built Forts in dreadful order move:

  So vast the noise, as if not Fleets did join,

  But lands unfixt, and floating Nations strove.

  58

  Now pass’d, on either side they nimbly tack,

  Both strive to intercept and guide the wind: 230

  And, in its eye, more closely they come back,

  To finish all the Deaths they left behind.

  59

  On high-rais’d Decks the haughty Belgians ride,

  Beneath whose shade our humble Frigats go:

  Such port the Elephant bears, and so defi’d 235

  By the Rhinocero’s her unequal foe.

  60

  And as the Built, so different is the Fight;

  Their mounting Shot is on our Sails design’d:

  Deep in their Hulls our deadly Bullets light,

  And through the yielding Planks a passage find. 240

  61

  Our dreaded Admiral from far they threat,

  Whose batter’d Rigging their whole war receives;

  All bare, like some old Oak which Tempests beat,

  He stands, and sees below his scatter’d leaves.

  62

  Heroes of old, when wounded, Shelter sought; 245

  But he, who meets all Danger with disdain,

  Ev’n in their Face his Ship to Anchor brought,

  And Steeple-high stood propt upon the Main.

  63

  At this excess of Courage all amaz’d,

  The foremost of his Foes a while withdraw: 250

  With such respect in enter’d Rome they gaz’d,

  Who on high Chairs the God-like Fathers saw.

  64

  And now, as where Patroclus Body lay,

  Here Trojan Chiefs advanc’d, and there the Greek:

  Ours o’re the Duke their pious wings display, 255

  And theirs the noblest Spoils of Britain seek.

  65

  Mean time his busie Mariners he hasts,

  His shatter’d Sails with Rigging to restore,

  And willing Pines ascend his broken Masts,

  Whose lofty heads rise higher than before. 260

  66

  Streight to the Dutch he turns his dreadful Prow,

  More fierce th’ important Quarrel to decide:

  Like Swans, in long array his vessels shew,

  Whose creasts, advancing, do the waves divide.

  67

  They charge, recharge, and all along the Sea 265

  They drive, and squander the huge Belgian Fleet;

  Berkley alone, who nearest Danger lay,

  Did a like Fate with lost Creusa meet.

  68

  The night comes on, we eager to persue

  The Combat still, and they asham’d to leave: 270

  Till the last streaks of dying day withdrew,

  And doubtful Moon-light did our rage deceive.

  69

  In th’ English fleet each Ship resounds with Joy,

  And loud applause of their great Leader’s Fame:

  In fiery dreams the Dutch they still destroy, 275

  And slumbring, smile at the i
magin’d Flame.

  70

  Not so the Holland fleet, who tired and done,

  Stretch’d on their Decks like weary Oxen lie:

  Faint Sweats all down their mighty Members run;

  (Vast bulks which little Souls but ill supply.) 280

  71

  In Dreams they fearful Precipices tread:

  Or, shipwrack’d, labour to some distant shore;

  Or in dark Churches walk among the Dead;

  They wake with horror and dare sleep no more.

  72

  The Morn they look on with unwilling eyes, 285

  Till from their Main-top joyful news they hear

  Of Ships, which by their mould bring new Supplies,

  And in their colours Belgian Lions bear.

  73

  Our watchful General had discern’d from far

  This mighty succour, which made glad the Foe: 290

  He sigh’d, but, like a Father of the War,

  His face spake hope, while deep his Sorrows flow.

  74

  His wounded men he first sends off to shore,

  (Never, till now, unwilling to obey.)

  They, not their wounds but want of Strength deplore, 295

  And think them happy who with him can stay.

  75

  Then to the rest, Rejoyce (said he) to-day;

  In you the fortune of Great Britain lies:

  Among so brave a people, you are they

  Whom Heav’n has chose to fight for such a Prize. 300

  76

  If number English courages could quell,

  We should at first have shun’d, not met our Foes:

  Whose numerous Sails the fearful only tell;

  Courage from hearts, and not from numbers, grows.

  77

  He said; nor needed more to say: with hast 305

  To their known Stations chearfully they go;

  And all at once, disdaining to be last,

  Solicite every Gale to meet the Foe.

  78

  Nor did th’ incourag’d Belgians long delay,

  But, bold in others, not themselves, they stood: 310

  So thick, our Navy scarce could sheer their way,

  But seem’d to wander in a moving wood

  79

  Our little Fleet was now ingag’d so far,

  That, like the Sword-fish in the Whale, they fought.

  The Combat only seem’d a Civil War, 315

  Till through their Bowels we our Passage wrought.

  80

  Never had Valour, no not ours, before,

  Done ought like this upon the Land or Main:

  Where not to be o’rcome was to do more

  Than all the Conquests former Kings did gain. 320

  81

  The mighty ghosts of our great Harries rose,

  And armed Edwards look’d with anxious eyes,

  To see this Fleet among unequal Foes,

  By which fate promis’d them their Charles should rise.

  82

  Mean time the Belgians tack upon our Reer, 325

  And raking Chase-guns through our Sterns they send;