by John Dryden
His tribe were God-almighties Gentlemen. 645
Sunk were his Eyes, his Voice was harsh and loud,
Sure signs he neither Cholerick was, nor Proud:
His long Chin prov’d his Wit; his Saint-like Grace
A Church Vermilion, and a Moses’s Face.
His Memory, miraculously great, 650
Coud Plots, exceeding mans belief, repeat;
Which, therefore cannot be accounted Lies,
For humane Wit coud never such devise.
Some future Truths are mingled in his Book;
But where the Witness fail’d, the Prophet spoke: 655
Some things like Visionary flights appear;
The Spirit caught him up, the Lord knows where:
And gave him his Rabinical degree,
Unknown to Foreign University.
His Judgment yet his Mem’ry did excel, 660
Which piec’d his wondrous Evidence so well:
And suited to the temper of the Times;
Then groaning under Jebusitick Crimes.
Let Israels foes suspect his Heav’nly call,
And rashly judge his Writ Apocryphal; 665
Our Laws for such affronts have Forfeits made:
He takes his Life, who takes away his Trade.
Were I myself in Witness Corah’s place,
The Wretch who did me such a dire disgrace
Should whet my memory, though once forgot, 670
To make him an Appendix of my Plot.
His Zeal to Heav’n, made him his Prince despise,
And load his Person with indignities:
But Zeal peculiar priviledge affords,
Indulging latitude to deeds and words: 675
And Corah might for Agag’s murther call,
In terms as course as Samuel us’d to Saul.
What others in his Evidence did join,
(The best that coud be had for love or coin,)
In Corah’s own predicament will fall. 680
For Witness is a Common Name to all.
Surrounded thus with Friends of every sort,
Deluded Absalom forsakes the Court:
Impatient of high hopes, urg’d with renown,
And Fir’d with near possession of a Crown. 685
The admiring Croud are dazled with surprize
And on his goodly person feed their eyes:
His joy conceal’d, he sets himself to show;
On each side bowing popularly low:
His looks, his gestures, and his words he frames 690
And with familiar ease repeats their Names.
Thus, form’d by Nature, furnished out with Arts,
He glides unfelt into their secret hearts:
Then with a kind compassionating look,
And sighs, bespeaking pity e’r he spoke, 695
Few words he said, but easie those and fit,
More slow than Hybla drops, and far more sweet.
I mourn, my Country-men, your lost Estate,
Though far unable to prevent your Fate:
Behold a Banish’d man, for your dear cause 700
Expos’d a prey to Arbitrary Laws!
Yet oh! that I alone coud be undone,
Cut off from Empire, and no more a Son!
Now all your Liberties a spoil are made;
Egypt and Tyrus intercept your Trade, 705
And Jebusites your Sacred Rites invade.
My Father, whom with reverence yet I name,
Charm’d into Ease, is careless of his Fame:
And, brib’d with petty sums of Foreign Gold,
Is grown in Bathsheba’s Embraces old: 710
Exalts his Enemies, his Friends destroys,
And all his pow’r against himself imploys.
He gives, and let him give my right away;
But why should he his own and yours betray?
He onely, he can make the Nation bleed, 715
And he alone from my revenge is freed.
Take then my tears (with that he wiped his Eyes)
’Tis all the Aid my present pow’r supplies:
No Court-Informer can these Arms accuse;
These Arms may Sons against their Fathers use; 720
And, ’tis my wish, the next Successor’s reign
May make no other Israelite complain.
Youth, Beauty, Graceful Action seldom fail:
But Common Interest always will prevail:
And pity never Ceases to be shown 725
To him, who makes the Peoples wrongs his own.
The Croud, (that still believe their Kings oppress,)
With lifted hands their young Messiah bless:
Who now begins his Progress to ordain
With Chariots, Horsemen, and a num’rous train; 730
From East to West his Glories he displays:
And, like the Sun, the Promis’d Land surveys.
Fame runs before him as the Morning-Star,
And shouts of Joy salute him from afar:
Each house receives him as a Guardian God; 735
And Consecrates the Place of his abode:
But hospitable Treats did most commend
Wise Issachar, his wealthy Western Friend.
This moving Court that caught the Peoples Eyes,
And seem’d but Pomp, did other Ends disguise: 740
Achitophel had form’d it, with intent
To sound the depths, and fathom where it went,
The Peoples hearts distinguish Friends from Foes;
And trie their strength before they came to Blows.
Yet all was colour’d with a smooth pretence 745
Of specious love, and duty to their Prince.
Religion, and Redress of Grievances,
Two names, that always cheat and always please,
Are often urg’d; and good King David’s life
Endanger’d by a Brother and a Wife. 750
Thus, in a Pageant Shew, a Plot is made;
And Peace it self is War in Masquerade.
Oh foolish Israel! never warn’d by Ill:
Still the same Bait, and circumvented still!
Did ever men forsake their present ease, 755
In midst of health imagine a Disease;
Take pains Contingent mischiefs to foresee,
Make Heirs for Monarchs, and for God decree?
What shall we think! Can People give away
Both for themselves and Sons their Native sway? 760
Then they are left Defenceless, to the Sword
Of each unbounded, Arbitrary Lord:
And Laws are vain, by which we Right enjoy,
If Kings unquestion’d can those Laws destroy.
Yet if the Croud be Judge of Fit and Just, 765
And Kings are onely Officers in Trust,
Then this resuming Cov’nant was declar’d
When Kings were made, or is for ever bar’d:
If those who gave the Scepter, coud not tie
By their own Deed their own Posterity, 770
How then coud Adam bind his future Race?
How coud his Forfeit on Mankind take place?
Or how coud heavenly Justice damn us all
Who ne’r consented to our Fathers Fall?
Then Kings are Slaves to those whom they command, 775
And Tenants to their Peoples pleasure stand.
Add that the Pow’r, for Property allow’d,
Is mischievously seated in the Croud;
For who can be secure of private Right,
If Sovereign Sway may be dissolv’d by Might? 780
Nor is the Peoples Judgment always true:
The Most may err as grosly as the Few.
And faultless Kings run down, by Common Cry,
For Vice, Oppression, and for Tyranny.
What Standard is there in a fickle rout, 785
Which, flowing to the Mark, runs faster out?
Nor onely crouds, but Sanhedrins may be
Infected with
this publick Lunacy:
And Share the madness of Rebellious Times,
To Murther Monarchs for Imagin’d crimes. 790
If they may Give and Take when e’r they please,
Not Kings alone, (the Godheads Images,)
But Government it self at length must fall
To Natures state, where all have Right to all.
Yet, grant our Lords the People, Kings can make, 795
What prudent men a setled Throne woud shake?
For whatsoe’r their Sufferings were before,
That Change they Covet makes them suffer more.
All other Errors but disturb a State;
But Innovation is the Blow of Fate. 800
If ancient Fabricks nod, and threat to fall,
To Patch the Flaws, and Buttress up the Wall,
Thus far ’tis Duty; but here fix the Mark:
For all beyond it is to touch our Ark.
To change Foundations, cast the Frame anew, 805
Is work for Rebels who base Ends pursue:
At once Divine and Humane Laws controul,
And mend the Parts by ruine of the Whole.
The tamp’ring World is subject to this Curse,
To Physick their Disease into a Worse. 810
Now what Relief can Righteous David bring?
How Fatal ’tis to be too good a King!
Friends he has few, so high the madness grows;
Who dare be such, must be the People’s Foes:
Yet some there were ev’n in the worst of days; 815
Some let me name, and Naming is to praise.
In this short File Barzillai first appears;
Barzillai crown’d with Honour and with Years:
Long since, the rising Rebels he withstood
In Regions Waste, beyond the Jordans Flood: 820
Unfortunately Brave to buoy the State;
But sinking underneath his Master’s Fate:
In Exile with his God-like Prince he Mourn’d,
For him he Suffer’d, and with him Return’d.
The Court he practis’d, not the Courtier’s Art: 825
Large was his Wealth, but larger was his Heart:
Which, well the Noblest Objects knew to chuse,
The Fighting Warriour, and Recording Muse.
His Bed coud once a Fruitful Issue boast:
Now more than half a Father’s Name is lost. 830
His Eldest Hope, with every Grace adorn’d,
By me (so Heav’n will have it) always Mourn’d
And always honour’d, snatch’d in manhoods prime
B’ unequal Fates and Providences crime:
Yet not before the Goal of Honour won, 835
All Parts fulfill’d of Subject and of Son;
Swift was the Race, but short the Time to run.
Oh Narrow Circle, but of Pow’r Divine,
Scanted in Space, but perfect in thy Line!
By Sea, by Land, thy Matchless Worth was known; 840
Arms thy Delight, and War was all thy Own:
Thy force, Infus’d, the fainting Tyrians prop’d;
And haughty Pharaoh found his Fortune stop’d.
Oh Ancient Honour, Oh unconquered Hand,
Whom Foes unpunish’d never coud withstand! 845
But Israel was unworthy of thy Name:
Short is the date of all Immoderate Fame.
It looks as Heav’n our Ruine had design’d,
And durst not trust thy Fortune and thy Mind.
Now, free from Earth, thy disencumbred Soul 850
Mounts up, and leaves behind the Clouds and Starry Pole:
From thence thy kindred Legions maist thou bring,
To aid the Guardian Angel of thy King.
Here stop my Muse, here cease thy painful flight;
No pinions can pursue Immortal height: 855
Tell good Barzillai thou canst sing no more,
And tell thy Soul she should have fled before;
Or fled she with his life, and left this Verse
To hang on her departed Patron’s Herse?
Now take thy steepy flight from Heav’n, and see 860
If thou canst find on Earth another He;
Another he would be too hard to find;
See then whom thou canst see not far behind.
Zadock the priest, whom, shunning Pow’r and Place,
His lowly mind advanc’d to David’s Grace: 865
With him the Sagan of Jerusalem,
Of hospitable Soul and noble Stem;
Him of the Western dome, whose weighty sense
Flows in fit words and heavenly eloquence.
The Prophets Sons, by such Example led, 870
To Learning and to Loyalty were bred:
For Colleges on bounteous Kings depend,
And never Rebel was to Arts a Friend.
To these succeed the Pillars of the Laws,
Who best coud plead, and best can judge a Cause. 875
Next them a train of Loyal Peers ascend:
Sharp judging Adriel, the Muses Friend,
Himself a Muse: — In Sanhedrins debate
True to his Prince, but not a Slave of State.
Whom David’s love with Honours did adorn, 880
That from his disobedient Son were torn.
Jotham of piercing Wit and pregnant Thought,
Endew’d by nature and by learning taught
To move Assemblies, who but onely tri’d
The worse a while, then chose the better side; 885
Nor chose alone, but turned the Balance too;
So much the weight of one brave man can do.
Hushai the friend of David in distress,
In publick storms of manly stedfastness;
By Foreign Treaties he inform’d his Youth; 890
And join’d Experience to his Native Truth.
His frugal care suppli’d the wanting Throne;
Frugal for that, but bounteous of his own:
’Tis easie Conduct when Exchequers flow;
But hard the task to manage well the low: 895
For Sovereign Power is too deprest or high,
When Kings are forced to sell, or Crouds to buy.
Indulge one labour more, my weary Muse,
For Amiel; who can Amiel’s praise refuse?
Of ancient race by birth, but nobler yet 900
In his own worth, and without Title great:
The Sanhedrin long time as Chief he rul’d,
Their Reason guided, and their Passion cool d:
So dextrous was he in the Crown’s defence,
So form’d to speak a Loyal Nations Sense, 905
That, as their Band was Israels Tribes in small,
So fit was he to represent them all.
Now rasher Charioteers the Seat ascend,
Whose loose Carriers his steady Skill commend:
They, like th’ unequal Ruler of the Day, 910
Misguide the Seasons, and mistake the Way;
While he withdrawn at their mad Labour smiles
And safe enjoys the Sabbath of his Toils.
These were the chief; a small but faithful Band
Of Worthies in the Breach who dar’d to stand 915
And tempt th’ united Fury of the Land.
With grief they view’d such powerful Engines bent
To batter down the lawful Government.
A numerous Faction with pretended frights,
In Sanhedrins to plume the Regal Rights. 920
The true Successor from the Court removed:
The plot, by hireling Witnesses improv’d.
These Ills they saw, and, as their Duty bound,
They shew’d the King the danger of the Wound:
That no Concessions from the Throne woud please; 925
But Lenitives fomented the Disease;
That Absalom, ambitious of the Crown,
Was made the Lure to draw the People down:
That false Achitophel’s
pernitious Hate
Had turn’d the Plot to ruine Church and State; 930
The Council violent, the Rabble worse:
That Shimei taught Jerusalem to Curse.
With all these loads of Injuries opprest,
And long revolving in his careful Brest
Th’ event of things; at last his patience tir’d, 935
Thus from his Royal Throne, by Heav’n inspir’d,
The God-like David spoke; with awful fear
His Train their Maker in their Master hear.
Thus long have I by Native Mercy sway’d,
My Wrongs dissembl’d, my Revenge delay’d; 940
So willing to forgive th’ Offending Age;
So much the Father did the King asswage.
But now so far my Clemency they slight,
Th’ Offenders question my Forgiving Right.
That one was made for many, they contend; 945
But ’tis to Rule, for that’s a Monarch’s End.
They call my tenderness of Blood, my Fear,
Though Manly tempers can the longest bear.
Yet since they will divert my Native course,
’Tis time to show I am not Good by Force. 950
Those heap’d Affronts that haughty Subjects bring,
Are burdens for a Camel, not a King:
Kings are the publick Pillars of the State,
Born to sustain and prop the Nations weight:
If my young Sampson will pretend a Call 955
To shake the Column, let him share the Fall:
But oh that yet he woud repent and live!
How easie ’tis for Parents to forgive!
With how few Tears a Pardon might be won
From Nature, pleading for a Darling Son! 960
Poor pitied youth, by my Paternal care,
Rais’d up to all the Height his Frame coud bear:
Had God ordain’d his Fate for Empire born,
He woud have giv’n his Soul another turn:
Gull’d with a Patriot’s name, whose Modern sense 965
Is one that woud by Law supplant his Prince:
The Peoples Brave, the Politicians Tool;
Never was Patriot yet, but was a Fool.
Whence comes it that Religion and the Laws
Should more be Absalom’s than David’s Cause? 970
His old Instructor, e’r he lost his Place,
Was never thought indu’d with so much Grace.
Good heav’ns, how Faction can a Patriot Paint!
My Rebel ever proves my Peoples Saint:
Woud They impose an Heir upon the Throne? 975
Let Sanhedrins be taught to give their Own.
A king’s at least a part of Government;
And mine as requisite as their Consent:
Without my leave a future King to choose,
Infers a Right the present to Depose: 980
True, they petition me t’ approve their Choice:
