The Poetical Works of Edward Young Part 33

And dart through sorrow, danger, death, A beam of joy divine!

The void of joy (with some concern The truth severe I tell) Is an impenitent in guilt, A fool or infidel!

Weigh this, ye pupils of Voltaire!

From joyless murmur free; Or, let us know, which character Shall crown you of the three.

Resign, resign: this lesson none Too deeply can instill; A crown has been resign'd by more, Than have resign'd the will;

Though will resign'd the meanest makes Superior in renown, And richer in celestial eyes, Than he who wears a crown;

Hence, in the bosom cold of age, It kindled a strange aim To s.h.i.+ne in song; and bid me boast The grandeur of my theme:

But oh! how far presumption falls Its lofty theme below!

Our thoughts in life's December freeze, And numbers cease to flow.

First! greatest! best! grant what I wrote For others, ne'er may rise To brand the writer! thou alone Canst make our wisdom wise;

And how unwise! how deep in guilt!

How infamous the fault!

"A teacher thron'd in pomp of words, Indeed, beneath the taught!"

Means most infallible to make The world an infidel; And, with instructions most divine, To pave a path to h.e.l.l;

O! for a clean and ardent heart, O! for a soul on fire, Thy praise, begun on earth, to sound Where angels string the lyre;

How cold is man! to him how hard (Hard, what most easy seems) "To set a just esteem on that, Which yet he-most esteems!"

What shall we say, when boundless bliss Is offer'd to mankind, And to that offer when a race Of rationals is blind?

Of human nature ne'er too high Are our ideas wrought; Of human merit ne'er too low Depress'd the daring thought.

ON THE LATE QUEEN'S DEATH, AND HIS MAJESTY'S ACCESSION TO THE THRONE

Inscribed to Joseph Addison, Esq. Secretary to Their Excellencies the Lords Justices.

Gaudia curis.

-HOR.

Sir, I have long, and with impatience, sought To ease the fulness of my grateful thought, My fame at once, and duty to pursue, And please the public, by respect to you.

Though you, long since beyond Britannia known, Have spread your country's glory with your own; To me you never did more lovely s.h.i.+ne, Than when so late the kindled wrath divine Quench'd our ambition, in great Anna's fate, And darken'd all the pomp of human state.

Though you are rich in fame, and fame decay, Though rais'd in life, and greatness fade away, Your l.u.s.tre brightens: virtue cuts the gloom With purer rays, and sparkles near a tomb.

Know, sir, the great esteem and honour due, I chose that moment to profess to you, When sadness reign'd, when fortune, so severe, Had warm'd our bosoms to be most sincere.

And when no motives could have force to raise A serious value, and provoke my praise, But such as rise above, and far transcend, Whatever glories with this world shall end, Then s.h.i.+ning forth, when deepest shades shall blot The sun's bright orb, and Cato be forgot.

I sing-but ah! my theme I need not tell, See every eye with conscious sorrow swell: Who now to verse would raise his humble voice, Can only show his duty, not his choice.

How great the weight of grief our hearts sustain!

We languish, and to speak is to complain.

Let us look back, (for who too oft can view That most ill.u.s.trious scene, for ever new!) See all the seasons s.h.i.+ne on Anna's throne, And pay a constant tribute, not their own.

Her summer's heats nor fruits alone bestow, They reap the harvest, and subdue the foe; And when black storms confess the distant sun, Her winters wear the wreaths her summers won.

Revolving pleasures in their turns appear, And triumphs are the product of the year.

To crown the whole, great joys in greater cease, And glorious victory is lost in peace.

Whence this profusion on our favour'd isle?

Did partial fortune on our virtue smile?

Or did the sceptre, in great Anna's hand, Stretch forth this rich indulgence o'er our land?

Ungrateful Britain! quit thy groundless claim, Thy queen and thy good fortune are the same.

Hear, with alarms our trumpets fill the sky; 'Tis Anna reigns! the Gallic squadrons fly.

We spread our canva.s.s to the southern sh.o.r.e; 'Tis Anna reigns! the south resigns her store.

Her virtue smooths the tumult of the main, And swells the field with mountains of the slain Argyll and Churchill but the glory share, While millions lie subdu'd by Anna's prayer.

How great her zeal! how fervent her desire!

How did her soul in holy warmth expire!

Constant devotion did her time divide, Not set returns of pleasure or of pride.

Not want of rest, or the sun's parting ray, But finish'd duty, limited the day.

How sweet succeeding sleep! what lovely themes Smil'd in her thoughts, and soften'd all her dreams!

Her royal couch descending angels spread, And join'd their wings a shelter o'er her head.

Though Europe's wealth and glory claim'd a part, Religion's cause reign'd mistress of her heart: She saw, and griev'd to see, the mean estate Of those who round the hallow'd altar wait; She shed her bounty, piously profuse, And thought it more her own in sacred use.

Thus on his furrow see the tiller stand, And fill with genial seed his lavish hand; He trusts the kindness of the fruitful plain, And providently scatters all his grain.

What strikes my sight? does proud Augusta rise New to behold, and awfully surprise!

Her lofty brow more numerous turrets crown, And sacred domes on palaces look down: A n.o.ble pride of piety is shown, And temples cast a l.u.s.tre on the throne.

How would this work another's glory raise!

But Anna's greatness robs her of the praise.

Drown'd in a brighter blaze it disappears, Who dried the widow's and the orphan's tears?

Who stoop'd from high to succour the distrest And reconcile the wounded heart to rest?

Great in her goodness, well could we perceive, Whoever sought, it was a queen that gave.

Misfortune lost her name, her guiltless frown But made another debtor to the crown; And each unfriendly stroke from fate we bore, Became our t.i.tle to the regal store.

Thus injur'd trees adopt a foreign shoot, And their wounds blossom with a fairer fruit.

Ye numbers, who on your misfortunes thriv'd, When first the dreadful blast of fame arriv'd, Say what a shock, what agonies you felt, How did your souls with tender anguish melt!

That grief which living Anna's love suppress'd, Shook like a tempest every grateful breast, A second fate our sinking fortunes tried!

A second time our tender parents died!

Heroes returning from the field we crown, And deify the haughty victor's frown.

His splendid wealth too rashly we admire, Catch the disease, and burn with equal fire: Wisely to spend, is the great art of gain; And one reliev'd transcends a million slain.

When time shall ask, where once Ramillia lay, Or Danube flow'd that swept whole troops away, One drop of water, that refresh'd the dry, Shall rise a fountain of eternal joy.

But ah! to that unknown and distant date Is virtue's great reward push'd off by fate; Here random shafts in every breast are found, Virtue and merit but provoke the wound.

August in native worth and regal state, Anna sate arbitress of Europe's fate; To distant realms did every accent fly, And nations watch'd each motion of her eye.

Silent, nor longer awful to be seen, How small a spot contains the mighty queen!

No throng of suppliant princes mark the place, Where Britain's greatness is compos'd in peace: The broken earth is scarce discern'd to rise, And a stone tells us where the monarch lies.

Thus end maturest honours of the crown!

This is the last conclusion of renown!

So when with idle skill the wanton boy Breathes through his tube; he sees, with eager joy, The trembling bubble, in its rising small; And by degrees expands the glittering ball.

But when, to full perfection blown, it flies High in the air, and s.h.i.+nes in various dyes, The little monarch, with a falling tear, Sees his world burst at once, and disappear, 'Tis not in sorrow to reverse our doom, No groans unlock th' inexorable tomb!

Why then this fond indulgence of our woe!

What fruit can rise, or what advantage flow!

Yes, this advantage; from our deep distress We learn how much in George the G.o.ds can bless Had a less glorious princess left the throne, But half the hero had at first been shown: An Anna falling all the king employs, To vindicate from guilt our rising joys: Our joys arise and innocently s.h.i.+ne, Auspicious monarch! what a praise is thine!