[ { "title": "The Man And His Horse", "author": "Anne Kingsmill Finch", "lines": [ "Within a Meadow, on the way,", "A sordid Churl resolv'd to stay,", "And give his Horse a Bite;", "Purloining so his Neighbours Hay,", "That at the Inn he might not pay", "For Forage all the Night.", "", "With Heart's content th' unloaded Steed", "Began to neigh, and frisk, and feed;", "For nothing more he car'd,", "Since none of all his Master's breed", "E'er found such Pasture, at their need,", "Or half so well had far'd.", "", "When, in the turning of a Hand,", "Out comes the Owner of the Land,", "And do's the Trespass eye;", "Which puts poor Bayard to a Stand,", "For now his Master do's command", "Him to return and fly.", "", "But Hunger quick'ning up his Wit,", "And Grass being sweeter than the Bit,", "He to the Clown reply'd;", "Shall I for you this Dinner quit,", "Who to my Back hard Burdens fit,", "And to the Death wou'd ride?", "", "No; shou'd I as a Stray be found,", "And seiz'd upon forbidden Ground,", "I'll on this Spot stand still;", "For tho' new Riders shou'd abound,", "(Or did Mankind this Field surround)", "They cou'd but use me ill.", "", "Urge no Man to despair; lest in the Fit", "He with some Counterblow thy Head may hit." ], "linecount": "32" }, { "title": "Life's Progress", "author": "Anne Kingsmill Finch", "lines": [ "How gayly is at first begun", "Our Life's uncertain Race!", "Whilst yet that sprightly Morning Sun,", "With which we just set out to run", "Enlightens all the Place.", "", "How smiling the World's Prospect lies", "How tempting to go through !", "Not Canaan to the Prophet's Eyes,", "From Pisgah with a sweet Surprize,", "Did more inviting shew.", "", "How promising's the Book of Fate,", "Till thoroughly understood!", "Whilst partial Hopes such Lots create,", "As may the youthful Fancy treat", "With all that's Great and Good.", "", "How soft the first Ideas prove,", "Which wander through our Minds!", "How full the Joys, how free the Love,", "Which do's that early Season move;", "As Flow'rs the Western Winds!", "", "Our Sighs are then but Vernal Air;", "But April–drops our Tears,", "Which swiftly passing, all grows Fair,", "Whilst Beauty compensates our Care,", "And Youth each Vapour clears.", "", "But oh! too soon, alas, we climb;", "Scarce feeling we ascend", "The gently rising Hill of Time,", "From whence with Grief we see that Prime,", "And all its Sweetness end.", "", "The Die now cast, our Station known,", "Fond Expectation past;", "The Thorns, which former Days had sown,", "To Crops of late Repentance grown,", "Thro' which we toil at last.", "", "Whilst ev'ry Care's a driving Harm,", "That helps to bear us down;", "Which faded Smiles no more can charm,", "But ev'ry Tear's a Winter-Storm,", "And ev'ry Look's a Frown.", "", "Till with succeeding Ills opprest,", "For Joys we hop'd to find;", "By Age too, rumpl'd and undrest,", "We gladly sinking down to rest,", "Leave following Crouds behind." ], "linecount": "45" }, { "title": "Hope", "author": "Anne Kingsmill Finch", "lines": [ "The Tree of Knowledge we in Eden prov'd;", "The Tree of Life was thence to Heav'n remov'd:", "Hope is the growth of Earth, the only Plant,", "Which either Heav'n, or Paradise cou'd want.", "", "", "Hell knows it not, to Us alone confin'd,", "And Cordial only to the Human Mind.", "Receive it then, t'expel these mortal Cares,", "Nor wave a Med'cine, which thy God prepares." ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "To A Husband", "author": "Anne Kingsmill Finch", "lines": [ "This is to the crown and blessing of my life,", "The much loved husband of a happy wife;", "To him whose constant passion found the art", "To win a stubborn and ungrateful heart,", "And to the world by tenderest proof discovers", "They err, who say that husbands can't be lovers.", "With such return of passion, as is due,", "Daphnis I love, Daphinis my thoughts pursue;", "Daphnis, my hopes and joys are bounded all in you.", "Even I, for Daphnis' and my promise' sake,", "What I in woman censure, undertake.", "But this from love, not vanity proceeds;", "You know who writes, and I who 'tis that reads.", "Judge not my passion by my want of skill:", "Many love well, though they express it ill;", "And I your censure could with pleasure bear,", "Would you but soon return, and speak it here." ], "linecount": "17" }, { "title": "The Dog And His Master", "author": "Anne Kingsmill Finch", "lines": [ "NO better Dog e'er kept his Master's Door", "Than honest Snarl, who spar'd nor Rich nor Poor;", "But gave the Alarm, when any one drew nigh,", "Nor let pretended Friends pass fearless by:", "For which reprov'd, as better Fed than Taught,", "He rightly thus expostulates the Fault.", "", "To keep the House from Rascals was my Charge;", "The Task was great, and the Commission large.", "Nor did your Worship e'er declare your Mind,", "That to the begging Crew it was confin'd;", "Who shrink an Arm, or prop an able Knee,", "Or turn up Eyes, till they're not seen, nor see.", "To Thieves, who know the Penalty of Stealth,", "And fairly stake their Necks against your Wealth,", "These are the known Delinquents of the Times,", "And Whips and Tyburn. testify their Crimes.", "", "But since to Me there was by Nature lent", "An exquisite Discerning by the Scent;", "I trace a Flatt'rer, when he fawns and leers,", "A rallying Wit, when he commends and jeers:", "The greedy Parasite I grudging note,", "Who praises the good Bits, that oil his Throat;", "I mark the Lady, you so fondly toast,", "That plays your Gold, when all her own is lost:", "The Knave, who fences your Estate by Law,", "Yet still reserves an undermining Flaw.", "These and a thousand more, which I cou'd tell,", "Provoke my Growling, and offend my Smell." ], "linecount": "28" }, { "title": "Glass", "author": "Anne Kingsmill Finch", "lines": [ "O Man! what Inspiration was thy Guide,", "Who taught thee Light and Air thus to divide;", "To let in all the useful Beams of Day,", "Yet force, as subtil Winds, without thy Shash to stay;", "T'extract from Embers by a strange Device,", "Then polish fair these Flakes of solid Ice;", "Which, silver'd o'er, redouble all in place,", "And give thee back thy well or ill-complexion'd Face.", "To Vessels blown exceed the gloomy Bowl,", "Which did the Wine's full excellence controul,", "These shew the Body, whilst you taste the Soul.", "Its colour sparkles Motion, lets thee see,", "Tho' yet th' Excess the Preacher warns to flee,", "Lest Men at length as clearly spy through Thee." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "The Tree", "author": "Anne Kingsmill Finch", "lines": [ "Fair tree! for thy delightful shade", "'Tis just that some return be made;", "Sure some return is due from me", "To thy cool shadows, and to thee.", "When thou to birds dost shelter give,", "Thou music dost from them receive;", "If travellers beneath thee stay", "Till storms have worn themselves away,", "That time in praising thee they spend", "And thy protecting pow'r commend.", "The shepherd here, from scorching freed,", "Tunes to thy dancing leaves his reed;", "Whilst his lov'd nymph, in thanks, bestows", "Her flow'ry chaplets on thy boughs.", "Shall I then only silent be,", "And no return be made by me?", "No; let this wish upon thee wait,", "And still to flourish be thy fate.", "To future ages may'st thou stand", "Untouch'd by the rash workman's hand,", "Till that large stock of sap is spent,", "Which gives thy summer's ornament;", "Till the fierce winds, that vainly strive", "To shock thy greatness whilst alive,", "Shall on thy lifeless hour attend,", "Prevent the axe, and grace thy end;", "Their scatter'd strength together call", "And to the clouds proclaim thy fall;", "Who then their ev'ning dews may spare", "When thou no longer art their care,", "But shalt, like ancient heroes, burn,", "And some bright hearth be made thy urn." ], "linecount": "32" }, { "title": "Friendship Between Ephelia And Ardelia", "author": "Anne Kingsmill Finch", "lines": [ "Eph. What Friendship is, ARDELIA shew.", "Ard. 'Tis to love, as I love You.", "Eph. This Account, so short (tho' kind)", "Suits not my enquiring Mind.", "Therefore farther now repeat;", "What is Friendship when complete?", "Ard. 'Tis to share all Joy and Grief;", "'Tis to lend all due Relief", "From the Tongue, the Heart, the Hand;", "'Tis to mortgage House and Land;", "For a Friend be sold a Slave;", "'Tis to die upon a Grave,", "If a Friend therein do lie.", "Eph. This indeed, tho' carry'd high,", "This, tho' more than e'er was done", "Underneath the rolling Sun,", "This has all been said before.", "Can ARDELIA say no more?", "Ard. Words indeed no more can shew:", "But 'tis to love, as I love you." ], "linecount": "20" }, { "title": "On Myselfe", "author": "Anne Kingsmill Finch", "lines": [ "Good Heav'n, I thank thee, since it was design'd", "I shou'd be fram'd, but of the weaker kinde,", "That yet, my Soul, is rescu'd from the Love", "Of all those Trifles, which their Passions move.", "Pleasures, and Praise, and Plenty haue with me", "But their just value. If allow'd they be,", "Freely, and thankfully as much I tast,", "As will not reason, or Religion wast.", "If they're deny'd, I on my selfe can Liue,", "And slight those aids, unequal chance does give.", "When in the Sun, my wings can be display'd,", "And in retirement, I can bless the shade." ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "La Passion Vaincue", "author": "Anne Kingsmill Finch", "lines": [ "On the Banks of the Severn a desperate Maid", "(Whom some Shepherd, neglecting his Vows, had betray'd,)", "Stood resolving to banish all Sense of the Pain,", "And pursue, thro' her Death, a Revenge on the Swain.", "Since the Gods, and my Passion, at once he defies;", "Since his Vanity lives, whilst my Character dies;", "No more (did she say) will I trifle with Fate,", "But commit to the Waves both my Love and my Hate.", "And now to comply with that furious Desire,", "Just ready to plunge, and alone to expire,", "Some Reflection on Death, and its Terrors untry'd,", "Some Scorn for the Shepherd, some Flashings of Pride", "At length pull'd her back, and she cry'd, Why this Strife,", "Since the Swains are so Many, and I've but One Life?" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "On the Death of the Honourable Mr. James Thynne", "author": "Anne Kingsmill Finch", "lines": [ "Farewell, lov'd Youth! since 'twas the Will of Heaven", "So soon to take, what had so late been giv'n;", "And thus our Expectations to destroy,", "Raising a Grief, where we had form'd a Joy;", "Who once believ'd, it was the Fates Design", "In Him to double an Illustrious Line,", "And in a second Channel spread that Race", "Where ev'ry Virtue shines, with every Grace.", "But we mistook, and 'twas not here below", "That this engrafted Scion was to grow;", "The Seats above requir'd him, that each Sphere", "Might soon the Offspring of such Parents share.", "Resign him then to the supream Intent,", "You, who but Flesh to that blest Spirit lent.", "Again disrob'd, let him to Bliss retire,", "And only bear from you, amidst that Choir,", "What, Precept or Example did inspire,", "A Title to Rewards, from that rich store", "Of Pious Works, which you have sent before.", "Then lay the fading Reliques, which remain,", "In the still Vault (excluding farther Pain);", "Where Kings and Counsellors their Progress close,", "And his renowned Ancestors repose;", "Where COVENTRY withdrew All but in Name,", "Leaving the World his Benefits and Fame;", "Where his Paternal Predecessor lies,", "Once large of Thought, and rank'd among the Wise;", "Whose Genius in Long-Leat we may behold", "(A Pile, as noble as if he'd been told", "By WEYMOUTH, it shou'd be in time possest,", "And strove to suit the Mansion to the Guest.)", "Nor favour'd, nor disgrac'd, there ESSEX sleeps,", "Nor SOMERSET his Master's Sorrows weeps,", "Who to the shelter of th' unenvy'd Grave", "Convey'd the Monarch, whom he cou'd not save;", "Though, Roman-like, his own less-valu'd Head", "He proffer'd in that injur'd Martyr's stead.", "Nor let that matchless Female 'scape my Pen,", "Who their Whole Duty taught to weaker Men,", "And of each Sex the Two best Gifts enjoy'd,", "The Skill to write, the Modesty to hide;", "Whilst none shou'd that Performance disbelieve,", "Who led the Life, might the Directions give.", "With such as These, whence He deriv'd his Blood,", "Great on Record, or eminently Good,", "Let Him be laid, till Death's long Night shall cease,", "And breaking Glory interrupt the Peace.", "Mean-while, ye living Parents, ease your Grief", "By Tears, allow'd as Nature's due Relief.", "For when we offer to the Pow'rs above,", "Like You, the dearest Objects of our Love;", "When, with that patient Saint in Holy Writ,", "We've learnt at once to Grieve, and to Submit;", "When contrite Sighs, like hallow'd Incense, rise", "Bearing our Anguish to th' appeased Skies;", "Then may those Show'rs, which take from Sorrow birth,", "And still are tending tow'rd this baleful Earth,", "O'er all our deep and parching Cares diffuse,", "Like Eden's Springs, or Hermon's soft'ning Dews.", "", "But lend your Succours, ye Almighty Pow'rs,", "For as the Wound, the Balsam too is Yours.", "In vain are Numbers, or persuasive Speech,", "What Poets write, or what the Pastors teach,", "Till You, who make, again repair the Breach.", "For when to Shades of Death our Joys are fled,", "When for a Loss, like This, our Tears are shed,", "None can revive the Heart, but who can raise the Dead.", "But yet, my Muse, if thou hadst softer Verse", "Than e'er bewail'd the melancholy Herse;", "If thou hadst Pow'r to dissipate the Gloom", "Inherent to the Solitary Tomb;", "To rescue thence the Memory and Air", "Of what we lately saw so Fresh, so Fair;", "Then shou'd this Noble Youth thy Art engage", "To shew the Beauties of his blooming Age,", "The pleasing Light, that from his Eyes was cast,", "Like hasty Beams, too Vigorous to last;", "Where the warm Soul, as on the Confines, lay", "Ready for Flight, and for Eternal Day.", "Gently dispos'd his Nature shou'd be shown,", "And all the Mother's Sweetness made his Own.", "The Father's Likeness was but faintly seen,", "As ripen'd Fruits are figur'd by the Green.", "Nor cou'd we hope, had he fulfill'd his Days,", "He shou'd have reach'd WEYMOUTH's unequal'd Praise.", "Still One distinguish'd plant each Lineage shews,", "And all the rest beneath it's Stature grows.", "Of Tully's Race but He possess'd the Tongue,", "And none like Julius from the Caesars sprung.", "Next, in his harmless Sports he shou'd be drawn", "Urging his Courser, o'er the flow'ry Lawn;", "Sprightly Himself, as the enliven'd Game,", "Bold in the Chace, and full of gen'rous Flame;", "Yet in the Palace, Tractable and Mild,", "Perfect in all the Duties of a Child;", "Which fond Reflection pleases, whilst it pains,", "Like penetrating Notes of sad Harmonious Strains.", "Selected Friendships timely he began,", "And siezed in Youth that best Delight of Man,", "Leaving a growing Race to mourn his End,", "Their earliest and their Ages promis'd Friend.", "But far away alas! that Prospect moves,", "Lost in the Clouds, like distant Hills and Groves,", "Whilst with encreasing Steps we all pursue", "What Time alone can bring to nearer View,", "That Future State, which Darkness yet involves,", "Known but by Death, which ev'ry Doubt resolves." ], "linecount": "107" }, { "title": "On The Hurricane", "author": "Anne Kingsmill Finch", "lines": [ "You have obey'd, you WINDS, that must fulfill", "The Great Disposer's righteous Will;", "Throughout the Land, unlimited you flew,", "Nor sought, as heretofore, with Friendly Aid", "Only, new Motion to bestow", "Upon the sluggish Vapours, bred below,", "Condensing into Mists, and melancholy Shade.", "No more such gentle Methods you pursue,", "But marching now in terrible Array,", "Undistinguish'd was your Prey:", "In vain the Shrubs, with lowly Bent,", "Sought their Destruction to prevent;", "The Beech in vain, with out-stretch'd Arms,", "Deprecates th' approaching Harms;", "In vain the Oak (so often storm'd)", "Rely'd upon that native Force,", "By which already was perform'd", "So much of his appointed Course,", "As made him, fearless of Decay,", "Wait but the accomplish'd Time", "Of his long-wish'd and useful Prime,", "To be remov'd, with Honor, to the Sea.", "", "", "The strait and ornamental Pine", "Did in the like Ambition joyn,", "And thought his Fame shou'd ever last,", "When in some Royal Ship he stood the planted Mast;", "And shou'd again his Length of Timber rear,", "And new engrafted Branches wear", "Of fibrous Cordage and impending Shrouds,", "Still trimm'd with human Care, and water'd by the Clouds.", "But oh, you Trees! who solitary stood;", "Or you, whose Numbers form'd a Wood;", "You, who on Mountains chose to rise,", "And drew them nearer to the Skies;", "Or you, whom Valleys late did hold", "In flexible and lighter Mould;", "You num'rous Brethren of the Leafy Kind,", "To whatsoever Use design'd,", "Now, vain you found it to contend", "With not, alas! one Element; your Friend", "Your Mother Earth, thro' long preceding Rains,", "(Which undermining sink below)", "No more her wonted Strength retains;", "Nor you so fix'd within her Bosom grow,", "That for your sakes she can resolve to bear", "These furious Shocks of hurrying Air;", "But finding All your Ruin did conspire,", "She soon her beauteous Progeny resign'd", "To this destructive, this imperious Wind,", "That check'd your nobler Aims, and gives you to the Fire.", "", "", "Thus! have thy Cedars, Libanus, been struck", "As the lythe Oziers twisted round;", "Thus! Cadez, has thy Wilderness been shook,", "When the appalling, and tremendous Sound", "Of rattl'ing Tempests o'er you broke,", "And made your stubborn Glories bow,", "When in such Whirlwinds the Almighty spoke,", "Warning Judea then, as our Britannia now.", "", "", "Yet these were the remoter Harms,", "Foreign the Care, and distant the Alarms:", "Whilst but sheltring Trees alone,", "Master'd soon, and soon o'erthrown,", "Felt those Gusts, which since prevail,", "And loftier Palaces assail;", "Whose shaken Turrets now give way,", "With vain Inscriptions, which the Freeze has borne", "Through Ages past, t'extol and to adorn,", "And to our latter Times convey;", "Who did the Structures deep Foundation lay,", "Forcing his Praise upon the gazing Croud,", "And, whilst he moulders in a scanty Shroud,", "Telling both Earth and Skies, he when alive was proud.", "Now down at once comes the superfluous Load,", "The costly Fret-work with it yields,", "Whose imitated Fruits and Flow'rs are strew'd,", "Like those of real Growth o'er the Autumnal Fields.", "", "", "The present Owner lifts his Eyes,", "And the swift Change with sad Affrightment spies:", "The Cieling gone, that late the Roof conceal'd;", "The Roof untyl'd, thro' which the Heav'ns reveal'd,", "Exposes now his Head, when all Defence has fail'd.", "", "What alas, is to be done!", "Those, who in Cities wou'd from Dangers run,", "Do but encreasing Dangers meet,", "And Death, in various shapes, attending in the Street;", "While some, too tardy in their Flight,", "O'ertaken by a worse Mischance,", "Their upward Parts do scarce advance,", "When on their following Limbs th' extending Ruins light.", "One half's interr'd, the other yet survives,", "And for Release with fainting Vigour strives;", "Implores the Aid of absent Friends in vain;", "With fault'ring Speech, and dying Wishes calls", "Those, whom perhaps, their own Domestick Walls", "By parallel Distress, or swifter Death retains.", "", "", "O Wells! thy Bishop's Mansion we lament,", "So tragical the Fall, so dire th'Event!", "But let no daring Thought presume", "To point a Cause for that oppressive Doom.", "Yet strictly pious KEN! had'st Thou been there,", "This Fate, we think, had not become thy share;", "Nor had that awful Fabrick bow'd,", "Sliding from its loosen'd Bands;", "Nor yielding Timbers been allow'd", "To crush thy ever-lifted Hands,", "Or interrupt thy Pray'r.", "Those Orizons, that nightly Watches keep,", "Had call'd thee from thy Bed, or there secur'd thy Sleep.", "", "", "Whilst you, bold Winds and Storms! his Word obey'd,", "Whilst you his Scourge the Great Jehova made,", "And into ruin'd Heaps our Edifices laid.", "You South and West the Tragedy began,", "As, with disorder'd haste, you o'er the Surface ran;", "Forgetting, that you were design'd", "(Chiefly thou Zephyrus, thou softest Wind!)", "Only our Heats, when sultry, to allay,", "And chase the od'rous Gums by your dispersing Play.", "Now, by new Orders and Decrees,", "For our Chastisement issu'd forth,", "You on his Confines the alarmed North", "With equal Fury sees,", "And summons swiftly to his Aid", "Eurus, his Confederate made,", "His eager Second in th' opposing Fight,", "That even the Winds may keep the Balance right,", "Nor yield increase of Sway to arbitrary Might.", "", "", "Meeting now, they all contend,", "Those assail, while These defend;", "Fierce and turbulent the War,", "And in the loud tumultuous Jar", "Winds their own Fifes, and Clarions are.", "Each Cavity, which Art or Nature leaves,", "Their Inspiration hastily receives;", "Whence, from their various Forms and Size,", "As various Symphonies arise,", "Their Trumpet ev'ry hollow Tube is made,", "And, when more solid Bodies they invade,", "Enrag'd, they can no farther come,", "The beaten Flatt, whilst it repels the Noise,", "Resembles but with more outrageous Voice", "The Soldier's threatning Drum:", "And when they compass thus our World around,", "When they our Rocks and Mountains rend,", "When they our Sacred Piles to their Foundations send,", "No wonder if our ecchoing Caves rebound;", "No wonder if our list'ning Sense they wound,", "When arm'd with so much Force, and usher'd with such Sound.", "", "", "Nor scarce, amidst the Terrors of that Night,", "When you, fierce Winds, such Desolations wrought,", "When you from out his Stores the Great Commander brought,", "Cou'd the most Righteous stand upright;", "Scarcely the Holiest Man performs", "The Service, that becomes it best,", "By ardent Vows, or solemn Pray'rs addrest;", "Nor finds the Calm, so usual to his Breast,", "Full Proof against such Storms.", "How shou'd the Guilty then be found,", "The Men in Wine, or looser Pleasures drown'd,", "To fix a stedfast Hope, or to maintain their Ground!", "When at his Glass the late Companion feels,", "That Giddy, like himself, the tott'ring Mansion reels!", "", "", "The Miser, who with many a Chest", "His gloomy Tenement opprest,", "Now fears the over-burthen'd Floor,", "And trembles for his Life, but for his Treasure more.", "What shall he do, or to what Pow'rs apply?", "To those, which threaten from on High,", "By him ne'er call'd upon before,", "Who also will suggest th' impossible Restore?", "No; Mammon, to thy Laws he will be true,", "And, rather than his Wealth, will bid the World adieu.", "The Rafters sink, and bury'd with his Coin", "That Fate does with his living Thoughts combine;", "For still his Heart's inclos'd within a Golden Mine.", "", "", "Contention with its angry Brawls", "By Storms o'er-clamour'd, shrinks and falls;", "Nor WHIG, nor TORY now the rash Contender calls.", "", "", "Those, who but Vanity allow'd,", "Nor thought, it reach'd the Name of Sin,", "To be of their Perfections proud,", "Too much adorn'd without, or too much rais'd within,", "Now find, that even the lightest Things,", "As the minuter parts of Air,", "When Number to their Weight addition brings,", "Can, like the small, but numerous Insects Stings,", "Can, like th' assembl'd Winds, urge Ruin and Despair.", "", "", "Thus You've obey'd, you Winds, that must fulfill", "The Great disposer's Righteous Will:", "Thus did your Breath a strict Enquiry make,", "Thus did you our most secret Sins awake,", "And thus chastis'd their Ill.", "", "", "Whilst vainly Those, of a rapacious Mind,", "Fields to other Fields had laid,", "By Force, or by injurious Bargains join'd,", "With Fences for their Guard impenetrable made;", "", "", "The juster Tempest mocks the wrong,", "And sweeps, in its directed Flight,", "Th' Inclosures of another's Right,", "Driving at once the Bounds, and licens'd Herds along.", "The Earth agen one general Scene appears;", "No regular distinction now,", "Betwixt the Grounds for Pasture, or the Plough,", "The Face of Nature wears.", "", "", "Free as the Men, who wild Confusion love,", "And lawless Liberty approve,", "Their Fellow-Brutes pursue their way,", "To their own Loss, and disadvantage stray,", "As wretched in their Choice, as unadvis'd as They.", "The tim'rous Deer, whilst he forsakes the Park,", "And wanders on, in the misguiding Dark,", "Believes, a Foe from ev'ry unknown Bush", "Will on his trembling Body rush,", "Taking the Winds, that vary in their Notes,", "For hot pursuing Hounds with deeply bellowing Throats.", "", "", "Th' awaken'd Birds, shook from their nightly Seats,", "Their unavailing Pinions ply,", "Repuls'd, as they attempt to fly", "In hopes they might attain to more secure Retreats.", "But, Where ye wilder'd Fowls wou'd You repair?", "When this your happy Portion given,", "Your upward Lot, your Firmament of Heaven,", "Your unentail'd, your undivided Air,", "Where no Proprietor was ever known,", "Where no litigious Suits have ever grown,", "Whilst none from Star to Star cou'd call the space his Own;", "When this no more your middle Flights can bear,", "But some rough Blast too far above conveighs,", "Or to unquitted Earth confines your weak Essays.", "Nor You, nor wiser Man cou'd find Repose,", "Nor cou'd our Industry produce", "Expedients of the smallest Use,", "To ward our greater Cares, or mitigate your Woes.", "", "", "Ye Clouds! that pity'd our Distress,", "And by your pacifying Showers", "(The soft and usual methods of Success)", "Kindly assay'd to make this Tempest less;", "Vainly your Aid was now alas! employ'd,", "In vain you wept o'er those destructive Hours,", "In which the Winds full Tyranny enjoy'd,", "Nor wou'd allow you to prevail,", "But drove your scorn'd, and scatter'd Tears to wail", "The Land that lay destroy'd.", "", "", "Whilst You obey'd, you Winds! that must fulfill", "The just Disposer's Righteous Will;", "Whilst not the Earth alone, you disarray,", "But to more ruin'd Seas wing'd your impetuous Way.", "", "", "Which to foreshew, the still portentious Sun", "Beamless, and pale of late, his Race begun,", "Quenching the Rays, he had no Joy to keep,", "In the obscure, and sadly threaten'd Deep.", "", "", "Farther than we, that Eye of Heaven discerns,", "And nearer plac'd to our malignant Stars,", "Our brooding Tempests, and approaching Wars", "Anticipating learns.", "When now, too soon the dark Event", "Shews what that faded Planet meant;", "Whilst more the liquid Empire undergoes,", "More she resigns of her entrusted Stores,", "The Wealth, the Strength, the Pride of diff'rent Shores", "In one Devoted, one Recorded Night,", "Than Years had known destroy'd by generous Fight,", "Or Privateering Foes.", "All Rules of Conduct laid aside,", "No more the baffl'd Pilot steers,", "Or knows an Art, when it each moment veers,", "To vary with the Winds, or stem th'unusual Tide.", "Dispers'd and loose, the shatter'd Vessels stray,", "Some perish within sight of Shore,", "Some, happier thought, obtain a wider Sea,", "But never to return, or cast an Anchor more!", "Some on the Northern Coasts are thrown,", "And by congealing Surges compass'd round,", "To fixt and certain Ruin bound,", "Immoveable are grown:", "The fatal Goodwin swallows All that come", "Within the Limits of that dangerous Sand,", "Amphibious in its kind, nor Sea nor Land;", "Yet kin to both, a false and faithless Strand,", "Known only to our Cost for a devouring Tomb.", "Nor seemed the HURRICANE content,", "Whilst only Ships were wreckt, and Tackle rent;", "The Sailors too must fall a Prey,", "Those that Command, with those that did Obey;", "The best Supporters of thy pompous Stile,", "Thou far Renown'd, thou pow'rful BRITISH Isle!", "Foremost in Naval Strength, and Sov'reign of the Sea!", "These from thy Aid that wrathful Night divides,", "Plung'd in those Waves, o'er which this Title rides.", "", "", "What art Thou, envy'd Greatness, at the best,", "In thy deluding Splendors drest?", "What are thy glorious Titles, and thy Forms?", "Which cannot give Security, or Rest", "To favour'd Men, or Kingdoms that contest", "With Popular Assaults, or Providential Storms!", "Whilst on th'Omnipotent our Fate depends,", "And They are only safe, whom He alone defends.", "Then let to Heaven our general Praise be sent,", "Which did our farther Loss, our total Wreck prevent.", "And as our Aspirations do ascend,", "Let every Thing be summon'd to attend;", "And let the Poet after God's own Heart", "Direct our Skill in that sublimer part,", "And our weak Numbers mend!" ], "linecount": "303" } ]