Draw monarchs chain'd, and Cressi's glorious field,
The lilies blazing on the regal shield:

305

Then, from her roofs when Verrio's colours fall,38
And leave inanimate the naked wall,

Still in thy song should vanquish'd France appear,
And bleed for ever under Britain's spear.

310

Let softer strains ill-fated Henry mourn,39

And palms eternal flourish round his urn.
Here o'er the martyr-king the marble weeps,

And, fast beside him, once-fear'd Edward sleeps : 40
Whom not th' extended Albion could contain,
From old Belerium to the northern main,
The grave unites; where e'en the great find rest,
And blended lie th' oppressor and th' oppress'd !
Make sacred Charles's tomb for ever known,
(Obscure the place, and uninscribed the stone)
O fact accursed! what tears has Albion shed,41

Heavens, what new wounds! and how her old have bled!
She saw her sons with purple deaths expire,
Her sacred domes involved in rolling fire,

A dreadful series of intestine wars,

Inglorious triumphs and dishonest scars.

At length great Anna said: "Let discord cease!" 42
She said, the world obey'd, and all was peace!

38 Originally thus in the MS.,

66

"When brass decays, when trophies lie o'erthrown,
And mouldering into dust drops the proud stone."

315

320

325

[Verrio, introduced into the text, is mentioned again in the Moral Essays, Ess. IV. His works at Windsor and Hampton Court, on ceilings and staircases, on which the eye never rests long enough to criticise, and where one should be sorry to place the works of a better master," are stated by Walpole to have realised for the artist the sum of £6845.]

39 Henry VI.

41 Originally thus in the MS.,

40 Edward IV.

"Oh fact accursed! oh sacrilegious brood,

Sworn to Rebellion, principled in blood!

Since that dire morn what tears has Albion shed!
Gods! what new wounds," &c.

42 Thus in the MS.,

""Till Anna rose and bade the Furies cease;

Let there be peace, she said, and all was peace."

In that blest moment, from his oozy bed

Old father Thames advanced his reverend head;

330

His tresses dropp'd with dews, and o'er the stream 43

His shining horns diffused a golden gleam:

Graved on his urn appear'd the moon, that guides

His swelling waters, and alternate tides;

The figured streams in waves of silver roll'd,
And on her banks Augusta rose in gold;
Around his throne the sea-born brothers stood,
Who swell with tributary urns his flood:
First the famed authors of his ancient name,
The winding Isis, and the fruitful Thame :
The Kennet swift, for silver eels renown'd;

335

340

The Loddon slow, with verdant alders crown'd;

Cole, whose dark streams his flowery islands lave;

345

And chalky Wey, that rolls a milky wave;
The blue, transparent Vandalis appears;
The gulphy Lee his sedgy tresses rears;
And sullen Mole, that hides his diving flood;
And silent Darent, stain'd with Danish blood.

High in the midst, upon his urn reclined,
(His sea-green mantle waving with the wind,)
The god appear'd: he turn'd his azure eyes
Where Windsor-domes and pompous turrets rise;
Then bow'd and spoke; the winds forgot to roar,
And the hush'd waves glide softly to the shore.44

Hail, sacred peace! hail, long expected days,
That Thames's glory to the stars shall raise!
Though Tiber's streams immortal Rome behold,

Though foaming Hermus swells with tides of gold,

43 Between verse 330 and 331, originally stood these lines,-
"From shore to shore exulting shouts he heard,
O'er all his banks a lambent light appear'd,

With sparkling flames heaven's glowing concave shone,
Fictitious stars, and glories not her own.

He saw, and gently rose above the stream;

His shining horns diffuse a golden gleam :

With pearl and gold his towery front was dress'd,
The tributes of the distant East and West."

44 ["And roll themselves asleep upon the shore."

350

355

Dryden's Ann. Mirab.]

From Heaven itself though sevenfold Nilus flows,
And harvests on a hundred realms bestows;
These now no more shall be the Muse's themes,
Lost in my fame, as in the sea their streams.45
Let Volga's banks with iron squadrons shine,
And groves of lances glitter on the Rhine,
Let barbarous Ganges arm a servile train;
Be mine the blessings of a peaceful reign.
No more my sons shall dye with British blood
Red Iber's sands, or Ister's foaming flood:
Safe on my shore each unmolested swain

360

365

Shall tend the flocks, or reap the bearded grain;

370

The shady empire shall retain no trace

Of war or blood, but in the sylvan chase;

The trumpet sleep, whilst cheerful horns are blown,

And arms employ'd on birds and beasts alone.

Behold! th' ascending villas on my side

375

Project long shadows o'er the crystal tide.

Behold! Augusta's glittering spires increase,

And temples rise, the beauteous works of Peace.46

I see, I see, where two fair cities bend

Their ample bow, a new Whitehall ascend!

380

There mighty nations shall inquire their doom,

The world's great oracle in times to come;

There kings shall sue, and suppliant states be seen

Once more to bend before a British queen.

Thy trees, fair Windsor! now shall leave their woods,47

And half thy forests rush into thy floods,

386

Bear Britain's thunder, and her cross display,
To the bright regions of the rising day:

45 Originally thus in the MS.,

"Let Venice boast her towers amidst the main,
Where the rough Adrian swells and roars in vain;
Here not a town, but spacious realm shall have
A sure foundation on the rolling wave.'

46 The fifty new churches. [The act for erecting them passed in 1711.] 47 Originally thus,

"Now shall our fleets the bloody cross display

To the rich regions of the rising day,

Or those green isles, where headlong Titan steeps

His hissing axle in the Atlantic deeps,

Tempt icy seas," &c.

Tempt icy seas, where scarce the waters roll,
Where clearer flames glow round the frozen pole;
Or under southern skies exalt their sails,
Led by new stars, and borne by spicy gales!

390

For me the balm shall bleed, and amber flow,
The coral redden, and the ruby glow,
The pearly shell its lucid globe infold,
And Phoebus warm the ripening ore to gold.

395

The time shall come, when free as seas or wind
Unbounded Thames shall flow for all mankind,
Whole nations enter with each swelling tide,48
And seas but join the regions they divide;
Earth's distant ends our glory shall behold,
And the new world launch forth to seek the old.
Then ships of uncouth form shall stem the tide,
And feather'd people crowd my wealthy side,
And naked youths and painted chiefs admire
Our speech, our colour, and our strange attire!

400

405

O stretch thy reign, fair Peace! from shore to shore,

Till conquest cease, and slavery be no more;
Till the freed Indians in their native groves

Reap their own fruits, and woo their sable loves,

410

Peru once more a race of kings behold,

And other Mexicos be roof'd with gold.
Exiled by thee from earth to deepest hell,

In brazen bonds, shall barbarous Discord dwell:
Gigantic Pride, pale Terror, gloomy Care,
And mad Ambition shall attend her there :
There purple Vengeance bathed in gore retires,
Her weapons blunted, and extinct her fires :
There hateful Envy her own snakes shall feel,
And Persecution mourn her broken wheel:
There Faction roar, Rebellion bite her chain,
And gasping Furies thirst for blood in vain.

415

420

Here cease thy flight, nor with unhallow'd lays
Touch the fair fame of Albion's golden days:
The thoughts of gods let Granville's verse recite,49
And bring the scenes of opening fate to light:

48 A wish that London may be made a FREE FORT.
49 "Quo, Musa, tendis? desine pervicax

Referre sermones Deorum, et

Magna modis tenuare parvis."-Hor.

425

My humble Muse, in unambitious strains,
Paints the green forests and the flowery plains,
Where Peace descending bids her olives spring,
And scatters blessings from her dove-like wing.
Even I more sweetly pass my careless days,
Pleased in the silent shade with empty praise;
Enough for me, that to the listening swains
First in these fields I sung the sylvan strains.

430