Classic Poem

From the Fourth Eclogue of Virgil
Sicilian Muse, thy voice and subject raise,
All are not pleased with shrubs and sylvan lays,
Or if we shrubs and sylvan lays prepare,
Let 'em be such as suit a consul's ear.
Now Merlin's prophecies are made complete,
And Lilly's best events with credit meet;
Now banished Justice takes its rightful place,
And Saturn's days return with Stuart's race.
With its own luster now the church appears,
As one year makes amends for fourteen years,
And joys succeed our sighs and hopes succeed our fears.
O goddess, genius of this favorite isle,
On thy own work, this revolution, smile,
Salute the pleasures that come rolling on,
And greet the wonders Heav'n and thou hast done,
Worthy the glorious change, inspire our strains,
Now thy own Anna rules, in her own kingdom reigns.
And thou, O Dashwood, by peculiar care,
Reserved till now to fill Augusta's chair,
Behold the mighty months' progressive shine!
See 'em begin their golden race in thine!
Under thy consulship, lo! Vice gives way
And Whigs forever cease to come again in play.
The life of gods the monarch shall partake,
Beloved by gods and men for virtue's sake,
As she from heroes sprung, brave acts prefers,
And heroes copy out their fame from hers,
As kingdom's rights she with her own maintains,
And where her injured father governed, reigns.
Hail, sacred queen! Thy very enemies own
Thy lawful claim, and recognize thy throne.
Dissembling statesmen shall before thee stand,
And Halifax be first to kiss thy hand;
Somers shall change his temper with his fate,
And promise duty where he vowed his hate,
Seeming for past offenses to atone,
By complementing claims he would postpone;
Had one but lived, that raised him, to his shame,
To let him pack the cards, and win the game.
Wharton shall to St. James's house resort,
And leave his master's corpse to make his court;
Stamford quit the practice of his place,
Leave cutting timber down in Enfield chase,
To seek for favor, and prevail for grace.
Old Ranelagh shall thy accession sing,
Hoping to serve thee as he served the king;
To keep his gridiron while he keeps his life,
And build fresh mansion houses for his wife.
Lions with lambs united shall agree,
And lambs like lions, lions lambs shall be
And South with Sherlock hail and bow the knee.
Kennett shall drop his Convocation spleen,
And Atterbury, quarrels with the dean,
To join in our allegiance with the queen.
The churchmen and Dissenters shall combine
To pay the tribute due to Stuart's line,
As Presbyters with bishops shall comply,
And bishops shall fling out what Presbyters deny;
Like Lambeth watermen, whose tempers show,
That look one way while they another row.
Yet shall some footsteps of old fraud remain,
And ills be practiced in thy golden reign;
Munden at sea shall in his duty fail,
And Wate and dastard Kirkby turn their tail.
Hara at land his country shall abuse,
And Bellasis by plund'ring, conquest lose,
While British troops with Ormond at their head
Shall meet with conquest, who from conquest fled,
And Marlborough of William's post possessed,
Reducing Liege, shall France itself invest.
Sarum's huge prelate shall before thee preach,
And his dead lord to flatter thee, impeach;
Old dreaming Worcester, once the church's pride,
Shall quit her interest for another side,
Browbeat his clergy, and a chief defame,
Spotless as is the blood from whence he came;
And though a prisoner made in dubious times,
Shall now deserve the Tower for real crimes.
'Midst Lords and Commons shall disputes arise,
And one dissuade what t'other shall advise.
Proud Adriatic Orford shall be known
To sink the nation's money for his own,
And fix the courtier's thefts upon the throne.
Funds shall, as if no funds there were, appear,
Millions be giv'n the kingdom's debts to clear,
Yet shall we own the millions that we gave,
And pay for what we had not wit to save,
Unless some moths that fret the threadbare state,
Prevent our ruin by their timely fate,
Unless a peer more often accounts keeps,
And gives the queen the crop which now he reaps.
But when confirmed in arts of empire grown,
Thou seest thy reign mature, and fixed thy throne,
Both land and sea thy sovereign power shall own.
Fearless of loss, and confident of gain,
The merchant shall in safety plough the main;
The lab'ring hind shall cleave the country soil,
And plenty rise and court the farmer's toil.
As every subject sees his wrongs redressed,
Views faction quelled, and anarchy suppressed,
And prince and people mutually blessed.
Such be thy reign, the fatal sisters cry,
And such Britannia's future destiny.
Arise, auspicious queen! the times are come,
When France shall from thy mouth expect her doom;
When Providence shall labor in thy cause,
And trembling Spain acknowledge English laws;
Arise, thou bright inspirer of my song,
And vindicate the blood from whence thou'rt sprung.
See the consenting world adore thy fame!
Heav'n, earth, and sea confess the justice of thy claim!
See us for thee our vows and prayers employ,
And coming ages smile in hopes of coming joy.
Oh! that this life of mine so long would last,
As I might sing thy future deeds and past,
As on thy rising glories I might swell,
And I in verse, as thou in fame, excel!
Not thy own Tate though with thy laurels crowned,
Should touch a sweeter pipe, or give a sweeter sound;
Not favorite Rowe, though Jersey took his part,
Should boast more judgment, or reveal more art;
Not Congreve, stocked with all his patron's praise,
Produce a zeal like mine, or equal lays;
Though Congreve Halifax's friend should be,
Congreve, if Halifax were judge, should yield to me.
Begin great queen, the Stuart's steps to tread,
And let thy living worth exceed the dead;
Happiest of princes in this climate born,
Entirely English, above thy enemies scorn,
Thou ne'er wer'st dandled on an Austrian's knee,
Nor Hanover stood godfather for thee,
But sprung directly from the British strain,
Where thou first drew'st thy breath, dost there commence thy reign.