Classic Poem

From low and abject themes the groveling Muse
Now mounts aërial, to sing of arms
Triumphant, and emblaze the martial acts
Of Britain's hero: may the verse not sink
Beneath his merits, but detain a while
Thy ear, O Harley! (though thy country's weal
Depends on thee, though mighty Anne requires
Thy hourly counsels) since with every art
Thyself adorn'd, the mean essays of youth
Thou wilt not damp, but guide, wherever found,
The willing genius to the Muses' seat,
Therefore thee first and last the Muse shall sing.
?Long had the Gallic monarch uncontroll'd
Enlarg'd his borders, and of human force
Opponent slightly thought, in heart elate,
As erst Sesostris (proud Egyptian king,
That monarchs harness'd to his chariot yok'd,
(Base servitude!) and his dethron'd compeers
Lash'd furious, they in sullen majesty
Drew the uneasy load) nor less he aim'd
At universal sway; for William's arm
Could nought avail, however fam'd in war,
Nor armies leagued, that diversly assay'd
To curb his power enormous; like an oak
That stands secure, though all the winds employ
Their ceasless roar, and only sheds its leaves,
Or mast, which the revolving spring restores;
So stood he, and alone; alone defied
The European thrones combin'd, and still
Had set at nought their machinations vain,
But that great Anne, weighing the' events of war
Momentous, in her prudent heart thee chose,
Thee, Churchill! to direct in nice extremes
Her banner'd legions. Now their pristine worth
The Britons recollect, and gladly change
Sweet native home for unaccustom'd air
And other climes, where different food and soil
Portend distempers: over dank and dry
They journey toilsome, unfatigued with length
Of march, unstruck with horror at the sight
Of Alpine ridges bleak, high-stretching hills,
All white with summer snows. They go beyond
The trace of English steps, where, scarce the sound
Of Henry's arms arriv'd; such strength of heart
Thy conduct and example gives: nor small
Encouragement. Godlophin, wise and just,
Equal in merit, honour, and success,
To Burleigh, (fortunate alike to serve
The best of queens) he, of the royal store
Splendidly frugal, sits whole nights devoid
Of sweet repose, industrious to procure
The soldier's ease; to regions far remote
His care extends, and to the British host
Makes ravag'd countries plenteous as their own.
And now, O Churchill! at thy wish'd approach
The Germans, hopeless of success, forlorn,
With many an inroad gor'd, their drooping cheer
New animated rouse. Not more rejoice
The miserable race of men, that live
Benighted half the year, benumm'd with frosts
Perpetual, and rough Boreas' keenest breath,
Under the polar Bear, inclement sky!
When first the sun with new-born light removes
The long-incumbent gloom; gladly to thee
Heroic laurell'd Eugene yields the prime,
Nor thinks it diminution to be rank'd
In military honour next, although
His deadly hand shock the Turchestan throne
Accurs'd, and prov'd in far-divided lands
Victorious. On thy powerful sword alone
Germania and the Belgic coast relies,
Won from the' encroaching sea: that sword great Anne
Fix'd not in vain on thy puissant side
When thee she'enroll'd her garter'd knights among,
Illustrating the noble list: her hand
Assures good omens, and Saint George's worth
Enkindles like desire of high exploits.
Immediate sieges, and the tire of war
Roll in thy eager mind: thy plumy crest
Nods horrible; with more terrific port
Thou walk'st, and seem'st already in the fight.
?What spoils, what conquests then did Albion hope
From thy achievements! yet thou hast surpast
Her boldest vows, exceeded what thy foes
Could fear or fancy. They, in multitude
Superior, fed their thoughts with prospect vain
Of victory and rapine, reckoning what
From ransom'd captives would accrue. Thus one
Jovial his mate bespoke: ‘O Friend! observe
How gay with all the' accountrements of war
The Britons come; with gold well-fiaught they come
Thus far, our prey, and tempt us to subdue
Their recreant force; how will their bodies stripp'd
Enrich the victors, while the vultures sate
Their maws with full repast!'—Another, warm'd
With high ambition, and conceit of prowess
Inherent, arrogantly thus presum'd:
‘What if this sword, full often drench'd in blood
Of base antagonists, with grinding edge
Should now cleave sheer the execrable head
Of Churchill met in arms! or if this hand,
Soon as his army disarray'd 'gins swerve,
Should stay him flying, with retentive gripe
Confounded and appall'd! No trivial price
Should set him free, nor small should be my praise
To lead him shackled, and expos'd to scorn
Of gathering crowds, the Britons' boasted chief.’
?Thus they in sportive mood their empty taunts
And menaces express'd; nor could their prince
In arms, vain Tallard, from opprobrious speech
Refrain. ‘Why halt ye thus, ye Britons! why
Decline the war? shall a morass forbid
Your easy march? Advance; we'll bridge a way
Safe of access.’ Imprudent thus to' invite
A furious lion to his folds! That boast
He ill abides; captiv'd, in other plight
He soon revisits Britany, that once
Resplendent came, with stretch'd retinue girt
And pompous pageantry. O hapless fate,
If any arm but Churchill's had prevail'd!
?No need such boasts, or exprobrations false
Of cowardice. The military mound
The British files transcend, in evil hour
For their proud foes, that fondly brav'd their fate.
And now on either side the trumpets blew,
Signal of onset, resolution firm
Inspiring, and pernicious love of war.
The adverse fronts in rueful conflict meet,
Collecting all their might, for on the' event
Decisive of this bloody day depends
The fate of kingdoms. With less vehemence
The great competitors for Rome engag'd,
Cæsar and Pompey, on Pharsalian plains,
Where stern Bellona, with one final stroke,
Adjudg'd the empire of this globe to one.
Here the Bavarian duke his brigades leads,
Gallant in arms, and gaudy to behold,
Bold Champion! brandishing his Noric blade,
Best-temper'd steel, successless prov'd in field.
Next Tallard, with his Celtic infantry
Presumptuous comes. Here Churchill, not so prompt
To vaunt as fight, his hardy cohorts joins
With Eugene's German force. Now from each van
The brazen instruments of death discharge
Horrible flames, and turbid streaming clouds
Of smoke sulphureous; intermix'd with these
Large globous irons fly, of dreadful hiss,
Singing the air, and from long distance bring
Surprising slanghter; on each side they fly
By chains connex'd, and with destructive sweep
Behead whole troops at once; the hairy scalps
Are whirl'd aloof, while numerous trunks bestrew
The' ensanguin'd field. With latent mischief stor'd,
Showers of granadoes rain, by sudden burst
Disploding murderous bowels, fragments of steel,
And stones, and glass, and nitrous grain adust:
A thousand ways at once the shever'd orbs
Fly diverse, working torment and foul rout,
With deadly bruise and gashes furrow'd deep.
Of pain impatient, the high-prancing steeds
Disdain the curb, and flinging to and fro
Spurn their dismounted riders; they expire
Indignant, by unhostile wounds destroyed.
?Thus through each army, death in various shapes
Prevail'd: here mangled limbs, here brains and gole,
Lie clotted; lifeless some: with anguish these
Gnashing, and loud laments invoking aid
Unpitied and unheard; the louder din
Of guns and trumpets' clang, and solemn sound
Of drums, o'ercame their groans. In equal scale
Long hung the fight; few marks of fear were seen,
None of retreat. As when two adverse winds,
Sublim'd from dewy vapours, in mid-sky
Engage with horrid shock, the ruffied brine
Roars stormy, they together dash the clouds,
Levying their equal force with utmost rage;
Long undecided lasts the airy strife,
So they, ineens'd, till Churchill, viewing where
The violence of Tallard most prevail'd,
Came to oppose his slaughtering arm: with speed
Precipitant he rode, urging his way
O'er hills of gasping heroes, and fall'n steeds
Rolling in death: Destruction, grim with blood,
Attends his furious course. Him, thus enrag'd,
Descrying from afar some engineer,
Dextrous to guide the' unerring charge, design'd
By one nice shot to terminate the war:
With aim direct the levell'd bullet flew,
But miss'd her scope, (for Destiny withstood
The' approaching wound) and guiltless plough'd her way
Beneath his courser: round his sacred head
The glowing balls play innocent, while he
With dire impetuous sway deals fatal blows
Amongst the scatter'd Gauls. But O, beware,
Great Warrior! nor too prodigal of life
Expose the British safety: hath not Jove
Already warn'd thee to withdraw? Reserve
Thyself for other palms. Ev'n now thy aid
Eugene, with regiments unequal press'd,
Awaits: this day of all his honours gain'd
Despoils him, if thy succour opportune
Defends not the sad hour: permit not thou
So brave a leader with the vulgar herd
To bite the ground unnoted.—Swift and fierce
As wintry storm, he flies to reinforce
The yielding wing; in Gallic blood again
He dews his reeking sword, and strews the ground
With headless ranks; (so Ajax interpos'd
His sevenfold shield and screen'd Laertes' son,
For valour much and warlike wiles renown'd,
When the insulting Trojans urg'd him sore
With tilted spears) unmanly dread invades
The French astonied; straight their useless arms
They quit, and in ignoble flight confide,
Unseemly yelling; distant hills return
The hideous noise. What can they do, or how
Withstand his wide destroying sword, or where
Find shelter, thus repuls'd? Behind, with wrath
Resistless, the' eager English champions press,
Chastising tardy flight; before them rolls
His current swift the Danube, vast and deep,
Supreme of rivers! to the frightful brink,
Urg'd by compulsive arms, soon as they reach'd
New horror chill'd their veins: devote they saw
Themselves to wretched doom; with efforts vain,
Encourag'd by despair, or obstinate
To fall like men in arms, some dare renew
Feeble engagement, meeting glorious fate
On the firm land; the rest discomfited,
And push'd by Marlborough's avengeful hand,
Leap plunging in the wide extended flood;
Bands numerous as the Memphian soldiery
That swell'd the Erythræan wave, when wall'd
The unfroze waters marvellously stood,
Observant of the great command. Upborne
By frothy billows thousands float the stream
In cumbrous male, with love of farther shore
Confiding in their hands, that sedulous strive
To cut the' outrageous fluent. In this distress,
Ev'n in the sight of death, some tokens show
Of fearless friendship, and their sinking mates
Sustain; vain love, though laudable! absorb'd
By a fierce eddy they together sound
The vast profundity: their horses paw
The swelling surge with fruitless toil: surcharg'd,
And in his course obstructed by large spoil,
The river flows redundant, and attacks
The lingering remnant with unusual tide,
Then rolling back, in his capacious lap
Ingulfs their whole militia, quick immers'd.
So when some sweltering travellers retire
To leafy shades, near the cool sunless verge
Of Paraba, Brazilian stream, her tail
Of vast extension, from her watry den
A grisly Hydra suddenly shoots forth
Insidious, and with curl'd envenom'd train
Embracing horridly, at once the crew
Into the river whirls; the' unweeting prey
Entwisted roars, the' affrighted flood rebounds.
?Nor did the British squadrons now surcease
To gall their foes, o'erwhelm'd: full many felt
In the moist element a scorching death,
Pierc'd sinking: shrouded in a dusky cloud
The current flows, with livid missive flames
Boiling, as once Pergamean Xanthus boil'd,
Inflam'd by Vulcan, when the' swift-footed son
Of Peleus to his baleful banks pursued
The straggling Trojans: nor less eager drove
Victorious Churchill his desponding foes
Into the deep immense, that many a league
Impurpled ran, with gushing gore distain'd.
?Thus the experienc'd valour of one man,
Mighty in conflict, rescued harass'd powers
From ruin impendent, and the' afflicted throne
Imperial, that once lorded o'er the world,
Sustain'd. With prudent stay he long deferr'd
The rough contention, nor would deign to rout
An host disparted; when, in union firm
Embodied, they advanc'd, collecting all
Their strength, and worthy seem'd to be subdued;
He, the proud boasters sent, with stern assault,
Down to the realms of Night. The British souls
(A lamentable race!) that ceas'd to breathe,
On Landen-plains, this heavenly gladsome air,
Exult to see the crowding ghosts descend
Unnumber'd; well aveng'd, they quit the cares
Of mortal life, and drink the' oblivious lake.
Not so the new inhabitants; they roam
Erroneous and disconsolate, themselves
Accusing and their chiefs, improvident
Of military chance; when lo! they see
Through the dun mist, in blooming beauty fresh,
Two lovely youths that amicably walk'd
O'er verdant meads, and pleas'd perhaps revolv'd
Anna's late conquests; one to empire born,
Egregious Prince, whose manly childhood show'd
His mingled parents, and portended joy
Unspeakable; thou, his associate dear
Once in this world, nor now by Fate disjoin'd,
Had thy presiding star propitious shone
Shouldst Churchill be! but Heav'n severe, cut short
Their springing years, nor would this isle should boast
Gifts so important! Them the Gallic shades
Surveying, read in either radiant look
Marks of excessive dignity and grace,
Delighted; till, in one, their curious eye
Discerns their great subduer's awful mien
And corresponding features fair; to them
Confusion: straight the airy phantoms fleet
With headlong haste, and dread a new pursuit:
The image pleas'd with joy paternal smiles.
?Enough, O Muse! the sadly-pleasing theme
Leave, with these dark abodes; and reascend
To breathe the upper air, where triumphs wait
The conqueror, and sav'd nations' joint acclaim.
Hark, how the cannon, inoffensive now,
Gives signs of gratulation! struggling crowds
From every city flow; with ardent gaze
Fix'd, they behold the British guide, of sight
Insatiate; whilst his great redeeming hand
Each prince affects to touch respectful. See
How Prussia's king transported entertains
His mighty guest! to him the royal pledge,
Hope of his realm, commits, (with better fate
Than to the Trojan chief Evander gave
Unhappy Pallas) and entreats to show
The skill and rudiments austere of war.
See, with what joy him Leopold declares
His great deliverer; and courts to' accept
Of titles, with superior modesty
Better refus'd. Meanwhile, the haughty king
Far humbler thoughts now learns: despair and fear
Now first he feels: his laurels all at once
Torn from his aged head in life's extreme,
Distract his soul; nor can great Boileau's harp
Of various-sounding wire, best taught to calm
Whatever passion, and exalt the soul
With highest strains, his languid spirits cheer:
Rage, shame, and grief, alternate in his breast.
?But who can tell what pangs, what sharp remorse,
Torment the Boain prince? From native soil
Exil'd by fate, torn from the dear embrace
Of weeping consort, and depriv'd the sight
Of his young guiltless progeny, he seeks
Inglorious shelter in an alien land:
Deplorable! but that his mind averse
To right, and insincere, would violate
His plighted faith. Why did he not accept
Friendly composure offer'd? or well weigh
With whom he must contend? encountering fierce
The Solymean Sultan, he o'erthrew
His moony troops, returning bravely smear'd
With Paynim blood effus'd; nor did the Gaul
Not find him once a baleful foe: but when
Of counsel rash new measures he pursues,
Unhappy Prince! (no more a prince) he sees
Too late his error, forc'd to' implore relief
Of him he once defied. O destitute
Of hope, unpitied; thou shouldst first have thought
Of persevering stedfast; now upbraid
Thy own inconstant ill-aspiring heart.
Lo, how the Noric plains through thy default
Rise hilly, with large piles of slaughter'd knights.
Best men! that warr'd still firmly for their prince,
Though faithless; and unshaken duty show'd,
Worthy of better end. Where cities stood,
Well fenc'd and numerous, desolation reigns
And emptiness: dismay'd, unfed, unhous'd,
The widow and the orphan stroll around