And think all still the best that He will do. That thought shall make, He will this loss supply With a long, large, and blessed posterity! Cannot but heap that grace He will requite. AN EPIGRAM TO OUR GREAT AND GOOD KING CHARLES, ON HIS ANNIVERSARY DAY. 1629. How happy were the subject if he knew, How many times, Live long, Charles! would he say, If he but weighed the blessings of this day? For safety of such majesty cry out. Indeed, when had Great Britain greater cause When your assiduous practice doth secure "Tis not alone the merchant, but the clown, Is bankrupt turned; the cassock, cloak, and gown, Are lost upon accompt, and none will know How much to heaven for thee, great Charles, they owe! AN EPIGRAM ON THE PRINCE'S BIRTH. 1630. And art thou born, brave babe? Blessed be thy birth, That so hath crowned our hopes, our spring, and earth, The bed of the chaste Lily and the Rose! The same that thou art promised; but be slow, moon, And interpose thyself ('care not how soon), run, Sol will reshine; if not, Charles hath a son.' "Non displicuisse meretur Festinat Cæsar qui placuisse tibi." 101 101 The prince (Charles II.) was born this year, on the 29th of May, on which day there was an eclipse of the moon. G. AN EPIGRAM TO THE QUEEN, THEN LYING IN. 1630. Hail, Mary, full of grace! it once was said, seen, When was there Except the joy that the first Mary brought, To make the hearts of a whole nation smile, AN ODE, OR SONG, BY ALL THE MUSES, 1 Clio. Up, public joy, remember This sixteenth of November, 1630. 102 Although the character of this epigram might lead the reader to a different conclusion, Jonson had been "reconciled to the church" many years before it was written. Dryden alone has reached to the height of the impious parallel which runs through it, when, in the Britannia Rediviva, he treats the birth of a prince as a miracle brought about by the direct agency of the angels, and compares the union of three realms in one under his sway to the Trinity, who had stamped their image upon him.-B. Some brave uncommon way; Ring thou it holy-day. 2 Mel. What though the thrifty Tower, This city, or to shake Their guarded gates asunder? 3 Thal. Yet let our trumpets sound; Harp, lute, theorbo sprung, With touch of dainty thumbs! 103 4 Eut. That when the quire is full, The angels from their spheres ; May wish itself a sense, 5 Terp. Behold the royal Mary, The daughter of great Harry, And sister to just Lewis! 103 Gifford reads "learned thumbs," adopted from another edition. Of all her brother's story, And of her father's prowess! 6 Erat. She shows so far above As here no Venus were, 7 Call. See, see our active king Hey! for the flower of France! 8 Ura. This day the court doth measure Her joy in state and pleasure; And with a reverend fear, The revels and the play, Sum up this crowned day, Her two-and-twentieth year! 9 Poly. Sweet, happy Mary! all The people her do call, And this the womb divine! So fruitful, and so fair, Hath brought the land an heir, And Charles a Caroline. 104 Alluding to the old chivalry joust of riding, or running at the ring. - B. |