Under thy grey discernibly thin stream
Lies, like to shipwrack strawberries in cream.
I know 'tis vain to boast what thou hast been,
Yet thou wert red, when bloody votes were green;
Ere ripe rebellion had a full-age power
To commit Laud and Gourney to the Tower;
Ere middle sighted judgment understood
That 'twas 'gainst sense o' th' Houses to be good.
It is no humble honour of thy fate
To follow in thy sufferings those of state.
I have observed since Leslie's coming in
Thou hast been still declining with the king,
Spite Fairfax and the Scots did all agree
To take our sleep from us, thy nap from thee.
But to declare thee in the State concern'd,
When Pomfret was relieved, then thou wert turn'd.
Prove thou didst wear new buttons on thy breast
When baffled Waller did retreat from th' West.
When taken Leicester raised our thoughts and speech,
Then thou wert reinforced in the breech.
Thanks to my tops and care which thought it meet
To rob my legs to keep thee on thy feet.
Nay, may I want belief if, when the report
Of lost Bridgewater first arrived at court,
Each whisper did not rend thee: I could tell
Still by new holes how our disasters fell.
At Langport, when the west was well ago
(A sad mischance) thy rear miscarried too,
And by a strong intelligence, the same time,
Thy hooks and buttons sprung with Sherburn's mine.
Now peace be with thy dust, whilst I do mourn
And, loyally industrious, close thy urn;
For the next motion to a calm in th' air
Will thy poor extants into pieces tear:
And, as the wind when the wing'd nation pays
Their feather'd tribute, send it several ways;
One fragment would into Bridgewater fall,
In Sherburn one, in several garrisons all,
And th' insolent rebels at that sight be won
To think our thread of life like thine be done.
No, quondam suit, I'll keep thee from their claws,
Rotten as th' art, thou shalt be sound for th' cause.
Rather than to our prejudice be dispersed,
Thou shalt make Jack-o'-lents and Babies first,
Bait fishes' hooks to cozen mack'rels' lips,
Because they keep the seas with rebels' ships:
Make good a field of peas against jackdaw,
Reduce revolting turkeys into awe;
And every part of thee shall be employ'd
To serve against rebellion and pride.
And as the pious ancients used to rear
Tombs to the bodies which they know not where
To find, to thee, pure Shade of Shades (for in
This mortal life no ghost could be more thin)
This monumental paper I do vow,
And thank God I've another habit now.
An Imploration to the King of Kings.
(Carisbrook, 1648.)
REAT monarch of the world, from whose power springs
The potency and power of kings,
Record the royal woe my suffering sings;
And teach my tongue, that ever did confine
Its faculties in truth's seraphic line,
To track the treasons of thy foes and mine.
Nature and law, by thy divine decree, (The only root of righteous royalty,) With this dim diadem invested me:
With it, the sacred sceptre, purple robe,
The holy unction, and the royal globe:
Yet am I levell'd with the life of Job.
The fiercest furies, that do daily tread
Upon my grief, my grey discrowned head,
Are those that owe my bounty for their bread.
They raise a war, and christen it the cause,
Whilst sacrilegious hands have best applause,
Plunder and murder are the kingdom's laws;
Tyranny bears the title of taxation,
Revenge and robbery are reformation,
Oppression gains the name of sequestration.
My loyal subjects who in this bad season Attend me (by the law of God and reason) They dare impeach, and punish for high treason.
Next at the clergy do their furies frown,
Pious episcopacy must go down,
They will destroy the crozier and the crown.
Churchmen are chain'd, and schismatics are freed,
Mechanics preach, and holy fathers bleed,
The crown is crucified with the creed.
The church of England doth all faction foster,
The pulpit is usurp'd by each impostor,
Ex tempore excludes the pater noster.
The presbyter and independent seed
Springs with broad blades; to make religion bleed,
Herod and Pontius Pilate are agreed.
The corner stones misplaced by every pavier;
With such a bloody method and behaviour,
Their ancestors did crucify our Saviour.
My royal consort, from whose fruitful womb
So many princes legally have come,
Is forced in pilgrimage to seek a tomb.
Great Britain's heir is forced into France,
Whilst on his father's head his foes advance :
Poor child! he weeps out his inheritance.
With my own power my majesty they wound,
In the King's name the King himself's uncrown'd:
So doth the dust destroy the diamond.
With propositions daily they enchant
My people's ears, such as do reason daunt,
And the Almighty will not let me grant.
They promise to erect my royal stem,
To make me great, t' advance my diadem,
If I will first fall down and worship them!
But for refusal they devour my thrones,
Distress my children, and destroy my bones,
I fear they'll force me to make bread of stones.
My life they prize at such a slender rate,
That in my absence they draw bills of hate,
To prove the King a traitor to the State.
Felons obtain more privilege than I,
They are allow'd to answer ere they die;
'Tis death for me to ask the reason why.
But sacred Saviour, with thy words I woo
Thee to forgive, and not be bitter to
Such as thou know'st do not know what they do.
For since they from their Lord are so disjointed,
As to contemn those edicts he appointed,
How can they prize the power of his anointed?
Augment my patience, nullify my hate,
Preserve my issue, and inspire my mate;
Yet though we perish, bless this Church and State.
Composed for a confiding Brother, for the benefit and edification of the faithful ones.
ROM villany dress'd in the doublet of zeal,
From three kingdoms baked in one common-weal,
From a gleek of Lord Keepers of one poor seal,
Libera nos, &c.
From a preacher in buff, and a quarter-staff steeple, [4 st.
From th' unlimited sovereign power of the people,
From a kingdom that crawls on its knees like a cripple,
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