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TO THE KING, AN ODE, &c.

1 ON MARY's Tomb, thrô rowling Years,
2 The Mournful Graces all shall weep;
3 And, with fresh Lamps and flowing Tears,
4 The Virtues endless Vigils Keep.
5 For MARY distant Lands shall Mourn
6 When late Records Her Deeds relate,
7 Ages to come, and Men unborn,
8 Shall Bless Her Name, and Sigh Her Fate.
9 Fair ALBION shall with watchful Trust,
10 Her Holy QUEEN's sad Reliques guard,
11 Till Heaven awakes the precious Dust,
12 To Cloath it in its full Reward.
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13 But let the KING forsake his Woes,
14 Reflecting on his fair Renown;
15 And take the Cypress from his Brows,
16 To put his wonted Lawrels on.
17 The Lovely Dead, whom He regrets,
18 Can know no Fear, can feel no Grief:
19 The living World, whom He forgets,
20 Would perish without His Relief.
21 In vain the British Lyons roar,
22 While prest by Grief their MONARCH stoops;
23 The Belgic Darts will wound no more,
24 If He, whose Hand sustain'd them, droops:
25 Embattel'd Princes wait their Chief,
26 Whose Voice should rule, whose Arm should lead;
27 And, in Kind Murmurs, chide that Grief
28 Which hinders EUROPE's being freed.
29 The great Example they demand
30 Who still to Conquest led the Way,
31 And wish Him present to command,
32 As They stand ready to obey.
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33 They seek that Joy which used to glow
34 Expanded on the HERO's Face,
35 When the thick Squadrons prest the Foe,
36 And WILLIAM led the glorious Chase.
37 Oh! give the Mourning Nations Joy,
38 Break forth, great Sun, with usual Light:
39 And let thy stronger Beams destroy
40 Those Clouds, which keep Thee from our sight.
41 Advance in thy Meridian Course,
42 And, since thy MARY's Light is gone,
43 Rejoyce the World with double Force,
44 Thy Beams all fixt in Thee alone.
45 See, pious KING, with different strife
46 Thy struggling ALBION's Bosom torn;
47 So much She fears for WILLIAM's Life,
48 That MARY's Fate she dare not mourn.
49 Her fair Delight, Her softer Half,
50 Cold in the Grave with MARY lies,
51 Unless in Thee her strength is safe,
52 The frighted Nation wholly dies.
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53 Thou, Guardian Angel, save our Land.
54 From Thy own Grief, her fiercest foe;
55 Lest, rais'd and rescu'd by thy Hand,
56 She bend and sink beneath thy Woe.
57 Her former Triumphs all are vain,
58 Unless new Trophies still be sought;
59 And hoary Majesty sustain
60 The Battles which thy youth has fought.
61 Where now is BRITAIN's fearful Love,
62 Which made Her hate the War's alarms?
63 Where that Excess with which She strove
64 To keep her HERO in her Arms?
65 While still She chid the coming Spring,
66 Which call'd Thee o'er thy subject Seas,
67 Whilst, for the Safety of the KING,
68 She wish'd the VICTOR's Glory less?
69 'Tis gone, 'tis chang'd; sad BRITAIN now
70 Hastens her LORD to Foreign Wars:
71 Happy if Toyls may break his Woe,
72 Or Danger may divert his Cares.
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73 In Martial sounds She drowns her Sighs,
74 Lest He the rising Grief should hear.
75 She pulls her Helmet o'er her Eyes,
76 Lest He should see the falling Tear.
77 Go, Mighty Prince, let FRANCE be taught
78 How constant Minds by grief are try'd,
79 How great the Land, that wept and fought,
80 When WILLIAM led, and MARY dy'd.
81 Fierce in the Battle make it Known,
82 Where Death with all her Darts is seen,
83 That she could strike Thy Heart with None,
84 But that with which she struck the QUEEN.
85 Thy Virtue, whose resistless force
86 No dire Event could ever stay,
87 Must carry on its destin'd course,
88 Thô Death and envy stop the way.
89 Envy shall calm that useless Rage,
90 By which Thy Glory brighter grows,
91 And Death, Thy Sorrows to asswage,
92 Shall turn her wrath, and wound Thy Foes.
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93 BELGIA indulg'd her open Grief,
94 While yet her Master was not near,
95 She hated Hope, She scorn'd Relief,
96 And triumph'd, Proud in full Despair.
97 Her echo'd Wailings pierc't the Skyes,
98 To Earth her bended Forehead bow'd,
99 The Tears unbounded from her Eyes,
100 As Waters from her Sluces, flow'd.
101 But soon as Thou her Lord return'd,
102 Her Head is rear'd, her Eyes are dry'd,
103 She smiles as WILLIAM ne'r had mourn'd,
104 She looks as MARY ne'r had dy'd.
105 That Freedom which all Sorrows claim
106 She does for Thy Content resign:
107 Her Piety it self would blame,
108 If Her Regrets should waken Thine.
109 Dissembling Ease, and forcing Joy,
110 She begs her Lord his Tears to dry:
111 Did BELGIA e're her prayers employ,
112 And ORANGE stand regardless by?
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113 To cure Thy Woes She shews thy Fame,
114 Lest the great Mourner should forget
115 That all the Race whence ORANGE came,
116 Made Virtue triumph over Fate.
117 WILLIAM his Countrey's Cause cou'd fight,
118 And with His Blood its Freedom Seal:
119 MAURICE and HENRY guard that Right
120 For which their pious Father fell.
121 A second WILLIAM's Bloom could tell
122 How Heroes rise, how Patriots set:
123 As Theirs did Others Deeds excel,
124 Excelling Theirs be Thine compleat.
125 The last fair Instance Thou must give
126 Whence NASSAU's Virtue can be try'd;
127 And shew the World that Thou canst live
128 As glorious as Thy MARY dy'd.
129 That Thou canst live for BELGIA's sake,
130 Pierc'd by her Griefs forget Thy own;
131 New Toyls endure, new Conquests make
132 To give her Ease, thô Thou hast None.
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133 To keep from treach'rous Foes Her store,
134 Thô all Thy Wealth be robb'd by Death;
135 To vanquish, thô She lives no more
136 Whose Hands prepar'd the Victor's Wreath.
137 Oh, could Thy Griefs obdurate prove
138 To BELGIA's Cries, to BRITAIN's Fears,
139 Yet let them yield to MARY's Love,
140 To NASSAU's Glory joyn'd in Her's.
141 If MARY could so well command,
142 It was by long obeying Thee;
143 Her Scepter, guided by Thy Hand,
144 Preserv'd the Isles and rul'd the Sea.
145 But oh! 'twas little that Her Life
146 Thy Fame o'er Earth and Water bears,
147 In Death 'twas worthy WILLIAM's Wife
148 To Fix His Name amidst the Stars.
149 Beyond where Matter moves, or Place
150 Receives its Forms, Thy Virtues rowl:
151 From MARY's Glories Angels trace
152 The Beauties of Her Part'ners Soul.
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153 Wise Fate, which does its Heaven decree
154 To Heroes, when They yield their breath,
155 Hastens Thy Triumphs, Half of Thee
156 Is deifi'd before Thy Death.
157 And to Thy Fame alone 'tis given
158 Unbounded thrô all Worlds to go,
159 While MARY reigns a Saint in Heaven,
160 And Thou a Demi-God below.
FINIS.

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About this text

Title (in Source Edition): TO THE KING, AN ODE, &c.
Author: Matthew Prior
Themes:
Genres: ode; address

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Source edition

Prior, Matthew, 1664-1721. To the King, an ode on His Majesty's arrival in Holland, 1695 by Mr. Prior. London: Printed for Jacob Tonson ..., 1695, pp. 3-11. 11 p. (ESTC R21182; OTA A55912)

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The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.

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