Not that thy fp'rit might on me doubled be,
I ask but half thy mighty fp'rit for me;

And when my Muse soars with so strong a wing, 'Twill learn of things divine,and first of thee,to fing-74

UPON THE DEATH OF

THE EARL OF BALCARRES

I.

'Tis folly allthat can be faid

By living mortals of th' immortal dead,

And I'm afraid they laugh at the vain tears we shed.

'Tis as if we, who stay behind

In expectation of the wind,

Should pity those who pass'd this ftreight before,

And touch the univerfal fhore

Ah! happy Man! who art to fail no more!

And if it feem ridiculous to grieve

Because our friends are newly come from sea,

Tho' ne'er fo fair and calm it be,

What would all fober men believe,
If they should hear us fighing fay,
Balcarres, who but th' other day

Did all our love and our respect command,
At whofe great parts we all amaz'd did stand,
Is from a ftorm, alas! caft fuddenly on land?

II.

If you will fay, few perfons upon earth
Did, more than he, deferve to have

ΤΟ

15

A life exempt from fortune and the grave,
Whether you look upon his birth,

And ancestors, whose fame's fo widely spread,
But ancestors, alas! who long ago are dead!
Or whether you confider more

The vast increase, as fure you ought,

Of honour by his labour bought,

And added to the former ftore;

20

25

All I can answer is, that I allow

The privilege you plead for, and avow,

That as he well deferv'd, he doth enjoy it now. 30

III.

Tho' God, for great and righteous ends,
Which his unerring providence intends,
Erroneous mankind should not understand,
Would not permit Balcarres' hand,

That once, with so much industry and art,
Had clos'd the gaping wounds of ev'ry part,
To perfect his distracted nation's cure,
Or stop the fatal bondage 'twas t'endure;
Yet for his pains he foon did him remove,
From all th' oppreffion and the woe

Of his frail body's native foil below,

To his foul's true and peaceful country' above:
So godlike kings, for fecret caufes, known,
Sometimes, but to themselves alone,

One of their ableft ministers elect,

And fend abroad, to treaties which they intend

35

40

45

Shall never take effect;

But tho' the treaty wants a happy end,

The happy agent wants not the reward

For which he labour'd faithfully and hard;
His juft and righteous master calls him home,
And gives him near himself some honourable room.
IV.

50

Noble and great endeavours did he bring

To fave his country, and restore his King;

And whilft the manly half of him, which thofe 55
Who know not love to be the whole fuppofe,
Perform'd all parts of Virtue's vigorous life,
The beauteous half, his lovely wife,

Did all his labours and his cares divide,
Nor was a lame nor paralitic side:
In all the turns of human state,
And all th' unjust attacks of Fate,
She bore her share and portion still,
And would not fuffer any to be ill.
Unfortunate for ever let me be,
If I believe that fuch was he

Whom, in the storms of bad fuccefs,
And all that error calls unhappiness,

60

65

His virtue and his virtuous wife did ftill accompany.

V.

With these companions 'twas not strange

That nothing could his temper change.
His own and country's ruin had not weight

༡༠

Enough to crush his mighty mind :

He faw around the hurricanes of state,

Fix'd as an island 'gainst the waves and wind.
Thus far the greedy sea may reach,

75

All outward things are but the beach;

A great man's foul it doth affault in vain;

Their God himself the ocean doth restrain
With an imperceptible chain,

80

And bid it to go back again.

His wisdom, juftice, and his piety,

His courage, both to fuffer and to die,
His virtues, and his lady, too,

85

Were things celestial: and we fee
In fpight of quarrelling Philofophy,
How in this cafe 'tis certain found,"

That Heav'n ftands still, and only earth goes round.

ON THE DEATH OF

MRS. KATHERINE PHILIPS.

I.

CRUEL Difeafe! ah, could it not fuffice
Thy old and constant spight to exercise
Against the gentleft and the fairest fex,
Which still thy depredations most do vex?
Where still thy malice most of all,

(Thy malice or thy luft) does on the fairest fall,
And in them moft affault the fairest place,
The throne of Empress Beauty, ev'n the face,

5

There was enough of that here to affwage (One would have thought) eithert by luft or rage. ro Was 't not enough when thou, profane Disease!

Didit on this glorious temple seize?

Was 't not enough, like a wild zealot, there

All the rich outward ornaments to tear,

Deface the innocent pride of beauteous images? 15
Was 't not enough thus rudely to defile,
But thou muft quite destroy the goodly pile?
And thy unbounded facrilege commit

On th' inward holieft holy of her wit?

Cruel Disease! there thou miftook'ft thy pow'ri zo No mine of Death can that devour;

On her embalmed name it will abide

An everlasting pyramid,

As high as heav'n the top, as earth the bafis wide.

II.

All ages past record, all countries now,

In various kinds fuch equal beauties show,
That ev'n Judge Paris would not know
On whom the golden apple to bestow;
Tho' goddeffes to his fentence did submit,
Women and lovers would appeal from it;
Nor durft he say, of all the female race

This is the fov'reign face.

25

30

And fome (tho' these be of a kind that 's rare, That's much, ah! much lefs frequent than the fair)

So equally renown'd for virtue are,

U j

35