46
ANNUS MIRABILIS:
179.
The wary Dutch this gathering Storm foresaw,
And durst not bide it on the English-coast:
Behind their treach'rous Shallows they withdraw,
And there lay snares to catch the British host.
The wary Dutch this gathering Storm foresaw,
And durst not bide it on the English-coast:
Behind their treach'rous Shallows they withdraw,
And there lay snares to catch the British host.
180.
So the false Spider, when her Nets are spread,
Deep ambush'd in her silent Den does lie:
And feels, far off, the trembling of her thread,
Whose filmy Cord should bind the struggling Fly.
So the false Spider, when her Nets are spread,
Deep ambush'd in her silent Den does lie:
And feels, far off, the trembling of her thread,
Whose filmy Cord should bind the struggling Fly.
181.
Then, if at last, she find him fast beset,
She issues forth, and runs along her Loom:
She joys to touch the Captive in her Net,
And drags the little Wretch in triumph home.
Then, if at last, she find him fast beset,
She issues forth, and runs along her Loom:
She joys to touch the Captive in her Net,
And drags the little Wretch in triumph home.
182.
The Belgians hop'd, that, with disorder'd haste,
Our deep-cut Keels upon the Sands might run:
Or, if with caution leisurely were past,
Their numerous Gross might charge us one by one.
The Belgians hop'd, that, with disorder'd haste,
Our deep-cut Keels upon the Sands might run:
Or, if with caution leisurely were past,
Their numerous Gross might charge us one by one.
183. But,
