From gods deſcended, and of race divine,
Neſtor in council and Ulyſſes ſhine;
But in a day of battle all would yield
To the fierce maſter of the ſeven-fold ſhield.
Their very deities were grac’d no more;15
Mars had the courage, Jove the thunder bore;
But all perfections meet in James alone,
And Britain’s king is all the gods in one.18
TO MR. WALLER.
In anſwer to Mr. Waller’s verſes to the Author.
When into Libya the young Grecian came,
To talk with Hammon, and conſult for fame;
When from the ſacred tripod where he ſtood
The prieſt, inſpir’d, ſaluted him a god;
Scarce ſuch a joy that haughty victor knew,5
Thus own’d by Heav‘’n, as I, thus prais’d by you.
Whoe’er their names can in thy numbers ſhow
Have more than empire, and immortal grow;
Ages to come ſhall ſcorn the pow’rs of old,
When in thy verſe of greater gods they ’re told;10
Our beauteous queen and royal James’s name
For Jove and Juno ſhall be plac’d by Fame;
Thy Charles sor Neptune ſhall the ſeas command,
And Sachariſſa ſhall for Venus ſtand;
Greece ſhall no longer boaſt, nor haughty Rome,
But think from Britain all the gods did come.16
