The Genuine Remains in Verse and Prose of Mr. Samuel Butler/Volume 1/To the honourable Edward Howard, Esq; upon his incomparable Poem of the British Princes

by Samuel Butler (1612-1680)

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To the Honourable

EDWARD HOWARD, Esq;^[1]

Upon his incomparable

POEM

OF THE

BRITISH PRINCES.

SIR,
You've obliged the British Nation more
Than all their Bards could ever do before,
And at your own Charge, Monuments more hard
Than Brass, or Marble, to their Fame have rear'd:
5 For as all warlike Nations take delight
To hear how brave their Ancestors could fight,
You have advanc'd to wonder their Renown,
And no less virtuously improv'd your own.
For 'twill be doubted, whether you do write,
10 Or they have acted at a nobler hight.
You of their ancient Princes have retriev'd
More than the Ages knew, in which they liv'd;
Describ'd their Customs, and their Rites anew,
Better than all their Druids ever knew:
15 Unriddled their dark Oracles, as well,
As those themselves, that made them, could foretell.
For as the Britons long have hop'd in vain,
Arthur would come to govern them again;
You have fulfill'd that Prophecy alone,
20 And in this Poem plac'd him on his Throne.
Such magic Pow'r has your prodigious Pen,
Toraise the Dead, and give new Life to Men.
Make rival Princes meet in Arms, and Love,
Whom distant Ages did so far remove:
25 For as Eternity has neither past,
Nor future, (Authors say) nor first, nor last,
But is all instant; your eternal Muse
All Ages can to any one reduce.
Then why should you, whose Miracle of Art
30 Can Life at Pleasure to the Dead impart,
Trouble in vain your better busied Head
T'observe what Time they liv'd in, or were dead?
For since you have such arbitrary Power,
It were defect in Judgment to go lower,
35 Or stoop to Things so pitifully lewd,
As use to take the vulgar Latitude.
There's no Man fit to read what you have writ,
That holds not some Proportion with your Wit:
As Light can no Way but by Light appear,
40 He must bring Sense, that understands it here.

1. To the Honourable Edward Howard, Esq; &c.] Most of the celebrated Wits in Charles the Second's Reign, addrest this Gentle man, in a bantering Way upon his Poem called the British Princes, and among the rest Butler. What he wrote upon this Occasion was inserted in Dryden's Miscellanies, under the Name of Mr. Waller, and upon that Authority, Mr. Fenton has introduced it into his Edition of Waller's Works. That this Piece is not Waller's must be evident to every distinguishing Reader; and that it is Butler's is no less clear, not only from the Manner, but also by its being found among his other Manuscripts accompanied by the Palinodie which follows it; but to make the Matter still more demonstrable, I must add, that I find several of the Lines and Thoughts in his common-place Collection.
   Those Readers who have a mind to be satisfied of the Justness of our Poet's Satyr, are referred to Mr. Howard's Poem called the British Princes.