The Poetical Works of the Right Hon. George Granville, Lord Lansdowne/61
EPISTLES.
TO THE
EARL OF PETERBOROUGH,
His Juno barren, in unfruitful joys
Our Britiſh Jove his nuptial hours employs:
So Fate ordains, that all our hopes may be,
And all our proſpect, gallant York! in thee.
By the ſame wish aſpiring queens are led,5
Each languiſhing, to mount his royal bed;
His youth, his wiſdom, and his early fame,
Create in ev’ry breaſt a rival flame:
Remoteſt kings ſit trembling on their thrones,
As if no diſtance could ſecure their crowns;10
Fearing his valour, wiſely they contend
To bribe with beauty ſo renown’d a friend:
Beauty the price, there need no other arts;
Love is the ſureſt bait for heroes’ hearts;
Nor can the fair conceal as high concern15
To ſee the prince for whom, unſeen, they burn.
Brave York! attending to the gen’ral voice,
At length reſolves to make the wiſh’d-for choice;
To noble Mordaunt, generous and juſt,
Os his great heart he gives the ſacred truſt.20
“Thy choice,” ſaid he, “ſhall well direct that heart
Where thou, my beſt belov’d, haſt ſuch a part:
In council oft, and oft in battle try’d,
Betwixt thy maſter and the world decide.”
The choſen Mercury prepares t’ obey25
This high command. Gently, ye Winds! convey,
And with auſpicious gales his ſafety wait,
On whom depend Great Britain’s hopes and fate.
So Jaſon, with his Argonauts, from Greece
To Colchos ſail’d, to ſeek the Golden Fleece.30
As when the goddeſſes came down of old
On Ida’s hill, ſo many ages told,
With gifts their young Dardanian judge they try’d,
And each bade high to win him to her ſide;
So tempt they him, and emulouſly vie35
To bribe a voice that empires would not buy:
With balls and banquets his pleas’d ſenſe they bait,
And queens and kings upon his pleaſures wait.
Th’ impartial judge ſurveys, with vaſt delight,
All that the ſun ſurrounds of fair and bright;40
Then, ſtrictly juſt, he, with adoring eyes,
To radiant Eſté gives the royal prize.
Of antique ſtock her high deſcent ſhe brings,
Born to renew the race of Britain’s kings.
Who could deſerve like her, in whom we ſee45
United all that Paris found in three?
O equal pair! when both were ſet above
All other merit but each other’s love.
Welcome, bright Princeſs! to Great Britain’s ſhore,
As Berecynthia to high heav’n, who bore50
That ſhining race of goddeſſes and gods
That fill’d the ſkies, and rul’d the bleſs’d abodes:
From thee my Muſe expects as noble themes,
Another Mars and Jove, another James:
Our suture hopes all from thy womb ariſe,55
Our preſent joy and ſafety from your eyes;
Thoſe charming eyes! which ſhine to reconcile
To harmony and peace our ſtubborn Iſle.
On brazen Memnon Phœbus caſts a ray,
And the tough metal ſo ſalutes the day.60
The Britiſh dame, fam’d for reſiſtleſs grace,
Contends not now but for the ſecond place;
Our love ſuſpended, we neglect the fair
For whom we burn’d, to gaze adoring here.
So ſang the Syrens, with enchanting ſound,65
Enticing all to liſten and be drown’d,
Till Orpheus raviſh’d in a nobler ſtrain;
They ceas’d to ſing, or ſinging charm’d in vain.
This bleſs’d alliance, Peterborough! may
Th’ indebted nation bounteouſly repay;70
Thy ſtatues, for the Genius of our land,
With palm adorn’d, on ev’ry threſhold ſtand.72