As when the ftars in their etherial race,
At length have roll'd around the liquid space,
At certain periods they resume their place,
From the fame point of heaven their course advance,
And move in measures of their former dance;
Thus, after length of ages, the returns,
Reftor'd in you, and the fame place adorns;
Or you perform her office in the sphere,
Born of her blood, and make a new platonic year.
O true Plantagenet, O race divine,
(For beauty ftill is fatal to the line,)
Had Chaucer liv'd that angel-face to view,
Sure he had drawn his Emily from
Or had you liv'd to judge the doubtful right,
Your noble Palamon had been the knight;
And conquering Thefeus from his fide had fent
Your generous lord, to guide the Theban government,
Time shall accomplish that; and I fhall fee
A Palamon in him, in you an Emily.
Already have the Fates your path prepar'd,
And fure prefage your future fway declar'd:
When weftward, like the fun, you took your way,
And from benighted Britain bore the day,
Blue Triton gave the fignal from the shore,
The ready Nereids heard, and fwam before
To smooth the feas; a foft Etefian gale
But juft infpir'd, and gently fwell'd the fail;
Portunus took his turn, whofe ample hand
Heav'd up his lighten'd keel, and funk the fand,
And fteer'd the facred veffel fafe to land.
The land, if not reftrain'd, had met your way,
Projected out a neck, and jutted to the fea.
Hibernia, proftrate at your feet, ador'd
In you, the pledge of her expected lord;
Due to her ifle; a venerable name;
His father and his grandfire known to fame;
Aw'd by that house, accuftom'd to command,
The sturdy Kerns in due fubjection ftand;
Nor bear the reins in any foreign hand.
At your approach, they crowded to the port;
And, fcarcely landed, you create a court:
As Ormond's harbinger, to you they run;
For Venus is the promise of the fun.
The wafte of civil wars, their towns destroy'd,
Pales unhonour'd, Ceres unemploy'd,
Were all forgot; and one triumphant day
Wip'd all the tears of three campaigns away.
Blood, rapines, maffacres, were cheaply bought,
So mighty recompence your beauty brought.
As when the dove returning bore the mark
Of earth restor❜d to the long labouring ark,
The relicks of mankind, fecure of rest,
Ope'd every window to receive the guest,
And the fair bearer of the meffage blefs'd;
So, when you came, with loud repeated cries,
The nation took an omen from your eyes,
And God advanc'd his rainbow in the skies,
To fign inviolable peace reftor'd;
The faints with folemn fhouts proclaim'd the new accord.
When at your fecond coming you appear,
(For I foretel that millenary year)
The sharpen'd share shall vex the foil no more,
But earth unbidden fhall produce her store;
The land fhall laugh, the circling ocean fmile,
And heaven's indulgence blefs the holy isle.
Heaven from all ages has referv'd for you
That happy clime, which venom never knew;
Or if it had been there, your eyes alone
Have power to chase all poison, but their own.
Now in this interval, which fate has caft
Betwixt your future glories and your paft,
This paufe of power, 'tis Ireland's hour to mourn;
While England celebrates your fafe return,
By which you feem the seasons to command,
And bring our fummers back to their forfaken land.
The vanquish'd ifle our leisure must attend,
Till the fair bleffing we vouchfafe to fend;
Nor can we fpare you long, though often we may lend. J
'The dove was twice employ'd abroad, before
The world was dry'd, and she return'd no more.
Nor dare we truft fo foft a messenger,
New from her fickness, to that northern air;
Reft here a while your luftre to restore,
That they may fee you, as you fhone before;
For yet, th' eclipfe not wholly paft, you wade
Through fome remains, and dimness of a fhade.
A fubject in his prince may claim a right,
Nor fuffer him with strength impair'd to fight;
Till force returns, his ardor we restrain,
And curb his warlike wish to cross the main.
Now past the danger, let the learn'd begin
Th' inquiry, where disease could enter in;
How thofe malignant atoms forc'd their way,
What in the faultless frame they found to make their prey?
every element was weigh'd so well,
That heaven alone, who mix'd the mafs, could tell
Which of the four ingredients could rebel;
And where, imprison'd in so sweet a cage,
A foul might well be pleas'd to pass an age.
And yet the fine materials made it weak:
Porcelain, by being pure, is apt to break:
Ev'n to your breast the sickness durft aspire;.
And, forc'd from that fair temple to retire,.
Profanely fet the holy place on fire..
In vain your lord like young Vefpafian mourn'd,
When the fierce flames the fanctuary burn'd:
And I prepar'd to pay in verses rude
A moft detefted act of gratitude:
Ev'n this had been your elegy, which now
Is offer'd for your health, the table of my vow.
Your angel fure our Morley's mind inspir'd,
To find the remedy your ill requir'd;
As once the Macedon, by Jove's decree,
Was taught to dream an herb for Ptolomee:
Or heaven, which had fuch over-coft beftow'd,
As fcarce it could afford to flesh and blood,
So lik'd the frame, he would not work anew,
To fave the charges of another you.
Or by his middle fcience did he steer,
And faw fome great contingent good appear
Well worth a miracle to keep you here:
And for that end, preferv'd the precious mould,
Which all the future Ormonds was to hold;
And meditated in his better mind
An heir from you, which may redeem the failing kind.
Bleft be the power which has at once reftor'd
The hopes of loft fucceflion to your lord,
Joy to the first and last of each degree,
Virtue to courts, and, what I long'd to fee,
Το you
the Graces, and the Mufe to me.
O daughter of the rofe, whose cheeks unite
The differing titles of the red and white;
Who heaven's alternate beauty well display,
The blush of morning and the milky way;
Whofe face is paradise, but fenc'd from fin:
For God in either eye has plac'd a cherubin.
All is your lord's alone; ev'n absent, he
Employs the care of chafte Penelope.
For him you waste in tears your widow'd hours,
For him your curious needle paints the flowers;
Such works of old Imperial dames were taught;
Such, for Afcanius, fair Elifa wrought.
The foft receffes of your hours improve
The three fair pledges of your happy love:
All other parts of pious duty done,
You owe your Ormond nothing but a fon;
To fill in future times his father's place,
And wear the garter of his mother's race.
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