To Mr. DRYDEN.

H

OW long, great Poet, shall thy facred Lays
Provoke our Wonder, and tranfcend our
Praife?

Can neither injuries of Time, or Age,

Damp thy poetic Heat, and quench thy Rage?

Not fo thy Ovid in his Exile wrote,

Grief chill'd his Breaft, and check'd his rifing Thought;
Penfive and fad, his drooping Muse betrays
The Roman Genius in its last Decays.

Prevailing Warmth has ftill thy mind possest,
And fecond Youth is kindled in thy breast;
Thou mak'st the beauties of the Romans known,
And England boasts of riches not her own;
Thy lines have heighten'd Virgil's Majesty,
And Horace wonders at himself in Thee.
Thou teacheft Perfius to inform our isle
In smoother Numbers, and a clearer Style;

And

And Juvenal, inftructed in thy page,
Edges his Satire, and improves his Rage.
Thy Copy cafts a fairer Light on all,
And still out-fhines the bright Original.

Now Ovid boafts th' Advantage of thy Song,
And tells his Story in the British tongue;

Thy charming Verfe, and fair Tranflations, fhow
How thy own Laurel firft began to grow :
How wild Lycaon chang'd by angry Gods,

And frighted at himself, ran howling through the Woods.

O may't thou still the noble Task prolong, Nor Age, nor Sickness interrupt thy fong:. Then may we wond'ring read, how Human Limbs Have water'd Kingdoms, and diffolv'd in Streams; Of thofe rich Fruits that on the fertile mold Turn'd yellow by degrees, and ripen'd into Gold: How fome in Feathers, or a ragged Hide, Have liv❜d a Second life, and diff'rent Natures try'd. Then will thy Ovid thus transform'd, reveal A Nobler Change than he himself can tell.

Magd. Coll. Oxon.

Jane 2, 1693.

The Author's age 22.

A

A

POEM

TO HIS

*MAJESTY.

Prefented to the Lord Keeper.

King William, Printed in the year 1695. The Author's age 240

1

CARACASIGES GABONAD

To the Right Honourable

SIR JOHN SOMERS.

I

Lord Keeper of the Great Seal.

Fyet your thoughts are loofe from State Affairs,
Nor feel the burden of a Kingdom's Cares,
If yet your Time and Actions are your own,
Receive the prefent of a Muse unknown :
A Mufe that in Advent'rous numbers fings
The rout of Armies, and the fall of Kings,
Britain advanc'd, and Europe's Peace reftor'd,
By SOMERS' Counfels, and by NASSAU's Sword.

To you, my Lord, thefe daring thoughts belong
Who help'd to raise the Subject of my Song;
To You the Hero of my verfe reveals
His great Defigns, to You in Council tells
His Inmoft thoughts, determining the doom
Of Towns Unform'd, and Battles yet to come.
And well cou'd You, in Your Immortal ftrains,
Defcribe his Conduct, and reward his Pains :
But fince the State has all your Cares ingreft,
And Poetry in Higher thoughts is loft,

VOL. I.

C

Attend