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Thy nobler vessel the vast ocean tries,

And nothing sees but seas and skies,
Till unknown regions it descries,

Thou great Columbus of the golden lands of new philosophies!

Thy task was harder much than his;

For thy learn'd America is

Not only found-out first by thee,
And rudely left to future industry;
But thy eloquence, and thy wit,
Has planted, peopled, built, and civilized, it.

I little thought before

(Nor, being my own self so poor, Could comprehend so vast a store) That all the wardrobe of rich Eloquence Could have afforded half enough,

Of bright, of new, and lasting stuff,

To clothe the mighty limbs of thy gigantick sense.
Thy solid reason, like the shield from heaven
To the Trojan hero given,

Too strong to take a mark from any mortal dart,
Yet shines with gold and gems in every part,

And wonders on it grav'd by the learn'd hand of Art! A shield that gives delight

Ev'n to the enemies' sight,

Then, when they're sure to lose the combat by 't.

Nor can the snow, which cold Age does shed
Upon thy reverend head,

Quench or allay the noble fires within;
But all which thou hast been,

And all that Youth can be, thou 'rt yet!
So funny still dost thou

Enjoy the manhood and the bloom of Wit,
And all the natural heat, but not the fever too!
So contraries on Ætna's top conspire;

Here hoary frosts, and by them breaks-out fire!
A secure peace the faithful neighbours keep;
Th' embolden'd snow next to the flame does sleep
And, if we weigh, like thee,

Nature and Causes, we shall see

That thus it needs must be

To things immortal, Time can do no wrong, And that which never is to die, for ever must be young.

DESTINY.

"Hoc quoque Fatale est sic ipsum expendere Fatum.”

MANIL.

STRANGE and unnatural! let's stay and see

This pageant of a prodigy.

Lo, of themselves th' enliven'd Chess-men move!
Lo, the unbred, ill-organ'd pieces prove

As full of art and industry,

Of courage and of policy,

As we ourselves, who think there's nothing wise but we!

Here a proud Pawn I admire,

That, still advancing higher,
At top of all became

Another thing and name;

Here I'm amaz'd at th' actions of a Knight,

That does bold wonders in the fight;

Here I the losing party blame,

For those false Moves that break the Game,

That to their Grave, the Bag, the conquer'd Pieces

bring,

And, above all, th' ill-conduct of the Mated King.

"Whate'er these seem, whate'er philosophy
"And sense or reason tell," said I,
"These things have life, election, liberty;

""Tis their own wisdom moulds their state, "Their faults and virtues make their fate. "They do, they do," said I; but straight Lo! from my enlighten'd eyes the mists and shadows fell,

That hinder spirits from being visible;

And lo! I saw two angels play'd the Mate.
With man, alas! no otherwise it proves ;
An unseen hand makes all their Moves;

And some are great, and some are small, Some climb to good, some from good-fortune fall; Some wise-men, and some fools, we call; Figures, alas! of speech, for Destiny plays us all.

Me from the womb the midwife Muse did take:
She cut my navel, wash'd me, and mine head
With her own hands she fashioned;

She did a covenant with me make,

And circumcis'd my tender soul, and thus she spake: "Thou of my church shalt be;

"Hate and renounce," said she,

"Wealth, honour, pleasures, all the world, for me. "Thou neither great at court, nor in the war, "Nor at th' exchange, shalt be, nor at the wrangling

"bar:

"Content thyself with the small barren praise,
"That neglected verse does raise."
She spake, and all my years to come
Took their unlucky doom.

Their several ways of life let others choose,
Their several pleasures let them use,
But I was born for Love, and for a Muse.

With Fate what boots it to contend? Such I began, such am, and so must end. The star that did my being frame Was but a lambent flame,

And some small light it did dispense,

But neither heat nor influence.

No matter, Cowley! let proud Fortune see,

That thou canst her despise no less than she does

thee.

Let all her gifts the portion be
Of Folly, Lust, and Flattery,

Fraud, Extortion, Calumny,
Murder, Infidelity,

Rebellion and Hypocrisy ;

Do thou not grieve, nor blush to be,
As all th' inspired tuneful men,

And all thy great forefathers, were, from Homer down to Ben.

BRUTUS.

EXCELLENT Brutus! of all human race
The best, till Nature was improv'd by Grace;
Till men above themselves Faith raised more
Than Reason above beasts before.

Virtue was thy life's centre, and from thence
Did silently and constantly dispense

The gentle, vigorous influence

To all the wide and fair circumference;
And all the parts upon it lean'd so easily,
Obey'd the mighty force so willingly,
That none could discord or disorder see

In all their contrariety :

Each had his motion natural and free,

[could be.

And the whole no more mov'd than the whole world

From thy strict rule some think that thou didst swerve
(Mistaken, honest men!) in Cæsar's blood;
What mercy could the tyrant's life deserve,
From him who kill'd himself, rather than serve ?

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