Thy payment shall but double be;
Oh then with speed resign

My own seducèd heart to me,
Accompanied with thine.

Sir William Davenant.

CV

LOYALTY CONFINED.

Beat on, proud billows; Boreas, blow;
Swell, curled waves, high as Jove's roof;
Your incivility doth show

That innocence is tempest-proof:

Though surly Nereus frown, my thoughts are calm; 5 Then strike, Affliction, for thy wounds are balm.

That which the world miscalls a jail,

A private closet is to me,
Whilst a good conscience is my bail,
And innocence my liberty:

Locks, bars, and solitude together met,
Make me no prisoner, but an anchoret.

I, whilst I wished to be retired,
Into this private room was turned;
As if their wisdom had conspired

The salamander should be burned;
Or like a sophy that would drown a fish,
I am constrained to suffer what I wish.

The cynic loves his poverty;

The pelican her wilderness
And 'tis the Indian's pride to be
Naked on frozen Caucasus :

Contentment cannot smart; stoics we see
Make torments easy to their apathy.

These manacles upon my arm

I, as my mistress' favours, wear;

ΙΟ

15

20

25

And for to keep my ancles warm,

I have some iron shackles there : These walls are but my garrison; this cell, Which men call jail, doth prove my citadel.

I'm in the cabinet locked up,

Like some high-prizèd margarite,
Or like the great Mogul or Pope,

30

Am cloistered up from public sight:

Retiredness is a piece of majesty,

35

And thus, proud sultan, I'm as great as thee.

Here sin for want of food must starve,

Where tempting objects are not seen;
And these strong walls do only serve

To keep vice out, and keep me in:
Malice of late's grown charitable, sure,
I'm not committed, but am kept secure.

So he that struck at Jason's life,

Thinking to' have made his purpose sure,
By a malicious friendly knife

Did only wound him to a cure:

Malice, I see, wants wit; for what is meant

Mischief, ofttimes proves favour by the event.

When once my Prince affliction hath,
Prosperity doth treason seem;
And for to smooth so rough a path,

I can learn patience from him :

Now not to suffer shows no loyal heart,

When kings want ease, subjects must bear a part.

What though I cannot see my King,

Neither in person nor in coin ; ̧

Yet contemplation is a thing

That renders what I have not, mine:

I

40

45

50

55

My King from me what adamant can part,
Whom I do wear engraven on my heart?

Have you not seen the nightingale,

A pilgrim coopt into a cage,

How doth she chaunt her wonted tale

In that her narrow hermitage?

60

Even there her charming melody doth prove

65

That all her bars are trees, her cage a grove.

I am that bird, whom they combine

Thus to deprive of liberty;

But though they do my corps confine,

Yet, maugre hate, my soul is free:

And though immured, yet can I chirp and sing
Disgrace to rebels, glory to my King.

My soul is free as ambient air,

Although my baser part's immewed,
Whilst loyal thoughts do still repair
To' accompany my solitude :

Although rebellion do my body bind,
My King alone can captivate my mind.

Anon.

70

75

CVI

A ROYAL LAMENTATION.

Great Monarch of the world, from whose power springs

The potency and power of [earthly] kings,

Record the royal woe my suffering sings.

Nature and law by thy divine decree
(The only root of righteous royalty),
With this dim diadem invested me :
With it the sacred sceptre, purple robe,
The holy unction, and the royal globe;
Yet am I levelled with the life of Job,

5

The fiercest furies, that do daily tread
Upon my grief, my grey discrownèd head,
Are they that owe my bounty for their bread.

ΙΟ

With my own power my majesty they wound,
In the King's name the King's himself uncrowned;
So doth the dust destroy the diamond.

15

They promise to erect my royal stem,

To make me great, to' advance my diadem,
If I will first fall down, and worship them.

My life they prize at such a slender rate,
That in my absence they draw bills of hate,
To prove the King a traitor to the State.

Felons obtain more privilege than I; They are allowed to answer ere they die : 'Tis death for me to ask the reason why.

20

But, sacred Saviour, with thy words I woo
Thee to forgive, and not be bitter to

25

Such as Thou know'st do not know what they do.

Augment my patience, nullify my hate,
Preserve my issue, and inspire my mate;

Yet, though we perish, bless this Church and State. 30

CVII

King Charles the First.

HORATIAN ODE UPON CROMWELL'S RETURN FROM

IRELAND.

The forward youth that would appear,

Must now forsake his Muses dear,

Nor in the shadows sing
His numbers languishing.

'Tis time to leave the books in dust, And oil the unused armour's rust, Removing from the wall

The corslet of the hall.

So restless Cromwell could not cease
In the inglorious arts of peace,

But through adventurous .war
Urgèd his active star:

And like the three-forked lightning first,
Breaking the clouds where it was nurst,
Did thorough his own side

His fiery way divide:

For 'tis all one to courage high
The emulous, or enemy;

And with such, to enclose

Is more than to oppose.

Then burning through the air he went,
And palaces and temples rent ;

And Cæsar's head at last
Did through his laurels blast.

'Tis madness to resist or blame
The face of angry heaven's flame;
And if we would speak true,
Much to the Man is due,

Who, from his private gardens, where
He lived reservèd and austere

(As if his highest plot
To plant the bergamot,)

Could by industrious valour climb
To ruin the great work of time,
And cast the Kingdoms old
Into another mould.