Complete Works of William Congreve Read online

  Shall both surmount Detraction, and survive:

  And Poets have unquestion’d Right, to claim

  If not the Greatest, the most Lasting Name.

  W. Congreve.

  THE MOURNING MUSE

  OF ALEXIS.

  A PASTORAL.

  Lamenting the Death of QUEEN MARY.

  Infandum Regina Jubes renovare dolorem. Vir.

  ALEXIS, MENALCAS.

  MENALCAS.

  BEHOLD, Alexis, see this Gloomy Shade,

  Which seems alone for Sorrow’s Shelter made;

  Where, no glad Beams of Light can ever play,

  But Night succeeding Night, excludes the Day;

  Where, never Birds with Harmony repair, 5

  And lightsome Notes, to cheer the Dusky Air,

  To welcome Day, or bid the Sun farewel,

  By Morning Lark, or Evening Philomel.

  No Violet here, nor Daisie e’er was seen,

  No sweetly budding Flower, nor springing Green: 10

  For fragrant Myrtle, and the blushing Rose,

  Here, baleful Yew with deadly Cypress grows.

  Here then, extended on this wither’d Moss,

  We’ll lie, and thou shalt sing of Albion’s Loss;

  Of Albion’s Loss, and of Pastoral’s Death, 15

  Begin thy mournful Song, and raise thy tuneful Breath.

  ALEXIS.

  Ah Woe too great! Ah Theme, which far exceeds

  The lowly Lays of humble Shepherds Reeds!

  O could I sing in Verse of equal Strain,

  With the Sicilian Bard, or Mantuan Swain; 20

  Or melting Words, and moving Numbers chuse,

  Sweet as the British Colin’s mourning Muse;

  Could I, like him, in tuneful Grief excel,

  And mourn like Stella for her Astrofel;

  Then might I raise my Voice, (secure of Skill,) 25

  And with melodious Woe the Valleys fill;

  The list’ning Echo on my Song should wait,

  And hollow Rocks Pastora’s Name repeat;

  Each whistling Wind, and murm’ring Stream should tell

  How Lov’d she liv’d, and how Lamented fell. 30

  MENALCAS.

  Wert thou with ev’ry Bay and Lawrel crown’d,

  And high as Pan himself in Song renown’d,

  Yet would not all thy Art, avail to show

  Verse worthy of her Name, or of our Woe:

  But such true Passion in thy Face appears, 35

  In thy pale Lips, thick Sighs, and gushing Tears,

  Such tender Sorrow in thy Heart I read,

  As shall supply all Skill, if not exceed.

  Then leave this common Form of dumb Distress,

  Each vulgar Grief can Sighs and Tears express; 40

  In sweet complaining Notes thy Passion vent,

  And not in Sighs, but Words explaining Sighs, lament.

  ALEXIS.

  Wild be my Words, Menalcas, wild my Thought,

  Artless as Nature’s Notes, in Birds untaught;

  Boundless my Verse, and roving be my Strains, 45

  Various as Flow’rs on unfrequented Plains.

  And thou Thalia, Darling of my Breast,

  By whom inspired, I sung at Comm Feast;

  While in a Ring, the Jolly Rural Throng

  Have sate and smil’d to hear my chearful Song: 50

  Begon, with all thy Mirth and sprightly Lays,

  My Pipe, no longer now thy Pow’r obeys;

  Learn to lament, my Muse, to weep, and mourn,

  Thy springing Lawrels, all to Cypress turn;

  Wound with thy dismal Cries the tender Air, 55

  And beat thy Snowy Breast, and rend thy yellow Hair;

  Far hence, in utmost Wilds, thy Dwelling chuse,

  Begon Thalia, Sorrow is my Muse.

  I mourn PASTORA dead, let ALBION mourn,

  And Sable Clouds her Chalkie Cliffs adorn. 60

  No more, these Woods shall with her Sight be bless’d,

  Nor with her Feet, these Flow’ry Plains be press’d;

  No more, the Winds shall with her Tresses play,

  And from her Balmy Breath steal Sweets away;

  No more, these Rivers chearfully shall pass, 65

  Pleas’d to reflect the Beauties of her Face;

  While on their Banks the wondring Flocks have stood,

  Greedy of Sight, and Negligent of Food.

  No more, the Nymphs shall with soft Tales delight

  Her Ears, no more with Dances please her Sight; 70

  Nor ever more shall Swain make Song of Mirth,

  To bless the Joyous Day, that gave her Birth:

  Lost is that Day, which had from her its Light,

  For ever lost with her, in endless Night;

  In endless Night, and Arms of Death she lies, 75

  Death in Eternal Shades has shut Pastora’s Eyes.

  Lament ye Nymphs, and mourn ye wretched Swains,

  Stray all ye Flocks, and desart be ye Plains,

  Sigh all ye Winds, and weep ye Crystal Floods,

  Fade all ye Flowers, and wither all ye Woods. 80

  I mourn PASTORA dead, let ALBION mourn,

  And Sable Clouds her Chalkie Cliffs adorn.

  Within a dismal Grott, which Damps surround,

  All cold she lies upon th’unwholsom Ground;

  The Marble weeps, and with a silent Pace, 85

  Its trickling Tears distil upon her Face.

  Falsly ye weep, ye Rocks, and falsly mourn!

  For never will you let the Nymph return!

  With a feign’d Grief the faithless Tomb relents,

  And like the Crocodile its Prey laments. 90

  O she was heav’nly fair, in Face and Mind!

  Never in Nature were such Beauties join’d:

  Without, all shining; and within, all white;

  Pure to the Sense, and pleasing to the Sight;

  Like some rare Flow’r, whose Leaves all Colours yield, 95

  And opening, is with sweetest Odours fill’d.

  As lofty Pines o’ertop the lowly Reed,

  So did her graceful Height all Nymphs exceed,

  To which excelling Height, she bore a Mind

  Humble, as Osiers bending to the Wind. 100

  Thus excellent she was —

  Ah wretched Fate! She was, but is no more.

  Help me ye Hills, and Valleys, to deplore.

  I mourn PASTORA dead, to ALBION mourn,

  And Sable Clouds her Chalkie Cliffs adorn. 105

  From that blest Earth, on which her Body lies,

  May blooming Flow’rs with fragrant Sweets arise:

  Let Myrrha weeping Aromatick Gum,

  And ever-living Lawrel, shade her Tomb,

  Thither, let all th’industrious Bees repair, 110

  Unlade their Thighs, and leave their Hony there;

  Thither, let Fairies with their Train resort,

  Neglect their Revels, and their Midnight Sport,

  There, in unusual Wailings waste the Night,

  And watch her, by the fiery Glow-worms Light. 115

  There, may no dismal Yew, nor Cypress grow,

  Nor Holly Bush, nor bitter Elders Bow;

  Let each unlucky Bird far build his Nest,

  And distant Dens receive each howling Beast;

  Let Wolves be gone, be Ravens put to flight, 120

  With hooting Owls, and Batts that hate the Light.

  But let the sighing Doves their Sorrows bring,

  And Nightingales in sweet Complainings Sing;

  Let Swans from their forsaken Rivers fly,

  And Sick’ning at her Tomb, make haste to dye, 125

  That they may help to sing her Elegy.

  Let Echo too, in Mimick Moan, deplore,

  And cry with me, Pastora is no more!

  I mourn PASTORA dead, let A L B I O N mourn,

  And Sable Clouds her Chalkie Cliff’s adorn. 130

  And see, the Heav
’ns to weep in Dew prepare,

  And heavy Mists obscure the burd’ned Air;

  A sudden Damp o’er all the Plain is spread,

  Each Lilly folds its Leaves, and hangs its Head.

  On ev’ry Tree the Blossoms turn to Tears, 135

  And ev’ry Bow a weeping Moisture bears.

  Their Wings the Feather’d Airy People droop,

  And Flocks beneath their dewy Fleeces stoop.

  The Rocks are cleft, and new descending Rills

  Furrow the Brows of all th’impending Hills. 140

  The Water-Gods to Floods their Riv’lets turn,

  And each, with streaming Eyes, supplies his wanting Urn.

  The Fawns forsake the Woods, the Nymphs the Grove,

  And round the Plain in sad Distractions rove;

  In prickly Brakes their tender Limbs they tear, 145

  And leave on Thorns their Locks of Golden Hair.

  With their sharp Nails, themselves the Satyrs wound,

  And tug their shaggy Beards, and bite with Grief the Ground.

  Lo, Pan himself, beneath a blasted Oak

  Dejected lies, his Pipe in pieces broke. 150

  See Pales weeping too, in wild Despair,

  And to the piercing Winds her Bosom bare.

  And see yond fading Myrtle, where appears

  The Queen of Love, all bath’d in flowing Tears,

  See how she wrings her Hands, and beats her Breast, 155

  And tears her useless Girdle from her Waste:

  Hear the sad Murmurs of her sighing Doves,

  For Grief they sigh, forgetful of their Loves.

  Lo, Love himself, with heavy Woes opprest!

  See, how his Sorrows swell his tender Breast; 160

  His Bow he breaks, and wide his Arrows flings,

  And folds his little Arms, and hangs his drooping Wings;

  Then, lays his Limbs upon the dying Grass,

  And all with Tears bedews his Beauteous Face,

  With Tears, which from his folded Lids arise, 165

  And even Love himself has weeping Eyes.

  All Nature mourns; the Floods and Rocks deplore,

  And cry with me, Pastora is no more!

  I mourn PASTORA dead, let ALBION mourn,

  And Sable Clouds her Chalkie Cliffs adorn. 170

  The Rocks can melt, and Air in Mists can mourn,

  And Floods can weep, and Winds to Sighs can turn;

  The Birds, in Songs, their Sorrows can disclose,

  And Nymphs and Swains, in Words, can tell their Woes.

  But oh! behold that deep and wild Despair, 175

  Which neither Winds can show, nor Floods, nor Air.

  See the Great Shepherd, Chief of all the Swains,

  Lord of these Woods, and wide extended Plains,

  Stretch’d on the Ground, and close to Earth his Face,

  Scalding with Tears th’already faded Grass; 180

  To the cold Clay he joins his throbbing Breast,

  No more within Pastora’s Arms to rest!

  No more! For those once soft and circling Arms

  Themselves are Clay, and cold are all her Charms.

  Cold are those Lips, which he no more must kiss, 185

  And cold that Bosome, once all downy Bliss;

  On whose soft Pillows, lull’d in sweet Delights,

  He us’d, in Balmy Sleep, to lose the Nights.

  Ah! where is all that Love and Fondness fled?

  Ah! where is all that tender Sweetness laid? 190

  To Dust must all that Heav’n of Beauty come!

  And must Pastora moulder in the Tomb!

  Ah Death! more fierce, and unrelenting far,

  Than wildest Wolves or savage Tigers are;

  With Lambs and Sheep their Hungers are appeas’d, 195

  But rav’nous Death the Shepherdess has seiz’d.

  I mourn PASTORA dead, let ALBION mourn,

  And Sable Clouds her Chalkie Cliffs adorn.

  “But see, Menalcas, where a sudden Light,

  “With Wonder stops my Song, and strikes my Sight! 200

  “And where Pastora lies, it spreads around,

  “Shewing all Radiant bright the Sacred Ground.

  “While from her Tomb, behold a Flame ascends

  “Of whitest Fire, whose Flight to Heav’n extends!

  “On flaky Wings it mounts, and quick as Sight 205

  “Cuts thro’ the yielding Air, with Rays of Light;

  “‘Till the blue Firmament at last it gains,

  “And fixing there, a glorious Star remains:

  Fairest it shines of all that light the Skies,

  As once on Earth were seen PASTORA’s Eyes. 210

  TO THE KING, ON THE TAKING OF NAMURE.

  IRREGULAR ODE.

  Præsenti tibi Maturos largimur Honores:

  Nil oriturum alias, nil ortum tale fatentes.

  Hor ad Augustum.

  I.

  OF Arms and War my Muse aspires to Sing,

  And strike the Lyre upon an untry’d String:

  New Fire informs my Soul, unfelt before;

  And, on new Wings, to Heights unknown I soar.

  O Pow’r unseen! by whose Resistless Force 5

  Compell’d, I take this Flight, direct my Course:

  For Fancy, wild and pathless Ways will chuse,

  Which Judgment, rarely, or with Pain, pursues.

  Say, Sacred Nymph, whence this great Change proceeds;

  Why scorns the lowly Swain his Oaten Reeds, 10

  Daring aloud to strike the Sounding Lyre,

  And sing Heroick Deeds;

  Neglecting Flames of Love, for Martial Fire?

  II.

  William, alone, my Feeble Voice can raise;

  What Voice so weak, that cannot sing his Praise! 15

  The listning World each Whisper will befriend

  That breaths his Name, and ev’ry Ear attend.

  The hov’ring Winds on downy Wings shall wait around,

  And catch, and waft to Foreign Lands, the flying Sound.

  Ev’n I will in his Praise be heard; 20

  For by his Name my Verse shall be preferr’d.

  Born like a Lark upon this Eagles Wing,

  High as the Spheres, I will his Triumph sing;

  High as the Head of Fame; Fame, whose exalted Size,

  From the deep Vale extends, up to the vaulted Skies: 25

  A thousand talking Tongues the Monster bears,

  A thousand waking Eyes, and ever open Ears;

  Hourly she stalks, with Huge Gigantick Pace,

  Measuring the Globe, like Time, with constant Race:

  Yet shall she stay, and bend to William’s Praise: 30

  Of Him, her thousand Ears shall hear triumphant Lays,

  Of Him, her Tongues shall talk, on Him her Eyes shall gaze.

  III.

  But lo, a Change astonishing my Eyes!

  And all around, behold new Objects rise!

  What Forms are these I see? and whence? 35

  Beings substantial? or does Air condense,

  To cloath in visionary Shape my various Thought?

  Are these by Fancy wrought!

  Can strong Idea’s strike so deep the Sense!

  O sacred Poesie! O boundless Power! 40

  What Wonders dost thou trace, what hidden Worlds explore.

  Thro’ Seas, Earth, Air, and the wide circling Sky,

  What is not sought and seen, by thy all-piercing Eye!

  IV.

  ’Twas now, when flow’ry Lawns the Prospect made,

  And flowing Brooks beneath a Forest’s shade; 45

  A Lowing Heifer, Loveliest of the Herd,

  Stood feeding by; while two fierce Bulls prepar’d

  Their Armed Heads for Fight; by Fate of War, to prove

  The Victor worthy of the Fair Ones Love.

  Unthought Presage, of what met next my view! 50

  For soon the shady Scene withdrew.

  A
nd now, for Woods, and Fields, and springing Flowr’s;

  Behold a Town arise, Bulwark’d with Walls, and lofty Tow’rs!

  Two Rival Armies all the Plain o’erspread,

  Each in Battalia rang’d, and shining Arms array’d: 55

  With eager Eyes, beholding both from far,

  Namure, the Prize and Mistress of the War.

  V.

  Now, Thirst of Conquest, and Immortal Fame,

  Does ev’ry Chief and Soldier’s Heart inflame.

  Defensive Arms, the Gallick Forces bear; 60

  While Hardy Britons for the Storm prepare:

  For Fortune had with partial Hand, before

  Resign’d the Rule to Gallia’s Pow’r.

  High on a Rock the mighty Fortress stands,

  Founded by Fate; and wrought by Nature’s Hands. 65

  A wond’rous Task it is th’Ascent to gain,

  Thro’ craggy Cliffs, that strike the Sight with Pain,

  And nod impending Terrors o’er the Plain.

  To this, what Dangers Men can add, by Force, or Skill,

  (And great is Humane Force and Wit, in Ill) 70

  Are join’d; on ev’ry side, wide gaping Engines wait,

  Teeming with Fire, and big with certain Fate;

  Ready to hurl Destruction from above,

  In dreadful Roar, mocking the Wrath of Jove.

  Thus fearful, does the Face of adverse Pow’r appear; 75

  But British Forces are unus’d to fear:

  Tho’ thus oppos’d, they might, if William were not there.

  VI.

  But hark, the Voice of War! Behold the Storm begin!

  The Trumpets Clangor, speaks in loud Alarms,

  Mingling shrill Notes, with dreadful Din 80

  Of Cannons burst, and ratling clash of Arms.

  Clamours from Earth to Heaven, from Heav’n to Earth rebound,

  Distinction, in promiscuous Noise is drown’d,

  And Echo lost in one continu’d Sound.

  Torrents of Fire from Brazen Mouths are sent, 85

  Follow’d by Peals, as if each Pole were rent;

  Such Flames the Gulphs of Tartarus disgorge,

  So vaulted Ætna roars from Vulcan’s Forge;

  Such were the Peals from thence, such the vast Blaze that broke,

  Redning with horrid Gloom, the dusky Smoke, 90

  When the huge Cyclops did with molding Thunder sweat,

  And Massive Bolts on repercussive Anvils beat.