Ode: Occasioned by the Coronation, 1761

I. 1.
Sleep'st thou, fair maid,
Aeolian Virgin, sleep'st thou in the cave
Of drowsy silence, all array'd
In indolence supine?
Doth listless Morpheus wave
His torpid-striking wand thy brows around,
Damping thy faculties divine?
Arise, fair maid, arise!
Shake off the tardiness of dull delay;
Quick bid the sacred lyre resound,
And tune th' harmonious lay:
Brunswick demands the verse, prepare
Thine eagle-plumes, and light as air
Sail through the azure-vaulted skies.

I. 2.
But first remove
Far from thy hallow'd presence, the base train
Of sawning Flattery; she to prove
Her love, falls bestial down
Licking the dust: disdain
So lowly to debase thine honest head,
And soil thy verdant laurel crown;
Back to thy shades retire,
Immerge in solitude thy form august;
Thy shining locks with darkness braid;
Still rest in silence, if the lust
Of fame entice thy voice to sing
The meanest of mankind, a King,
Whom vice and tyranny inspire.

I. 3.
The worthless great to praise
Befits the hireling's prostituted pen
Who sells for sordid gold his venal lays.
Though oft along the winding Seine,
Though oft in days of elder date,
On the green margin of the Tuscan stream,
Dazzled by pomp's external state,
Th' ignoble bard has strung the glozing lyre
Of specious falsehood; yet the British Muse,
Free-born, should spurn th' illusive theme;
And fraught with conscious dignity, refuse
On Folly's sons to waste her sacred fire,
Or soothing regal grandeur, weave
For undeserving Pride her ever-blooming wreathe.

II. 1.
Such caution here
Is vain: those numbers fabulously bright,
Are harsh, nor charm a Brunswick's ear.
Where Truth shall point the way,
T'ward that unclouded height
Expand thy purer wings, and onward fly:
Directed by her steady ray,
Should meager Envy scowl
With baleful front, and grimly-threatening, lance
Keen arrows from her poisonous eye,
Unmoved thou shalt advance,
Smile at her rage, without a wound
Hear her fierce serpents hiss around,
And all her ill-shaped monsters howl.

II. 2.
Chaste Virgin, say
Where shall begin the song? before my eyes
So various are the Forms which stray,
That all confused my mind,
And smit with wild surprise,
Scarce keeps its proper function. Here behold,
Upon a craggy rock reclined,
High stretch'd out o'er the main,
Despair and Horror on her faded brow,
Sits Gallia! while her arms enfold
The anguish of her breast, as now
Wide o'er the deep she looks, now o'er
Th' exhausted land, her humbled power
She weeps, thick falls the briny rain.

II. 3.
Changed is the scene, and here
Suppliant the savage chiefs of Indian race,
In lowly guise, with aspect meek appear,
The rugged features of their face
No more with death and terror clad,
Oft wont with wild foot thro the dreary shade
To range with Slaughter, oft when mad
With wrath, and hot revenge, and stern desire
Of blood and prey, in the calm silent night,
For soft repose and slumber made,
Have raised th' awakening yell of dread affright,
Have basely slain the unresisting sire,
The babe from it's fond mother tore,
Soon weltering in her own, and her loved infant's gore.

III. 1.
Well skill'd in guile,
And treacherous as th' inconstant air, which waves
It's fickle pinion with a smile
Now o'er the tranquil sea;
But soon with fury raves,
And lifts it's tortured billows to the sky;
Where the red-flaming car of day
Bursts from his morning goal,
O'er-powering darkness with refulgent might,
While disarray'd her shadows fly
Before his piercing light:
Proud Eastern Tyrants wear the chain,
Trust their deep policy in vain,
And treacherous wiliness of soul.

III. 2.
Where-e'er his arms
Proceed, th' immortal form of Victory
In her full bloom of matchless charms,
Girds laurels round the brow
Of British Mars; his eye
Gazes entranced upon the lovely maid,
Whose winning smiles endow
His thoughts with ecstasy.
Say then, bright Queen of song, wilt thou entwine
A chaplet for his honour'd head?
Wilt thou among th' assembled Nine
Exalted paint his wondrous deeds,
His thundring course, his foaming steeds,
His spear, and brazen panoply.

III. 3.
Ah, no; for what tho here,
No vile ambition covets false renown;
Yet learn, O Brunswick, name for ever dear
To Albion's sons, that at the frown
Of Justice, the distressful sigh
Mild Virtue breathes, her cheeks the pitying drop
Bedews; with tenderest sympathy
Each generous passion casts the head aside,
And every child of Reason and of Sense;
Ah! be it thine with haste to stop
The fatal rage of War and Death, dispense
With ardent zeal, and true heroic pride,
The blessings which attend the train
Of hallow'd Peace, and dignify her glorious reign.

IV. 1.
And, lo, they come!
Soft o'er the flowers which deck the velvet mead
Content and meek-ey'd Quiet roam,
Or join the choral dance
By frolic Laughter led:
And liberal Science rears her blushing face,
And Merit dares advance
From the dark haunt of Scorn,
Where she stray'd pensive many a long long day:
And every Muse and sister Grace
On thee shall beam the living ray:
Thy memory prized, when those who gain
Fame's blood besprinkled palm, remain
The curse of ages yet unborn.

IV. 2.
And see, to bless
Thy life, to soften Grandeur's aking fears
With the chaste conjugal caress,
To soothe it's weighty toils
And heart-corroding cares,
Where Charlotte every female virtue brings!
Oh happy state, in mutual smiles
Where souls communion mingle! there
Love revels ever amiable and free,
There modest Transport waves her wing,
There dwells accordant Harmony
With true Delight, nor e'er is seen
Groundless resentment's coward mien,
Nor doubts nor jealousies appear.

IV. 3.
Hail'd by a nation's voice,
Long may you add a lustre to the crown,
By merit your's; long may the land rejoice,
Ruled by a Prince who boasts himself her own.
And when, howe'er beloved, howe'er
Call'd on to stay, the laws of fate,
Which not transcendent goodness spare,
Shall snatch you hence from a lamenting world;
Heir to his father's virtues, may a son,
Another George, renew th' auspicious date,
And mount with glory his paternal throne.
As now, far off be envious Faction hurl'd;
Diffusive Peace, oh, spread thy bounties wide!
And may another nymph like Charlotte be his bride.