Stourus, whofe ftream, polific as it glides,
Two fertile counties in its courfe divides,
And rolls to feaward with a lover's pace :

There beauteous Orwell meets his fond embrace; 25
They mix their amorous ftreams, the briny tide
Receives them join'd; their crooked hores provide
A spacious bay within, for anchor'd ships to ride.
Here, on the margin of the rolling flood,
Divinely fair, like fea-born Venus, ftood
Britannia's genius, in a robe array'd

A crown of cities charg'd her graceful brows;

30

Of broider'd arms, and heraldry display'd:

In waving curls her hair luxuriant flows;
Celeftial glories in her eyes are seen ;

35

Her ftature tall, majeftic is her mien.

With fuch a pr.fence, through th' adoring skies
Shines the great parent of the deities;
Such towery honours on her temples rife,

When, drawn by lions, the proceeds in state;

40

Trains of attendant-gods around her chariot wait ;
The mother-goddefs, with fuperior grace,
Surveys, and numbers o'er her bright immortal race.
While thus the lovely Genius hovers o'er
The water's brink, and from the fandy fhore
Beholds th' alternate billows fall and rife

45

(By turns they fink below, by turns they mount the fkies):

"And muft, the faid

"Then paus'd, and drew a figh of anxious love; "Muft my dear lord this faithlefs ocean prove ;

50

"Efcap'd

"Efcap'd the chance of war, and fraud of foes, "Wilt thou to warring waves thy facred life expofe; "Why am I thus divided by the sea,

"From all the world, and all the world in thee? "Could fighs and tears the rage of tempests bind, 55 "With tears I'd bribe the feas, with fighs the wind : "Soft-fighing gales thy canvas should infpire; "But hence, ye boisterous ftorms! far hence retire "To inland woods; there your mad powers appease, "And fcour the dusty plains, or ftrip the forest trees; 60 "Or lodg'd in hollow rocks profoundly fleep, “ And rest from the loud labours of the deep! "Why fhould I fear?—If heroes be the care "Of heaven above, and heaven inclines to prayer, "Thou fail'ft fecure; my fons with lifted eyes, 65 "And pious vows, for thee have gain'd the skies. "Come then, my much-lov'd lord! No more th' alarms "Of wasteful war require thee from my arms. "Thy fword gives plenteous peace; but without thee, "Peace has no charms, and plenty 's poverty: "At length enjoy, for whom you've fought, the queen “Of islands, bright, majestic, and serene! "Unveil'd from clouds, which did her form disguise, "And hid a thousand beauties from thy eyes. "A thousand treasures unfurvey'd invite "Their lord to various fcenes of new delight. "Come fee the dower I brought ! My fpacious downs, "My numerous counties, and my ancient towns; "Landskips of rifing mountains, fhaggy woods, "Green vallies, fmiling meadows, filver floods,

70

75

80

"And

"And plains with lowing herds enrich'd around, "The hills with flocks, the flocks with fleeces crown'd. "All thefe with native wealth thy power maintain, "And bloom with bleffings of thy easy reign. "Hafte, hoift thy fails! and through the foamy "brine,

85

"Rush to my arms! henceforth be wholly mine;
"After nine toilfome years, let slaughter cease,
"And flourish now fecure, in the foft arts of peace!"

She faid; th' intreated winds her accents bore,
And wing'd the meffage to the Belgic fhore.
The pious hero heard, nor could delay

To meet the lovely voice, that summon'd him away;
The lovely voice, whole foft-complaining charms
Before had call'd the fuccour of his arms,

90

Nor call'd in vain; when fir'd with generous rage 95
T'oppofe the fury of a barbarous age,

Like Jove with awful thunder in his hand,
Through forms and fleets at fea, and foes at land,
He urg'd his daring way; before his fight
On filver wings, bright Glory took her flight,
And left, to guide his courfe, long fhining tracks
of light!

And now once more embark'd, propitious gales
Blow fresh from fhore, and fill his hollow fails.
As when the golden god, that rules the day,
Drives down his flaming chariot to the sea,
And leaves the nations here involv'd in night,
To diftant regions he tranfports his light;

105

So

So WILLIAM's rays, by turns, two nations chear;
And when he fets to them, he rises here.

110

Forfaken Belgia, ere the ship withdrew, Shed generous tears, and breath'd this soft adieu; "Since empire calls thee, and a glorious throne, Thy people's weighty interests, and thy own; (Though ftruggling love would fain perfuade thy "Stay)

66

"Go, where thy better fortune leads the way! 115 "Mean while my lofs, allow me to complain,

“And wish-ah no! that partial wifh were vain. "Though honour'd Crete had nurs'd the thundering "God,

"Crete was not always bleft with his abode ;
"Nor was it fit, that WILLIAM's godlike mind, 120
"For nations born, fhould be to One confin'd.
"This only grant, fince I must ask no more,
"Revifit once again your native shore !
"That hope my forrows fhall beguile; and thou,
"My happy rival! wilt that hope allow;
"'Tis all th' enjoyment, fate has left me now.
"So may't thou, fair Britannia! ever be
"Firm to thy fovereign's love, and his to thee!
"While widow'd I”- -There rifing fighs reprefs'd

Her fainting voice, and ftifled-in the rest.
Now, while the bounding vessel drives before
The gufty gales, and leaves the leffening shore,
Behold the parting clouds to distance fly,

125

s}

And golden glories, pouring from on high
New drefs the day, and chear th' enlighten'd sky! 135

130

One

One shooting beam, like lightning doubly bright,
Darts on the middle main its streaming light.
Lo! WILLIAM's guardian angel there descends;
To Neptune's court his heavenly message tends:
In arms celeftial, how he fhines afar,

140

Like Pallas marching to th' awaken'd war!
His left hand gripes a spacious orb of shield,
With thousand intercepted dangers fiil'd,
And deaths of various kind; his right displays
A temper'd blade, that spreads a formidable blaze. 145
He ftrikes the waves; th' obfequious waves obey,
And, opening in a gulph, disclose the downward way.
O Mufe! by thee conducted down, I dare
The fecrets of the watery world declare ;

For nothing fcapes thy view; to thee 'tis given, 150
To range the pace of earth, and feas, and heaven,
Defcry a thousand forms, conceal'd from fight,
And in immortal verfe to give the vifions light.
A rock there lies, in depth of fea profound;
About its clefts, rich beds of pearl abound,
Where sportful nature, covering her retreat
With flowing waters, holds her fecret feat:
In woods of coral, intricate she strays,

And wreathes the fhells of fish a thousand ways,
And animates the spawn of all her finny race. 160
Th' unnumber'd species of the fertile tide,
In fhoals, around their mighty mother, glide.
From out the rock's wide cavern's deep below,
The rushing ocean rifes to its flow;

155

And,