First, they would bribe us without pence, And without power enslave. Shall free born men, in humble awe, Who from consent and custom draw Which kings pretend to reign? The duke shall wield his conquering sword, The king shall pass his honest word, The pawn'd revenue sums afford, And then, come kiss my breech. 25 So have I seen a king on chess (His rooks and knights withdrawn, His queen and bishops in distress) Shifting about, grow less and less, With here and there a pawn. 30 A SONG FOR ST. CECILIA'S DAY, 1687. I. FROM harmony, from heavenly harmony When nature underneath a heap Of jarring atoms lay, And could not heave her head, The tuneful voice was heard from high, Then cold, and hot, and moist, and dry, And Music's power obey. From harmony, from heavenly harmony From harmony to harmony Through all the compass of the notes it ran, 5 10 15 II. What passion cannot Music raise and quell? 20 Less than a God they thought there could not dwell Within the hollow of that shell, That spoke so sweetly and so well. What passion cannot Music raise and quell? III. The trumpet's loud clangor Excites us to arms, 25 With shrill notes of anger, And mortal alarms. The double double double beat Of the thundering drum Cries, hark! the foes come; Charge, Charge, 'tis too late to retreat. Sharp violins proclaim Their jealous pangs, and desperation, Fury, frantic indignation, Depth of pains, and height of passion, For the fair, disdainful dame. 30 35 40 VI. But oh! what art can teach, What human voice can reach, < V. 37. Sharp violins] It is a judicious remark of Mr. Mason, that Dryden with propriety gives this epithet to the instrument; because, in the poet's time, they could not have arrived at that delicacy of tone, even in the hands of the best masters, which they now have in those of an inferior kind. See Essays on English Church Music, by the Rev. W. Mason, M.A., Precentor of York, 12mo. 1795, p. 218. T. The sacred organ's praise? Notes that wing their heavenly ways To mend the choirs above. 45 VII. Orpheus could lead the savage race; But bright Cecilia rais'd the wonder higher: GRAND CHORUS. As from the power of sacred lays So when the last and dreadful hour SONG. FAREWELL, FAIR ARMIDA.* FAREWELL, fair Armida, my joy and my grief, 5 10 On seas and in battles, in bullets and fire, *This song, written on the death of Captain Digby, has been given by Mr. Malone in his Life of Dryden, on account, he says, of its 'not having been preserved in Dryden's works, and being found entire only in a scarce Miscellany, viz. Covent Garden Drollery.' I must, however, observe, that the song is printed entire in New Court Songs and Poems, by R. V. Gent. 8vo. 1672, p. 78. In this collection the second liné runs thus: 'In vain I have lov'd you, and find no relief.' The sixth, A fate which in pity,' &c. The twelfth, 'My fate from your sight,' &c. An answer from Armida, as she is called, follows the Song in this collection; but it is not worth citing. The ridiculous parody on this Song in the Rehearsal is too well known to |