The Poetical Works of John Dryden, Volume 1 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 388 pages of information about The Poetical Works of John Dryden, Volume 1.

The Poetical Works of John Dryden, Volume 1 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 388 pages of information about The Poetical Works of John Dryden, Volume 1.
  Some potent bird of prey they ought to find,
  A foe profess’d to him, and all his kind: 
  Some haggard Hawk, who had her eyrie nigh,
  Well pounced to fasten, and well wing’d to fly;
  One they might trust, their common wrongs to wreak: 
  The Musquet and the Coystrel were too weak, 1120
  Too fierce the Falcon; but, above the rest,
  The noble Buzzard[137] ever pleased me best;
  Of small renown, ’tis true; for, not to lie,
  We call him but a Hawk by courtesy. 
  I know he hates the Pigeon-house and Farm,
  And more, in time of war has done us harm: 
  But all his hate on trivial points depends;
  Give up our forms, and we shall soon be friends. 
  For Pigeons’ flesh he seems not much to care;
  Cramm’d chickens are a more delicious fare. 1130
  On this high potentate, without delay,
  I wish you would confer the sovereign sway: 
  Petition him to accept the government,
  And let a splendid embassy be sent.

    This pithy speech prevail’d, and all agreed,
  Old enmities forgot, the Buzzard should succeed.

    Their welcome suit was granted soon as heard,
  His lodgings furnish’d, and a train prepared,
  With B’s upon their breast, appointed for his guard. 
  He came, and crown’d with great solemnity; 1140
  God save king Buzzard, was the general cry.

    A portly prince, and goodly to the sight,
  He seem’d a son of Anak for his height: 
  Like those whom stature did to crowns prefer: 
  Black-brow’d, and bluff, like Homer’s Jupiter: 
  Broad-back’d, and brawny-built for love’s delight;
  A prophet form’d to make a female proselyte. 
  A theologue more by need than genial bent;
  By breeding sharp, by nature confident. 
  Interest in all his actions was discern’d; 1150
  More learn’d than honest, more a wit than learn’d: 
  Or forced by fear, or by his profit led,
  Or both conjoin’d, his native clime he fled: 
  But brought the virtues of his heaven along;
  A fair behaviour, and a fluent tongue. 
  And yet with all his arts he could not thrive;
  The most unlucky parasite alive. 
  Loud praises to prepare his paths he sent,
  And then himself pursued his compliment;
  But by reverse of fortune chased away, 1160
  His gifts no longer than their author stay: 
  He shakes the dust against the ungrateful race,
  And leaves the stench of ordures in the place. 
  Oft has he flatter’d and blasphemed the same;
  For in his rage he spares no sovereign’s name: 
  The hero and the tyrant change their style
  By the same measure that they frown or smile. 
  When well received by hospitable foes,
  The kindness he returns, is to expose: 
  For courtesies, though undeserved and great, 1170

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The Poetical Works of John Dryden, Volume 1 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.