Tell me no more of glorious Things,
Of Crowns, of Palaces and Kings;
The glittering Folly, nobly I contemn,
And scorn the troubles of a Diadem.
Thus Horace, for his Sabine Seat,
Did mighty Cafar's fhining Court refuse ;
And, in himself, compleatly great,
Contentedly enjoy'd a Mistress and a Mufe,
By Mr. Cow LE Y.
Margarita firft poffeft,
If I remember well, my Breaft,
Margarita first of all;
But when awhile the wanton Maid
With my reftlefs Heart had plaid,
Martha took the flying Ball.
Martha foon did it refign
To the Beauteous Katharine.
Beauteous Katharine gave place,
(Though loth and angry the, to part
With the Poffeffion of my Heart)
To Elifa's Conqu❜ring Face.
Elifa 'till this Hour might reign,
Had the not Evil Counfels ta'en
Fundamental Laws the broke,
And ftill new Favourites, the chofe,
'Till up in Arms my Paffion's rofe,
And caft away her Yoke.
Mary then and gentle Ann
Both to reign at once began;
Alternately they fway'd,
And fometimes Mary was the Fair,
And fometimes Ann the Crown did wear, And fometimes Both I obey'd.
And did rigorous Laws impofe
A mighty Tyrant the!
Long, alas, fhould I have been
Under that Iron-fcepter'd Queen,
Had not Rebecca fet me free.
When Fair Rebecca fet me free,
"Twas then a Golden Time with me:
But foon thofe Pleasures fled;
For the gracious Princess dy'd
In her Youth and Beauty's Pride,'
And Judith reigned in her stead.
One Month, Three Days and Half an Hour
Judith held the Sov'reign Pow'r.
Wondrous beautiful her Face,
But fo weak and fmall her Wit,
That fhe to govern was unfit,
And fo Sufannah took her Place.
Arm'd with a refiftlefs Flame,
And th' Artillery of her Eye,
Whilft the proudly march'd about
Greater Conquefts to find out,
She beat out Sufan by the Bye.
But in her place I then Obey'd
Black-ey'd Befs her Vice-Roy Maid,
To whom enfu'd a Vacancy.
Thousand worse Passions then poffeft
The Inter-regnum of my Breaft.
Blefs me from fuch an Anarchy!
And a third Mary next began,
Then Joan, and Jane, and Andria.
And then a pretty Thomafine,
And then another Katharine,
And then a long Et cetera.
But fhould I now to you relate
The Strength and Riches of their State,
The Powder, Patches, and the Pins,
The Ribbon, Jewels, and the Rings,
The Lace, the Paint, and warlike things
That make up all their Magazins :.
XII.
If I fhould tell the Politick Arts.
To take and keep Mens Hearts,
The Letters, Embaffies and Spies,
The Frowns, and Smiles, and Flatteries,,
The Quarrels, Tears, and Perjuries,
Numberlefs, Nameless Myfteries!
And all the little Lime-twigs laid
By Matchiavil the Waiting-Maid;
I more voluminous should grow,
(Chiefly if I like them should tell
All Change of Weathers that befel)
Than Holinfhead or Stow.
But I will briefer with them be,.
Since few of them were long with Me..
An higher and a nobler Strain
My prefent Emperefs does claim,
Heleonora, First o'th' Name,
Whom God grant long to Reign.
By Sir John Suckling.
Seffion was held the other Day,
A they fay
The Laurel that had been fo long referv'd,
Was now to be given to him best deserv’d.
And therefore the Wits of the Town came thither,
'Twas ftrange to see how they flocked together,
Each strongly confident of his own Way,
Thought to gain the Laurel away that Day.
There was Selden, and he fate close by the Chair
Wainman not far off, which was very fair;
Sands with Townsend, for they kept no Order;
Digby and Shillingsworth a little further:
There was Lucan's Tranflator too, and he
That makes God fpeak fo big in's Poetry:
Selwin and Waller, and Bartlets both the Brothers:
Jack Vaughan and Porter, and divers others.
The firft that broke Silence was good old Ben,
Prepar'd before with Canary Wine,
And he told them plainly he deferv'd the Bays,
For his were call'd Works,where others were but Plays,
And bid them remember how he had purg'd the Stage
Of Errors that had lafted many an Age;
And he hop'd they did not think the filent Woman,
The Fox, and the Alchymift out-done, by no Man
Apollo ftopt him there, and bid him not go on,
'Twas Merit, he said, and not Prefumption
Muft carry't; at which Ben turned about
And in great Choler offer'd to go out:
But those that were there thought it not fit
To discontent so, ancient a Wit;
And therefore Apollo call'd him back again,
And made him mine Hoft of his own New Inno
Tom Carew was next, but he had a Fault
That wou'd not well stand with a Laureat ;
His Mufe was hard bound, and th' Iffue of's Brain
Was feldom brought forth but with Trouble and Pain:
And all that were prefent there did agree,
A Laureat Mufe fhou'd be eafie and free.
[Grace
Yet fure 'twas not that, but 'twas thought that his
Confider'd he was well he had a Cup-Bearer's Place.
Will Davenant, afham'd of a foolish Mifchance
That he had got lately travelling in France,
Modeftly hop'd the Handfomeness of his Mufe
Might any Deformity about him excufe.
And furely the Company wou'd have been content,
If they cou'd have found any Precedent :
But in all their Records, either in Verse or Profe,
There was not one Laureat without a Nofe.
To Will Bartlet fure all the Wits meant well,
But firft they wou'd fee how his Snow wou'd fell:
Will fimil'd, and fwore in their Judgments they went
That concluded of Merit upon Success.
Suddenly taking his Place again,
He gave way to Selwin, who ftreight stept in;
But alas! he had been fo lately a Wit,
That Apollo himself fearce knew him yet.
Toby Matthews (Pox on him, how came he there?)
Was whispering Nothing in Somebody's Ear,
When he had the Honour to be nam'd in Court,
But Sir, you may thank my Lady Carleil for't:
For had not her Character furnisht you out
With fomething of handsome, without all doubt
You and your forry Lady-Mufe had been
In the Number of those that were not let in.
In hafte from the Court two or three came in,
And they brought Letters, forfooth, from the Queen ;
'Twas difcreetly done too, for if they had come
Without them, th' had scarce been let into the Room.
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