"Ye Princes by destructive Passions led / Who mount without a Blush th'adult'rous Bed / Who hear your Subjects all around complain / Of Wrongs, repeated Wrongs, on Land and Main, / While all your Counsels are yourselves to please, / And while ye batten in inglorious Ease, / 'Tis Virtue only can your Crowns adorn."
— Cooke, Thomas (1703-1756)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for T. Cooper
Date
1738, 1742
Metaphor
"Ye Princes by destructive Passions led / Who mount without a Blush th'adult'rous Bed / Who hear your Subjects all around complain / Of Wrongs, repeated Wrongs, on Land and Main, / While all your Counsels are yourselves to please, / And while ye batten in inglorious Ease, / 'Tis Virtue only can your Crowns adorn."
Metaphor in Context
Ye Princes by destructive Passions led,
Who mount without a Blush th'adult'rous Bed,
Who hear your Subjects all around complain
Of Wrongs, repeated Wrongs, on Land and Main,
While all your Counsels are yourselves to please,
And while ye batten in inglorious Ease,
'Tis Virtue only can your Crowns adorn:
O! learn to merit that to which ye're born!
Think of th'illustrious dead, whose ev'ry Name
Is borne triumphant on the Wings of Fame:
In ev'ry Corner of the Earth they're known,
And all Eternity to come's their own:
And, O! ye Sons who next to Empire stand,
Heirs to Dominion over Sea and Land,
Waste not the Hours of Youth in shameful Jars,
Wage with a Father no domestic Wars;
Let it be never say'd ye go to School
To the pert Coxcomb, and delib'rate Fool:
Seek not the Praise of such who gain no Praise;
Like Nero dance, nor fiddle, out your Days:
Attend the friendly Voice! 'tis Glory calls
To shine in Council, and to scale the Walls.
Shake the rapacious Statesman off, the Slave
Whom Gold can buy; shake off the Fool and Knave.
Turn o'er the sacred Volume of the Laws,
By your Forefathers made in Virtue's Cause:
See what obnoxious Vices still remain,
Which there's no Law, no Bridle, to restrain;
Study to make the Nation's Freedom sure,
The Lives and Propertys of all secure:
In doing these ye act the princely Part,
And build your Empires in the People's Heart;
No Guards ye then shall need, where-e'er ye go;
There is no Danger where there is no Foe.
These are the Virtues of exalted Souls,
Which no mean Care, nor abject Fear, controuls.
(pp. 11-12 in 1738 printing)
Who mount without a Blush th'adult'rous Bed,
Who hear your Subjects all around complain
Of Wrongs, repeated Wrongs, on Land and Main,
While all your Counsels are yourselves to please,
And while ye batten in inglorious Ease,
'Tis Virtue only can your Crowns adorn:
O! learn to merit that to which ye're born!
Think of th'illustrious dead, whose ev'ry Name
Is borne triumphant on the Wings of Fame:
In ev'ry Corner of the Earth they're known,
And all Eternity to come's their own:
And, O! ye Sons who next to Empire stand,
Heirs to Dominion over Sea and Land,
Waste not the Hours of Youth in shameful Jars,
Wage with a Father no domestic Wars;
Let it be never say'd ye go to School
To the pert Coxcomb, and delib'rate Fool:
Seek not the Praise of such who gain no Praise;
Like Nero dance, nor fiddle, out your Days:
Attend the friendly Voice! 'tis Glory calls
To shine in Council, and to scale the Walls.
Shake the rapacious Statesman off, the Slave
Whom Gold can buy; shake off the Fool and Knave.
Turn o'er the sacred Volume of the Laws,
By your Forefathers made in Virtue's Cause:
See what obnoxious Vices still remain,
Which there's no Law, no Bridle, to restrain;
Study to make the Nation's Freedom sure,
The Lives and Propertys of all secure:
In doing these ye act the princely Part,
And build your Empires in the People's Heart;
No Guards ye then shall need, where-e'er ye go;
There is no Danger where there is no Foe.
These are the Virtues of exalted Souls,
Which no mean Care, nor abject Fear, controuls.
(pp. 11-12 in 1738 printing)
Provenance
Searching "empire" and "heart" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
3 entries in ESTC (1738, 1742); one for Original Poems (1742).
See A Rhapsody on Virtue and Pleasure. to the Right Honourable James Reynolds Esq; Late Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer. By Mr. Cooke. (London: Printed for T. Cooper, 1738). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
Text from Mr. Cooke's Original Poems, with Imitations and Translations of Several Select Passages of the Antients, In Four Parts: To which are added Proposals For Perfecting the English Language (London: Printed for T. Jackson in St. James's-Street, and C. Bathurst. 1742). <Link to ESTC>
See A Rhapsody on Virtue and Pleasure. to the Right Honourable James Reynolds Esq; Late Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer. By Mr. Cooke. (London: Printed for T. Cooper, 1738). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
Text from Mr. Cooke's Original Poems, with Imitations and Translations of Several Select Passages of the Antients, In Four Parts: To which are added Proposals For Perfecting the English Language (London: Printed for T. Jackson in St. James's-Street, and C. Bathurst. 1742). <Link to ESTC>
Theme
Ruling Passions
Date of Entry
08/22/2004
