Pastorals Epistles Odes (1748)/To the Right Honourable William Pulteney Esq

by Ambrose Philips

 

To the Right Honourable
William Pulteney Esq;

May 1, 1723.

I.
HO, much distinguish'd, yet is bless'd?
 Who, dignified above the rest,
  Does, still, unenvied live?
 Not to the Man whose wealth abounds, 4
 Nor to the man whose fame resounds,
  Does heaven such favour give,
Nor to the noble-born, nor to the strong,
Nor to the gay, the beautiful, or young. 8

II.
 Whom then, secure of happiness,
 Does every eye beholding bless,
  And every tongue commend?
 Him, Pulteney, who possessing store 12
  Who, to mankind a friend,
Nor envies, nor is envied by, the great,
Polite in courts, polite in his retreat: 16

III.
 Whose unambitious, active, soul
 Attends the welfare of the whole,
  When publick storms arise,
 And, in the calm, a thousand ways 20
 Diversifies his nights and days,
  Still elegantly wise;
While books, each morn, the lightsom soul invite,
And friends with season'd mirth improve the night. 24

IV.
 In him do men no blemish see;
 And factions in his praise agree,
  When most they vex the state:
 Distinguish'd favourite of the skies, 28
 Belov'd he lives, lamented dies:
  Yet, shall he not to fate
Submit entire; the rescuing muse shall save
His precious name, and win him from the grave. 32

V.
 Too frail is brass and polish'd stone;
 Perpetual fame the muse alone
  On merit can bestow:
 Yet, must the time-enduring song, 36
 The verse unrival'd by the throng,
  From nature's bounty flow:
The ungifted tribe in meter pass away,
Oblivion's sport, the poets of a day. 40

VI.
 What laws shall o'er the Ode preside?
 In vain would art presume to guide
  The chariot-wheels of praise,
 When fancy, driving, ranges free, 44
Fresh flowers selecting like the bee,
  And regularly strays,
While nature does, disdaining aids of skill,
The mind with thought, the ears with numbers, fill. 48

VII.
 As when the Theban hymns divine
 Make proud Olympian victors shine
  In an eternal blaze,
 The varying measures, ever new, 52
 Unbeaten tracks of fame pursue,
  While through the glorious maze
The poet leads his heroes to renown,
And weaves in verse a never-fading crown. 56