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ASTRAEA REDUX: A POEM ON THE HAPPY RESTORATION AND RETURN OF HIS, by             Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Now with a general peace the world was blest
Last Line: The world a monarch, and that monarch you
Variant Title(s): Poem On The Happy Restoration & Return Of His Sacred Majesty Charles; Astraea Redu
Subject(s): Charles Ii, King Of England (1630-1685); Sforza, Ludovico (1452-1508); Winter


To His Sacred Majesty; A Panegyric on his Coronation
I.
While crowds of princes your deservings sing,
(Those only crowns, by your auspicious hand,
Are made less noble, less by the command
Of whose bright presence they receive their being)
How should we not your God-like Acts proclaim,
That have made it less safe to be a Prince than great,
And to be glorious, than to be secure!
E'en Fate, by miracles, is forced to own,
How much you make of Monarchs not your own,
And triumphs over those which you create.
If we look back, what difference do we find
Betwixt Augustus' and your State to day?
No more, but that you turn the balance now,
Of power and greatness, made the same way;
While he from Rome, you rescue nations far,
By your supporting Arm and prudent Car.
Rome her own bounds, by bravery, did enlarge,
But by your Conduct you the world subdue;
Nor only bring back hostages to the Law,
But as you went, whole provinces withdrew;
Our arms did Caledonia's hordes restrain,
But by your Treaty we preserve her gain.
II.
For all the world, as thought it were a school
For King's, is governed by your Grace's Rule;
The nobles and the rude, the rich and poor,
Subject themselves, and thee their Sovereign adore.
So much the power thy shining virtues give,
Commands even all our obedience to believe
That he's Heaven's substitute, who reigns on high,
And all must bow to his Divinity.
Such a sweet Passion, such a winning Grace,
Makes Heaven itself, or ought, of its own place,
And from the bright abodes of the Eternal King,
The choir of Angels, and the blissful ring,
With Songs and Hymns, his Praises do proclaim,
And with their loud Hosannas charge his fame.
III.
With his great name, the Northern Pole is crowned,
And the wide West proclaims him with the sound;
The Southern unknown Worlds, and those that lie
Beyond the Southern Pillars, to the sky,
Are taught his Praise, and to their cost shall find
That all they can bestow is less than half design'd.
Honor's too weak a word, wherewith to blaze
The Conqueror of the world, the God of praise!
Who, like a tempest that outrides the wind,
And with his lightning fills the world behind,
Valour hath struck, his Fortune made him great,
And his great Soul made Fortune still more fleet.
He rules, as he were Heaven's Viceregent here,
And Earth seems only made to wait his war.
Such was thy force, de arrière monde, which sway'd
Earth, and Heaven too, which thy proud Ark obey'd;
Nor was the deep thy Tomb; the Ark was then
The general Store-house of all things, Not men.
1
So when a new-built Ark does first appear,
Worship, we say, is due to the Pioneer;
Both For the dangers past, and to come,
Methinks we should erect a lasting Tomb
To thee, and to thy en'suing race,
Ordain'd from thence, Sad Histories to trace;
Who, when they shall grow weary with their weight
May to thy Ark for shelter, and a lesson, flee.
IV.
Nor do we violate any rightful claim,
Whilst to the present regal line we owe
Our safetie, and our libertie, which came
From our great deliverer, the same
Whose venomeous soul to publick ruine wrought:
Yet sought to kisse the Rod which he had made,
And licked the hand too justly he did hate.
This said, the abject crowd againe obey'd,
And Israel's truest friends, like slaves, to court
By interest, and by flatt'ry, were betray'd.






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