Wag'd against Foes; and, when the Wars are o'er,
Fit only to maintain Defpotick Pow'r:
Dang'rous to Freedom, and defir'd alone
By Kings, who seek an Arbitrary Throne:
Such were thefe Guards; as ready to have flain
The Prince himself, allur'd with greater Gain:
So was the Charge perform'd with better Will,
By Men inur'd to Blood, and exercis'd in Ill.
Now, tho' the fullen Sire had eas'd his Mind,
The Pomp of his Revenge was yet behind,
A Pomp prepar'd to grace the Prefent he defign'd.
A Goblet rich with Gems, and rough with Gold,
Of Depth,and Breadth,the precious Pledge to hold,
With cruel Care he chofe: The hollow Part
Inclos'd, the Lid conceal'd the Lover's Heart:
Then of his trufted Mischiefs, one he fent,
And bad him with thefe Words the Gift prefent;
Thy Father fends thee this, to cheer thy Breast,
And glad thy Sight with what thou lov'ft the best;
As thou haft pleas'd his Eyes, and joy'd his Mind,
With what he lov'd the most of Human Kind.
Ere this the Royal Dame, who well had weigh'd The Confequence of what her Sire had faid,
Fix'd on her Fate, against th' expected Hour,
Procur'd the Means to have it in her Pow'r:
For this, she had distill'd, with early Care,
The Juice of Simples, friendly to Despair,
A Magazine of Death; and thus prepar'd,
Secure to die, the fatal Meffage heard;
Then fmil'd fevere; nor with a troubled Look,
Or trembling Hand, the Fun'ral Present took ;
Ev'n kept her Countenance, when the Lid remov'd,
Disclos'd the Heart, unfortunately lov'd:
She needed not be told within whose Breast
It lodg'd; the Meffage had explain'd the rest.
Or not amaz'd, or hiding her Surprize,
She fternly on the Bearer fix'd her Eyes:
Then thus; Tell Tancred, on his Daughter's part,
The Gold, tho' precious, equals not the Heart:
But he did well to give his best; and I,
Who wish'd a worthier Urn, forgive his Poverty.
At this, the curb'd a Groan, that else had come, And paufing, view'd the Present in the Tomb: Then, to the Heart ador'd, devoutly glew'd Her Lips, and raising it, her Speech renew'd;
Ev'n from my Day of Birth, to this, the Bound
Of my unhappy Being, I have found
My Father's Care and Tenderness exprefs'd:
But this laft A&t of Love excels the rest:
For this fo dear a Present, bear him back
The best Return that I can live to make.
The Meffenger dispatch'd, again she view'd
The lov'd Remains, and fighing, thus purfu'd;
Source of my Life, and Lord of my Defires,
In whom I liv'd, with whom my Soul expires;
Poor Heart, no more the Spring of Vital Heat,
Curs'd be the Hands that tore thee from thy Seat!
The Course is finish'd which thy Fates decreed,
And thou from thy Corporeal Prison freed:
Soon haft thou reach'd the Goal with mended Pace,
A World of Woes dispatch'd in little space:
Forc'd by thy Worth, thy Foe, in Death become
Thy Friend, has lodg'd thee in a costly Tomb;
There yet remain'd thy Fun'ral Exequies,
The weeping Tribute of thy Widow's Eyes,
And those, indulgent Heav'n has found the way
That I, before my Death, have leave to pay.
My Father ev'n in Cruelty is kind,
Or Heav'n has turn'd the Malice of his Mind
To better Uses than his Hate design'd;
And made th' Infult which in his Gift appears,
The Means to mourn thee with my pious Tears;
Which I will pay thee down, before I go,
And fave my self the Pains to weep below,
If Souls can weep; tho' once I meant to meet
My Fate with Face unmov'd, and Eyes unwet,
Yet fince I have thee here in narrow Room,
My Tears shall set thee first afloat within thy Tomb:
Then (as I know thy Spirit hovers nigh)
Under thy friendly Conduct will I fly
To Regions unexplor'd, fecure to fhare
Thy State; nor Hell shall Punishment appear ;
And Heav'n is double Heav'n, if thou art there.
She faid: Her brim-full Eyes, that ready stood,
' And only wanted Will to weep a Flood,
Releas'd their watry Store, and pour'd amain,
Like Clouds low hung, a fober Show'r of Rain;
Mute folemn Sorrow, free from Female Noife,
Such as the Majesty of Grief destroys:
For, bending o'er the Cup, the Tears the thed
Seem'd by the Pofture to difcharge her Head,
Ò'er-fill'd before; and oft (her Mouth apply'd
To the cold Heart) the kifs'd at once, and cry'd.
Her Maids, who stood amaz'd, nor knew the Cause
Of her Complaining, nor whofe Heart it was;
Yet all due Measures of her Mourning kept,
Did Office at the Dirge, and by Infection wept;
And oft enquir'd th’Occafion of her Grief,
(Unanfwer'd but by Sighs) and offer'd vain Relief.
At length, her Stock of Tears already fhed,
She wip'd her Eyes, she rais'd her drooping Head,
And thus purfu'd: O ever faithful Heart,
I have perform'd the Ceremonial Part,
The Decencies of Grief: It refts behind,
That as our Bodies were, our Souls be join'd:
To thy whate'er Abode, my Shade convey,
And as an elder Ghost, direct the Way.
She faid; and bad the Vial to be brought,
Where the before had brew'd the deadly Draught,
First pouring out the med’cinable Bane,
The Heart, her Tears had rins'd, the bath'd again;
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