For her the wise and great shall mourn, Shall bless her name and sigh her fate. Her holy Queen's sad relics guard, If, press'd by grief, our Monarch stoops, If he, whose hand sustain❜d them, droops, Embattled princes wait the chief Whose voice should rule, whose arm should lead; And, in kind murmurs, chide that grief Which hinders Europe being freed. The great example they demand, Who still to conquest led the way; They seek that joy which used to glow To give the mourning nations joy, Restore them thy auspicious light: Great Sun!' with radiant beams destroy Those clouds which keep thee from our sight. Let thy sublime meridian course That Mary's fate she dare not mourn. Buried and lost, she ought to grieve; But let her strength in thee be safe; And let her weep, but let her live. Thou, guardian Angel! save the land From thy own grief, her fiercest foe, Lest Britain, rescued by thy hand, Should bend and sink beneath thy woe. Her former triumphs all are vain, Unless new trophies still be sought, And hoary majesty sustain The battles which thy youth has fought. Where now is all that fearful love Which made her hate the war's alarms? That soft excess with which she strove To keep her hero in her arms? While still she chid the coming spring, Which call'd him o'er his subject seas; While for the safety of the King, She wish'd the Victor's glory less. 'Tis changed; 'tis gone: sad Britain now Hastens her lord to foreign wars: Happy if toils may break his woe, Or dangers may divert his cares, In martial din she drowns her sighs, Lest he should see the falling tear. Go, mighty Prince; let France be taught Where Death with all his darts is seen, But that which struck the beauteous Queen. Belgia indulged her open grief, While yet her master was not near; As waters from her sluices, flow'd Unbounded sorrow from her eyes; If her regrets should waken thine. To cure thy woe she shows thy fame, Lest the great mourner should forget That all the race whence Orange came, Made Virtue triumph over Fate. William, his country's cause could fight, For which their pious parents fell. How heroes rise, how patriots set, Whence Nassau's virtue can be tried, Thy virtue, whose resistless force And bring them ease, though thou hast none. Vanquish again, though she be gone Whose garland crown'd the victor's hair; And reign, though she has left the throne Who made thy glory worth thy care. Fair Britain never yet before Breathed to her king an useless prayer; Fond Belgia never did implore, While William turn'd averse his ear. But should the weeping hero now Her face with thousand beauties bless'd, Yet ought his sorrow to be check'd; O'er earth and water bears thy fame; The beauty of her partner's soul. Wise Fate, which does its heaven decree To heroes, when they yield their breath, Hastens thy triumph: half of thee Is deified before thy death. Alone to thy renown 'tis given Unbounded through all worlds to go; While she, great saint, rejoices Heaven, And thou sustain'st the orb below. |