But, singing these, of thee I may not sing,15
O King sublime ! such theme I fain must fear.
Take of thy reign the reins, so shall my King
create a poesy new to mortal ear :
E'en now the mighty burthen hear I ring
(and speed its terrors over all the sphere !)
of sing'ular prowess, War's own prodigies,
in Africk regions and on Orient seas.
Casteth on thee the Moor eyne cold with fright,16
in whom his coming doom he views designèd :
The barb'rous Gentoo, sole to see thy sight
yields to thy yoke the neck e'en now inclinèd ;
Tethys, of azure seas the sovran right,
her realm, in dowry hath to thee resignèd ;
and, by thy noble tender beauty won,
would bribe and buy thee to become her son.
In thee from high Olympick halls behold17
themselves, thy grandsires' sprites ; far-famed pair ;[1]
this clad in Peacetide's angel-robe of gold,
that crimson-hued with paint of battle-glare :
By thee they hope to see their tale twice told,
their lofty memo'ries live again ; and there,
when Time thy years shall end, for thee they 'sign
a seat where soareth Fame's eternal shrine.
- ↑ D. Joam III. and the Emperor Charles Quint.
