The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift/Volume 7/Merlin's Prophecy

by Jonathan Swift

MERLIN'S PROPHECY. 1709.

SEVEN and ten, addyd to nine,
Of Fraunce her woe this is the sygne,
Tamys rivere twys y-frozen,
Walke sans wetyng shoes ne hozen.
Then comyth foorthe, ich understonde,
From towne of stoffe to fattyn londe,
An hardie chyftan^[1], woe the morne,
To Fraunce that evere he was born.
Then shall the fyshe^[2] beweyle his bosse:
Nor shall grin berrys^[3] make up the losse.
Yonge Symnele^[4] shall again miscarrye:
And Norway's pryd^[5] again shall marrye.
And from the tree where blosums feele,
Ripe fruit shall come, and all is wele.
Reaums shall daunce honde in honde^[6],
And it shall be merrye in olde Inglonde,
Then old Inglonde shall be no more,
And no man shall be sorie therefore.
Geryon^[7] shall have three hedes agayne,
Till Hapsburge^[8] makyth them but twayne.

1. Duke of Marlborough.
2. The Dauphin.
3. Duke of Berry.
4. The young pretender.
5. Queen Anne.
6. By the Union.
7. A king of Spain slain by Hercules.
8. The archduke Charles was of the Hapsburg family.