A warlike prince ascends the regal state,
A prince long exercised by Fate;
Long may he keep, though he obtains it late.
Heroes in heaven’s peculiar mould are cast,
They and their poets are not formed in haste;
Man was the first in God’s design, and man was made the last.
False heroes made by flattery so,
Heaven can strike out, like sparkles, at a blow;
But e’re a prince is to perfection brought,
He costs omnipotence a second thought.
With toil and sweat,
With hardening cold and forming heat
The Cyclops did their strokes repeat,
Before th’ impenetrable shield was wrought.
It looks as if the maker would not own
The noble work for his,
Before ’twas tried and found a masterpiece.
