OF THE PRINCESS MARY.

Grow, maiden Princess, and increase,

Thou who with the sweet goddesses

Thy place shalt have; O haste to be

Thy mother's own epitome;

And when that pair of minor flames,

Thy princely brothers Charles and James,

Apt in the footsteps of their sire,

Lead on the Fates in glorious ire;

When o'er the Bosphorus shall creep

A thrill of dread, as rolls full deep

The murmur of the British name,

And with no feign'd alarm shall shame

The Turkish Crescent--other wars,

And such as bring sweet Peace no tears

Shall call thee forth; and from on high

The flashing of thy modest eye

Shall scatter o'er adoring foes

Thick volleys of delicious woes.

O, when that tender bloom which now

Plays, lately born, beneath thy brow,

In time to come with mightier blaze

Shall dart around its pointed rays;

When he, the Cupid now so mild,

No longer but a harmless child,

Shall range in youth's imperious pride

Thy cheeks' fair pastures far and wide,--

O then with what unerring skill,

Borne on proud wings, thy shafts shall kill,

While, where thou bid'st, the honey'd blow

Falls ceaseless midst the exulting foe!

How many god-like breasts shall learn

From thee with Love's rich wounds to burn!

How often shall thy mastering darts

Work their sweet will on princely hearts!

For what may she not do in war,

Whose mother's breast--with each bright star

That rul'd her birth--to her but proves

A storehouse of all-conquering loves?

Hence for thy quiver, Princess Maid,

Take what thou wilt, nor be afraid.

A hundred Cupids be thy prize,

From one of thy bright mother's eyes;

A hundred graces add to these,

And then a hundred Venuses:

A hundred-thousand Cupids still

Are hers; three hundred Graces will,

With Venuses in equal store,

Haunt that pure fount for evermore. CL.

The Complete Works of Richard Crashaw, Volume II · 第 592 / 654 题