Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, AN ODE FOR THE NEW YEAR AS IT WAS SUNG BEFORE HIS MAJESTY, by LAWRENCE EUSDEN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AN ODE FOR THE NEW YEAR AS IT WAS SUNG BEFORE HIS MAJESTY, by                
First Line: Lift up thy hoary head, and rise
Last Line: Britannia is a brunswick's care.
Subject(s): Caroline Of Brunswick, Queen Of England; Courts & Courtiers; Crowns; George I, King Of England (1660-1727); Government; Politics & Government; South Sea Islands; Royal Court Life; Royalty; Kings; Queens


Recitativo
Lift up thy hoary head, and rise
Thou mighty Genius of this isle:
Around thee cast thy wond'ring eyes,
See all thy Albion smile.
Mirth's goddess her blest pow'r maintains
In cities, courts, and rural plains,
Brunswick, the glorious Brunswick reigns.

Air
Tho' thy kind eyes were once o'erflowing,
Our too impending dangers knowing:
Tho' days, tho' nights were spent in groaning,
Poor Britannia's fate bemoaning:
Now forbear, forbear to languish,
Cheerful rise from needless anguish:
For pleasures now are ever growing,
Tho' thy kind eyes were once o'er-flowing.

Recitativo
Let the young, dawning year a George resound,
A George's fame can fill its spacious round.
Here ev'ry virtue pleas'd thou may'st behold,
Which rais'd a hero to a god of old.
To form this One the mix'd ideas draw
From Edward, Henry, and the lov'd Nassau.

Air
Such to Britannia is her king,
As the softly murmuring spring
To thirsty travellers, who sweat
On Libyan sands, and die with heat.
They view it with a glad surprise,
And drink the water with their eyes.
Then with gay hearts, refresh'd, they sing:
Such to Britannia is her king.

Recitativo
By thee contending nations are ally'd,
By thee, Hesperia sinks her tow'ring pride.
Moscovia's prince begins his bounds to know,
And roaring Volga silently to flow.
Thee Gallia's regent with fix'd eyes admires,
For thee Germania feels a lover's fires.
From Belgian moles thy praise is heard around,
Thy Albion's cliffs return the pleasing sound.
Janus again his iron doors must close,
A new Augustus seeks the world's repose.

Air
With raptures ev'ry breast is fir'd,
Loud paeans ev'ry tongue employ;
Thus while great Jove sometimes retir'd,
The court of gods his absence mourn'd,
But when the Thunderer return'd,
The whole Olympus shook with joy.

Chorus
Genius! now securely rest,
We shall ever now be blest.
Thou thy guardianship may'st spare,
Britannia is a Brunswick's care.





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