Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, PROLOGUE, by MATTHEW PRIOR



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

PROLOGUE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Shine forth, ye planets, with distinguished light
Last Line: Virtue was taught in verse, and athens' glory rose.
Subject(s): Goddesses & Gods; Life; Mythology; Planets; War


SHINE forth, ye planets, with distinguished light,
As when ye hallowed first this happy night;
Again transmit your friendly beams to earth,
As when Britannia joyed for Anna's birth;
And thou, propitious star, whose sacred power
Presided o'er the monarch's natal hour,
Thy radiant voyages for ever run,
Yielding to none but Cynthia, and the Sun;
With thy fair aspect still illustrate Heaven!
Kindly preserve what thou hast greatly given;
Thy influence for thy Anna we implore;
Prolong one life, and Britain asks no more!
For Virtue can no ampler power express,
Than to be great in war, and good in peace;
For thought no higher wish of bliss can frame,
Than to enjoy that virtue still the same.
Entire and sure the monarch's rule must prove,
Who founds her greatness on her subjects' love;
Who does our homage for our good require;
And orders that which we should first desire.
Our vanquished wills that pleasing force obey,
Her goodness takes our liberty away,
And haughty Britain yields to arbitrary sway.
Let the young Austrian then her terrors bear,
Great as he is, her delegate in war;
Let him in thunder speak to both his Spains,
That in these dreadful isles a woman reigns.
While the bright queen does on her subjects shower
The gentle blessings of her softer power;
Gives sacred morals to a vicious age,
To temples zeal, and manners to the stage;
Bids the chaste Muse without a blush appear,
And wit be that which Heaven and she may hear.
Minerva thus to Perseus lent her shield;
Secure of conquest, sent him to the field:
The hero acted what the queen ordained:
So was his fame complete, and Andromede unchained.
Meantime amidst her native temples sate
The goddess, studious of her Grecians' fate;
Taught them in laws and letters to excel,
In acting justly, and in writing well.
Thus while she did her various power dispose,
The world was freed from tyrants, wars, and woes;
Virtue was taught in verse, and Athens' glory rose.





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