Then in their Robes the Penitentials.
Are ftrait prefented with Credentials;
And on their Way attended on
By Magiftrates of ev'ry Town,
And all Refpe&t and Charges paid,
They're to their ancient Seats convey'd.
STORK.
As when the Storks prepare to change their Clime,
The long-neck'd Nation, in the Air fublime,
Wheeling, and tow'ring up in Circles fly,
And with their cackling Cries difturb the Sky.
In ling'ring Clouds they hang, and Leifure give
For all their feather'd People to arrive :
To th'airy Rendezvous all hafte away,
And their known Leader's noify Call obey.
Then through the Heav'ns their trackless Flight they take,
And for new Worlds their prefent Seats forfake.
Oft have I feen a fudden Storm arife
From all the warring Winds that fweep the Skies;
The heavy Harveft from the Root is torn,
And whirl'd aloft the lighter Stubble born;
With fuch a Force the flying Rack is driv'n,
And fuch a Winter wears the Face of Heav'n!
And oft whole Sheets defcend of fluicy Rain,
Suck'd by the fpungy Clouds from off the Main:
The lofty Skies at once come pouring down,
The promis'd Crop and golden Labours drown;
The Dikes are fill'd, and with a roaring Sound,
The rifing Rivers float the nether Ground,
And Rocks the bellowing Noife of boiling Seas rebound.
The Father of the Gods his Glory fhrowds,
Involv'd in Tempefts and a Night of Clouds ;
And from the middle Darkness flashing out,
By fits he deals his fiery Bolts about.
Earth feels the Motions of her angry
Her Entrails tremble, and her Mountains nod,
And flying Beafts in Forefts feek Abode.
Now gath'ring Clouds the Day begin to drown,
Their threat'ning Fronts thro' all th'Horizon frown
Their fwagging Wombs low in the Air depend,
Which ftruggling Flames and inbred Thunder rend.
The ftrongest Winds their Breath and Vigour prove,
And thro' the Heav'ns th'unweildy Tempeft fhove;
O'er-charg'd with Stores of Heav'n's Artillery,
They groan, and pant, and labour up the Sky.
Impending Ruin does the Sailor fcare,
Rolling and wall'wing thro' th'incumber'd Air.
Loud Thunder, livid Flames, and Stygian Night,
Compounded Horrors, all the Deep affright:
Rent Clouds a Medley of Deftru&tion spout,
And throw their dreadful Entrails round about:
Tempefts of Fire, and Cataracts of Rain,
Unnat'ral Friendship make t'afflict the Main.
Preft by incumbent Storms, the Billows rife,
Climb o'er the Rocks, and foam amid the Skies;
Then falling lower than before they rose,
The fecret Horrors of the Deep disclose:
Purfu'd by conqu'ring Winds, they fly and roar,
And croud, and headlong run against the Shoar.
This Orb's wide Frame with the Convulfion fhakes,
Oft opens in the Storm, and often cracks.
Horror, Amazement, and Defpair appear,
In all the hideous Forms that Mortals fear.
'Gan Thunder: At both Ends of Heav'n the Clouds,
From many a horrid Rift abortive pour'd
Fierce Rain with Lightning mixt, Water with Fire
In Ruin reconcil'd. Dreadful was the Rack,
As Earth and Sky would mingle. Nor yet flept the Winds
Within their ftony Caves, but rufh'd abroad
From the four Hinges of the World, and fell
On the vex'd Wilderness, whose tallest Pines,
Tho' rooted deep as high, and fturdieft Oaks,
Bow'd their ftiff Necks, loaden with ftormy Blafts,
Or torn up sheer.
Heav'ns chryftal Battlements to Pieces dafh'd,
In Storms of Hail were downward hurl'd,
Loud Thunder roar'd, red Lightning flash'd,
And univerfal Uproar fill'd the World.
Torrents of Water, Floods of Flame,
From Heav'n in fighting Ruins came.
At once the Hills that to the Clouds afpire,
Were wash'd with Rain, and fcorch'd with Fire.
Thus Storms, let loose,
Do rive the Trunks of talleft Cedars down,
Tear from their Tops the loaded pregnant Vine,
And kill the tender Flow'rs, but yet half blown :
But having no more Fury left in Store,
Heav'n's Face grows clear, the Storm is heard no more,
And Nature smiles as gaily as before.
On the Storm that preceded the Death of Oliver Cromwel. We muft refign! Heav'n his great Soul does claim,
In Storms as loud as his immortal Fame :
His dying Groans, his last Breath shakes our Ise,
And Trees uncut fall for his fun'ral Pile;
About his Palace their broad Roots are toft
Into the Air: So Romulus was loft!
New Rome in fuch a Tempeft mifs'd her King,
And from obeying fell to worshipping:
On Oeta's Top thus Hercules lay dead,
With ruin'd Oaks and Pines about him fpread.
Nature her felf took Notice of his Death,
And fighing, fwell'd the Sea with fuch a Breath,
That to remotest Shores her Billows roul'd,
Th'approaching Fate of their great Ruler told.
Storm at Sea.
Now like a fiery Meteor funk the Sun;
The Promife of a Storm! The fhifting Gales
Forfake by Fits, and fill the flagging Sails.
Hoarfe Murmurs of the Main from far were heard,
And Night came on, not by Degrees prepar'd,
But all at once: At once the Winds arise,
The Thunders roul, the forky Lightning flies:
In vain the Mafter iffues out Commands,
In vain the trembling Sailors ply their Hands:
The Tempeft unfor feen prevents their Care,
And from the first they labour in Despair.
The giddy Ship between the Winds and Tides,
Forc'd back and forwards, in a Circle rides,
Stunn'd with the different Blows; then shoots amain,
Till, counterbuff'd, fhe ftops, and fleeps again.
And now with Sails declin'd,
The wand'ring Veffel drove before the Wind;
Tofs'd and retofs'd aloft, and then alow;
Nor Port they feek, nor certain Course they know,
But ev'ry Moment wait the coming Blow. Dryd. Gym, & Iph.
Then o'er our Heads defcends a Burft of Rain,
And Night with fable Clouds involves the Main:
The ruffling Winds the foamy Billows raife:
The fcatter'd Fleet is forc'd to fevral Ways:
The Face of Heav'n is ravish'd from our Eyes,
And in redoubl'd Peals the roaring Thunder flies.
Caft from our Course we wander in the Dark,
Nor Star to guide, nor Point of Land to mark :
Ev'n Palinurus no Distinction found
Between the Night and Day, fuch Darkness reign'd around.
Thus when a black-brow'd Guft begins to rife,
White Foam at firft on the curl'd Ocean fries,
Then roars the Main, the Billows mount the Skies.
Till by the Fury of the Storm, full blown,
The muddy Bottom o'er the Clouds is thrown.
The furious Winds the fwelling Surges beat,
And rowze old Ocean from his peaceful Seat.
The raging Seas in high-ridg'd Mountains rife,
And cast their angry Foam against the Skies;
Then gape fo deep that Day-light Hell invades,
And fhoots grey Dawning thro' th'affrighted Shades.
Low-bellying Clouds foon intercept the Light,
And o'er the Sailors fpread a Noon-day Night.
Exploded Thunder tears.th'embowell'd Sky,
And fulph'rous Flames a difmal Day supply.
To Heav'n aloft on ridgy Waves we ride,
Then down to Hell defcend when they divide ;
And thrice our Galleys knock'd the ftony Ground,
And thrice the hollow Rocks return'd the Sound,
And thrice we saw the Stars, that food with Dews around.
A fudden Storm did from the South arife,
And horrid Black began to hang the Skies.
By flow Advances loaded Clouds afcend,
And cross the Air their lowring Front extend.
Heav'n's loud Artillery began to play,
And Wrath divine in dreadful Peals convey.
Darkness and raging Winds their Terrors join,
And Storms of Rain with Storms of Fire combine.
Some run afhore upon the fhoaly Land,
Some perish by the Rocks, fome by the Sand.
Then Eolus hurl'd against the Mountain Side
His quiv'ring Spear, and all the God apply'd.
The raging Winds run thro' the hollow Wound,
And dance aloft in Air, and skim along the Ground;
Then fettling on the Sea, the Surges fweep,
Raife liquid Mountains, and disclose the Deep:
South, Eaft, and Weft, with mixt Confufion roar,
And roll the foaming Billows to the Shoar.
The Cables crack, the Sailors fearful Cries
Afcend, and fable Night involves the Skies,
And Heav'n it felf is ravifh'd from our Eyes.
Loud Peals of Thunder from the Poles enfue,
Then flashing Fires the tranfient Light renew.
The Face of things a frightful Image bears,
And prefent Death in various Forms appears.
Fierce Boreas drives against the flying Sails,
And rends the Sheets; the raging Billows rife,
And mount the toffing Veffel to the Skies.
Nor can the fhiv'ring Oars fuftain the Blow,
The Galley gives her Side, and turns her Prow;
While thofe a-ftern, defcending down the Steep,
Thro' gaping Waves behold the boiling Deep.
Three Ships were hurry'd by the southern Blaft,
And on the fecret Shelves with Fury caft;
Three more fierce Eurus in his angry Mood,
Dafh'd on the Shallows of the moving Sand,
And in Mid-ocean left them moor'd aland.
From Stem to Stem one was by Waves o'erborn,
The trembling Pilot, from the Rudder torn,
Was head long hurl'd: The Ship thrice round was tost,
Then bulg'd at once, and in the Deep was loft;
And here and there above the Waves were feen
Arms, Pictures, precious Goods, and floating Men.
The ftouteft Veffel to the Storm gave Way,
And fuck'd thro' loofen'd Planks the rufhing Sea.
The Ships with gaping Seams,
Admit the Deluge of the briny Streams:
And now a Breeze from Shore began to blow,
The Sailors fhip their Oars, and ceafe to row;
Then hoift their Yards atrip, and all their Sails
Let fall, to court the Wind and catch the Gales.
By this the Veffel half her Course had run,
And as much refted till the fetting Sun.
Both Shores were loft to Sight, when at the Clofe
Of Day, a ftiffer Gale at Eaft arofe:
The Sea grew white, the rolling Waves from far,
Like Heralds, firft denounce the watry War.
This feen, the Mafter foon began to cry.
Strike, ftrike the Topfail, let the Main-fheet fly,
And furl your Sails: The Winds repel the Sound,
And in the Speaker's Mouth the Speech is drown'd:
Yet of their own Accord, as Danger taught,
Each in his Way, officioufly they wrought;
Some flow their Oars, or ftop the leaky Sides,
Another, bolder yet, the Yard beftrides,
And folds the Sails; a fourth with Labour laves
Th'intruding Seas, and Waves ejects on Waves,
In this Confufion, while their Work they ply,
The Winds augment the Winter of the Sky,
And wage inteftine Wars; the fuff'ring Seas
Are tofs'd and mingled as their Tyrants please.
The Mafter would command, but in Despair
Of Safety, ftands amaz'd with ftupid Care;
Nor what to bid, or what forbid he knows,
Th'ungovern'd Tempeft to fuch Fury grows;
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