All bare, like fome old oak which tempefts beat,
He ftands, and fees below his fcatter'd leaves.

LXII.

Heroes of old, when wounded, fhelter fought;
But he, who meets all danger with disdain,
E'en in their face his fhip to anchor brought,
And steeple high stood prop'd upon the main.
LXIII.

At this excefs of courage, all amaz'd,

The foremost of his foes a while withdraw: With fuch refpect in enter'd Rome they gaz'd, Who on high chairs the god-like fathers faw. LXIV.

And now, as where Patroclus' body lay,

Here Trojan chiefs advanc'd, and there the Greek; Ours o'er the Duke their pious wings difplay, And theirs the nobleft fpoils of Britain feek. LXV.

Mean time his bufy mariners he haftes,

His fhatter'd fails with rigging to restore;
And willing pines afcend his broken masts,
Whofe lofty heads rife higher than before.
LXVI.

Straight to the Dutch he turns his dreadful prow,
More fierce th' important quarrel to decide:

Like fwans, in long array his veffels fhow,

Whofe crefts, advancing, do the waves divide.
LXVII,

They charge, re-charge, and all along the fea

They drive, and fquander the huge Belgian fleet.

Berkley alone, who nearest danger lay,

Did a like fate with loft Creufa meet.

LXVIII.

The night comes on, we eager to purfue
The combat ftill, and they afham'd to leave:
Till the laft ftreaks of dying day withdrew,
And doubtful moonlight did our rage deceive.
LXIX.

In th' English fleet each ship resounds with joy,
And loud applaufe of their great leader's fame:
In fiery dreams the Dutch they still destroy,

And, flumbering, fmile at the imagin'd flame.
LXX.

Not fo the Holland fleet, who, tir'd and done,
Stretch'd on their decks like weary oxen lie:
Faint fweats all down their mighty members run,
(Vaft bulks which little fouls but ill fupply.)

LXXI.

In dreams they fearful precipices tread,

Or, fhipwreck'd, labour to fome diftant fore: Or in dark churches walk among the dead;

They wake with horror, and dare fleep no more.
LXXII

*The morn they look on with unwilling eyes,

Till, from their main-top, joyful news they hear Of fhips, which by their mould bring new supplies, And in their colours Belgian lions bear.

LXXIII.

Our watchful General had difcern'd from far,
This mighty fuccour which made glade the foe:

He figh'd, but, like a father of the war,

+His face fpake hope, while deep his forrows flow.

* Second day's battle.

His face, &c.] Spem vultu fimulat, premit alto corde dolorem. Virg.

LXXIV.

His wounded men he first fends off to fhore,

Never, till now, unwilling to obey:

They not their wounds, but want of strength deplore, And think them happy, who with him can stay. LXXV.

Then, to the reft, Rejoice, faid he, to day;

In you the fortune of Great Britain lies:
Among fo brave a people you are they,

Whom heav'n has chofe to fight for fuch a prize.
LXXVI.

If number English courages could quell,

We fhould at firft have fhunn'd, not met, our foes; Whofe numerous fails the fearful only tell :

Courage from hearts, and not from numbers grows.
LXXVII.

He faid; nor needed more to fay: With hafte
To their known ftations chearfully they go;
And all at once, difdaining to be last,

Solicit every gale to meet the foe.

LXXVIII.

Nor did th' encourag'd Belgians long delay,

But bold in others, not themfelves, they stood: So thick, our navy fcarce could steer their way, But feem'd to wander in a moving wood. LXXIX.

Our little fleet was now engag'd fo far,

That, like the fword-fish in the whale, they fought:

The combat only feem'd a civil war,

Till through their bowels we our paffage wrought.

LXXX.

Never had valour, no not ours, before,

Done aught like this upon the land or main,
Where not to be o'ercome was to do more

Than all the conquefts former kings did gain.
LXXXI.

The mighty ghofts of our great Harries rofe,
And armed Edwards look'd, with anxious eyes,
To fee this fleet among unequal foes,

By which fate promis'd them their Charles fhould rife.
LXXXII.

Mean time the Belgians tack upon our rear,

And raking chafe-guns thro' our fterns they fend:
Close by, their fire-fhips, like jackals, appear,
Who on their lious for the prey attend.
LXXXIII.

Silent in fmoke of cannon they came on:
(Such vapours once did fiery Cacus hide :)
In thefe the heighth of pleas'd revenge is shewn,
Who burn contented by another's fide.

LXXXIV.

Sometimes, from fighting fquadrons of each fleet,
Deceiv'd themfelves, or to preferve fome friend,

Two grapling Etna's on the ocean meet,

And English fires with Belgian Aamies contend.
LXXXV.

Now, at each tack, our little fleet grows lefs;

And, like maim'd fowl, fwi.n lagging on the main; Their greater lofs their numbers fearce confefs, While they lofe cheaper than the English gain.

LXXXVI.

Have you not feen, when, whistled from the fift,
Some falcon stoops at what her eye defign'd,
And with her eagerness the quarry mifs'd,

Straight flies at check, and clips it down the wind?
LXXXVII.

The daftard crow, that to the wood made wing,
And fees the groves no shelter can afford,
With her loud kaws her craven kind does bring,
Who, fafe in numbers, cuff the noble bird.
LXXXVIII.

Among the Dutch thus Albemarle did fare:
He could not conquer, and difdain'd to flie;
Paft hope of fafety, 'twas his latest care,
Like falling Caefar, decently to die.
LXXXIX.

Yet pity did his manly fpirit move,

To fee thofe perish who fo well had fought; And, generously, with his defpair he strove, Refolv'd to live, till he their fafety wrought.

XC.

Let other Mufes write his profp'rous fate,
Of conquer'd nations tell, and kings refter'd:
But mine fhall fing of his eclips'd eftate,

Which, like the fun's, more wonders does afford.
XCI.

He drew his mighty frigates all before,

On which the foe his fruitlefs force employs :

His weak ones deep into his rear he bore,

Remote from guns, as fick men from the noife.
XCII.

His fiery cannon did their passage guide,

And following smoke obfcur'd them from the foe: