Matthew Prior Poems (188 Poems)
Carmen Seculare. For the Year 1700. To The King (Matthew Prior Poems)
Thy elder Look, Great Janus, castInto the long Records of Ages past:Review the Years in fairest Action drestWith noted White, Superior to the rest;Aera’s deriv’d, and Chronicles begunFrom Empires founded, and from Battels won:Show all the Spoils by valiant Kings … Continue reading
Alma; or, The Progress of the Mind. In Three Cantos. – Canto III. (Matthew Prior Poems)
Richard, who now was half asleep,Roused, nor would longer silence keep;And sense like this, in vocal breath,Broke from his twofold hedge of teeth.Now if this phrase too harsh be thought,Pope, tell the world ’tis not my fault.Old Homer taught us … Continue reading
Alma; or, The Progress of the Mind. In Three Cantos. – Canto II. (Matthew Prior Poems)
But shall we take the Muse abroad,To drop her idly on the road,And leave our subject in the middle,As Butler did his Bear and Fiddle?Yet he, consummate master, knewWhen to recede and where pursue:His noble negligence teachWhat others’ toils despair … Continue reading
Alma; or, The Progress of the Mind. In Three Cantos. – Canto I. (Matthew Prior Poems)
Matthew met Richard, when or whereFrom story is not mighty clear:Of many knotty points they spoke,And pro and con by turns they took:Rats half the manuscript have ate;Dire hunger! which we still regret;O! may they ne’er again digestThe horrors of … Continue reading
The Turtle And Sparrow. An Elegiac Tale (Matthew Prior Poems)
Behind an unfrequented glade,Where yew and myrtle mix their shade,A widow Turtle pensive sat,And wept her murder’d lover’s fate.The Sparrow chanced that way to walk,(A bird that loves to chirp and talk)Be sure he did the Turtle greet,She answer’d him … Continue reading
An Ode – Humbly Inscribed To The Queen, On the Glorious Success of Her Majesty’s Arms (Matthew Prior Poems)
When great Augustus govern’d ancient Rome,And sent his conquering bands to foreign wars,Abroad when dreaded, and beloved at home,He saw his fame increasing with his years,Horace, great bard, (so fate ordain’d) arose,And, bold as were his countryman in fight,Snatch’d their … Continue reading
An Ode – In Imitation of Horace, Book III. Ode II. (Matthew Prior Poems)
How long, deluded Albion, wilt thou lieIn the lethargic sleep, the sad reposeBy which thy close thy constant enemyHas softly lull’d thee to thy woes?Or wake, degenerate isle, or cease to ownWhat thy old kings in Gallic camps have done,The … Continue reading
The Nut-Brown Maid. A Poem. (Matthew Prior Poems)
Written three hundred years since. Be it right or wrong, these men amongOn women do complayne;Affyrmynge this, how that it isA labour spent in vaineTo love them wele; for never a deleThey love a man againe:For lete a man do … Continue reading
Down-Hall. A Ballad. (Matthew Prior Poems)
Tune. — “King John and the Abbot of Canterbury.” I sing not old Jason who travell’d through GreeceTo kiss the fair maids and possess the rich fleece,Nor sing I AEneas, who, led by his mother,Got rid of one wife and … Continue reading
A Letter To Monsieur Boileau Despreaux, Occasioned By The Victory At Blenheim (Matthew Prior Poems)
Since hired for life, thy servile Muse must singSuccessive conquests and a glorious King;Must of a man immortal vainly boast,And bring him laurels whatsoe’er they cost,What turn wilt thou employ, what colours lay,On the event of that superior day,In which … Continue reading
More Matthew Prior Poetry (Based on Topics)
View All Matthew Prior Poems