'Twas well the wars were done before,
Lost in Lluellin and Glendore.
Had Jones lived then, in vain th'assails
Of Saxons: Wales had still been Wales.
Roses and tulips Flora gathers here
When we have none, to crown her golden hair,
And here Medea picked (if Jones speaks truth)
Those herbs which turned antiquity to youth:
The only phoenix deigns to weather here,
The only place like her without a peer.
Lest all these sweets should want sweet harmony
A numerous quire of nightingales comply
To warble forth the sweet Amara's praise,
Who turns their mourning notes to merry lays. . .
Such is Amara, such is Tempe field,
Elysium on earth unparalleled:
'Twas here this royal priest now kept his court,
A place well suiting with his fame and port.
And here comes Jones, where having made's address,
Letters of credence given at his access
In Latin writ: in the same tongue he gives
Jones gracious words, which language Jones conceives
To be Arabic, for the Latin tongue
He ne'er endured to learn nor old nor young.
But that's all one: there's no reply expected;
Unto a rich pavilion he's directed
By men of state, where he is well attended
With all that's rich, and to his rest commended.
Some few days spent, and time for audience got,
When Prester John in royal state was set:
Jones, studying how t'express his eloquence
In some strange language which might pose the Prince,
Now trouls him forth a full mouthed Welsh oration
Boldly delivered as became his nation.
The plot proved right, for not one word of sense
Could be picked from't; which vexed the learned Prince.
His learned linguists are called in to hear,
Who might as well have stopped each other's ear
For aught they understood, and all protest
It was the very language of the Beast.
Jones hath his end, and then to make it known
He had more tongues t'express himself than one,
In a new tone he speaks, not half so rich
But better known: 'twas English; unto which
An English Factor is interpreter
Between our Captain and John Presbyter.
His business takes effect (what e'er it was)
And great expresses of respect do pass
To Jones from him, as one he thought most rich
In unknown tongues expressed in his first speech,
And so admires him for he knows not what:
But Jones may thank his mother-tongue for that.
'Twas well the wars were done before,
Lost in Lluellin and Glendore.
Had Jones lived then, in vain th'assails
Of Saxons: Wales had still been Wales.
Roses and tulips Flora gathers here
When we have none, to crown her golden hair,
And here Medea picked (if Jones speaks truth)
Those herbs which turned antiquity to youth:
The only phoenix deigns to weather here,
The only place like her without a peer.
Lest all these sweets should want sweet harmony
A numerous quire of nightingales comply
To warble forth the sweet Amara's praise,
Who turns their mourning notes to merry lays. . .
Such is Amara, such is Tempe field,
Elysium on earth unparalleled:
'Twas here this royal priest now kept his court,
A place well suiting with his fame and port.
And here comes Jones, where having made's address,
Letters of credence given at his access
In Latin writ: in the same tongue he gives
Jones gracious words, which language Jones conceives
To be Arabic, for the Latin tongue
He ne'er endured to learn nor old nor young.
But that's all one: there's no reply expected;
Unto a rich pavilion he's directed
By men of state, where he is well attended
With all that's rich, and to his rest commended.
Some few days spent, and time for audience got,
When Prester John in royal state was set:
Jones, studying how t'express his eloquence
In some strange language which might pose the Prince,
Now trouls him forth a full mouthed Welsh oration
Boldly delivered as became his nation.
The plot proved right, for not one word of sense
Could be picked from't; which vexed the learned Prince.
His learned linguists are called in to hear,
Who might as well have stopped each other's ear
For aught they understood, and all protest
It was the very language of the Beast.
Jones hath his end, and then to make it known
He had more tongues t'express himself than one,
In a new tone he speaks, not half so rich
But better known: 'twas English; unto which
An English Factor is interpreter
Between our Captain and John Presbyter.
His business takes effect (what e'er it was)
And great expresses of respect do pass
To Jones from him, as one he thought most rich
In unknown tongues expressed in his first speech,
And so admires him for he knows not what:
But Jones may thank his mother-tongue for that.