A PROSPECT OF THE NAVY ROYAL: OR, A Panegyrique upon the Fleet. Humbly Addressed to the Most Illustrious PRINCE RUPERT, Upon the Occasion of his going as ADMIRAL TO THE SEA, the 23 day of April, 1673.  
With a Description of the FLEET.   blazon or coat of arms 
London, Printed in the Year 1673.   

A PROSPECT OF THE NAVY ROYAL.  

WHile I, in pleasing Melancholy sat,  
Reflecting on this Islands happy state;  
When, from the top of an aspiring Tower,  
I viewed at once, it's Beauty and its Power;  
Pleased to behold how safe we are from harm,  
Embraced by Thetis kind, and Clasping arm:  
Blessed Isle said I, and full of Nature's Pride,  
So Beautiful and so well Fortified;  
At last my Unrestrained Senses strove  
Farther, than Nature gave them strength, to rove:  
My eyes a lavish freedom I allowed,  
Which nothing could confine, but Sea, or Cloud,  
Until, at length, where Skies, and Waters met,  
Where these did seem to Rise, and those to Set;  
At first a Leafeless Wood began to appear,  
But straight it Vndeceived me, and drew near;  
So that my wonder Ceased, as it Begun,  
And my Slow Thoughts were, by my Sight, Outrun;  
Which soon presented to me such a Fleet,  
Few Nations ever Saw, and None dare Meet.  
A hundred Moving Castles floating came,  
That seemed the Winds to Calm, and Seas to Tame;  
Each Swelling Sail the baffled storm Out-braves,  
And makes the Ships look Prouder than the Waves:  
Now the Enlarged Oak, whose Fettered Foot,  
Had many years, been Prisoner to its Root,  
Gratefully brings new Tributes, to that Earth,  
Which gave it both its Liberty, and Birth;  
joyful in storms, remembering that it knew  
More Danger, in Less Tempests, while it Grew:  
And thanks the Axe, that did commit that Rape,  
To Cut it Down, and Give't a Nobler shape.  
These are the Arks, that save us from the Flood,  
Which else might Overwhelm our Land with Blood:  
These Guard our Prince from Villainies Fatal Stroke,  
And every Man of War's a ROYAL OAK.   

The Grecian Horse, although its womb contained  
Heroic souls, whose courage was unstained,  
Might long before the Trojan Walls have stayed,  
Had not the Enemy Themselves betrayed:  
They first their own destruction did begin,  
And Made a way, to Let their Ruin in:  
But these Sea-Horses, by the English backed,  
Do Truths, beyond those Grecian Fables act:  
Our Moving Forts, with ease, themselves Transplant:  
Proving the Castle, and the Elephant.  
We make a way to be Victorious, where  
Base Fraud did never in our glory share:  
And fairly Conquer all we do oppose,  
So we not only Beat, but Win our Foes.   

Mark now these Monarches of the spacious Main,  
Each seems Attended with a glorious Train:  
The streaming Pendants dally with the Galis,  
They in like manner court the prouder Sails:  
Below, the steady Keels the Waves divide:  
Aloft, the Masts display their wanton Pride:  
Aboard, the Jocund Seamen pleasant are:  
Yet, in the Midst of Mirth, Prepared for War.  
They are not Tired with a long tedious March,  
Nor does the scorching Sun, their bodies Parch:  
No Luggage, there, is to new quarters sent,  
Their Tent does Carry them, not they their Tent:  
They weary not their Limbs by carrying Arms,  
Nor in their Sleeps, disturbed by Strange Alarms:  
They're always Fit, always Prepared to fight,  
And never See the Foe, but with delight.  
Now View the Royal Charles, before the rest,  
Proud that they are with such a Leader blest,  
Her Virgin-self she freely has resigned,  
To him that's grown the Terror of Mankind;  
The Matchless Prince, who, midst the powerful Foe,  
Dares Do, whatever she dares Undergo:  
Before his Own, Her Safety he'll Prefer,  
And rather choose to lose Himself than Her.   

Have you observed at some great Monarch's Court,  
Where People of All Qualities resort,  
How they pay Homage, in their Several Spheres?  
Knights do give place to Lords, and Lords to Peers:  
But when they come before the Regal Throne,  
No man is Honoured but the King alone:  
So here, we see all the well ordered Fleet,  
With humble Flag, their Admiral do greet:  
And seem with joyful shouts, and smiles to say,  
" This is the Charles and Princes wedding day.   

Old Poets feign, when Jason went from Greece,  
Hoping to steal, not win, the Golden Fleece,  
That the small ship, wherein he safely went,  
As a gay Present, to the gods was sent:  
But had the Actions of our Prince been told,  
What Prizes he has w●n more rich than Gold:  
How many Waking Dragons he has slain,  
He might be thought to merit what they Feign:  
And having Finished the successful War,  
His Charles might well deserve to be a Star:  
So a new constelation should we gain,  
If Rupert's Ship were joined to Charles his Wain.   

But see, amidst that Vast and Royal Town,  
Others, that bears Alliance to the Crown:  
The Sovereign and the Prince, two Sisters are,  
've Lost their Maidenheads alreay there;  
Ravished by Boors, whom they resisted so,  
As in the strife, t' affectt their Overthrow:  
And the Redoubled Honour, they brought thence,  
Became at once their Praise and Recompense.   

To reckon all your Hero's, that do fight  
For the true Neptunes (Mighty Charles) right:  
To sing of all the Battles they have won,  
Of what they have Endured and what 've Done,  
Alas! what Pen, what Volumes would Suffice,  
To write, what written, needs must pass for Lies?  
My Quill would undergo Cassandra's grief,  
To utter Truths, and yet not gain belief:  
I should all Poets Fictions far outdo,  
Which, with my truths compared, would all seem true.   

But stay— Methinks the Caverns of the Oak,  
Send forth (like Aetna) Sulphur, Fire, and Smoke:  
Which, followed by a harmony of noys,  
Seem to express the Seamen's doubled joys:  
'Tis even so, the Mighty Prince appears,  
And chases thence (already banished) fears:  
So, when the Ever youthful Prince of Light,  
‛ Has well disclosed, the Eyelids of the Night,  
The Drooping Flowers erect their pensive-heads,  
Shaking their Dew, upon their Earthly-beds:  
And while he courts them all in Amorous Rays,  
Each, greedy of a Kiss, her leaves displays:  
Until they see th' espoused Heliotrope,  
To whom they all resign their Widowed Hope:  
Thus fares it with our Prince, each Frigate runs  
To meet, and welcome him with Peals of Guns:  
Cowards whose ponderous Soul so low was sunk,  
That they durst scarce exchange a cuff, though drunk;  
Do neither fear the Dutch, the Rocks, nor Shelves,  
For they are petty Princes, now themselves.  
Toutcht with Magnetic virtue, every soul  
Turns to the Prince, as to their Northern Pole:  
Who Shines on all the Ships with equal light,  
And none can Guess which is his Favourite:  
Till caught at last by Charles' Nuptial Charms,  
Briskly he runs into her Loyal Arms:  
So that no hostile Stratagems, or Force,  
Shall him from her, or her from him Divorce.   

Thus did I please my Fancy, and my Sight,  
The One with Wonder, th' Other with Delight;  
Passing, in solitude, the short lived Hours,  
While every Lust the Latter still Devours:  
When Ten were Past, I scarcely thought'em One,  
As if Old Time had for a Wager Run.  
Till by, and by, the Sun Declined apace,  
Seeming in Hast to Wash his Ruddy Face.  
But, as he passes by our Navy, see  
He bows his Head, and Once more Courts a Tree.   

Go glorious Fleet, go on, and though black Night  
Has Ravished thee from my unhappy Sight:  
Yet, shall my eyes send forth a Briny Flood,  
Whence I will Launch out Prayers for thy good:  
A Gust of powerful sighs shall drive them on,  
Their Haven shall be the Eternal Throne.  
Where, if they e'er arrive, they'll humbly crave,  
That in Just Wars thou Good Success may'st have.   

May our Prince Finish what he does begin,  
May he Survive, the Battles he does win:  
Our Nations farther Safeguard may he be,  
And may we Conquer both by Land and Sea:  
May CHARLES our King his enemy's defeat:  
And ever be as Happy as he's Great.   
FINIS.