John Dryden

“ War, our consumption, was their gainful trade;
We inward bled, whilst they prolonged our pain:
He fought to end our fighting, and essayed
To stanch the blood by breathing of the vein.
Swift and resistless though the land he passed,
Like that bold Greek who did the East subdue,
And made to battles such heroic haste
As if on wings of victory he flew.
He fought, secure of fortune as of fame,
Till by new maps the island might be shown,
Of conquests, which he strewed where'er he came,
Thick as the galaxy with stars is sown. ”

“ And therefore is a tax they seldom pay.
From this high spring our foreign conquests flow
Which yet more glorious triumphs do portend,
Since their commencement to his arms they owe,
If springs as high as fountains may ascend.
He made us freemen of the continent
Whom nature did like captives treat before,
To nobler preys the English lion sent,
And taught him first in Belgian walks to roar.
That old unquestioned pirate of the land,
Proud Rome, with dread the fate of Dunkirk heardl,
And trembling wished behind more Alps to stand,
Although an Alexander were her guard. ”