Selected quad for the lemma: city_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
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A42455
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Akamaton pyr, or, The dreadful burning of London described in a poem / by J.G.
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J. G.
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1667
(1667)
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Wing G31; ESTC R30396
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9,509
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21
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〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 OR THE Dreadful Burning OF LONDON Described in a POEM BY J. G. M. A. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dionys Halicarn d Rom. Incend lib. 5. p. 313. Licensed May 2. 1667. Roger L'Estrange LONDON Printed for Henry Herringman at the Anchor in the Lower Walk of the New-Exchange 1667. To the Right Worshipful Sir VVilliam Turner Knight and Alderman of the City of LONDON SIR TO make your Name preliminary to so mean a Pamphlet created in me as great a doubt as whether so inconsiderate a Pen should make an Essay upon so great a Subject Yet as the attempt upon the Subject so the boldness in its Dedication seems not without some reason though I might rather have appear'd like pious Æneas in carrying his Father from the Flames of Troy than endeavour to imitate lofty Maro in describing them Yet might those Feet perhaps which hastened from the Flames at the same time run into Verses I know not why the instigation of some should be so very earnest in importuning me hereto knowing me to have trod more upon Vesuvius than Parnassus unless they imagin'd I might thereupon write sensibly though not elegantly on such a Subject of Fire But the Pen to describe this unparalell'd Fire should be like its Flames to soar high and be perspicuous too mounting above its own smoak and not to wrap it self up in sheets of obscurity and should be like that of the Eagle which fans the Clouds and approaches the Sun Your great Concern Sir as to the subject of this â—â—â—m and â—ur Rank as one of the chiefs if that Court which represents out Metropolis being sheriff thereof not long before its deplorable Ruine and now deligated as one of those to order and direct in its re-edifying might partly occasion this address to your self which might not onely affect you with the remembrance of its former State but excite you in the Contrivance of its future Glory Now though this Description of so severe a Providence may be but as an imperfect Draught to you having I suppose seen the thing it self acted the aifference being as great as between painted and real Fire yet mayit serve as a Remembrance to those who though they felt something of its Effects yet never saw any thing of its Tenrours Who may hereby understand how dreadful this Fire was which though at first stole upon the City in the deepest silence of the Night yet did soon discover it self by its own Splendour whose Flames by their great Light did soon proclaim that Ruine they made by their destructive Heat which seem'd as 't were chearful in devouring but as soon as they ceased to leap and dance at the destruction of others they perisht themselves Whence of old the †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Herod 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lib. 3. p. 10. Egyptians were perswaded that Fire was an animated Creature made onely to destroy and after satiated to dye with the thing devour'd But the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id. Persians proceed farther and adore it as a God Such indeed is the dread of this devouring Element that the Eternal Deity sometimes condescends to the resemblance of a consuming Fire and his teerrours to everlasting Burnings and how may we look upon this as a display of his Justice for whether or no this Fire began by a malitious hand yet must we look upon it as blown up by our Sins Such kind of malitious Practices may be traced back as far as Heathen Rome according to that of the Satyrist Conter Conductum Latronem Incendia Sulphure cepta Atquo dolo primos cum janua colligit ignes Juv. lib. 5. Sat. 13. Or as another observes Candelam apponere valvis Non dubitet This Fire seem'd like that in the tails of Sampsons Foxes which burn'd that which should have become others bread this made many wealthy Citizens become poor Almes-men whose mouths are as open now to ask at their hands before were to bestow Charity whose Dwellings being burn'd and their Trades wasted are reduced as the Psalmist speaks to eat ashes like bread But I hope the singular Care of our Sovereign and the earnest Endeavours of our Magistrates for the Re-building this famous City and for the Restoring of our waste Places may at the same time raise London out of its Ashes and poor Citizens out of the Dust Having made a Poetical Attempt in describing the dismal Ruine of so Renown'd a City I wish now I could so much farther play the Port as to be like that Thracian whose strains could make confus'd Stones rally into order Or as Amphion who allur'd them into the Walls of Thebes however might I vatem agere may I rather sing its approaching Glory than late Ruine Especially if the affair of its Re-building continue in part under Your most Prudent Care and I under Your former Favour the acknowledgement of which while it now becomes like your Name publick yet I hope if I have thereby offended that the same generous disposition that can so freely bestow a Favour will as freely pardon a Fault and what I have doâ—e in this Address that it may be attributed rather to my Endeavour of becoming grateful than offensive for hence it is that I desired to publish how much I am Honoured Sir Your most Obliged and Humble Servant J. G. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 OR The dreadful Burning of London While urgent * Sopor fessos complectitur artus Virg. Lib. 2. Sleep our heavy Eyes did clole And wrapt our mindes up in a soft Repose Some glowing Coal silent and dark as night Shakes its black Embers off so shews its light Which through some narrow room did gently creep With a still foot e're it abroad durst peep Which will no longer now confined be But steals forth with a kind of subtilty Though on its way Night had her Poppy shed Yet is reveal'd by its own Light it spread And with a train at last in publick goes And as it marches forward stronger grows Surprizing all before it as it burns And to itself all opposition turns Nor was its Rise more sudden by a blaste Than th' Execution which it made in haste As an inrag'd Invader straight doth spread His bloudy Banners which still Menace dread Wasting where e're he comes whose anger burns And into dreadful Flames the Countrey turns Which dismal ruine that he leaves behind Scarce satisfies the fury of his mind Thus doth this raging Fire lift up its head And its 〈◊〉 Flames abroad doth spread Which as deep midnight noâ—â— disturbs ouâ—â— Peace And by our Ruine do themselves encrease And as it marcheth is it trackt alone By the dire footsteps of destruction Weak at the first it humbly crept along Till higher it aspir'd as it grew strong And to exalted Pyramids doth rise Before the clogs of sleep fall from our eyes How does the crackling noise first wound our ear E're that the dreadful sight doth urge our fear No