Upon Occasion of the Plague in London

A SONNET, UPON OCCASION OF THE PLAGUE IN LONDON, LATELY FOUND ON A GLASS WINDOW AT CHALFONT, IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, WHERE MILTON RESIDED DURING THE CONTINUANCE OF THAT CALAMITY.

Fair mirror of foul times; whose fragile sheen
Shall, as it blazeth, break; while providence
(Aye watching o'er his faints with eye unseen)
Spreads the red rod of angry pestilence,
To sweep the wicked and their counsels hence;

Yea, all to break the pride of lustful kings,
Who heaven's lore reject for brutish sense;
As erst he scourg'd Jessides' sin of yore,
For the fair Hittite, when, on seraph's wings,
He sent him war, or plague, or famine sore.R.