But in the mean space, let his Royal Sire,
Who warms our hopes with true Promethean fire,
So long his course in time and glory run,
70Till he estate his virtue on his son.
So in his father's days this happy One
Shall crowned be, yet not usurp the Throne;
And Charles reign still, since thus himself will be
Heir to himself, through all posterity.
By occasion, &c. 8 Orig. 'bone-fires', as often, the spelling being accepted by recent authorities as etymological. But bones do not make good fires: 'bane-fire', the acknowledged Northern form, which has been held to support this origin, is a very likely variant of' bale-fire', and the obvious 'bon-fire' in the holiday sense is by no means so absurd as it has been represented to be.
10 This 'new star' occurs again and again in courtly verse throughout Charles's life and at his death, but the accounts of it are uncomfortably conflicting. Some say that Venus was visible all day long—a phenomenon of obvious application; others make it Mercury—whereto also an application, at which the person concerned would have laughed very genially, is possible. But neither is a 'new star'; and the miracle is perhaps more judiciously put as that of a star, no matter what, shining brightly at noonday.