'Tis time to leave the books in dust,
And oil th' unused armour's rust,
Removing from the wall
The corslet of the hall.
So restless Cromwell could not cease
In the inglorious arts of peace,
But through advent'rous war
Urged his active star:
And, like the three-forked lightning, first
Breaking the clouds where it was nursed,
Did thorough his own side
His fiery way divide.
For 'tis all one to courage high,
The emulous or enemy;
And with such, to enclose
Is more than to oppose.
Then burning through the air he went,
And palaces and temples rent;
And Caesar's head at last
We now learn that the divide is between those that would oppose him ( The enemy ) and those that would seek to hinder or “enclose” his power ( The emulous ). The previous simile however, makes it obvious that neither group will succeed in containing Cromwell.
An Horatian Ode Upon Cromwells Return from Ireland