With second life the deed of Marathon Upon Athenian walls;
So may she labor for thy civic halls:
And be the guardian spaces
Of consecrated places
As nobly graced by Sculpture's patient toii; And let imperishable Columns rise,
Fixed in the depths of this courageous soil; Expressive signals of a glorious strife, And competent to shed a spark divine Into the torpid breast of daily life; - Records on which, for pleasure of all eyes, The morning sun may shine With gratulation thoroughly benign 1
And ye, Pierian Sisters, sprung from Jove And sage Mnemosyne, full long debarred From your first mansions, exiled all too long From many a hallowed stream and grove, Dear native regions where ye wont to rove, Chanting for patient heroes the reward
Now (for, though Truth descending from above The Olympian summit hath destroyed for aye Your kindred Deities, ye live and move, Spared for obeisance from perpetual love For privilege redeemed of godlike sway) Now, on the margin of some spotless fountain, Or top serene of unmolested mountain,
Strike audibly the noblest of your lyres, And for a moment meet the soul's desires! That I, or some more favored Bard, may hear What ye, celestial Maids! have often sung Of Britain's acts, may catch it with rapt ear, And give the treasure to our British tongue! So shall the characters of that proud page Support their mighty theme from age to age; And, in the desert places of the earth, When they to future empires have given birth, So shall the people gather and believe The bold report, transferred to every clime; And the whole world, not envious, but admiring And to the like aspiring,
Own, that the progeny of this fair Isle Had power as lofty actions to achieve As were performed in man's heroic prime; Nor wanted, when their fortitude had held Its even tenor, and the foe was quelled, A corresponding virtue to beguile The hostile purpose of wide-wasting Time,- That not in vain they labored to secure, For their great deeds, perpetual memory, And fame as largely spread as land and sea, By Works of spirit high and passion pure:
FEELINGS OF A FRENCH ROYALIST, ON THE DISINTERMENI OF THE REMAINS OF THE DUC D'ENGHIEN.
DEAR Relics! from a pit of vilest mould Uprisen, to lodge among ancestral kings, And to inflict shame's salutary stings On the remorseless hearts of men grown old In a blind worship,- men perversely bold Even to this hour,—yet some shall now forsake Their monstrous Idol, if the dead e'er spake To warn the living; if truth were ever told By aught redeemed out of the hollow grave: O murdered Prince! meek, loyal, pious, brave! The power of retribution once was given : But 't is a rueful thought, that willow bands So often tie the thunder-wielding hands. Of Justice sent to earth from highest Heaven!
OCCASIONED BY THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO.
(The last six lines intended for an inscription.)
INTREPID sons of Albion! not by you Is life despised; ah no! the spacious earth
Ne'er saw a race who held, by right of birth, So many objects to which love is due:
Ye slight not life, - to God and Nature true; But death, becoming death, is dearer far, When duty bids you bleed in open war: Hence hath your prowess quelled that impious crew Heroes for instant sacrifice prepared,
Yet filled with ardor and on triumph bent Mid direst shocks of mortal accident,
To you who fell, and you whom slaughter spare: To guard the fallen, and consummate the event, Your Country rears this sacred Monument!
SIEGE OF VIENNA RAISED BY JOHN SOBIESKL.
O FOR a kindling touch from that pure flame Which ministered, erewhile, to a sacrifice Of gratitude, beneath Italian skies,
In words like these: "Up, Voice of song! proclaim Thy saintly rapture with celestial aim:
For lo! the Imperial City stands released
From bondage threatened by the embattled East, And Christendom respires; from guilt and shame Redeemed, from miserable fear set free,
By one day's feat, one mighty victory.
Chant the Deliverer's praise in every tongue! The cross shall spread, the crescent hath waxed dim;
He conquering, as in joyful Heaven is sung, HE CONQUERING THROUGH GOD, AND GOD BY HIM." *
OCCASIONED BY THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO.
whose soul is meek as dawning day,
Yet trained to judgments righteously severe, Fervid, yet conversant with holy fear, As recognizing one Almighty sway: He,-whose experienced eye can pierce the array Of past events; to whom, in vision clear, The aspiring heads of future things appear, Like mountain-tops whose mists have rolled away,- Assoiled from all encumbrance of our time,† He only, if such breathe, in strains devout Shall comprehend this victory sublime; Shall worthily rehearse the hideous rout, The triumph hail, which from their peaceful clime Angels might welcome with a choral shout!
EMPERORS and Kings, how oft have temples rung With impious thanksgiving, the Almighty's scorn!
"From all this world's encumbrance did himself assoil."
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