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!

V.

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 patriot heroes the reward

Of never-dying song!

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 favoured 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
I ad 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 laboured 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!

XLI.

OCCASIONED BY THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO.

(The last six lines intended for an Inscription.) FEBRUARY, 1816.

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 ardour and on triumph bent
'Mid direst shocks of mortal accident-
To you who fell, and you whom slaughter spared
To guard the fallen, and consummate the event,
Your Country rears this sacred Monument!

XLII.

SIEGE OF Vienna raiseD BY JOHN SOBIESKL

FEBRUARY, 1816.

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;

XL.

FEELINGS OF A FRENCH ROYALIST,

ON THE DISINTERMENT OF THE REMAINS OF
THE DUKE D'ENGHIEN.

DEAR Reliques! 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 'tis a rueful thought that willow bands
So often tie the thunder-wielding hands
Of Justice sent to earth from highest Heaven!

XLIV.

EMPERORS and Kings, how oft have temples rung With impious thanksgiving, the Almighty's

scorn!

This messenger of good was launched in air. France, humbled France, amid her wild dis

orders,

Feels, and hereafter shall the truth declare,
That she too lacks not reason to rejoice,
And utter England's name with sadly-plausive

voice.

Lo, Justice triumphs! Earth is freed! Joyful annunciation !-it went forthIt pierced the caverns of the sluggish NorthIt found no barrier on the ridge Of Andes-frozen gulphs became its bridgeThe vast Pacific gladdens with the freightUpon the Lakes of Asia 'tis bestowedThe Arabian desert shapes a willing road

Across her burning breast,

For this refreshing incense from the West!-
-Where snakes and lions breed,
Where towns and cities thick as stars appear,
Wherever fruits are gathered, and where'er
The upturned soil receives the hopeful seed-
While the Sun rules, and cross the shades of
night-

The unwearied arrow hath pursued its flight!
The eyes of good men thankfully give heed,

And in its sparkling progress read Of virtue crowned with glory's deathless meed: Tyrants exult to hear of kingdoms won, And slaves are pleased to learn that mighty feats are done:

Even the proud Realm, from whose distracted borders

II.

And well might it beseem that mighty Town
Into whose bosom earth's best treasures flow,
To whom all persecuted men retreat;
If a new Temple lift her votive brow
High on the shore of silver Thames-to greet
The peaceful guest advancing from afar.
Bright be the Fabric, as a star

Fresh risen, and beautiful within!-there meet
Dependence infinite, proportion just;

A Pile that Grace approves, and Time can

sages,

England's illustrious sons of long, long ages;
Be it not unordained that solemn rites,
Within the circuit of those Gothic walls,
Shall be performed at pregnant intervals;
The living generations with the dead;
Commemoration holy that unites

By the deep soul-moving sense
Of religious eloquence,-

By visual pomp, and by the tie
Of sweet and threatening harmony;
Soft notes, awful as the omen
Of destructive tempests coming,
And escaping from that sadness
Into elevated gladness;

While the white-robed choir attendant,
Provoke all potent symphonies to raise
Under mouldering banners pendent,

Songs of victory and praise,

For them who bravely stood unhurt, or bled
With medicable wounds, or found their graves
Upon the battle field, or under ocean's waves;
Or were conducted home in single state,
And long procession-there to lie,
Where their sons' sons, and all posterity,
Unheard by them, their deeds shall celebrate!

IV.

Nor will the God of peace and love Such martial service disapprove. He guides the Pestilence-the cloud Of locusts travels on his breath; The region that in hope was ploughed His drought consumes, his mildew taints with death;

He springs the hushed Volcano's mine,
He puts the Earthquake on her still design,
Darkens the sun, hath bade the forest sink,
And, drinking towns and cities, still can drink
Cities and towns-'tis Thou-the work is
Thine!-

The fierce Tornado sleeps within thy courts-
He hears the word-he flies-
And navies perish in their ports;

For Thou art angry with thine enemies!

For these, and mourning for our errors,
And sins, that point their terrors,

We bow our heads before Thee, and we laud
And magnify thy name, Almighty God!

But Man is thy most awful instrument, In working out a pure intent; Thou cloth'st the wicked in their dazzling mail, And for thy righteous purpose they prevail;

Thine arm from peril guards the coasts Of them who in thy laws delight: Thy presence turns the scale of doubtful fight, Tremendous God of battles, Lord of Hosts!

V.

Forbear:-to Thee

Father and Judge of all, with fervent tongue
But in a gentler strain

Of contemplation, by no sense of wrong,
Too quick and keen) incited to disdain
Of pity pleading from the heart in vain-
TO THEE-TO THEE

Just God of christianised Humanity

Shall praises be poured forth, and thanks ascend,
That thou hast brought our warfare to an end,
And that we need no second victory!
Elest, above measure blest,

If on thy love our Land her hopes shall rest,
And all the Nations labour to fulfil

Thy law, and live henceforth in peace, in pure good will.

XLVI. ODE.

THE MORNING OF THE DAY APPOINTED FOR A

GENERAL THANKSGIVING. JANUARY 18, 1816.

I.

HAIL, orient Conqueror of gloomy Night!
Thou that canst shed the bliss of gratitude
On hearts howe'er insensible or rude;
Whether thy punctual visitations smite
The haughty towers where monarchs dwell;
Or thou, impartial Sun, with presence bright
Cheer'st the low threshold of the peasant's cell!
Not unrejoiced I see thee climb the sky
In naked splendour, clear from mist or haze,
Or cloud approaching to divert the rays,
Which even in deepest winter testify

Thy power and majesty,

Dazzling the vision that presumes to gaze.
--Well does thine aspect usher in this Day;
As aptly suits therewith that modest pace
Submitted to the chains

That bind thee to the path which God ordains

That thou shalt trace,

Till, with the heavens and earth, thou pass away!
Nor less, the stillness of these frosty plains,
Their utter stillness, and the silent grace
Of yon ethereal summits white with snow,
(Whose tranquil pomp and spotless purity
Report of storms gone by
To us who tread below)
Do with the service of this Day accord.
--Divinest Object which the uplifted eye
Of mortal man is suffered to behold;

Thou, who upon those snow-clad Heights has poured

Meek lustre, nor forget'st the humble Vale; Thou who dost warm Earth's universal mould, And for thy bounty wert not unadored

'Mid the deep quiet of this morning hour,
All nature seems to hear me while I speak,
By feelings urged that do not vainly seek
Apt language, ready as the tuneful notes
That stream in blithe succession from the throats
Of birds, in leafy bower,

Warbling a farewell to a vernal shower.
-There is a radiant though a short-lived flame,
That burns for Poets in the dawni: g east ;
And oft my soul hath kindled at the same,
When the captivity of sleep had ceased;
But He who fixed immoveably the frame
Of the round world, and built, by laws as strong,
A solid refuge for distress-

The towers of righteousness;
He knows that from a holier altar came
The quickening spark of this day's sacrifice;

Knows that the source is nobler whence doth rise

The current of this matin song;
That deeper far it lies

Than aught dependent on the fickle skies.

III.

Have we not conquered?-by the vengeful

sword?

Ah no, by dint of Magnanimity;

That curbed the baser passions, and left free
A loyal band to follow their liege Lord
Clear-sighted Honour, and his staid Compeers,
Along a track of most unnatural years;
In execution of heroic deeds

Whose memory, spotless as the crystal beads
Of morning dew upon the untrodden meads,
Shall live enrolled above the starry spheres.
He, who in concert with an earthly string
Of Britain's acts would sing,

He with enraptured voice will tell
Of One whose spirit no reverse could quell;
Of One that mid the failing never failed-
Who paints how Britain struggled and pre-
vailed

Shall represent her labouring with an eye
Of circumspect humanity;

Shall show her clothed with strength and skill,
All martial duties to fulfil;
Firm as a rock in stationary fight;
In motion rapid as the lightning's gleam;
Fierce as a flood-gate bursting at mid night
To rouse the wicked from their giddy dream-
Woe, woe to all that face her in the field!
Appalled she may not be, and cannot yield.

IV.

An thus is missed the sole true glory That can belong to human story! At which they only shall arrive Who through the abyss of weakness dive. The very humblest are too proud of heart; And one brief day is rightly set apart For Him who lifteth up and layeth low; For that Almighty God to whom we owe, Say not that we have vanquished—but that we survive.

V.

How dreadful the dominion of the impure! Why should the Song be tardy to proclaim That less than power unbounded could not tame

That soul of Evil-which, from hell let loose,
Had filled the astonished world with such abuse
As boundless patience only could endure?
-Wide-wasted regions-cities wrapt in flame-
Who sees, may lift a streaming eye

To Heaven;-who never saw, may heave a sigh;
But the foundation of our natures shakes,
And with an infinite pain the spirit aches,
When desolated countries, towns on fire,
Are but the avowed attire

Of warfare waged with desperate mind
Against the life of virtue in mankind;
Assaulting without ruth

The citadels of truth;

While the fail gardens of civility,

By ignora .ce defaced,

By violence laid waste,

Perish without reprieve for flower or tree !

VI.

A crouching purpose-a distracted will-
Opposed to hopes that battened upon scorn,
And to desires whose ever-waxing horn
Not all the light of earthly power could fill;
Opposed to dark, deep plots of patient skill,
And to celerities of lawless force;

Which, spurning God, had flung away remorse-
What could they gain but shadows of redress?
-So bad proceeded propagating worse;
And discipline was passion's dire excess.
Widens the fatal web, its lines extend,
And deadlier poisons in the chalice blend.
When will your trials teach you to be wise?
-O prostrate Lands, consult your agonies!

If one there be

Of all thy progeny

Who can forget thy prowess, never more
Be that ungrateful Son allowed to hear
Thy green leaves rustle or thy torrents roar.
As springs the lion from his den,

As from a forest-brake

Upstarts a glistering snake,
The bold Arch-despot re-appeared :-again
Wide Europe heaves, impatient to be cast,
With all her armèd Powers,

On that offensive soil, like waves upon a
thousand shores.

The trumpet blew a universal blast!

But Thou art foremost in the field:-there stand:

Receive the triumph destined to thy hand! All States have glorified themselves; their claims

eighed by Providence, in balance even ;

To highest Heaven-the labour of the Soul;
That builds, as thy unerring precepts teach,
Upon the internal conquests made by each,
Her hope of lasting glory for the whole.
Yet will not heaven disown nor earth gainsay
The outward service of this day;
Whether the worshippers entreat
Forgiveness from God's mercy-seat;

Or thanks and praises to His throne ascend
That He has brought our warfare to an end.
And that we need no second victory!-
Ha! what a ghastly sight for maa to see:
And to the heavenly saints in peace who dwell
For a brief moment, terrible;
But, to thy sovereign penetration, fair,
Before whom all things are that were,
All judgments that have been, or e'er shall b
Links in the chain of thy tranquillity!
Along the bosom of this favoured Nation,
Breathe Thou, this day, a vital undulation!
Let all who do this land inherit
Be conscious of thy moving spirit!
Oh, 'tis a goodly Ordinance,-the sight,
Though sprung from bleeding war, is one of

pure delight;

Bless Thou the hour, or e'er the hour arrive, When a whole people shall kneel down in

Forth towards empyreal Heaven,
As if the fretted roof were riven.
Us, humbler ceremonies now await;
But in the bosom, with devout respect
The banner of our joy we will erect,

And strength of love our souls shall elevate:
For to a few collected in his name,
Their heavenly Father will incline an ear
Gracious to service hallowed by its aim ;-
Awake! the majesty of God revere!

Go-and with foreheads meekly bowed Present your prayers-go-and rejoice aloudThe Holy One will hear!

And what, 'mid silence deep, with faith sincere,

Ye, in your low and undisturbed estate,
Shall simply feel and purely meditate-
Of warnings-from the unprecedented might,
Which, in our time, the impious have disclosed;
And of more arduous duties thence imposed
Upon the future advocates of right;
Of mysteries revealed,
And judgments unrepealed,
Of earthly revolution,
And final retribution,-

To his omniscience will appear
An offering not unworthy to find place,
On this high DAY OF THANKS, before
Throne of Grace!