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From all that martial feats could yield
To her desires, or to her hopes present-—
Stooped to the Victory, on that Belgic field,
Achieved, this closing deed magnificent,

And with the embrace was satisfied. -Fly, ministers of Fame, With every help that ye from earth and heaven may claim!

Bear through the world these tidings of delight!

--Hours, Days, and Months, have borne them in the sight

Of mortals, hurrying like a sudden shower
That landward stretches from the sea,
The morning's splendours to devour;
But this swift travel scorns the company
Of irksome change, or threats from sadden-
ing power.

-The shock is given-the Adversaries
bleed-

Lo, Justice triumphs! Earth is freed! Joyful annunciation!--it went forthIt pierced the caverns of the sluggish

North

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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 cele-
brate!

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 fliesAnd 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 vainTO 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!
Blest, 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. 1816.

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"REST, rest, perturbed Earth! O rest, thou doleful Mother of Mankind!"

A Spirit sang in tones more plaintive than the wind:

"From regions where no evil thing has birth

I come-thy stains to wash away,
Thy cherished fetters to unbind,
And open thy sad eyes upon a milder
day.

The Heavens are thronged with martyrs that have risen

From out thy noisome prison;
The penal caverns groan
With tens of thousands rent from off the
tree

Of hopeful life,--by battle's whirlwind blown
Into the deserts of Eternity.
Unpitied havoc ! Victims unlamented!
But not on high, where madness is resented,
And murder causes some sad tears to

flow,

Though, from the widely-sweeping blow, The choirs of Angels spread, triumphantly augmented.

II

"False Parent of Mankind!

Obdurate, proud, and blind,

I sprinkle thee with soft celestial dews,
Thy lost, maternal heart to re-infuse!
Scattering this far-fetched moisture from
my wings,

Upon the act a blessing I implore,

Of which the rivers in their secret springs, The rivers stained so oft with human gore, Are conscious;-may the like return no more!

May Discord-for a Seraph's care

Shall be attended with a bolder prayerMay she, who once disturbed the seats of bliss

These mortal spheres above, Be chained for ever to the black abyss. And thou, O rescued Earth, by peace and love,

And merciful desires, thy sanctity approve!" The Spirit ended his mysterious rite, And the pure vision closed in darkness infinite.

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And scattered rural farms of aspect bright; And, here and there, between the pastoral downs,

The azure sea upswelled upon the sight. Fair prospect, such as Britain only shows! But not a living creature could be seen Through its wide circuit, that, in deep repose,

And, even to sadness, lonely and serene, Lay hushed; till-through a portal in the sky

Brighter than brightest loop-hole, in a storm,

Opening before the sun's triumphant eyeIssued, to sudden view, a glorious Form! Earthward it glided with a swift descent: Saint George himself this Visitant must be;

And, ere a thought could ask on what intent

He sought the regions of Humanity,
A thrilling voice was heard, that vivified
City and field and flood;-aloud it cried-

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(Albeit of effect profound)

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II

And lo! with crimson banners proudly

streaming,

And upright weapons innocently gleaming,
Along the surface of a spacious plain
Advance in order the redoubted Bands,
And there receive green chaplets from the
hands

Of a fair female train—
Maids and Matrons, dight

In robes of dazzling white;

While from the crowd bursts forth a rapturous noise

By the cloud-capt hills retorted;
And a throng of rosy boys

In loose fashion tell their joys;
And grey-haired sires, on staffs supported,
Look round, and by their smiling seem to

say,

Thus strives a grateful Country to display The mighty debt which nothing can repay!

III

Anon before my sight a palace rose Built of all precious substances,--so pure And exquisite, that sleep alone bestows Ability like splendour to endure:

Entered, with streaming thousands, through the gate,

I saw the banquet spread beneath a Dome of state,

A lofty Dome, that dared to emulate
The heaven of sable night

With starry lustre; yet had power to throw
Solemn effulgence, clear as solar light,
Upon a princely company below,

. While the vault rang with choral harmony, Like some Nymph-haunted grot beneath the roaring sea.

-No sooner ceased that peal, than on the

verge

Of exultation hung a dirge
Breathed from a soft and lonely instrument,
That kindled recollections
Of agonised affections;

And, though some tears the strain attended,
The mournful passion ended

In peace of spirit, and sublime content!

IV

But garlands wither; festal shows depart, Like dreams themselves; and sweetest sound

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So shall the people gather and believe
The bold report, transferred to every clime;
And the whole world, not envious but ad-
miring,

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 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!
1816.

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WHO rises on the banks of Seine,
And binds her temples with the civic wreath?
What joy to read the promise of her mien!
How sweet to rest her wide-spread wings
beneath

But they are ever playing,
And twinkling in the light,
And, if a breeze be straying,
That breeze she will invite;

And stands on tiptoe, conscious she is fair,
And calls a look of love into her face,
And spreads her arms, as if the general air
Alone could satisfy her wide embrace.
-Melt, Principalities, before her melt!
Her love ye hailed-her wrath have felt!
But She through many a change of form
hath gone,

And stands amidst you now an armed creature,

Whose panoply is not a thing put on,
But the live scales of a portentous nature;
That, having forced its way from birth to
birth,

Stalks round-abhorred by Heaven, a terror to the Earth!

II

I marked the breathings of her dragon crest;

My Soul, a sorrowful interpreter,
In many a midnight vision bowed

Before the ominous aspect of her spear;

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