THE SPANISH ARMADA. 37 Right sharp and quick the bells all night rang out from Bristol town, And ere the day three hundred horse had met on Clifton down; The sentinel on Whitehall gate looked forth into the night, And saw o'erhanging Richmond Hill the streak of bloodred light. Then bugle's notes and cannon's roar the death-like silence broke, And with one start, and with one cry, the royal city woke. At once on all her stately gates arose the answering fires; At once the wild alarum clashed from all her reeling spires; From all the batteries of the Tower pealed loud the voice of fear, And all the thousand masts of Thames sent back a louder cheer; And from the farthest wards was heard the rush of hurrying feet, And the broad streams of flags and pikes dashed down each roaring street: And broader still became the blaze, and louder still the din, As fast from every village round the horse came spurring in, And eastward straight from wild Blackheath, the warlike errand went, And roused in many an ancient hall the gallant squires of Kent. Southward from Surrey's pleasant hills flew those bright couriers forth; High on bleak Hampstead's swarthy moor they started for the north; And on, and on, without a pause, untired they bounded still, 38 ADDRESS TO AN EGYPTIAN MUMMY. All night from tower to tower they sprang-they sprang from hill to hill, Till the proud Peak unfurled the flag o'er Darwin's rocky dales Till like volcanoes flared to heaven the stormy hills of Wales Till twelve fair counties saw the blaze on Malvern's lonely height Till streamed in crimson on the wind the Wrekin's crest of light Till broad and fierce the star came forth on Ely's stately fane, And tower and hamlet rose in arms o'er all the bound less plain; Till Belvoir's lordly terraces the sign to Lincoln sent, And Lincoln sped the message on o'er the wide vale of Trent, Till Skiddaw saw the fire that burned on Gaunt's em battled pile, And the red glare on Skiddaw roused the burghers of Carlisle. Macaulay. ADDRESS TO AN EGYPTIAN MUMMY. AND thou hast walked about (how strange a story!) Speak! for thou long enough hast acted dummy- Not like thin ghosts or disembodied creatures, But with thy bones, and flesh, and limbs, and features. ADDRESS TO AN EGYPTIAN MUMMY. Tell us, for doubtless thou canst recollect, To whom should we assign the Sphinx's fame: Was Cheops or Cephrenes architect Of either pyramid that bears his name? Is Pompey's Pillar really a misnomer? 39 Had Thebes a hundred gates, as sung by Homer? Perhaps thou wert a mason, and forbidden, By oath, to tell the mysteries of thy trade; Then say what secret melody was hidden In Memnon's statue which at sun-rise played? Perhaps thou wert a priest, and hast been dealing In human blood, and horrors past revealing. Perchance that very hand, now pinioned flat, Or doffed thine own to let Queen Dido pass, I need not ask thee if that hand, when armed, THE SAME CONTINUED. Thou couldst develop, if that withered tongue 40 ADDRESS TO AN EGYPTIAN MUMMY. Still silent, incommunicative elf! Art sworn to secresy? then keep thy vows; But pr'ythee tell us something of thyself— Reveal the secrets of thy prison-house! Since in the world of spirits thou hast slumbered, What hast thou seen, what strange adventures numbered? Since first thy form was in this box extended, We have, above-ground, seen some strange mutations; The Roman empire has begun and ended, New worlds have risen, we have lost old nations, And countless kings have into dust been humbled, While not a fragment of thy flesh has crumbled. Didst thou not hear the pother o'er thy head, And shook the Pyramids with fear and wonder, If the tomb's secrets may not be confessed, A heart has throbbed beneath that leathern breast, Statue of flesh-immortal of the dead! Posthumous man, who quitt'st thy narrow bed, Why should this worthless tegument endure, RICHARD AND AUMERLE. Oh, let us keep the soul embalmed and pure Horace Smith. 41 RICHARD AND AUMERLE. Aumerle. Where is the duke, my father, with his power? To monarchize, be fear'd, and kill with looks, Bores through his castle wall, and-farewell king! |