Written in April 1798, during the Alarm of an Invasion.
A GREEN and silent spot, amid the hills, A small and silent dell! O'er stiller place No singing sky-lark ever pois'd himself. The hills are heathy, save that swelling slope, Which hath a gay and gorgeous covering on, All golden with the never-bloomless furze, Which now blooms most profusely; but the dell, Bath'd by the mist, is fresh and delicate
As vernal corn-field, or the unripe flax,
When, through its half-transparent stalks, at eve, The level Sunshine glimmers with green light. Oh! 'tis a quiet spirit-healing nook!
Which all, methinks, would love; but chiefly he, The humble man, who, in his youthful years, Knew just so much of folly, as had made
His early manhood more securely wise!
Here he might lie on fern or wither'd heath,
While from the singing-lark (that sings unseen The minstrelsy that solitude loves best,)
And from the Sun, and from the breezy Air, Sweet influences trembled o'er his frame; And he, with many feelings, many thoughts, Made up a meditative joy, and found Religious meanings in the forms of nature! And so, his senses gradually wrapt
In a half sleep, he dreams of better worlds, w And dreaming hears thee still, O singing-lark, That singest like an angel in the clouds !
My God! it is a melancholy thing
For such a man, who would full fain preserve His soul in calmness, yet perforce must feel
For all his human brethren-O my God!
It is indeed a melancholy thing,
And weighs upon the heart, that he must think
What uproar and what strife may now be stirring This o'er these silent hills-
Invasion, and the thunder and the shout, And all the crash of onset; fear and rage, And undetermin'd conflict-even now, Even now, perchance, and in his native isle: Carnage and groans beneath this blessed Sun!
We have offended, Oh! my countrymen! We have offended very grievously,
And been most tyrannous. From east to west A groan of accusation pierces Heaven! The wretched plead against us; multitudes Countless and vehement, the Sons of God, Our Brethren! Like a cloud that travels on, Steam'd up from Cairo's swamps of pestilence, Ev'n so, my countrymen! have we gone forth And borne to distant tribes slavery and pangs, And, deadlier far, our vices, whose deep taint With slow perdition murders the whole man, His body and his soul! Meanwhile, at home, All individual dignity and power
Engulph'd in Courts, Committees, Institutions, Associations and Societies,
A vain, speech-mouthing, speech-reporting Guild, One BENEFIT-CLUB for mutual flattery,
We have drunk up, demure as at a grace, Pollutions from the brimming cup of wealth; Contemptuous of all honorable rule,
Yet bartering freedom and the poor man's life For gold, as at a market! The sweet words Of Christian promise, words that even yet Might stem destruction, were they wisely preach'd,
Are mutter'd o'er by men, whose tones proclaim How flat and wearisome they feel their trade: Rank scoffers some, but most too indolent
To deem them falsehoods or to know their truth. Oh! blasphemous! the book of life is made
A superstitious instrument, on which
We gabble o'er the oaths we mean to break; For all must swear-all and in every place, College and wharf, council and justice-court; All, all must swear, the briber and the bribed, Merchant and lawyer, senator and priest, The rich, the poor, the old man and the young; All, all make up one scheme of perjury,
- That faith doth reel; the very name of God
Sounds like a juggler's charm; and, bold with joy, Forth from his dark and lonely hiding-place, (Portentous sight!) the owlet, ATHEISM, Sailing on obscene wings athwart the noon, Drops his blue-fringed lids, and holds them close, And hooting at the glorious Sun in Heaven, Cries out, "Where is it?".
(Peace long preserv'd by fleets and perilous seas)
Secure from actual warfare, we have lov'd To swell the war-whoop, passionate for war! Alas! for ages ignorant of all
It's ghastlier workings, (famine or blue plague, Battle, or siege, or flight through wintry snows,) We, this whole people, have been clamorous For war and bloodshed; animating sports, The which we pay for as a thing to talk of, Spectators and not combatants! No Guess Anticipative of a wrong unfelt,
No speculation on contingency,
However dim and vague, too vague and dim To yield a justifying cause; and forth, (Stuff'd out with big preamble, holy names, And adjurations of the God in Heaven,)
We send our mandates for the certain death
Of thousands and ten thousands! Boys and girls,
And women, that would groan to see a child
Pull off an insect's leg, all read of war, The best amusement for our morning-meal!
The poor wretch, who has learnt his only prayers From curses, who knows scarcely words enough To ask a blessing from his Heavenly Father, Becomes a fluent phraseman, absolute
And technical in victories and deceit,
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