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Avolio ; a legend of the island of Cos

With poems, lyrical, miscellaneous, and dramatic

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[II. Strike! 'tis a righteous quarrel! strike as they]
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53

[II. Strike! 'tis a righteous quarrel! strike as they]

Strike! 'tis a righteous quarrel! strike as they,
Our grand, brave, free Ancestors struck of yore,
Full at the Tyrant's bosom—they forebore,
But not so long as we have—much delay
Endangers liberty, and Freedom's day
Wanes when the unquelled Despot stalks abroad.
Why pause ye? right is right, and God is God
Forever—while the mountain breezes play
Unfettered round your summits, while the sea
Breaks on your shores in thunder, and the glooms
Of mighty woods enshroud your Patriots' tombs,
Ringing to stormy anthems, can it be
That ye will court the Oppressor's insolent sway,
And basely fawn, and falter, and—obey?