A Metrical History of England Or, Recollections, in Rhyme, Of some of the most prominent Features in our National Chronology, from the Landing of Julius Caesar to the Commencement of the Regency, in 1812. In Two Volumes ... By Thomas Dibdin |
 | I. |
| 1. |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
| 5. |
| 6. |
| II. |
 | A Metrical History of England |  |
26
“The Romans in England, once did sway,”
Ballad, by Collins.
Ballad, by Collins.
It was about fifty-five years before the Christian Æra that Rome, at the height of her glory as a Republic, determined to add Britain to her Empire.
Lucan, Horace, Tacitus, and Tibullus dissent from the idea of the absolute Conquest of Britain. The latter says:—
“Te manet invictus Romana Marte Britannus.”
Vide J. P. Andrews.
“Witness the toil,
“The Blood of Ages, bootless to secure
“Beneath an Empire's yoke a stubborn Isle,
“Disputed hard, and never quite subdu'd.”
Thomson.
“The Blood of Ages, bootless to secure
“Beneath an Empire's yoke a stubborn Isle,
“Disputed hard, and never quite subdu'd.”
Thomson.
THE ROMANS.
A. C. 55.
Well, Cæsar came, saw, conquer'd, and went home,
Came back, return'd, and met his fate in Rome;
'Tis said, he somewhat civilized our sires,
Quench'd, for a time, their sacrificial fires;
Gave some slight notion of domestic life,
And taught the use of clothes to maid and wife.
But yet, whate'er improvement they obtained
Was bought with Freedom, for the Romans reign'd.
Came back, return'd, and met his fate in Rome;
'Tis said, he somewhat civilized our sires,
Quench'd, for a time, their sacrificial fires;
Gave some slight notion of domestic life,
And taught the use of clothes to maid and wife.
But yet, whate'er improvement they obtained
Was bought with Freedom, for the Romans reign'd.
27
When Cæsar fell, Augustus, fond of peace,
By acquiescence, bade our burthens cease;
By acquiescence, bade our burthens cease;
Tiberius, jealous of his General's fame,
Left Britain all her freedom but the name;
Crack-brain'd Caligula, like modern France,
In big bravado, bade his powers advance;
Then too, like Gaul, forgot to keep his word,
And, loudly threatening—sheathed th' invading sword.
Left Britain all her freedom but the name;
Crack-brain'd Caligula, like modern France,
In big bravado, bade his powers advance;
Then too, like Gaul, forgot to keep his word,
And, loudly threatening—sheathed th' invading sword.
Not so when Claudius bore imperial sway,
He bent the stubborn island to obey;
Nor bold Caractacus, his country's pride,
Nor bravest chieftains fighting by his side,
Prevail'd before the legionary band,
Whose iron discipline subdued the land;
While the great victim to a conqueror's laws,
Greater than King, when chain'd in Freedom's cause,
From Cæsar's self extorts deserv'd applause.
He bent the stubborn island to obey;
Nor bold Caractacus, his country's pride,
Nor bravest chieftains fighting by his side,
Prevail'd before the legionary band,
Whose iron discipline subdued the land;
While the great victim to a conqueror's laws,
Greater than King, when chain'd in Freedom's cause,
From Cæsar's self extorts deserv'd applause.
28
When Nero's sceptre, o'er the world, began
To prove a dæmon blended with a man,
Mona, to tyrant priesthood only known,
The Druid's senate, sanctum, and their throne,
Became the seat of war;—destruction flew
O'er the devoted sanguinary crew;
Their fates we mourn not, they, whose bloodstain'd knife,
In mock religion prey'd on human life.
Whose pow'r, increasing thro' successive reigns,
For centuries had held the mind in chains;
Worthy to die on that polluted spot
Where Virtue was, in Virtue's name, forgot.
To prove a dæmon blended with a man,
Mona, to tyrant priesthood only known,
The Druid's senate, sanctum, and their throne,
Became the seat of war;—destruction flew
O'er the devoted sanguinary crew;
Their fates we mourn not, they, whose bloodstain'd knife,
In mock religion prey'd on human life.
Whose pow'r, increasing thro' successive reigns,
For centuries had held the mind in chains;
Worthy to die on that polluted spot
Where Virtue was, in Virtue's name, forgot.
But thou, whose offspring, neither sex nor age
Preserv'd, from more than barb'rous Roman rage,
Great Boadicea, glory of thy race,
Britannia's honor, and thy foe's disgrace;
In burning fancy I behold each fight
Where female valour warr'd for Albion's right:
Thy very fall perpetuates thy fame,
And Suetonius' laurels droop with shame.
Vespasian's chieftains kept the land in awe,
But soften'd martial into milder law;
Agricola, tho' form'd for warlike strife,
Revered the decencies of social life;
He chaced Galgacus o'er the Northern plain,
And bound his footsteps with a mural chain.
Adrian and Severus the work pursued,
A work extinct, and ne'er to be renewed.
No wall again shall British hearts divide,
Whose union, is their best, their safest, pride.
Preserv'd, from more than barb'rous Roman rage,
Great Boadicea, glory of thy race,
Britannia's honor, and thy foe's disgrace;
In burning fancy I behold each fight
Where female valour warr'd for Albion's right:
Thy very fall perpetuates thy fame,
And Suetonius' laurels droop with shame.
29
But soften'd martial into milder law;
Agricola, tho' form'd for warlike strife,
Revered the decencies of social life;
He chaced Galgacus o'er the Northern plain,
And bound his footsteps with a mural chain.
Adrian and Severus the work pursued,
A work extinct, and ne'er to be renewed.
No wall again shall British hearts divide,
Whose union, is their best, their safest, pride.
“Ye gentlemen of England,” who criticise the times,
Tho', heav'n knows, they must be rather better than these rhymes;
Give ear unto my narrative, and it will plainly shew,
That things were ten times worse almost two thousand years ago.
Tho', heav'n knows, they must be rather better than these rhymes;
Give ear unto my narrative, and it will plainly shew,
That things were ten times worse almost two thousand years ago.
30
For Rome grew a little too big,
And the people, like most people, grumbled;
At grievances all had a dig,
'Till down the whole edifice tumbled.
And the people, like most people, grumbled;
At grievances all had a dig,
'Till down the whole edifice tumbled.
The nations around, who'd been robb'd of their, pelf,
Their freedom, their name, or what not,
At Rome were so busy, each helping itself,
Our Island alone was forgot.
Their freedom, their name, or what not,
At Rome were so busy, each helping itself,
Our Island alone was forgot.
| A Metrical History of England | |