The Shamrock or, Hibernian Cresses. A Collection of Poems, Songs, Epigrams, &c. Latin as well as English, The Original Production of Ireland. To which are subjoined thoughts on the prevailing system of school education, respecting young ladies as well as gentlemen: with practical proposals for a reformation [by Samuel Whyte] |
 |
 |
|
|
|
| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
|
|
|
|
IRENE: A CANTO, ON THE PEACE. |
|
|
 | The Shamrock |  |
321
IRENE: A CANTO, ON THE PEACE.
INSCRIBED TO THE PROVOST and FELLOWS of TRINITY COLLEGE.
The ARGUMENT.
Augusta bids rich Commerce haste,Irene to restore;
Whom, Earth's wide Regions having past,
She finds on Slany's Shore.
I
Queen, of the deathless Song, and golden Lyre,Immortal Muse! begin some lofty Theme;
So may thy Britons catch the hallow'd Fire,
So may thy Bards, in wondrous Lays, proclaim
The Warrior's Dangers, and the Patriot's Name;
Striking with daring Hand the sounding Strings,
And fill'd with Rapture at great Albion's Fame,
From Slany's echoing Banks, a Shepherd sings
The Fall of mighty Hosts, the Wars of Europe's Kings.
322
II
Oft through the solemn Loneliness of Night,Musing, he wandered near the toiling Flood,
While mimic Fancy drew before his Sight,
The dreadful glorious Scene, of Kings subdued,
Towns wrapp'd in Flames, and Armies bath'd in Blood;
But now the horrid Visions rise no more,
Nor threatening Camps, or hostile Fleets he view'd;
The Storm of War, which shook the World, is o'er,
And peaceful Halcyons soon revisit Albion's Shore.
III
O, Peace! thou favourite Daughter of the Skies,What happy Region boasts thy blissful Reign?
In what calm Shades the lovely Vestal lies,
Or treads the mountain Hill, or shadowy Plain?
Joy of the Village-Nymph, and constant Swain!
Around thee, Goddess! endless Blessings wait,
Each social Virtue mingles in thy Train;
While Wealth and Commerce join to form thy State,
Beyond the Pomp of Kings, the Pride of Conquest, great.
IV
Desire of Earth! the Soul of every Joy!Unfading Laurels deck thy placid Brow;
In vain the Furies labour to destroy,
While thou repair'st the Waste of War below;
Thy guardian Care the cherish'd Muses know,
Each graceful Elegance, and finer Art;
Each life-endearing Charm thou canst bestow,
Can'st on the Worthless thy Rewards impart,
Pour'd e'en on Faction's Head, and Treason's felon Heart.
323
V
Yet oft hath Man, possess'd by impious Pride,To fatal War by blind Ambition led,
Forgot thy just Requests, thy Suit deny'd,
And o'er thy fruitful Vales Destruction spread;
Oft from fair Europe's Kingdoms hast thou fled,
To distant Climes, and Winter's endless Reign;
Far from the Haunt of Men conceal'd thine Head,
While hostile Millions fill'd the embattled Plain,
And Monarchs were dethron'd, and martial Nations slain.
VI
Thus, when the Pencil bade the Canvas shine,And Adon' bled beneath the tusky Boar,
(Thy Work, O Titian, or Apelles thine)
Her golden Locks the Queen of Beauty tore,
And stain'd her snowy Limbs with crimson Gore,
She wept her murder'd Love, her lost Delight,
Then fled with Horror from the fatal Shore,
Back to her Sky the Goddess bent her Flight,
And, parting, view'd the Earth, and sicken'd at the Sight.
VII
Long had Germania's Kings, with Fury fir'd,Their martial Hosts to mutual Slaughter sent;
Irene, from the gathering Storm retir'd,
And, weeping, left the troubled Continent;
Nor yet to Albion's Shore her Flight she bent,
For o'er the Fields she mark'd in bright Array
Her sturdy Swains, on Arms alone intent,
While her vast Navies spread the encumber'd Sea,
And with their Cannon's Smoke o'ercast the Face of Day.
324
VIII
Now six revolving Years their Course had run,Each dreadful Moment mark'd by hostile Rage,
Since first the Horrors of the War begun;
While Europe's States their fatal Battles wage;
And Half the Kings of Earth in Arms engage;
One dire Aceldama Germania lies;
Nor spares the ruthless Sword or Sex, or Age;
To Heaven, amidst the Shouts of Battle, rise
The bleeding Matron's Groans, the ravish'd Virgin's Cries.
IX
At length, Augusta, from the silver Thames,Majestic rose, with lofty Torrets crown'd;
The Form immortal glitter'd on his Streams;
Such was the Mother of the Gods, renown'd
In Crete's fam'd Isle, and Ida's hallow'd Ground;
A Train of Nymphs, in various Dress, were seen,
Beauteous, and strange, who stood the Power around:
To one of smiling Looks, and placid Mein,
With winged Words, began the city-crowned Queen.
X
‘Haste, gracious Nymph, on Nysa's hallow'd Shore,‘Where Lybian Triton rolls his silver Wave,
‘Whom, to the Ocean's God, Phœnice bore,
‘By Dian tended in the secret Cave;
‘To thee, in happy Hour, great Neptune gave
‘O'er all his Oceans, and his Storms to reign;
‘Commerce, the awful Name thou didst receive,
‘From all the Gods: Oh haste, to Albion's plain
‘Irene fair restore, with all her Joys again.’
325
XI
Augusta spoke: Her Will the Nymph obey'd,Light as the feather'd Shaft from Earth she sprung;
'Till Albion's sea-beat Rocks no more survey'd,
O'er wealthy Belgia's level Coast she hung;
Where Rhine, and Maese, and Scheld did roll among
Her populous Realms, ere-while the Muses' Themes,
When of the great Nassovian Race they sung,
And Commerce had not left those peaceful Streams
To dwell in Albion's Isle, and grace the Banks of Thames.
XII
From thence, Germania's various Realms she view'd,And mark'd the Horrors of destroying War;
The God of Battles, red with human Blood,
O'er slaughter'd Armies drove his Iron Car,
Guiding the mangled Steeds with gory Spear;
In dreadful Waste, before their Swiftness, fall
Kingdoms, and Thrones o'erturn'd on Earth appear,
The brazen Ranks, the City's lofty Wall,
'Tis one dire Scene of Rage, and Desolation all.
XIII
Yon Ruins, that the sable Flame hath spar'd,Were once, some haughty Warrior's boasted Seat;
So sure his Strength, so safe his Throne appear'd,
He seem'd superior to the Stroke of Fate,
Beyond the Power of Change, or Fortune, great;
Forth from the Thicket bursts the Matron's Scream;
Ah! where shall Beauty find a safe Retreat!
While slaughter'd Thousands choak the sullen Stream,
And o'er the distant Hills the burning Cities flame.
326
XIV
From these fierce States, Irene, long expell'd,To distant Realms in Sorrow had retir'd;
When Commerce, on the Weser's Banks, beheld
Where Glory near the British Camp appear'd,
Bright on a Mountain Heaps of Arms uprear'd,
Like Pallas, dreadful in Tytanian Arms,
Her Gorgon Ægis through the Darkness glar'd;
Her Voice the shining Ranks to War alarms,
And with heroic Flames each Hero's Bosom warms.
XV
Rous'd by her Call, the British Hosts advance,Eager to bleed in Battles not their own;
For her the silken Bands of faithless France,
Glittering, in filed Brass, and Iron shone,
With boastful Ensigns gay, so oft o'erthrown,
And scattered by Britannia's Victor Spear;
For her, the Austrian, from her distant Throne,
Against the bold Borusian pour'd the War,
And all her savage Hosts rush'd raging from afar.
XVI
There, strong in Arms, the Prussian King she view'd,That Man of mighty Deeds, that Lord of War;
And, parting swift, her rapid Course pursu'd,
'Till on the Shores of Thrace she heard the Jar
Of Paynim Hosts, and stubborn Janizarre;
Now griev'd the Vales of Persia to survey,
O'er whom fell Discord drove her Iron Car,
Still to the distant East she wing'd her Way,
And pass'd the rapid Ind', and gain'd upon the Day.
327
XVII
From Ormus South, and China's wealthy Shore,To Albion's Chiefs the silken Monarchs bend;
Whose fragrant Groves their spicy Riches bore,
Whose blazing Mines their hoarded Diamonds send,
That Britons might their helpless Thrones defend;
Thence, o'er the Isles, amidst the Indian Main
That numerous lie, the British Arms extend;
Whose victor Fleets uphold their wide Domain,
While India's sable Kings by their Permission reign.
XVIII
As when the fabled Jove, Tytanian Lord,In ancient Tale who fill'd the Eternal's Room,
Through Greece and all her hundred Realms ador'd,
Whose Temple blaz'd amidst imperial Rome,
Grac'd with the Trophies of a World o'ercome;
From the Tarpeian Rock, whose Height defy'd
The Stroke of Time, sunk by almighty Doom:
So fell, on India's Coast, the Gallic Pride,
And all the Paynim Slaves her ruin'd Pomp deride.
XIX
Though leagu'd with Kings, in vain, she proudly stood,And stretch'd her Banners o'er the blazing East;
In vain from lofty Pondicherry view'd,
India's rich Realms, and all their Thrones oppress'd;
Kings are by Britain and by Clive redress'd:
Her Strength, the Toil of Ages, is no more,
In Asian Lands her Tyranny is ceas'd;
Heaven hath to British Chiefs transferr'd her Power,
Theirs are her Diamond Mines, and theirs her golden Ore.
328
XX
Awhile in Air the shining Vision staid,And on the Wealth of eastern Conquest gaz'd;
All the rich Spoils of Asia wide display'd;
The Pile on castled Elephants was rais'd,
Superb, with silken Robes, and Gems, it blaz'd,
And trophied Arms, and mingled Heaps of Gold,
Spices, and painted Jars; thereat amaz'd,
Exalted Transports in her Bosom roll'd;
Such were the high Rewards that grac'd her Britons bold.
XXI
Then swift resum'd her Flight o'er Corea's Sands;Amidst those savage Climes her Search was vain;
Irene dwell'd not in the Asian Lands,
And Realms unbless'd, where Tartar Tyrants reign;
Thence she o'erpass'd the waste and desert Main,
Where Storms unheard by one another roar,
Where various Seas contest their wide Domain,
And hollow Oceans roll without a Shore;
O! terrible Display of God's Almighty Power!
XXII
At length, as towering high she cleft the Air,Rose like a Cloud the distant Continent;
Its verdant Shores, its shadowy Rocks, appear;
Thither, well pleas'd, her wearied Flight she bent,
And pass'd the stormy Clouds in swift Descent:
Ten thousand furious Tribes those Kingdoms range,
Renown'd for Strength, and valorous Hardiment,
In Dress and Manner to each other strange,
Who oft, as Chance directs, their wandering Dwellings change.
329
XXIII
In vain, their hardy Youth were train'd to Arms,To hurl the War-axe, and the poison'd Dart;
Danger, in vain, display'd its savage Charms,
And Love of Slaughter fir'd the Huron's Heart;
Remov'd by Nature to the utmost Part
Of barren Earth, beyond the sky-mix'd Wave,
Strangers to Treason's Smile, or Courtier's Art;
Ah, what avail'd it, to be fierce and brave!
Nought could their Rights protect, their savage Freedom save.
XXIV
Oh, fatal Thirst of universal Power!The Curse of Millions, and the Tyrant's Boast!
For this, whole Nations left Europa's Shore,
Whole Nations in those snowy Wilds were lost;
Here, Montcalm, Chief of many a vanquish'd Host,
There, youthful Wolfe, in Glory's Arms were slain:
How many Deaths did Albion's Conquests cost,
Her injur'd Rights in Battle to maintain,
And o'er Canada's Hills, and stormy Floods, to reign!
XXV
Chac'd from these Lands, at length the ambitious Gauls,Groaning with Fury, and in Chains, retire;
By Britain's Spear her western Empire falls,
And all her Hopes of sovereign Rule expire;
Thus, when rough Winter, having spent his Ire,
Flies with his Tempests, and his Clouds, away,
Sullen and sad; the joyful Swains admire
How calm, how lovely, Spring adorns the Day,
Smiles on the verdant Earth, and sparkles on the Sea.
330
XXVI
Long While the Nymph beheld those boundless Lands,Those mighty Lakes, and every furious Stream;
From Ohio's Banks, and Missisippi's Sands.
To Horgehela, and Labrador Breme,
All Nations bend before the British Name;
To such an Height of Empire, and Renown
Had Wolfe, and Amherst, rais'd their Monarch's Fame;
For, not the Chief, who built the Persian Throne,
Or he, who conquer'd it, such ample Realms o'er-run.
XXVII
There, Victory, from Europe's happier Clime,Came flying on, in all her Splendors dress'd;
The Goddess hovers in the Air sublime,
And darts her Glory o'er the reddening West:
A triple Diadem her Temple grac'd;
In her Right-Hand the British Cross she wav'd;
The British Star adorn'd her radiant Breast;
Illustrious Scenes were on her Shield engrav'd,
Of haughty Kings subdued, and suppliant Empires sav'd.
XXVIII
Such seem'd the Power, when, blazing o'er the Plains,Her Stature reach'd the Sky, her awful Shade
Cover'd Canada's Realms; as when the Swains
With sudden Fires the mountain Heath invade;
The savage Tyger sees the Flash dismay'd,
Forc'd from his native Caves enrag'd to fly;
The Rock's wild Caverns are to Sight display'd;
Loud roaring mounts the dreadful Flame on high,
Shines o'er the reddening Hills, and towers amidst the Sky.
331
XXIX
Her in the midmost Region Commerce past,And hail'd her Progress o'er those Realms unknown;
Sent forth to civilize those Regions vast,
And spread the Influence of great Brunswick's Throne,
Through all the Journey of the burning Sun,
With mighty Triumphs grac'd, and Spoils adorn'd;
At length, her wonderous Circuit almost run,
Back to fair Albion's Isle the Power return'd,
And all her fruitless Toil to find Irene mourn'd.
XXX
Now o'er Ierne's verdant Shores she flew,Ierne fam'd for Piety and Song!
'Till Slany's rapid Waters met her View,
Swift as he gush'd Menapia's Vales along,
Pour'd from an hundred Mountains deep and strong;
'Twas there, regardless of War's dreadful Threat,
Of Nymphs and Swains appear'd a joyous Throng;
Who sung, inspir'd by Youth's delightful Heat,
Lays of sweet Love, and danc'd with nimble shifting Feet.
XXXI
There rose an Hill above the level Plain,Like the rich Orb that crowns an Hero's Shield;
There from her grassy Throne did Nature reign
O'er every Herb, and Flower, that grac'd the Field;
The Rocks beneath a chrystal Stream did yield,
Whose silver sparkling Waves did gently flow;
With snow-resembling Sheep the Sides were fill'd;
The Winds in every Breeze did sweeter blow,
Shaking the empurpled Rose, that shed its Leaves below.
332
XXXII
The fluid Glass return'd the gaudy Skies,And golden Clouds the silver Waves adorn;
Where, intermixt with liquid Roses, lies
The downward Prospect of the orient Morn;
Nay was there Nymph, nay Herd, or Shepherd, born
Amidst those Vales, but grac'd the Jubilee;
And brought their rustic Pipe, or chearful Horn,
That the glad Sound of their rude Minstrelsie
Shook the wide River's Banks, and echo'd to the Sky.
XXXIII
The Hill's green Feet were border'd by a Wood,Whose matchless Height above the Clouds did tower;
The awful Trees in shady Grandeur stood,
Shelter to many a Beast, to Birds a Bower;
The sweet Lark there o'erpass'd her mournful Hour,
Wood Music's Queen! the Linnet there renew'd
Her sprightly Strain; while, in his kingly Power,
From some huge Oak the beaked Eagle view'd
His feather'd Hosts; the Hawk his frighted Prey pursu'd.
XXXIV
Here, also, playing on the shadowy Green,Were Satyrs, Fawns, and swift-foot Dryades;
The Queen of Fairies oft was dauncing seen,
And all the Troop of woodland Deities;
Harping amidst the Brakes immortal Lays,
That kept all bad and hurtful Things away;
As when thy Music, Orpheus, did repress
The stormy Hebrus, foaming down the Lea,
And made the noisy Waves in all their Haste to stay.
333
XXXV
And, first, the ambitious Palm with Branches fairRear'd his proud Head, aspiring to the Sky;
The Sun's sad Daughters next, whose wild Despair
Witness'd the Po, that heard their piercing Cry,
When Phaeton fell flaming from on high,
And Jove's enraged Brand his Members rent;
There was the gnarled Oak, with proud Defy
Meeting the Lightning's Wrath; the Chesnut, bent
By Notus' Arms, but still the Forest's Ornament.
XXXVI
There grew immense, the rougher-rinded Pine,Of which the great Argoan Ship was fram'd;
Whose lofty Top the Forests did incline
When shook by Winds, there was the Laurel, nam'd
Apollo's Tree, by Bards and Heroes claim'd;
The gloomy Holm that haunts the watry Vale;
The wicked Lote, of dark Oblivion fam'd;
The mournful Cypress, Sign of deadly Bale;
The Ash, the weeping Fir, the forlorn Willow pale.
XXXVII
The stubborn Yew, long borne by Britons bold,Their Hosts when Edward, and fierce Henry led;
The Ivy, that with wanton Arms doth hold,
And round the Poplar her lythe Branches spread;
The pointed Holly rear'd his verdant Head;
The Myrtle, mindful of her ancient Crime;
And that strange Tree where faithful Thisbe bled;
The brittle Ash, that lifts its Top sublime;
The Elm, around whose Boughs the enamour'd Vine doth climb.
334
XXXVIII
In this so pleasant Forest, oft did sport;Of old, so Fiction tells, the Queen of Love;
Nor more to proud Cythæron did resort,
Or Ida, where immortal Beauties strove;
Hither, swift stooping from the Realms above,
Commerce approach'd; and heard the pleasing Sound
Of Flutes, and Harps, that gentle Thoughts did move;
And saw a Troop of Ladies dancing round,
Who with their tuneful Feet did shake the hollow Ground.
XXXIX
These were the Nymphs that in the Plains delight;Content, and smiling Truth, and Constancy;
And Innocence, array'd in virgin White;
And spotless Faith, with heaven-erected Eye;
And blissful Youth, and pleasing Chastity;
With these, the Daughters of sky-ruling Jove,
And Ocean's ravish'd Nymph, Eurinome,
Y-clept the Graces three, who wait on Love,
And haunt the Cyprian Isle, or Caria's hallow'd Grove.
XL
Amidst the Rest, like Dian' Forest Queen,Irene sported in the pleasant Shade,
With modest Grace, and comely Carriage seen,
In Dress a village Nymph; for she had laid
Her Crowns and Sceptres by, with which she play'd
When in the Courts of Kings; each graceful Limb
In humble sylvan Weed was fair array'd,
And Wreaths of Flowers her flowing Robes did trim;
Her all the virgin Train their Goddess did esteem.
335
XLI
To whom, descending from the midmost Air,The joyful Errand Commerce 'gan relate—
‘Sent by Augusta, Goddess, I repair
‘To win thy dear Return to Albion's State;
‘Wild Discord, which disturb'd the Earth so late,
‘Dreadfully riding on the vengeful Blast,
‘To pour the Wrath abroad of angry Fate,
‘From her red Hand the writhen Bolt hath cast;
‘And Ruin stalks no more along the fearful Waste.
XLII
‘Tir'd with the Horrors of the martial Storm,‘The Kings of Earth forsake the raging Deep;
‘Though still, abroad, fell Slaughter's gory Form
‘Of Half Germania's States Domain doth keep,
‘Acting dire Crimes, at which Revenge might weep;
‘But, lo, young Brunswick bids the Tumult cease;
‘And Glory, hovering o'er the chalky Steep,
‘Sounds with her lofty Trump to human Race,
‘That victor Albion grants imploring Nations Peace.’
XLIII
She spoke; with Smiles Irene swift reply'd;Such Smiles as in angelic Looks appear,
The Souls of Martyrs when to Heaven they guide—
‘Oh blissful Period of destructive War!
‘'Tis mine, the Waste of Conquest to repair,
‘And smiling Plenty o'er the Land restore;
‘For Albion's King demands my chiefest Care,
‘My Blessings shall uphold his righteous Power,
‘And, in his Reign, Ambition curse the World no more.
336
XLIV
‘Nor, fair Ierne, mindless of thy State,‘From thee to greater Albion I remove;
‘Who in mine Exile gav'st a safe Retreat;
‘My choicest Favours thou shalt ever prove,
‘Oh Land, so highly favour'd from above!
‘Where Freedom roves amidst the chearful Swains,
‘The blissful Haunt of Innocence, and Love;
‘Where rosy Health walks smiling o'er the Plains,
‘And Nature in luxuriant Blessings reigns.
XLV
‘Oft have I wander'd o'er thy shadowy Fields,‘And in sweet Musing spent the silent Night;
‘While every Vale its native Fragrance yields,
‘How still the Forest! and the Stream how bright,
‘Its Bosom silver'd with the Moon's pale Light!
‘Here, undisturb'd with War's destructive Rage,
‘Secure from Rapine, and the Waste of Fight,
‘Thy vigorous Sons in peaceful Arts engage,
‘Or see a duteous Race support their feeble Age.
XLVI
‘Here, too, returning from the glorious War,‘Shall each stern Soldier reach his native Shore;
‘Loaded with Spoils, and grac'd with many a Scar,
‘Which nobly in his Country's Cause he bore;
‘When vanquish'd Gallia shrunk beneath her Power,
‘With all her captive Fleets, and slaughter'd Hosts;
‘While their lost Fame the Iberian Chiefs deplore;
‘For Nought remains to guard their fenceless Coasts,
‘Of all those Navies huge, whose Conquest Pocock boasts.
337
XLVII
‘Then shall the monumental Marble tell‘Of all the illustrious Dead the hapless Doom,
‘The Chiefs, who bravely fought, and greatly fell,
‘While future Heroes to their Graves shall come,
‘Like youthful Ammon to Pelides' Tomb;
‘Their lofty Deeds while many a Poet sings;
‘Meantime, all glorious from a World o'ercome,
‘Shall Albion's Monarch calm contending Kings,
And mark each Nation's Bounds, adjusting doubtful Things.
XLVIII
‘Britain, which hurt by no intestine Jar,‘Able to ruin, studious how to save;
‘Safe in her Seas, defies the World in War!
‘All fair her Daughters, and her Sons all brave!
‘Umpire of Earth, and Mistress of the Wave!
‘Lo, at her Voice the distant Slaughters cease,
‘For Laws to haughtiest Potentates she gave:
‘Long may her Councils guide Europa's Peace,
‘And endless Empire crown the mighty Guelphian Race.’
XLIX
Thus spoke the Goddess, then with Joy obey'dAugusta's Call, and sought the silver Thame,
Attendant on the fair Nisæan Maid;
Their Flight I mark'd from Slany's noisy Stream,
And, fond of Fancy, and a Poet's Name,
Deep struck the conscious Lyre with daring Hand;
Bless'd, if, while others gain a loftier Fame,
Amidst the Bards of my lov'd native Land,
Of Glory not devoid, nor Loyalty, I stand.
| The Shamrock | |