University of Virginia Library

LXXXII.

[Æl.]
Let coward London see her town on fire,
And strive with gold to stay the spoiler's hand;
Ælla and Bristol have a thought that's higher,

61

We fight not for ourselves, but all the land.
As Severn's eagre layeth banks of sand,
Pressing it down beneath the running stream,
With horrid din engulfing the high strand,
Bearing the rocks along in fury breme,
So will we bear the Dacian army down,
And through a storm of blood will reach the champion's crown.