Madmoments: or First Verseattempts By a Bornnatural. Addressed to the Lightheaded of Society at Large, by Henry Ellison |
 | I. |
|
|
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| II. |
|
TO MY FATHERLAND. |
|
 | Madmoments: or First Verseattempts |  |
TO MY FATHERLAND.
1
My Fatherland, my Fatherland!Should I ne e'r greet again
Thy slaveuntrod and wavekissed Strand,
My Heart would beat in vain.
2
I love thee with a swelling, deep,Unutterable Love,
Like the eternal Waves which sweep
And bribeless round thee move.
3
Their Voice, tho' harsh to foreign Ears,Is Music unto thee,
For who the Waves eternal hears,
Hears God'bid him be free!
4
Freedom looked down on Ocean's browAnd left her Image there,
94
Undimmed doth it appear!
5
His mighty Voice is to her EarThe sound she loves the best,
Nor could Man's boundless Hope be e'er
More boundlessly exprest!
6
The very Winds that wake the WaveHave Freedom in their Sound,
And where they breathe, call forth the Brave
Like Springflowers from the Ground!
7
Then airfree be our Thoughts to smiteThe Tyrant and the Slave,
The Poet's heart be bold and light
And bribeless as the Wave.
8
For Thought has then an Edge aboveThe keenest Glaive: than Light
More swift: when Truth wields it, we prove
Its true immortal Might.
9
My Fatherland! oft on thy ShoreI've called upon the Past
For Oracles, to learn before
They spring, what Seeds are cast.
10
I've gazed upon the far, bright TrackWhich thou has left behind
In Time's dark Ocean, and traced back
Thy Energies of Mind.
11
But Fears come o'er me in these DaysWhich put in Wealth their Trust,
For Hearts which sordid Gold repays,
Like it, are of the Dust!
12
Once more, once more, snatch up the BrandOf Truth, which smouldering lies,
And with it kindle in each Land
The Spark which never dies.
13
A flickering Flame at first't may riseOft baffled by the Wind,
95
A Firecolumn of Mind!
14
Think'st thou the God, whose Voice first calledThee from th' Abyss of Time,
Thy smiling Fields with waves has walled
For Safety unto Crime?
15
Not so! he made thee strong and freeAnd clothed thee with his Might,
That Will with Power should agree,
To work him Deeds of Light.
16
Each Wave that breaks upon thy Shore,Each Wind that o'er thee blows,
Should waft the Nation's Blessings o'er,
And hallow thy Repose.
17
Mercy should dwell within thy Breast,Clear Honour in thine Eye,
In Joy and Sorrow alike blest
With a World's Sympathy.
18
A Blessing on thy Fields should fall,On every Blade of Grass,
And e'en thy very Sorrows, all
O'er thee should lightly pass.
19
Thy voice should be as God's, who gaveHis four Winds unto thee,
Like wingëd Ministers, to save,
To succour and set free.
20
The Nations all should seek from theeAn omen of Success,
And crown the Deeds that set them free
With thy unbought Caress.
21
Thy Name should be a Watchword andA Beacon in the Night,
In War, a streaming Meteorbrand,
In Peace, a Pillar of Light!
22
Ask of sad History's teeming PageAmbition's vulgar Fate,
96
Time's Scorn, Man's lasting Hate!
23
Wildivy triomphs o'er the PrideAnd haughtiest Works of Man,
A few short years, and grass will hide
What Conqueror's began.
24
How silent Nature mocks the poor,Poor Graspings of Man's Brain,
Thus teaching how his Works endure,
In Birth and End so vain.
25
'Tis Giantworth alone can standThe Test of Time and Fate,
He is the same in every Land,
His Being has no Date!
26
Tho' Empires fall, and Worlds be rent,He stands as firm as Heaven,
For with his Might God's Truth is blent,
Time naught to him has given!
| Madmoments: or First Verseattempts | |