Alfred An Heroic Poem, in Twenty-Four Books. By Joseph Cottle: 4th ed. |
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 | Alfred |  |
The chief replied, ‘It is no common cause,
‘And when I think what thou hast done to save
‘Thy ravaged country, what thine head hath borne,
‘Thy heart endured, thy gallantry perform'd,
‘To screen from Denmark's rage this hapless land,
‘And cheer thy fainting subjects; when I cast
‘A backward glance, and think of days, when hope
‘Seem'd as it ne'er had been, whilst every arm
‘Hung nerveless, even these, and so had hung,
‘But for thy words, thy constancy; then think,
‘Of this design, so pregnant with dismay
‘To thee and us, so hostile to the cause
‘Of Britain, tottering now 'tween life and death,
‘I should partake of something less or more
‘Than human kind, if, hearing these thy words,
‘I did not start, and with my spirit strive
‘To stay thy desp'rate purpose.’ Thus the king
‘And when I think what thou hast done to save
‘Thy ravaged country, what thine head hath borne,
‘Thy heart endured, thy gallantry perform'd,
‘To screen from Denmark's rage this hapless land,
‘And cheer thy fainting subjects; when I cast
‘A backward glance, and think of days, when hope
‘Seem'd as it ne'er had been, whilst every arm
‘Hung nerveless, even these, and so had hung,
‘But for thy words, thy constancy; then think,
‘Of this design, so pregnant with dismay
‘To thee and us, so hostile to the cause
‘Of Britain, tottering now 'tween life and death,
‘I should partake of something less or more
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‘I did not start, and with my spirit strive
‘To stay thy desp'rate purpose.’ Thus the king
| Alfred | |