Poems Chiefly Written in Retirement, By John Thelwall; With Memoirs of the Life of the Author. Second Edition |
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To the Infant Hampden.—Written during a sleepless
night.
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To the Infant Hampden.—Written during a sleepless night.
Derby. Oct. 1797.
Sweet Babe! that, on thy mother's guardian breast,
Slumberest, unheedful of the autumnal blast
That rocks our lowly dwelling, nor dost dream
Of woes, or cares, or persecuting rage,
Or rending passions, or the pangs that wait
On ill-requited services, sleep on;
Sleep, and be happy!—'Tis the sole relief
This anxious mind can hope, from the dire pangs
Of deep corroding wrong, that thou, my babe!
And the sweet twain—the firstlings of my love!
As yet are blest; and that my heart's best pride,
Who, with maternal fondness, pillows thee
Beside thy Life's warm fountain, is not quite
Hopeless, or joyless; but, with matron cares,
And calm domestic Virtues, can avert
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Read nameless consolations. Ah! sleep on—
As yet unconscious of The Patriot's name,
Or of a patriot's sorrows—of the cares
For which thy name-sire bled; and, more unblest,
Thy natural father, in his native land,
Wanders an exile; and, of all that land,
Can find no spot his home. Ill-omen'd babe!
Conceiv'd in tempests, and in tempests born!
What destiny awaits thee?—Reekless thou.
Oh! blest inapprehension!—Let it last.
Sleep on, my Babe! now while the rocking wind
Pipes, mournful, lengthning my nocturnal plaint
With troubled symphony!—Ah! sleep secure:
And may thy dream of Life be ne'er disturb'd
With visions such as mar thy father's peace—
Visions (Ah! that they were but such indeed!)
That shew this world a wilderness of wrongs—
A waste of troubled waters: whelming floods
Of tyrannous injustice, canopy'd
With clouds dark louring; whence the pelting storms
Of cold unkindness the rough torrents swell,
On every side resistless. There my Ark—
The scanty remnant of my delug'd joys!
Floats anchorless; while thro' the dreary round,
Fluttering on anxious pinion, the tired foot
Of persecuted Virtue cannot find
One spray on which to rest; or scarce one leaf
To cheer with promise of subsiding woe.
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