 | The Czar |  |
xi
PROLOGUE.
Long have the heroes of the Roman age
Blaz'd the bright meteors of the British Stage;
So long their ensigns have been here unfurl'd,
That yet they reign as sov'reigns of the world.
Blaz'd the bright meteors of the British Stage;
So long their ensigns have been here unfurl'd,
That yet they reign as sov'reigns of the world.
Howe'er to-night we dare attention claim
To Northern Genius, to aspiring fame,
To Russian warriors, to barbaric fight,
To empire bright'ning on the realms of night;
Tho' less their annals, less their glories known,
Yet Britain hails such glories as her own.
To Northern Genius, to aspiring fame,
To Russian warriors, to barbaric fight,
To empire bright'ning on the realms of night;
Tho' less their annals, less their glories known,
Yet Britain hails such glories as her own.
Well might the nations with amazement gaze
At the swift magic of their Monarch's days;
To see from chaos light and order rise,
And freighted navies streaming to the skies;
The haughty Turk his dread commands obey,
And Swedish Charles submissive to his sway.
E'en Nature wonder'd at the sketch she drew,
And held the boundless outline high to view;
But to a Female did the task resign,
To fix the State, and perfect each design.
At the swift magic of their Monarch's days;
To see from chaos light and order rise,
And freighted navies streaming to the skies;
The haughty Turk his dread commands obey,
And Swedish Charles submissive to his sway.
E'en Nature wonder'd at the sketch she drew,
And held the boundless outline high to view;
But to a Female did the task resign,
To fix the State, and perfect each design.
The Czar, long-toss'd in a tempestuous State,
'Gainst private woes was fortified by Fate;
Passions, by turns, like storms o'erwhelm'd his mind;
He govern'd—but he felt not for mankind;
To noblest actions sudden rage succeeds,
And in those transports Truth or Virtue bleeds.
'Gainst private woes was fortified by Fate;
Passions, by turns, like storms o'erwhelm'd his mind;
He govern'd—but he felt not for mankind;
xii
And in those transports Truth or Virtue bleeds.
Such was our Hero;—Russia yet shall raise
Her earliest tribute to her Founder's praise;
Well-pleas'd shall trace, through each historic page,
The bright examples of that warlike age;
Britain transmit them to succeeding Time,—
Valour, by her, is priz'd from every clime.
Her earliest tribute to her Founder's praise;
Well-pleas'd shall trace, through each historic page,
The bright examples of that warlike age;
Britain transmit them to succeeding Time,—
Valour, by her, is priz'd from every clime.
But for our Author shall I nothing say,
Who well may tremble at this bold essay?
He asks no shelter, no protecting shield,—
The Public is the Lion of the field,
Views not from interest, seeks no private end,
A generous Master, a discerning Friend;
A thousand baneful passions vex the few,—
Just is the sentence that is pass'd by you.
Who well may tremble at this bold essay?
He asks no shelter, no protecting shield,—
The Public is the Lion of the field,
Views not from interest, seeks no private end,
A generous Master, a discerning Friend;
A thousand baneful passions vex the few,—
Just is the sentence that is pass'd by you.
| The Czar | |