 | American poems, selected and original |  |
THE SPEECH OF HESPER.
Ye sires of nations, call'd in high debate,
From kindred realms, to save the sinking state,
A boundless sway on one broad base to rear—
My voice paternal claims your listening ear;
O'er the wide clime my fostering cares extend,
Your guardian genius and your deathless friend.
From kindred realms, to save the sinking state,
A boundless sway on one broad base to rear—
My voice paternal claims your listening ear;
O'er the wide clime my fostering cares extend,
Your guardian genius and your deathless friend.
When splendid victory on her trophy'd car,
Swept from these shores the last remains of war,
Bade each glad state, that boasts Columbia's name,
Exult in freedom and ascend to same,
To bliss unbounded stretch their ardent eyes,
And wealth and empire from their labour rise,
My raptur'd sons beheld the discord cease,
And sooth'd their sorrows in the songs of peace.
Swept from these shores the last remains of war,
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Exult in freedom and ascend to same,
To bliss unbounded stretch their ardent eyes,
And wealth and empire from their labour rise,
My raptur'd sons beheld the discord cease,
And sooth'd their sorrows in the songs of peace.
Shall these bright scenes, with happiest omens born,
Fade like the fleeting visions of the morn?
Shall this fair fabric from its base be hurl'd
And whelm in dust the glories of the world?
Will ye, who saw the heavens tempestuous lower,
Who felt the arm of irritated power,
Whose souls distending with the wasting flood,
Prepar'd the firm foundations, built in blood,
By discord siez'd, will ye desert the plan?
The unfinish'd Babel of the bliss of man?
Fade like the fleeting visions of the morn?
Shall this fair fabric from its base be hurl'd
And whelm in dust the glories of the world?
Will ye, who saw the heavens tempestuous lower,
Who felt the arm of irritated power,
Whose souls distending with the wasting flood,
Prepar'd the firm foundations, built in blood,
By discord siez'd, will ye desert the plan?
The unfinish'd Babel of the bliss of man?
Go search the field of death, where heroes, lost
In graves obscure, can tell what freedom cost.
Tho' conquest smil'd; there slain amid the croud,
And plung'd promiscuous with no winding shroud,
No friendly hand their gory wounds to lave,
The thousands moulder in a common grave.
Not so thy son, oh Laurens! gasping lies,
Too daring youth, war's latest sacrifice;
His snow-white bosom heaves with writhing pain,
The purple drops his snow-white bosom stain;
His cheek of rose is wan, a deadly hue
Sits on his face, that chills with lucid dew.—
There Warren, glorious with expiring breath,
A comely corse, that smiles in ghastly death:
See Mercer bleed—and o'er yon wintry wall,
Mid heaps of slain, see great Montgomery fall!
In graves obscure, can tell what freedom cost.
Tho' conquest smil'd; there slain amid the croud,
And plung'd promiscuous with no winding shroud,
No friendly hand their gory wounds to lave,
The thousands moulder in a common grave.
Not so thy son, oh Laurens! gasping lies,
Too daring youth, war's latest sacrifice;
His snow-white bosom heaves with writhing pain,
The purple drops his snow-white bosom stain;
His cheek of rose is wan, a deadly hue
Sits on his face, that chills with lucid dew.—
There Warren, glorious with expiring breath,
A comely corse, that smiles in ghastly death:
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Mid heaps of slain, see great Montgomery fall!
Behold those veterans worn with want and care,
Their sinews stiffen'd, silver'd o'er their hair,
Weak in their steps of age, they move forlorn,
Their toils forgotten by the sons of scorn;
This hateful truth still aggravates their pain,
In vain they conquer'd and they bled in vain.
Go then, ye remnants of inglorious wars,
Disown your marks of merit, hide your scars,
Of lust, of power, of titled pride accus'd,
Steal to your graves dishonor'd and abus'd.
Their sinews stiffen'd, silver'd o'er their hair,
Weak in their steps of age, they move forlorn,
Their toils forgotten by the sons of scorn;
This hateful truth still aggravates their pain,
In vain they conquer'd and they bled in vain.
Go then, ye remnants of inglorious wars,
Disown your marks of merit, hide your scars,
Of lust, of power, of titled pride accus'd,
Steal to your graves dishonor'd and abus'd.
For see proud Faction waves her flaming brand,
And discord riots o'er the ungrateful land;
Lo, to the north a wild adventurous crew
In desperate mobs the savage state renew;
Each felon chief his maddening thousands draws,
And claims bold licence from the bond of laws;
In other States the chosen sires of shame,
Stamp their vile knaveries with a legal name;
In honor's seat the sons of meanness swarm,
And senates base the work of mobs perform,
To wealth, to power the foes of union rise,
While foes deride you and while friends despise.
And discord riots o'er the ungrateful land;
Lo, to the north a wild adventurous crew
In desperate mobs the savage state renew;
Each felon chief his maddening thousands draws,
And claims bold licence from the bond of laws;
In other States the chosen sires of shame,
Stamp their vile knaveries with a legal name;
In honor's seat the sons of meanness swarm,
And senates base the work of mobs perform,
To wealth, to power the foes of union rise,
While foes deride you and while friends despise.
Stand forth, ye traitors, at your country's bar,
Inglorious authors of intestine war;
What countless mischiefs from their labours rise!
Pens dipp'd in gall and lips inspir'd with lies!
Ye sires of ruin, prime detested cause
Of bankrupt faith, annihilated laws,
Of selfish systems, jealous, local schemes,
And union'd empire lost in empty dreams,
Your names expanding with your growing crime
Shall float disgustful down the stream of time,
Each future age applaud the avenging song,
And outrag'd nature vindicate the wrong.
Inglorious authors of intestine war;
What countless mischiefs from their labours rise!
Pens dipp'd in gall and lips inspir'd with lies!
Ye sires of ruin, prime detested cause
Of bankrupt faith, annihilated laws,
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And union'd empire lost in empty dreams,
Your names expanding with your growing crime
Shall float disgustful down the stream of time,
Each future age applaud the avenging song,
And outrag'd nature vindicate the wrong.
Yes there are men, who, touch'd with heavenly fire,
Beyond the confines of these climes aspire,
Beyond the praises of a transient age,
To live immortal in the patriot page;
Who greatly dare, though warring worlds oppose,
To pour just vengeance on their country's foes.
Beyond the confines of these climes aspire,
Beyond the praises of a transient age,
To live immortal in the patriot page;
Who greatly dare, though warring worlds oppose,
To pour just vengeance on their country's foes.
And lo! the etherial worlds assert your cause,
Celestial aid the voice of virtue draws;
The curtains blue of yon expansion rend,
From opening skies heroic shades descend.
See, rob'd in light, the forms of heaven appear,
The warrior spirits of your friends are near;
Each on his steed of fire (his quiver stor'd
With shafts of vengeance) grasps his flaming sword,
The burning blade waves high, and, dipt in blood,
Hurls plagues and death on discord's faithless brood.
Celestial aid the voice of virtue draws;
The curtains blue of yon expansion rend,
From opening skies heroic shades descend.
See, rob'd in light, the forms of heaven appear,
The warrior spirits of your friends are near;
Each on his steed of fire (his quiver stor'd
With shafts of vengeance) grasps his flaming sword,
The burning blade waves high, and, dipt in blood,
Hurls plagues and death on discord's faithless brood.
Yet what the hope? the dreams of Congress fade,
The federal union sinks in endless shade,
Each feeble call, that warns the realms around,
Seems the faint echo of a dying sound,
Each requisition wafts in fleeting air,
And not one state regards the powerless prayer.
The federal union sinks in endless shade,
Each feeble call, that warns the realms around,
Seems the faint echo of a dying sound,
Each requisition wafts in fleeting air,
And not one state regards the powerless prayer.
Ye wanton States, by heaven's best blessings curst,
Long on the lap of softening luxury nurst,
What fickle frenzy raves, what visions strange?
Inspire your bosoms with the lust of change?
And frames the wish to fly from fancy'd ill,
And yield your freedom to a monarch's will?
Long on the lap of softening luxury nurst,
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Inspire your bosoms with the lust of change?
And frames the wish to fly from fancy'd ill,
And yield your freedom to a monarch's will?
Go, view the lands to lawless power a prey,
Where tyrants govern with unbounded sway;
See the long pomp in gorgeous state display'd,
The tinsel'd guards, the squadron'd horse parade;
See heralds gay with emblems on their vest,
In tissued robes tall beauteous pages drest;
Where moves the pageant, throng unnumber'd slaves,
Lords, Dukes, and Princes, titulary knaves
Confus'dly shine, the purple gemm'd with stars,
Sceptres, and globes, and crowns, and ruby'd cars,
On gilded orbs the thundering chariots roll'd,
Steeds snorting fire, and champing bitts of gold,
Prance to the trumpet's voice—while each assumes
A loftier gait, and lifts his neck of plumes.
High on the moving throne, and near the van,
The tyrant rides, the chosen scourge of man;
Clarions, and flutes, and drums, his way prepare,
And shouting millions rend the conscious air;
Millions whose ceaseless toils the pomp sustain,
Whose hour of stupid joy repays an age of pain.
Where tyrants govern with unbounded sway;
See the long pomp in gorgeous state display'd,
The tinsel'd guards, the squadron'd horse parade;
See heralds gay with emblems on their vest,
In tissued robes tall beauteous pages drest;
Where moves the pageant, throng unnumber'd slaves,
Lords, Dukes, and Princes, titulary knaves
Confus'dly shine, the purple gemm'd with stars,
Sceptres, and globes, and crowns, and ruby'd cars,
On gilded orbs the thundering chariots roll'd,
Steeds snorting fire, and champing bitts of gold,
Prance to the trumpet's voice—while each assumes
A loftier gait, and lifts his neck of plumes.
High on the moving throne, and near the van,
The tyrant rides, the chosen scourge of man;
Clarions, and flutes, and drums, his way prepare,
And shouting millions rend the conscious air;
Millions whose ceaseless toils the pomp sustain,
Whose hour of stupid joy repays an age of pain.
From years of darkness springs the regal line,
Hereditary kings by right divine;
'Tis theirs to riot on all nature's spoils,
For them with pangs unblest the peasant toils,
For them the earth prolific teems with grain,
Theirs, the dread labours of the devious main,
Annual for them the wasted land renews
The gifts oppressive, and extorted dues,
For them, when slaughter spreads the gory plains,
The life-blood gushes from a thousand veins,
While the dull herd, of earth-born pomp afraid,
Adore the power that coward meanness made.
Hereditary kings by right divine;
'Tis theirs to riot on all nature's spoils,
For them with pangs unblest the peasant toils,
For them the earth prolific teems with grain,
Theirs, the dread labours of the devious main,
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The gifts oppressive, and extorted dues,
For them, when slaughter spreads the gory plains,
The life-blood gushes from a thousand veins,
While the dull herd, of earth-born pomp afraid,
Adore the power that coward meanness made.
Let Poland tell what woe returning springs,
Where right elective yields the crown to kings!
War guides the choice—each candidate abhorr'd
Founds his firm title on the wasting sword,
Wades to the throne amid the sanguine flood,
And dips his purple in a nation's blood.
Where right elective yields the crown to kings!
War guides the choice—each candidate abhorr'd
Founds his firm title on the wasting sword,
Wades to the throne amid the sanguine flood,
And dips his purple in a nation's blood.
Behold, where Venice rears her sea-girt towers,
O'er the vile croud proud oligarchy lowers;
While each Aristocrate affects a throne,
Beneath a thousand kings the poor plebeians groan.
O'er the vile croud proud oligarchy lowers;
While each Aristocrate affects a throne,
Beneath a thousand kings the poor plebeians groan.
Nor less abhor'd the certain woe that waits
The giddy rage of democratic states;
Whose pop'lar breath, high-blown in restless tide,
No laws can temper and no reason guide;
An equal sway their mind indignant spurns,
To wanton change the bliss of freedom turns,
Led by wild demagogues the factious croud,
Mean, fierce, imperious, insolent and loud,
Nor fame nor wealth nor power nor system draws,
They see no object and perceive no cause,
But feel by turns, in one disasterous hour,
The extremes of licence and the extremes of power.
The giddy rage of democratic states;
Whose pop'lar breath, high-blown in restless tide,
No laws can temper and no reason guide;
An equal sway their mind indignant spurns,
To wanton change the bliss of freedom turns,
Led by wild demagogues the factious croud,
Mean, fierce, imperious, insolent and loud,
Nor fame nor wealth nor power nor system draws,
They see no object and perceive no cause,
But feel by turns, in one disasterous hour,
The extremes of licence and the extremes of power.
What madness prompts, or what ill-omen'd fates,
Your realm to parcel into petty states?
Shall lordly Hudson part contending powers?
And broad Potowmac lave two hostile shores?
Must Allegany's sacred summits bear
The impious bulwarks of perpetual war?
His hundred streams receive your heroes slain?
And bear your sons inglorious to the main?
Will states cement by feebler bonds allied?
Or join more closely as they more divide?
Will this vain scheme bid restless factions cease?
Check foreign wars or six internal peace?
Call public credit from her grave to rise?
Or gain in grandeur what they loose in size?
In this weak realm can countless kingdoms start
Strong with new force in each divided part?
While empire's head dissected into four
Gains life by severance of diminish'd power?
So when the philosophic hand divides
The full grown polypus in genial tides,
Each sever'd part, inform'd with latent life,
Acquires new vigour from the friendly knife,
O'er peopled sands the puny insects creep,
Till the next wave absorbs them in the deep.
Your realm to parcel into petty states?
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And broad Potowmac lave two hostile shores?
Must Allegany's sacred summits bear
The impious bulwarks of perpetual war?
His hundred streams receive your heroes slain?
And bear your sons inglorious to the main?
Will states cement by feebler bonds allied?
Or join more closely as they more divide?
Will this vain scheme bid restless factions cease?
Check foreign wars or six internal peace?
Call public credit from her grave to rise?
Or gain in grandeur what they loose in size?
In this weak realm can countless kingdoms start
Strong with new force in each divided part?
While empire's head dissected into four
Gains life by severance of diminish'd power?
So when the philosophic hand divides
The full grown polypus in genial tides,
Each sever'd part, inform'd with latent life,
Acquires new vigour from the friendly knife,
O'er peopled sands the puny insects creep,
Till the next wave absorbs them in the deep.
What then remains? must pilgrim Freedom fly
From these lov'd regions to her native sky?
When the fair fugitive the orient chaced,
She fixt her seat beyond the watry waste;
Her docile sons (enough of power resign'd,
And natural rights in social leagues combin'd)
In virtue firm, tho' jealous in her cause,
Gave senates force and energy to laws,
From ancient habit local powers obey,
Yet feel no reverence for one general sway,
For breach of faith no keen compulsion feel,
And find no interest in the fœderal weal.
But know, ye avour'd race, one potent head,
Must rule your states; and strike your foes with dread,
The finance regulate, the trade controul,
Live thro' the empire, and accord the whole.
From these lov'd regions to her native sky?
When the fair fugitive the orient chaced,
She fixt her seat beyond the watry waste;
Her docile sons (enough of power resign'd,
And natural rights in social leagues combin'd)
In virtue firm, tho' jealous in her cause,
Gave senates force and energy to laws,
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Yet feel no reverence for one general sway,
For breach of faith no keen compulsion feel,
And find no interest in the fœderal weal.
But know, ye avour'd race, one potent head,
Must rule your states; and strike your foes with dread,
The finance regulate, the trade controul,
Live thro' the empire, and accord the whole.
Ere death invades, and night's deep curtain falls,
Thro ruin'd realms the voice of Union calls;
Loud as the trump of heaven thro' darkness roars,
When gyral gusts entomb Caribbean towers,
When nature trembles thro' the deeps convulst,
And ocean foams from craggy cliffs repulst,
On you she calls! attend the warning cry,
“YE LIVE UNITED, OR DIVIDED DIE.”
Thro ruin'd realms the voice of Union calls;
Loud as the trump of heaven thro' darkness roars,
When gyral gusts entomb Caribbean towers,
When nature trembles thro' the deeps convulst,
And ocean foams from craggy cliffs repulst,
On you she calls! attend the warning cry,
“YE LIVE UNITED, OR DIVIDED DIE.”
This Poem forms part of a series of publications, in the Connecticut Magazine, for the years 1786 and 1787.—under the title of “American Antiquities;” of which it makes the tenth number, and is call'd an “Extract from the Anarchiad, book xxiv,”—being prefaced by the following lines, viz.—“At the op'ning of this book, and previous to the great and final conflict, which, by what is legible at the close of the Poem, appears to establish the Anarch in his dominion of the new world, Hesper, with a solicitude and energy becoming his high station, and the importance of the subject, makes his last solemn address to his principal counsellors and sages, whom he had convened at Philadelphia.”
| American poems, selected and original | |