 | The Poems of St. George Tucker of Williamsburg, Virginia 1752-1827 |  |
96
Ode VIII
To Minos
------Jura Silentibus
Reddit.------.
Ovid.
Reddit.------.
Ovid.
Stern judge of shades! revisit'st thou this earth
To try us all, ere we have crossed the Styx?
Not only punishing our childish tricks,
But damning us, by wholesale, from birth!
To try us all, ere we have crossed the Styx?
Not only punishing our childish tricks,
But damning us, by wholesale, from birth!
As mortal bodies, states, no doubt, have souls,
Which brings them all within thy jurisdiction;
And since no earthly judge thy voice controls,
They must be damned, without a legal fiction.
Which brings them all within thy jurisdiction;
And since no earthly judge thy voice controls,
They must be damned, without a legal fiction.
Thine eminent domain, what state opposes,
Or dares remember it was sovereign once!
Since to the grindstone thou hast brought their noses,
Thoul't leave among them not a single sconce.
Or dares remember it was sovereign once!
Since to the grindstone thou hast brought their noses,
Thoul't leave among them not a single sconce.
Their little corporations all shall melt
In the hot crucible that holds thy brains,
Till not a single particle remains
Of all the fancied sovereignty they've felt:
A voice shall then be heard in Congress Hall
States are no more—and we are all in all!!!
In the hot crucible that holds thy brains,
Till not a single particle remains
Of all the fancied sovereignty they've felt:
A voice shall then be heard in Congress Hall
States are no more—and we are all in all!!!
July 20, 1793
| The Poems of St. George Tucker of Williamsburg, Virginia 1752-1827 | |