 | The Poems of St. George Tucker of Williamsburg, Virginia 1752-1827 |  |
Ode XI
To Atlas Being the Second Part of Ode II
Jonathan recanteth his former errors:—discloseth the secrets of a great assembly:—again doubteth, and concludeth with an apt simile.
Atlas! 'Tis true that once I said
You prop the states up, with your head;
But I was wrong to do't:
My recantation, then believe,
And trust me, what I now perceive,
You've trod them underfoot.
You prop the states up, with your head;
But I was wrong to do't:
My recantation, then believe,
And trust me, what I now perceive,
You've trod them underfoot.
103
'Twas you that in Convention first
Pronounced the government accurst,
Whilst sovereign they remained:
Then boldly moved to knock them down,
And crush them all beneath a throne,
Or, to it have them chained.
Pronounced the government accurst,
Whilst sovereign they remained:
Then boldly moved to knock them down,
And crush them all beneath a throne,
Or, to it have them chained.
Sure, 'twas enough to strike them dumb,
To put them under sheriff's thumb,
Like culprits vile and base:
What tho' they are not hang'd as yet;
Still, two to one, perhaps, you'd bet,
That it will be the case.
To put them under sheriff's thumb,
Like culprits vile and base:
What tho' they are not hang'd as yet;
Still, two to one, perhaps, you'd bet,
That it will be the case.
But after all—no doubt, I rate
Too high your influence in the state,
Nay, I'll be sworn, 'tis so:
The town clock tells us when we dine;
The weights that move its hands and thine
Play out of sight, below!
Too high your influence in the state,
Nay, I'll be sworn, 'tis so:
The town clock tells us when we dine;
The weights that move its hands and thine
Play out of sight, below!
Aug. 11, 1793
| The Poems of St. George Tucker of Williamsburg, Virginia 1752-1827 | |