 | Miscellaneous Poetry (1806) |  |
90
WRITTEN
Immediately after the King's escape from the attempt made against his life by Hadfield.
1800.
If there are Spirits unseen, whose secret care
Soothes the sad bosom of the weeping Fair;
Whose hands immortal guide, where'er they move,
Deserted Innocence and hapless Love:
Some mightier spell protects that chosen breast,
On which a nation's hopes and safety rest!
Then let us bow to him, whose hallow'd arm
Has girt our king with many a potent charm;
To him, by whose command states fall or rise;
Who rolls the storms, and calms the troubled skies!
Nor us alone, whose grateful bosoms glow
With nearer joy at the averted blow;
But all, in every clime, whom social laws
Bind with just feelings to their country's cause;
Who dread to see the democratic storm
Confound their customs and their hearts deform!
Soothes the sad bosom of the weeping Fair;
Whose hands immortal guide, where'er they move,
Deserted Innocence and hapless Love:
Some mightier spell protects that chosen breast,
On which a nation's hopes and safety rest!
Then let us bow to him, whose hallow'd arm
Has girt our king with many a potent charm;
To him, by whose command states fall or rise;
Who rolls the storms, and calms the troubled skies!
Nor us alone, whose grateful bosoms glow
With nearer joy at the averted blow;
But all, in every clime, whom social laws
Bind with just feelings to their country's cause;
91
Confound their customs and their hearts deform!
O thrice-loved Sire! the public voice shall raise
To thee the hymn of unpolluted praise;
Not that on each wide sea and distant shore
The hand of heaven has crown'd thine arms with pow'r:
But that unmoved mid Europe's changeful storm
Thy care preserves thy country's ancient form;
That still unshaken by the treacherous school,
Which saps the principles of social rule,
Thou never turn'st thee from thy sacred hold,
Misled by falsehood, or by threats appall'd;
That, while in tyrannous Gallia's bleeding land
Rapine and Vice and Power go hand in hand,
The pure example, which thy life imparts,
Corrects our morals and improves our hearts.
To thee the hymn of unpolluted praise;
Not that on each wide sea and distant shore
The hand of heaven has crown'd thine arms with pow'r:
But that unmoved mid Europe's changeful storm
Thy care preserves thy country's ancient form;
That still unshaken by the treacherous school,
Which saps the principles of social rule,
Thou never turn'st thee from thy sacred hold,
Misled by falsehood, or by threats appall'd;
That, while in tyrannous Gallia's bleeding land
Rapine and Vice and Power go hand in hand,
The pure example, which thy life imparts,
Corrects our morals and improves our hearts.
| Miscellaneous Poetry (1806) | |