University of Virginia Library

V.

Again the vision changed.
But on my sight an indistinctness pass'd,
And objects were less palpable.
Methought I saw
—But indistinctly—an ambitious spirit,
Gazing, with well feign'd earnestness, upon
A statue of the goddess Liberty;
And swearing, while his right hand grasp'd his sword,
To use it in her cause: but then—e'en then—
His left was reaching for a Bourbon crown,
Which he could almost seize, but seem'd to fear
Detection of his base hypocrisy.
Then this same spirit, methought,
Appear'd a sable fiend,
Ambition hight:
Blood-red his arm;
Of feature horrible, and hateful shape,
But syren-tongued;
He, born in Heav'n when Lucifer rebell'd,
Thence banish'd, since existent upon earth:
A never-slumbering fiend;
Whose days are spent in butchering mankind,
And mounting to a gory eminence
Upon the heap'd up corpses of the slain;
Who drinks the scalding tears from widows' eyes,
And feasts amid the starving orphan's groans;
Whose nights are pass'd in some unknown recess,
With the world's chart before his greedy eyes,
Marking off lands to conquer!
Indistinct
The vision grew again; and soon assumed
Man's features and proportions.—Then methought
I saw, 'mid glaciers and eternal snows,
Who late was reaching for a Bourbon crown,
Leading his chosen legions o'er the Alps—
Smiling, 'mid toils which overcame all else—
Cheering, and urging them with gentleness
Along the dangerous and dizzy height,
Where nothing living but the goatherd trod
Securely, and the chamois; where one foot,
If blindly placed, a hoary avalanche
Might loosen from its hold of years, and bring
Destruction upon hundreds. Watching then
While slept his hosts, their greatest labor done.
And then, quick mounting up the rocky height
Of Albaredo, point a forceful gun
Upon St. Bard, his squadrons to protect
In passing by this fortress of their foes;
Then cast himself upon the herbless rock,
And sleep, to dream of conquests, not of home!
And soon methought he sprang upon his feet,
As much refresh'd as though he had enjoy'd
A downy couch, and a whole night's repose:
And cheering onward his admiring bands,
St. Bard was taken, and Marengo won—
And Italy was his.—And soon again,
—So quickly dreams encompass time and space—
This master-spirit stood where he had pledg'd
His sword to Liberty. But now he fear'd
Detection less; and seized the glittering crown
With careless air, and tried the bauble on,
To see how it would suit his laurel'd brow.
None murmur'd, but none cheer'd him; and he fear'd
The time unripe, and put it off again.
His name was blazon'd now, wide through the world;
And fame was his, for which he long had toil'd;
Honors fell thick upon him; but his brow
Was gloomy; for the common fame of earth
Was valueless to him, without the pow'r
To wield the scepter, and to wear the crown.
Ambition urged him onward; and he cast
Dissimulation off, and seized once more
That crown, and fixed it firmly on his brow,
And sat in gloomy grandeur on the throne!
And then I recognized the Conqueror
Of Pharao's ancient land.