Poems By Mr. Polwhele. In three volumes |
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 | Poems |  |
Nor Rome survey'd, amidst the changeful shapes
Of civil policy, the blending parts
Of one confederate whole; while senates warr'd
With popular assemblies, whether kings
Pass'd sullen by, or stern dictators frown'd,
Or a decemvirate, in dread array,
Scowl'd o'er her people. Say, when public cares
Engag'd her throng'd comitia; and the voice
Of blustring tribune, of plebeian chief,
Harangu'd the unsteady multitude—impell'd
To incidental judgment by a hint
Ambiguous, by the inflammatory phrase,
By stratagem tho' shallow yet unseen,
By shifted place, a momentary turn,
By a bird's flight—did freedom there preside,
High goddess?—Meantime (to the senate's walls
Upborne on ivory cars of curule pomp)
Her fathers, rude and unenlighten'd, felt
The bold philippic thunder in their ears;
Shuddering at each strong period that display'd
Their trampled rights, the crimes of ruffian crowds,
Their evanescent glories but the shade
Of old patrician grandeur! Thus misrule
And anarchy disclos'd the embowel'd war
Of struggling elements that rent the state.
Of civil policy, the blending parts
Of one confederate whole; while senates warr'd
With popular assemblies, whether kings
Pass'd sullen by, or stern dictators frown'd,
Or a decemvirate, in dread array,
Scowl'd o'er her people. Say, when public cares
Engag'd her throng'd comitia; and the voice
Of blustring tribune, of plebeian chief,
Harangu'd the unsteady multitude—impell'd
To incidental judgment by a hint
Ambiguous, by the inflammatory phrase,
By stratagem tho' shallow yet unseen,
By shifted place, a momentary turn,
92
High goddess?—Meantime (to the senate's walls
Upborne on ivory cars of curule pomp)
Her fathers, rude and unenlighten'd, felt
The bold philippic thunder in their ears;
Shuddering at each strong period that display'd
Their trampled rights, the crimes of ruffian crowds,
Their evanescent glories but the shade
Of old patrician grandeur! Thus misrule
And anarchy disclos'd the embowel'd war
Of struggling elements that rent the state.
| Poems | |