The Anarchiad A New England Poem |
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| 9. | AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES.—No. IX.
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 | The Anarchiad |  |
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AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES.—No. IX.
EXTRACT FROM THE ANARCHIAD, BOOK XXIII.
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The situation and soliloquy of Anarch, after having been vanquished, in single combat, by Hesper.—His mother, Night, appears to him.—Her speech, in which she comforts her son by enumerating the unexpected and powerful friends who have espoused his cause, terminates with an obscure prophecy.
In fight sore foil'd by Hesper's vengeful sword,
His shield to havoc hewn, his armor gor'd,
His bulk immense by wounds unseemly marr'd,
His helmless front by furrowing thunders scarr'd,
Clotted with dark red gore, his horrent hair,
Like meteors streaming on the troubled air,
As heaves to heaven the huge volcano's smoke,
From his long trance immortal Anarch broke;
Nor less appear'd, escap'd from deadly fight,
Than the dread son of Erebus and Night;
Around in wrath his baleful eyes he throws,
And vents loud curses o'er his hopeless woes.
Oh, rage! oh, torture! limbs and armor riven,
On earth an exile, and the scorn of heaven!
Robb'd of a world, by lying fates bestow'd,
Hesper victorious! I a vanquish'd god!
Gape wide, profoundest hell! in Stygian flame
Hide your lost Anarch from undying shame!
His shield to havoc hewn, his armor gor'd,
His bulk immense by wounds unseemly marr'd,
His helmless front by furrowing thunders scarr'd,
Clotted with dark red gore, his horrent hair,
Like meteors streaming on the troubled air,
As heaves to heaven the huge volcano's smoke,
From his long trance immortal Anarch broke;
Nor less appear'd, escap'd from deadly fight,
Than the dread son of Erebus and Night;
Around in wrath his baleful eyes he throws,
And vents loud curses o'er his hopeless woes.
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On earth an exile, and the scorn of heaven!
Robb'd of a world, by lying fates bestow'd,
Hesper victorious! I a vanquish'd god!
Gape wide, profoundest hell! in Stygian flame
Hide your lost Anarch from undying shame!
He spoke! Astonish'd from the central bound
Heav'd the dark gulf and ope'd the rocking ground;
From all the extremes of chaos, wild and waste,
With hollow murmur swell'd the roaring blast;
Ting'd with sulphureous flames, obscurely curl'd,
Black clouds, expanding, swept the nether world;
Thron'd on the ascending pyramid of storm,
Rose, wrapp'd in vapors, Night's majestic form;
O'er her lov'd son she hung with pitying air,
And sooth'd his sadness with maternal care.
Heav'd the dark gulf and ope'd the rocking ground;
From all the extremes of chaos, wild and waste,
With hollow murmur swell'd the roaring blast;
Ting'd with sulphureous flames, obscurely curl'd,
Black clouds, expanding, swept the nether world;
Thron'd on the ascending pyramid of storm,
Rose, wrapp'd in vapors, Night's majestic form;
O'er her lov'd son she hung with pitying air,
And sooth'd his sadness with maternal care.
Oh, blind to fate, to happier visions blind,
While past disasters rankle in thy mind!
While future woe thy boding bosom rends,
Lo, Orcus wakes a new-form'd host of friends;
To nobler champions change thy fiercest foes,
And splendid triumph on thy ruin grows.
While past disasters rankle in thy mind!
While future woe thy boding bosom rends,
Lo, Orcus wakes a new-form'd host of friends;
To nobler champions change thy fiercest foes,
And splendid triumph on thy ruin grows.
Where yonder isle the meeting tides embrace,
And commerce smiles on Belgia's thrifty race—
Once bowry isle, whose woodless summits far
Now lift the relics of barbarian war;
Whose laurel vales with bleaching bones abound,
Where slaughter drench'd the saturated ground;
When a few heroes, wedg'd in firm array,
Held Hessian hosts and British bands at bay;
Till wider carnage round the empire spread,
For nine long years, while sad Columbia bled,
To save one central region, and restore
Each glorious exile to his natal shore.
But now, while victory greets their glad return,
The Power that sav'd, th'ungrateful miscreants spurn;
I see, through Hellgate, where the whirlpool pours,
How the day darkens, how confusion lowers;
Where Congress dwells, I see portentous signs—
Of total nature, there th'eclipse begins.
Hail! sacred spot, imperial city, hail!
Here shall our reign commence, our throne prevail;
Whence hate and discord, erst by --- hurl'd,
Clung to the British prow, and fought the elder world.
And commerce smiles on Belgia's thrifty race—
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Now lift the relics of barbarian war;
Whose laurel vales with bleaching bones abound,
Where slaughter drench'd the saturated ground;
When a few heroes, wedg'd in firm array,
Held Hessian hosts and British bands at bay;
Till wider carnage round the empire spread,
For nine long years, while sad Columbia bled,
To save one central region, and restore
Each glorious exile to his natal shore.
But now, while victory greets their glad return,
The Power that sav'd, th'ungrateful miscreants spurn;
I see, through Hellgate, where the whirlpool pours,
How the day darkens, how confusion lowers;
Where Congress dwells, I see portentous signs—
Of total nature, there th'eclipse begins.
Hail! sacred spot, imperial city, hail!
Here shall our reign commence, our throne prevail;
Whence hate and discord, erst by --- hurl'd,
Clung to the British prow, and fought the elder world.
Oh! lost to virtue's heaven-descended flame,
Lost to those realms that boast his early fame,
I see his friends, (but now his friends no more,)
And Vernon's sage his fated lapse deplore;
Columbia's self the tear of anguish shed,
And mourns the glories of her --- fled!
'Tis he, my son, shall stretch thy dark domain,
By me inspir'd with dreams of boundless gain;
'Tis he, illustrious changeling, shall control
Each generous thought that swell'd his active soul;
Court the low crowd, his free-born spirit brav'd,
And blast the realms his former valor saved.
Lost to those realms that boast his early fame,
I see his friends, (but now his friends no more,)
And Vernon's sage his fated lapse deplore;
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And mourns the glories of her --- fled!
'Tis he, my son, shall stretch thy dark domain,
By me inspir'd with dreams of boundless gain;
'Tis he, illustrious changeling, shall control
Each generous thought that swell'd his active soul;
Court the low crowd, his free-born spirit brav'd,
And blast the realms his former valor saved.
Lo! at his side, and guardian of his way,
Our fav'rite --- directs his steps astray;
In that vile shape, predictive fate assign'd
A frame well suited to so base a mind;
To him no form, no grace, nor genius given,
But mark'd for mischief by the hand of heaven;
Him plodding patience taught to con the laws,
And knavery sold to serve the British cause,
To wealth and power in courts marine to rise,
And glut his avarice on each rebel prize;
Then foil'd, he chang'd, at our superior call,
To lure his cringing pupil to his fall;
With steady aim, his former toils to crown,
Subvert the Congress, and exalt thy throne.
Our fav'rite --- directs his steps astray;
In that vile shape, predictive fate assign'd
A frame well suited to so base a mind;
To him no form, no grace, nor genius given,
But mark'd for mischief by the hand of heaven;
Him plodding patience taught to con the laws,
And knavery sold to serve the British cause,
To wealth and power in courts marine to rise,
And glut his avarice on each rebel prize;
Then foil'd, he chang'd, at our superior call,
To lure his cringing pupil to his fall;
With steady aim, his former toils to crown,
Subvert the Congress, and exalt thy throne.
Fair to thine eyes, and number'd with thy friends,
The train of selfish jealousy ascends;
Blind Belisarius leads the mighty round,
And gropes in darkness o'er the mystic ground;
Rous'd at his call, advance an airy group,
Thin, shadowy shapes, and ghastly phantoms troop;
In fancy dress, the hands fantastic join'd,
Revel to madness on his moody mind;
He sees cadets in pigmy armies rise,
And Boston fifers swarm like Hessian flies,
Creative frenzy painting on his brain,
By Congress rais'd, and paid the innumerous train,
Himself neglected, needy, blind, and old,
The R--- B--- balanced by the ---
In wild profusion spent each liberal grant,
While war alone can rescue him from want.
The train of selfish jealousy ascends;
Blind Belisarius leads the mighty round,
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Rous'd at his call, advance an airy group,
Thin, shadowy shapes, and ghastly phantoms troop;
In fancy dress, the hands fantastic join'd,
Revel to madness on his moody mind;
He sees cadets in pigmy armies rise,
And Boston fifers swarm like Hessian flies,
Creative frenzy painting on his brain,
By Congress rais'd, and paid the innumerous train,
Himself neglected, needy, blind, and old,
The R--- B--- balanced by the ---
In wild profusion spent each liberal grant,
While war alone can rescue him from want.
The blunt Rough-hewer, from his savage den,
With learned dullness loads his lab'ring pen;
In muddy streams his rumbling wits combine
Big words convolving on the turbid line.
Yet spare thy scorn; for, lo! by friendly hands,
In Congress rear'd, the reptile Scarecrow stands;
Strange to himself, for now, no more the prig,
Swells in the powder'd majesty of wig,
But gay, like snake from wintry garb releas'd,
Shines the stiff coxcomb in his courtly vest;
From side to side there struts, and smiles, and prates,
And seems to wonder what's become of ---
With learned dullness loads his lab'ring pen;
In muddy streams his rumbling wits combine
Big words convolving on the turbid line.
Yet spare thy scorn; for, lo! by friendly hands,
In Congress rear'd, the reptile Scarecrow stands;
Strange to himself, for now, no more the prig,
Swells in the powder'd majesty of wig,
But gay, like snake from wintry garb releas'd,
Shines the stiff coxcomb in his courtly vest;
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And seems to wonder what's become of ---
To check their force, our desperate foes in vain
Attempt thy ruin and oppose thy reign;
Ardent and bold, the sinking land to save,
In council sapient as in action brave,
I fear'd young Hamilton's unshaken soul,
And saw his arm our wayward host control;
Yet, while the Senate with his accents rung,
Fire in his eye, and thunder on his tongue,
My band of mutes in dumb confusion throng,
Convinc'd of right, yet obstinate in wrong,
With stupid reverence lift the guided hand,
And yield an empire to thy wild command.
Attempt thy ruin and oppose thy reign;
Ardent and bold, the sinking land to save,
In council sapient as in action brave,
I fear'd young Hamilton's unshaken soul,
And saw his arm our wayward host control;
Yet, while the Senate with his accents rung,
Fire in his eye, and thunder on his tongue,
My band of mutes in dumb confusion throng,
Convinc'd of right, yet obstinate in wrong,
With stupid reverence lift the guided hand,
And yield an empire to thy wild command.
Rise, then, my son! the frowns of fate to dare;
Blest with such aid, shall Anarch's soul despair?
Hark! how my heroes to the field invite,
Go, more victorious in thy mother's might;
Still one last conflict waits; one gleam of day
Shall pierce thine empire with expiring ray,
Ere light and order from their seats be hurl'd,
And shade and silence veil thy vanquish'd world.
Blest with such aid, shall Anarch's soul despair?
Hark! how my heroes to the field invite,
Go, more victorious in thy mother's might;
Still one last conflict waits; one gleam of day
Shall pierce thine empire with expiring ray,
Ere light and order from their seats be hurl'd,
And shade and silence veil thy vanquish'd world.
| The Anarchiad | |