 | The Poems of St. George Tucker of Williamsburg, Virginia 1752-1827 |  |
On General Washington
When Alcides, the son of Olympian Jove,
Was called from the earth, to the regions above,
The fetters grim Tyranny burst from his hand,
And with rapine, and murder, usurped the command:
While Peace, lovely maiden, was scared from the plains,
And Liberty, captive! sat wailing in chains;
Her once gallant offspring lay bleeding around,
Nor, on earth, could a champion to save her to be found.
Was called from the earth, to the regions above,
The fetters grim Tyranny burst from his hand,
And with rapine, and murder, usurped the command:
While Peace, lovely maiden, was scared from the plains,
And Liberty, captive! sat wailing in chains;
Her once gallant offspring lay bleeding around,
Nor, on earth, could a champion to save her to be found.
The thunderer, moved with compassion, looked down,
On a world so accurst, from his crystalline throne;
Then opened the book, in whose mystical page,
Were enrolled the heroes of each future age:
Read of Brutus, and Sidney, who dared to be free;
Of their virtues approved, and confirmed the decree;
Then turned to the annals of that happy age,
When Washington's glories illumined the page.
On a world so accurst, from his crystalline throne;
Then opened the book, in whose mystical page,
Were enrolled the heroes of each future age:
Read of Brutus, and Sidney, who dared to be free;
Of their virtues approved, and confirmed the decree;
Then turned to the annals of that happy age,
When Washington's glories illumined the page.
“When Britannia shall strive with tyrannical hand,
To establish her empire in each distant land,
A chief shall arise, in Columbia's defense,
To whom the just gods shall their favors dispense:
Triumphant as Mars, in the glorious field,
While Minerva shall lend him her wisdom, and shield:
And Liberty, freed from the shackles, shall own,
Great Washington's claim, as her favorite son.”
To establish her empire in each distant land,
A chief shall arise, in Columbia's defense,
To whom the just gods shall their favors dispense:
Triumphant as Mars, in the glorious field,
While Minerva shall lend him her wisdom, and shield:
And Liberty, freed from the shackles, shall own,
Great Washington's claim, as her favorite son.”
Aug. 26, 1780
| The Poems of St. George Tucker of Williamsburg, Virginia 1752-1827 | |