University of Virginia Library

THE VOLUNTEER LAUREAT.

AN ODE; For the BIRTH-DAY of the PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES.

Oft has the Poet's venal song,
Correctly mean, and elegantly low,
Told the false plaudits of the courtly throng,
And wak'd a smile on guilty Grandeur's brow.
But here hath Virtue's guardian hand
Torn from the Syren, Adulation's power
The Man, whose praise—the voice of every land—
Hangs on the lips of every parting hour.
Here, can no Poet's venal song
Echo the praises of a courtly throng;
Nor the poor wealth of many a powerful State,
Buy a new honor for the truly great:
For here, the Muse's noblest lays
But speak a Nation's answering praise;
And here, can heaven-descended verse
Nought but the glories of his name rehearse.
Daughter of Heaven! awake the enobling lyre!
Breathe thy full influence; every cord inspire;
Exalt the soul to dignity of song;
Swell every note, and every strain prolong.
The answering Spirit trembles o'er the strings;
Things, more than earthly, dance before my sight;
Hark! with her voice the empyrean rings;
The Past, lies all reveal'd; the Future lives in light.
“The voice of Horror echoes far;
“Responds, the direful whoop of war;
“Thunders, the mighty tube of death;
“The knife red gleams upon the heath;
“Groans load the air, shrieks rend the skies;
“The crimson standard wildly flies;
“Impatient slaughter loudly calls;
“The Chief of Tho'tless Valor falls.
“'Gainst all the terrors of the field,
“The Chief of Virtue rears his shield;
“Secure, the train diminish'd move;
“And weeping Britain smiles in love.
“See, demon Danger's horrid form,
“With dire Oppression strong allied,
“Hangs o'er the land—and wakes the storm;
“And swells, of deep calamity; the tide.
“See, in their train Destruction stalk;
“And Giant Vengeance threatening walk;
“And red-clad Envy ride the empoison'd gale;
“And jealous Grandeur spread the impatient sail.
“Greatly inspir'd, his country lifts her voice—
“See Danger trembles at his awful name;
“Tyrant Oppression views her fainting flame;
“And gasping Freedom breathes but to rejoice.
“Dark o'er the field of Liberty and Right,
“Of sad Dismay, hangs low the deepen'd gloom:
“Wide spreads the flash of Trenton's bloody light;
“And Freedom, glorying, rises from the tomb.
“Strong in himself—he scatters wide the storm;
“Calms the wild raging of the troubled tide;
“O'erthrows Destruction; Vengeance joins his side;
“And Envy kneels in Adoration's form.
“Lin'd with red Hosts the ramparts shine;
“Oppos'd, the brother armies join;
“The brazen Thunders ope their throats;
“On all the air the Tempest floats:
“Their Captives guarded, see the bands retire,
“And jealous Grandeur at the view expire.
“His Country sav'd, o'er Cincinnatus great,
“He tills the soil, and guides the arts of Peace.
“But see! new Glory bursts the womb of Fate!
“New toils demand him from the promis'd case!
“The voice of millions lift him o'er the realm
“Which once his valor from oppression freed;
“Powerful in virtue, now he rules the helm—
“In War—in Peace—the blest of Heaven succeed.
“O born to grace and dignify mankind!
“Years long await thee—Time himself shall stay
“Till thou hast op'd, resplendent on the mind,
“Th' immortal brightness of the moral day.
“Tis thine to spread new virtue o'er the Earth;
“To breathe the soul of liberty in man;
“To brace Creation to a glorious birth;
“And charm Perfection to complete the Plan.”
Favor'd of Heaven! the Muse in rapture faints,
Thy grateful country strives, in vain, to sing;
The Earth uplifts her hands in joy—the Saints
Respond in Peans to each speaking string.
“Long may'st thou live”—the Soul of Nature cries—
“Greatest of Mortals—Favorite of the Skies.”