The Poetical Works of Henry Brooke ... In Four Volumes Octavo. Revised and corrected by the Original Manuscript With a Portrait of the Author, and His Life By Miss Brooke. The Third Edition |
 | I. |
 |
|
TO THE MEMORY OF Lieutenant Colonel HENRY CLEMENTS. |
| II. |
| IV. |
 | The Poetical Works of Henry Brooke |  |
379
TO THE MEMORY OF Lieutenant Colonel HENRY CLEMENTS.
Shall boastful pomp, the high imperial name,
Or title, only, swell the trump of Fame?
To equal Worth be equal Glory due,
And wreaths that bloom'd for Clayton bloom for you!
Or title, only, swell the trump of Fame?
To equal Worth be equal Glory due,
And wreaths that bloom'd for Clayton bloom for you!
O, once endowed with ev'ry pleasing pow'r,
To chear the sad, or charm the social hour;
To sweeten life with many a gentle art,
And win the whole dominion of the heart;
I deem'd, far other than the fates allow,
The laurels bound upon your living brow,
To greet my friend returning from his toil,
Graced with his deeds, and laden with his spoil.
Too fond of what the martial harvests yield,
Alas, too forward to the dangerous field,
As one of old renown in battle tried,
The glory of the dusty plain you died!
The tongues of Dettingen your triumph tell,
And weeping Tournay points where Clements fell.
To chear the sad, or charm the social hour;
To sweeten life with many a gentle art,
And win the whole dominion of the heart;
I deem'd, far other than the fates allow,
The laurels bound upon your living brow,
To greet my friend returning from his toil,
Graced with his deeds, and laden with his spoil.
Too fond of what the martial harvests yield,
Alas, too forward to the dangerous field,
As one of old renown in battle tried,
The glory of the dusty plain you died!
The tongues of Dettingen your triumph tell,
And weeping Tournay points where Clements fell.
O, in some future day of loud alarms,
When Virtue and my Country call to arms
For Freedom—struggling nations to unbind,
And snap the sceptres that would bruise mankind—
At such an hour, in such a cause as thine,
The honour'd close of such a death be mine!
Then may some kindred Bard appoint my grave,
Snatch forth my name and roll it with the brave;
Assign my pen and sword the wish'd applause,
And say that both were drawn in Virtue's cause!
Then drop the salutation given to you—
“Companion, Countryman, and Friend—adieu!”
When Virtue and my Country call to arms
380
And snap the sceptres that would bruise mankind—
At such an hour, in such a cause as thine,
The honour'd close of such a death be mine!
Then may some kindred Bard appoint my grave,
Snatch forth my name and roll it with the brave;
Assign my pen and sword the wish'd applause,
And say that both were drawn in Virtue's cause!
Then drop the salutation given to you—
“Companion, Countryman, and Friend—adieu!”
| The Poetical Works of Henry Brooke | |