The Poetical Works of the Late Thomas Warton ... Fifth Edition, Corrected and Enlarged. To which are now added Inscriptionum Romanarum Delectus, and An Inaugural Speech As Camden Professor of History, never before published. Together with Memoirs of his Life and Writings; and Notes, Critical and Explanatory. By Richard Mant |
 | I, II. |
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| XI. |
| XII. |
| XIII. |
| XIV. |
| XV. |
| XVI. | ODE XVI. FOR THE NEW YEAR, 1786. |
| XVII. |
| XVIII. |
| XIX. |
| XX. |
| XXI. |
| XXII. |
| XXIII. |
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 | The Poetical Works of the Late Thomas Warton |  |
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ODE XVI. FOR THE NEW YEAR, 1786.
I.
“Dear to Jove, a genial isle“Crowns the broad Atlantic wave;
90
“And vernal blossoms clothe the fruitful prime:
91
“Dwell the Spirits of the brave,
“And braid with amaranth their brows sublime.”
So feign'd the Grecian bards, of yore;
And veil'd in Fable's fancy-woven vest
A visionary shore,
That faintly gleam'd on their prophetic eye
Through the dark volume of futurity:
Nor knew that in the bright attire they dress'd
Albion, the green-hair'd heroine of the West;
Ere yet she claim'd old Ocean's high command,
And snatch'd the trident from the Tyrant's hand.
92
II.
Vainly flow'd the mystic rhyme?Mark the deeds from age to age,
That fill her trophy-pictur'd page:
And see, with all its strength, untam'd by time,
Still glows her valour's veteran rage.
O'er Calpe's cliffs, and steepy tow'rs,
When stream'd the red sulphureous showers,
And Death's own hand the dread artillery threw;
While far along the midnight main
Its glaring arch the flaming volley drew;
How triumph'd Elliott's patient train,
Baffling their vain confederate foes;
And met th' unwonted fight's terrific form;
And hurling back the burning war, arose
Superior to the fiery storm!
III.
Is there an ocean that forgets to rollBeneath the torpid pole,
93
Her hardy keel the stubborn billow cleaves.
The rugged Neptune of the wint'ry brine
In vain his adamantine breast-plate wears:
To search coy Nature's guarded mine,
She bursts the barriers of th' indignant ice;
O'er sunless bays the beam of Science bears:
And rousing far around the polar sleep,
Where Drake's bold ensigns fear'd to sweep,
94
She speeds, at George's sage command,
Society from deep to deep,
And zone to zone she binds;
From shore to shore, o'er every land,
The golden chain of commerce winds.
IV.
Meantime her patriot-cares exploreHer own rich woof's exhaustless store;
Her native fleece new fervour feels,
And wakens all its whirling wheels,
And mocks the rainbow's radiant die;
More wide the labours of the loom she spreads,
In firmer bands domestic commerce weds,
And calls her Sister-isle to share the tie:
Nor heeds the violence that broke
From filial realms her old parental yoke!
V.
Her cities, throng'd with many an Attic dome,95
Firm as the castle's feudal roof,
Stands the Briton's social home.—
96
Right, Order, Law, protect her simplest plain;
Nor scorn to guard the shepherd's nightly fold,
And watch around the forest cot.
With conscious certainty, the swain
Gives to the ground his trusted grain,
With eager hope the reddening harvest eyes;
And claims the ripe autumnal gold,
The meed of toil, of industry the prize.
For ours the King, who boasts a parent's praise,
Whose hand the people's sceptre sways;
Ours is the Senate, not a specious name,
Whose active plans pervade the civil frame:
Where bold debate its noblest war displays,
And, in the kindling strife, unlocks the tide
Of manliest eloquence, and rolls the torrent wide.
VI.
Hence then, each vain complaint, away,Each captious doubt, and cautious fear!
97
That anxious waits the spring's slow-shooting ray:
Nor deem that Albion's honours cease to bloom.
With candid glance, th' impartial Muse,
Invok'd on this auspicious morn,
The present scans, the distant scene pursues,
And breaks Opinion's speculative gloom:
Interpreter of ages yet unborn,
Full right she spells the characters of Fate,
That Albion still shall keep her wonted state!
Still in eternal story shine,
Of Victory the sea-beat shrine;
The source of every splendid art,
Of old, of future worlds the universal mart.
| The Poetical Works of the Late Thomas Warton | |