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 |
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| XI. |
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| XIV. |
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| XVII. |
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| XIX. |
| XX. |
| XXI. | ODE XXI. ON HIS MAJESTY's BIRTH-DAY, JUNE 4th, 1788. |
| XXII. |
| XXIII. |
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 | The Poetical Works of the Late Thomas Warton |  |
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ODE XXI. ON HIS MAJESTY's BIRTH-DAY, JUNE 4th, 1788.
I.
What native Genius taught the Britons boldTo guard their sea-girt cliffs of old?
'Twas Liberty: she taught disdain
Of death, of Rome's imperial chain.
She bade the Druid harp to battle sound,
In tones prophetic thro' the gloom profound
Of forests hoar, with holy foliage hung;
From grove to grove the pealing prelude rung;
Belinus call'd his painted tribes around,
And, rough with many a veteran scar,
Swept the pale legions with the scythed car,
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An easier triumph on Pharsalia's plain;
And left the stubborn isle to stand elate
Amidst a conquer'd world, in lone majestic state!
II.
A kindred spirit soon to Britain's shoreThe sons of Saxon Elva bore;
Fraught with th' unconquerable soul,
Who died, to drain the warrior-bowl,
In that bright Hall, where Odin's Gothic throne
With the broad blaze of brandish'd falchions shone;
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Of spectre chiefs, who feasted far within:
Yet, not intent on deathful deeds alone,
They felt the fires of social zeal,
The peaceful wisdom of the public weal;
Though nurs'd in arms and hardy strife,
They knew to frame the plans of temper'd life;
The king's, the people's, balanc'd claims to found
On one eternal base, indissolubly bound.
III.
Sudden, to shake the Saxons mild domain,Rush'd in rude swarms the robber Dane,
From frozen wastes, and caverns wild,
To genial England's scenes beguil'd;
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The demons foul of Famine and of Flame:
Witness the sheep-clad summits, roughly crown'd
With many a frowning foss and airy mound,
Which yet his desultory march proclaim!—
Nor ceas'd the tide of gore to flow,
Till Alfred's laws allur'd th' intestine foe;
And Harold calm'd his headlong rage
To brave achievement, and to counsel sage;
For oft in savage breasts the buried seeds
Of brooding virtue live, and freedom's fairest deeds!
IV.
But see, triumphant o'er the southern wave,The Norman sweeps!—Tho' first he gave
New grace to Britain's naked plain,
With Arts and Manners in his train;
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In massy pomp has mock'd the stealth of time;
And castle fair, that, stript of half its tow'rs,
From some broad steep in shatter'd glory low'rs:
Yet brought he slavery from a softer clime;
Each eve, the curfew's notes severe
(That now but soothes the musing poet's ear)
At the new tyrant's stern command,
Warn'd to unwelcome rest a wakeful land;
While proud Oppression o'er the ravish'd field
High rais'd his armed hand, and shook the feudal shield.
V.
Stoop'd then that Freedom to despotic sway,For which, in many a fierce affray,
The Britons bold, the Saxons bled,
His Danish javelins Leswin led
O'er Hastings' plain, to stay the Norman yoke?
She felt, but to resist, the sudden stroke:
The tyrant-baron grasp'd the patriot steel,
And taught the tyrant-king its force to feel;
And quick revenge the regal bondage broke.
And still, unchang'd and uncontroll'd,
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For lo, revering Britain's cause,
A King new lustre lends to native laws,
The sacred Sovereign of this festal day
On Albion's old renown reflects a kindred ray!
| The Poetical Works of the Late Thomas Warton | |