 | Naucratia |  |
Ει νησον οικουντες Θαλασσοκρατορες ησαν Αθηναιοι, υπηρχεν αν αυτοις ποιειν
μεν κακως ει ηβουλοντο, πασχειν δε μηδεν, εως της θαλαττης ηρχον: μηδε τμηθηναι
την εαυτων γην, μηδε προσδεχεσθαι τους πολεμιους
XENOPHON.
TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY, THE FOLLOWING POEM,
ON THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF AN ART, WHICH HAS EVER BEEN THE
PECULIAR GLORY AND STRENGTH OF GREAT BRITAIN, AND WHICH, UNDER THE HAPPY AUSPICES OF
HIS MAJESTY, HAS EXTENDED HER DISCOVERIES, INCREASED HER COMMERCE,
AND ESTABLISHED HER DOMINION, BEYOND THE EXAMPLE OF FORMER AGES,
IS, WITH ALL GRATITUDE AND HUMILITY, DEDICATED, BY HIS MOST DUTIFUL AND FAITHFUL
SUBJECT AND SERVANT, HENRY JAMES PYE.
1
NAUCRATIA;
OR NAVAL DOMINION.
I. PART I.
3
ANALYSIS OF PART I.
Introduction.—Deluge.—Savage stopped by a river.—Tree blown across the stream.—Tree carried away by an inundation. —Raft.—Fishing.—Carried sea by a storm—lands in an island—returns.—Voluntary voyage.—Canadians and South Sea Islanders—mystery of their origin and language.—Tradition.—Coasts of the Mediterranean.— Tyrians discover Britain.—Necus King of Egypt sends a Fleet round Africa.—Commerce.—Predatory expeditions.— Io.—Argonauts.—Trojan War.—War yet confined to the shore.—Expedition of Darius.—Expedition of Xerxes.— Battle of Salamis.—Peloponnesian war.—Ægos Potamos. Carthage.—Rome.—Actium.—Northern barbarians.
5
Ye scenes of nature, by the poet's tongue
In every age, and every climate sung,
Mountains, whose sides eternal forests shade,
Vales, in the flowery robe of spring array'd,
Seats, ever bright in warm description's lay,
Far, far from you the venturous Muses stray!
Sublimer objects, and terrific views,
O'er the rough surge their daring flight pursues;
Far from their long lov'd Naiads while they rove,
Far from the Dryads of each haunted grove;
Ye sea-green guardians of old Ocean's reign,
(Who vex with storms, or soothe his wide domain,)
Bid each rude wave in placid silence sleep,
And gently hail these strangers to the deep.
In every age, and every climate sung,
Mountains, whose sides eternal forests shade,
Vales, in the flowery robe of spring array'd,
Seats, ever bright in warm description's lay,
Far, far from you the venturous Muses stray!
Sublimer objects, and terrific views,
O'er the rough surge their daring flight pursues;
Far from their long lov'd Naiads while they rove,
Far from the Dryads of each haunted grove;
Ye sea-green guardians of old Ocean's reign,
(Who vex with storms, or soothe his wide domain,)
Bid each rude wave in placid silence sleep,
And gently hail these strangers to the deep.
By Heaven's decree, so sacred records tell,
The ponderous bark first brav'd the billowy swell:
And when, for foul offence, the Eternal Mind
Wav'd the dread sword of justice o'er mankind,
O'er earth's wide face the angry waters roar,
A world of waves, unbounded by a shore:
Though in the holy ark one pious race
Escap'd,—the favourite sons of heavenly grace;
Their near descendants, long a pastoral train,
Nor spread the sail, nor plough'd the bordering main.
And by conjecture's glimmering light, the Muse,
Through scatter'd hords, the uncertain theme pursues;
From whose blind memory dark oblivion's sway
Each trace of earlier times had wip'd away.
The ponderous bark first brav'd the billowy swell:
And when, for foul offence, the Eternal Mind
Wav'd the dread sword of justice o'er mankind,
6
A world of waves, unbounded by a shore:
Though in the holy ark one pious race
Escap'd,—the favourite sons of heavenly grace;
Their near descendants, long a pastoral train,
Nor spread the sail, nor plough'd the bordering main.
And by conjecture's glimmering light, the Muse,
Through scatter'd hords, the uncertain theme pursues;
From whose blind memory dark oblivion's sway
Each trace of earlier times had wip'd away.
When wildly wandering through the tangled shade,
As fancy led, the houseless Savage stray'd;
The smoothest stream, that deep its current roll'd
With ceaseless lapse, his vagrant course controll'd.
For to the bestial tribes though Nature gave
Instinctive power to cleave the opposing wave,
To man, the brook a hopeless boundary flows,
Till use and toil the swimmer's art disclose.—
Though cross the narrow bourn he envious sees
Luxuriant fruitage bend the loaded trees;
Though sweets, from flowers perennial, that exhale
With aromatic fragrance, freight the gale;
He eyes the liquid barrier in despair,
And sighs for wealth he dares not hope to share.
As fancy led, the houseless Savage stray'd;
The smoothest stream, that deep its current roll'd
With ceaseless lapse, his vagrant course controll'd.
For to the bestial tribes though Nature gave
Instinctive power to cleave the opposing wave,
To man, the brook a hopeless boundary flows,
Till use and toil the swimmer's art disclose.—
Though cross the narrow bourn he envious sees
Luxuriant fruitage bend the loaded trees;
Though sweets, from flowers perennial, that exhale
With aromatic fragrance, freight the gale;
He eyes the liquid barrier in despair,
And sighs for wealth he dares not hope to share.
Haply, at length, by winds tempestuous blown,
Across the brook a rifted oak is thrown;
On the rough trunk he passes trembling o'er,
And tastes the plenty of the envied shore.
Speedy his step, and short his stay; the mind
Hanging on scenes domestic left behind.
For, save where false refinement's baneful force,
Poisons of inborn worth the genuine source,
Seats, that remembrance fond of youth impart,
Wind with close tendril round the human heart;
The parting eye reverted drops a tear
On scenes that childhood's playful joys endear:
Where'er the boldest wanderer chance to roam,
The harvest of his care is reap'd at home.—
Hence, though his feet the traject often trace,
Yet, mindful of his cave and infant race,
Still to his rock he bears with pleasing toil
The ripe productions of the happier soil.
Across the brook a rifted oak is thrown;
On the rough trunk he passes trembling o'er,
And tastes the plenty of the envied shore.
7
Hanging on scenes domestic left behind.
For, save where false refinement's baneful force,
Poisons of inborn worth the genuine source,
Seats, that remembrance fond of youth impart,
Wind with close tendril round the human heart;
The parting eye reverted drops a tear
On scenes that childhood's playful joys endear:
Where'er the boldest wanderer chance to roam,
The harvest of his care is reap'd at home.—
Hence, though his feet the traject often trace,
Yet, mindful of his cave and infant race,
Still to his rock he bears with pleasing toil
The ripe productions of the happier soil.
Swoll'n by the sudden fall of wintry showers,
Lo, from the hills the roaring torrent pours!
From the loose bank the unsteady bridge is torn,
And down the stream by circling eddies borne.
The affrighted Savage saw the ravag'd coast,
And mourn'd the hope of future harvests lost.
Yet as his eyes the floating trunk beheld,
Driven by the wind, or by the wave impell'd,
His imitative mind the image caught,
And hence the rude mis-shapen raft was taught.
With the long pole the cumbrous mass he guides,
Till pushing from the current's sedgy sides,
Down the mid stream he ventures, to the gale
Spreading with timid arm his leafy sail.
Now bolder grown, when not a whispering breeze
Stirs the calm bosom of the sleeping seas,
With cautious eye, and clinging to the shore,
He dares the borders of the main explore;
With wily arm the rush-form'd net he throws,
And learns the watery legions to inclose.
Lo, from the hills the roaring torrent pours!
From the loose bank the unsteady bridge is torn,
And down the stream by circling eddies borne.
The affrighted Savage saw the ravag'd coast,
And mourn'd the hope of future harvests lost.
Yet as his eyes the floating trunk beheld,
Driven by the wind, or by the wave impell'd,
His imitative mind the image caught,
And hence the rude mis-shapen raft was taught.
With the long pole the cumbrous mass he guides,
Till pushing from the current's sedgy sides,
Down the mid stream he ventures, to the gale
Spreading with timid arm his leafy sail.
8
Stirs the calm bosom of the sleeping seas,
With cautious eye, and clinging to the shore,
He dares the borders of the main explore;
With wily arm the rush-form'd net he throws,
And learns the watery legions to inclose.
Harden'd by use, and lur'd by tranquil skies,
The expanded deep the novice seaman tries;
Though ready still the sheltering coast to gain,
If but a ruder breath should curl the main.
But who can safely trust, with prudent mind,
The inconstant changes of the waves and wind?—
Soft blows at first the breeze,—he plies the oar,
And strives, but vainly strives, to reach the shore.
Full from the land now drives the rising gale,
And swells with freshening blast the uncertain sail.
Toss'd by the foaming surge, unskill'd to steer,
As the wild whirlwinds desultory veer;
The raft ill-shap'd, driven by the flitting breeze,
Wanders unguided through the rolling seas.
And now the distant hills, whose azure height
Seem'd vapoury clouds to his untutor'd sight,
Large and more large, in nearer prospect seen,
Swell to his view, with waving foliage green;
While far receding from his fearful eyes,
His native mountains melt into the skies.
The expanded deep the novice seaman tries;
Though ready still the sheltering coast to gain,
If but a ruder breath should curl the main.
But who can safely trust, with prudent mind,
The inconstant changes of the waves and wind?—
Soft blows at first the breeze,—he plies the oar,
And strives, but vainly strives, to reach the shore.
Full from the land now drives the rising gale,
And swells with freshening blast the uncertain sail.
Toss'd by the foaming surge, unskill'd to steer,
As the wild whirlwinds desultory veer;
The raft ill-shap'd, driven by the flitting breeze,
Wanders unguided through the rolling seas.
And now the distant hills, whose azure height
Seem'd vapoury clouds to his untutor'd sight,
Large and more large, in nearer prospect seen,
Swell to his view, with waving foliage green;
While far receding from his fearful eyes,
His native mountains melt into the skies.
And now the rude winds o'er the labouring surge
Full on the shore the shatter'd vessel urge.
Fir'd by the hope of life, with rising force
He grasps the oar, and tries to guide its course;
Till driven at length against the groaning strand,
Breathless, and faint with fear, he leaps on land.—
Elate at first, his roving eyes explore
The varied wonders of the stranger shore;
Through groves of foreign shade he strays alone,
Sees forms uncouth, and feasts on fruits unknown.
Short the delight:—soon dread his soul invades,
Cautious he steps, and trembling views the shades
Where hostile tribes may wage unequal strife,
Or lurk in secret ambush for his life.
His head by day he hides in gloomy caves;
And by the moon beam gazing on the waves,
As his strain'd eyeballs anxious try to trace
The distant vestige of his native place,
Now stream his tears, now heave convulsive sighs;
Now wild despair flames in his haggard eyes:—
Despair elicits hope—resolv'd again
To brave, with voluntary bark, the main,
Once more he frames the raft, directs once more
His voy'ge adventurous from the hated shore,
While heaves in gentle swell the placid tide,
And favouring gales his course auspicious guide.
Full on the shore the shatter'd vessel urge.
9
He grasps the oar, and tries to guide its course;
Till driven at length against the groaning strand,
Breathless, and faint with fear, he leaps on land.—
Elate at first, his roving eyes explore
The varied wonders of the stranger shore;
Through groves of foreign shade he strays alone,
Sees forms uncouth, and feasts on fruits unknown.
Short the delight:—soon dread his soul invades,
Cautious he steps, and trembling views the shades
Where hostile tribes may wage unequal strife,
Or lurk in secret ambush for his life.
His head by day he hides in gloomy caves;
And by the moon beam gazing on the waves,
As his strain'd eyeballs anxious try to trace
The distant vestige of his native place,
Now stream his tears, now heave convulsive sighs;
Now wild despair flames in his haggard eyes:—
Despair elicits hope—resolv'd again
To brave, with voluntary bark, the main,
Once more he frames the raft, directs once more
His voy'ge adventurous from the hated shore,
While heaves in gentle swell the placid tide,
And favouring gales his course auspicious guide.
The danger past, assembling hords attend
To learn the perils of their wandering friend;
And as his words in no faint tints display
The various dangers of the watery way,
Tell all the wonders of the distant scene,
The fruits how luscious, and the woods how green:
Describe with prejudice the savage train
Who proudly lord it o'er the rich domain.
Ambitious zeal the bold emprize to try
Glows in each breast, and beams from every eye.
All now their strength, their skill now all unite,
And ply the common toil with keen delight.
From the scoop'd gourd their ductile minds acquire
The hollow'd trunk to shape, with smouldering fire,
Or, from the rind on mountain oaks that grew,
To form of buoyant bark the light canoe.
Now, with more sanguine hope, they spread the sail,
Plough the rough wave, and court the rising gale:
Improving skill experience hourly bought,
And frequent danger means of safety taught;
With rudder now the dancing skiff they guide,
Or sweep with dashing oars the whitening tide.
Hence the bold voy'ge Canadian hunters take
O'er the broad bosom of the stormy lake;
Hence, mid the isles that stud the southern deep,
Secure their way the gentler inmates keep;
Their woven sails give to the tepid breeze,
And venture fearless through the placid seas.
To learn the perils of their wandering friend;
And as his words in no faint tints display
The various dangers of the watery way,
10
The fruits how luscious, and the woods how green:
Describe with prejudice the savage train
Who proudly lord it o'er the rich domain.
Ambitious zeal the bold emprize to try
Glows in each breast, and beams from every eye.
All now their strength, their skill now all unite,
And ply the common toil with keen delight.
From the scoop'd gourd their ductile minds acquire
The hollow'd trunk to shape, with smouldering fire,
Or, from the rind on mountain oaks that grew,
To form of buoyant bark the light canoe.
Now, with more sanguine hope, they spread the sail,
Plough the rough wave, and court the rising gale:
Improving skill experience hourly bought,
And frequent danger means of safety taught;
With rudder now the dancing skiff they guide,
Or sweep with dashing oars the whitening tide.
Hence the bold voy'ge Canadian hunters take
O'er the broad bosom of the stormy lake;
Hence, mid the isles that stud the southern deep,
Secure their way the gentler inmates keep;
Their woven sails give to the tepid breeze,
And venture fearless through the placid seas.
Here truths, to light by full experience brought,
Stagger our faith, and mock the powers of thought.—
On Britain's bounded coasts, fair freedom's reign,
Shut from the nations by the circling main,
While, in three different dialects, we trace
Distinctive features of a separate race;
Yet from New Zealand's bleak and rugged shore,
Where reeks the impious feast with human gore,
To the soft shade of Otaheité's groves,
Where, in a lovelier Cyprus, Venus roves,
Congenial accents of a kindred speech
Proclaim one common origin to each.—
Conjecture from the page of wonder shrinks,
And Fancy fears to utter what she thinks.—
Could the canoe, by tools imperfect join'd,
Ill fram'd and light, the sport of every wind,
With brittle oar, and sail mis-shapen, brave
The foaming fury of the ocean wave,
Cross the wide waters of the southern main,
Which Europe's fleets have oft essay'd in vain,
And waft, securely, crowding numbers o'er,
To colonize the far divided shore?—
Stagger our faith, and mock the powers of thought.—
On Britain's bounded coasts, fair freedom's reign,
Shut from the nations by the circling main,
11
Distinctive features of a separate race;
Yet from New Zealand's bleak and rugged shore,
Where reeks the impious feast with human gore,
To the soft shade of Otaheité's groves,
Where, in a lovelier Cyprus, Venus roves,
Congenial accents of a kindred speech
Proclaim one common origin to each.—
Conjecture from the page of wonder shrinks,
And Fancy fears to utter what she thinks.—
Could the canoe, by tools imperfect join'd,
Ill fram'd and light, the sport of every wind,
With brittle oar, and sail mis-shapen, brave
The foaming fury of the ocean wave,
Cross the wide waters of the southern main,
Which Europe's fleets have oft essay'd in vain,
And waft, securely, crowding numbers o'er,
To colonize the far divided shore?—
Turn from these scenes, by vain conjecture's light
Where Fancy wildly throws her dazzled sight,
Where specious error oft with sanguine hand
Rashly her frail hypothesis has plann'd,
And mark tradition's lore.—What though her course
Is stain'd by fable as it quits its source,
And many a flower, sprung from the poet's dream,
Tinctures the surface of her passing stream;
Yet from the copious stores her fount bestows
The purer tide of truth historic flows.
Where Fancy wildly throws her dazzled sight,
Where specious error oft with sanguine hand
Rashly her frail hypothesis has plann'd,
And mark tradition's lore.—What though her course
Is stain'd by fable as it quits its source,
And many a flower, sprung from the poet's dream,
Tinctures the surface of her passing stream;
Yet from the copious stores her fount bestows
The purer tide of truth historic flows.
12
Hail sea,
to science sacred! where we find
All that informs and dignifies mankind,
On whose fair borders and surrounding shores,
The eye each source of worth, of fame, explores.
Egypt, by plenty's liberal foison fed
From the rich wave of Nile's redundant bed;
Syria, by freedom first, and commerce trod;
Salem, the hallow'd heritage of God;
And Greece, where every germ of genuine worth,
That shot spontaneous from her genial earth,
Luxuriant harvests of perfection bore,
And pour'd the produce on each neighbouring shore;
Till, sailing down the vast abyss of time,
Her arts still flourish through each various clime;
And as the glorious orb of solar day,
Darting in endless blaze its gorgeous ray,
Through space that mocks imagination's flight,
Glads distant systems with its cheering light:
So wide diffus'd o'er many a barbarous hord,
That Græcia's sages ne'er in thought explor'd,
Her genius, far as earth its limits spreads,
The intellectual beam of science sheds,
Warms the rude tribe mid Thulé's frost that roves,
And cheers the savage of th'Atlantic groves.
All that informs and dignifies mankind,
On whose fair borders and surrounding shores,
The eye each source of worth, of fame, explores.
Egypt, by plenty's liberal foison fed
From the rich wave of Nile's redundant bed;
Syria, by freedom first, and commerce trod;
Salem, the hallow'd heritage of God;
And Greece, where every germ of genuine worth,
That shot spontaneous from her genial earth,
Luxuriant harvests of perfection bore,
And pour'd the produce on each neighbouring shore;
Till, sailing down the vast abyss of time,
Her arts still flourish through each various clime;
And as the glorious orb of solar day,
Darting in endless blaze its gorgeous ray,
Through space that mocks imagination's flight,
Glads distant systems with its cheering light:
So wide diffus'd o'er many a barbarous hord,
That Græcia's sages ne'er in thought explor'd,
Her genius, far as earth its limits spreads,
The intellectual beam of science sheds,
Warms the rude tribe mid Thulé's frost that roves,
And cheers the savage of th'Atlantic groves.
On those bless'd seas where many a cluster'd isle
Bids the expanse with varied beauty smile,
And the protection of a bordering shore
Tempted the flitting sail and bending oar
Fearless to venture through the bounded main,
Seek new domains, or wealth by barter gain;
Taught by progressive art, the docile race
Climes yet unknown and distant regions trace;
The improving seaman learns his course to guide
By signs celestial through the pathless tide.
Directed by the load-star's constant ray,
The bold Phœnicians plough the watery way,
Plunder on Ophir's coast the precious mine,
To deck the walls of Salem's holy shrine;
Or pass, adventurous, Calpe's rocky steep,
To dare the fury of the Atlantic deep;
By Tagus' mouth their course undaunted urge,
And fearless stem Biscaya's swelling surge,
To seek, on Albion's far divided shore,
The useful produce of a meaner ore.
Perhaps from them her sons congenial taught,
The seeds of commerce and of freedom caught;
And later, as where sandy Libya glows,
Supreme in both their proud descendants rose:
So here, though far beyond where skill can trace
The earliest lineage of Britannia's race,
From Tyre's colonial tribes our fathers came,
Deriv'd from them their fortune and their fame;
Her better Carthage we—not doom'd by fate
The destin'd victim of a tyrant state,
Who spread destruction's banners to the wind,
And call it Freedom, to enslave mankind:
Our boast to curb oppression's headlong course,
Launch the red bolt on pride's gigantic force;
Indignant tread on Slavery's stern decree,
Freemen ourselves, and patrons of the free.
Bids the expanse with varied beauty smile,
13
Tempted the flitting sail and bending oar
Fearless to venture through the bounded main,
Seek new domains, or wealth by barter gain;
Taught by progressive art, the docile race
Climes yet unknown and distant regions trace;
The improving seaman learns his course to guide
By signs celestial through the pathless tide.
Directed by the load-star's constant ray,
The bold Phœnicians plough the watery way,
Plunder on Ophir's coast the precious mine,
To deck the walls of Salem's holy shrine;
Or pass, adventurous, Calpe's rocky steep,
To dare the fury of the Atlantic deep;
By Tagus' mouth their course undaunted urge,
And fearless stem Biscaya's swelling surge,
To seek, on Albion's far divided shore,
The useful produce of a meaner ore.
Perhaps from them her sons congenial taught,
The seeds of commerce and of freedom caught;
And later, as where sandy Libya glows,
Supreme in both their proud descendants rose:
So here, though far beyond where skill can trace
The earliest lineage of Britannia's race,
From Tyre's colonial tribes our fathers came,
Deriv'd from them their fortune and their fame;
Her better Carthage we—not doom'd by fate
The destin'd victim of a tyrant state,
Who spread destruction's banners to the wind,
And call it Freedom, to enslave mankind:
14
Launch the red bolt on pride's gigantic force;
Indignant tread on Slavery's stern decree,
Freemen ourselves, and patrons of the free.
And lo, from fertile Egypt's watery shores,
The Tyrian fleet the southern world explores;
For three long years by desert coasts they roam,
Far from their social hearths and native home;
On fields unknown the fruitful grain they strew,
Then reap the harvest, and the voy'ge renew.
Along Arabia's gulf their course they keep,
And stem the billows of the Erythrian deep.
Now by Menuthia's spacious isle they steer;
And now, where Afric's southmost cliffs appear,
As round the stormy Cape their way they urge,
Braving with fragile bark the dangerous surge;
Wondering, they view the radiant orb of day,
Hang high in northern skies his noontide ray.
By rude Caffraria's wild uncultur'd lands,
By Niger's sultry stream and golden sands,
Hesperian isles, in fable long renown'd,
And Cerné's rocks, with giant forests crown'd;
Eastward, through Gades' straits, their skilful oars
Return triumphant to the Egyptian shores.
The Tyrian fleet the southern world explores;
For three long years by desert coasts they roam,
Far from their social hearths and native home;
On fields unknown the fruitful grain they strew,
Then reap the harvest, and the voy'ge renew.
Along Arabia's gulf their course they keep,
And stem the billows of the Erythrian deep.
Now by Menuthia's spacious isle they steer;
And now, where Afric's southmost cliffs appear,
As round the stormy Cape their way they urge,
Braving with fragile bark the dangerous surge;
Wondering, they view the radiant orb of day,
Hang high in northern skies his noontide ray.
By rude Caffraria's wild uncultur'd lands,
By Niger's sultry stream and golden sands,
Hesperian isles, in fable long renown'd,
And Cerné's rocks, with giant forests crown'd;
Eastward, through Gades' straits, their skilful oars
Return triumphant to the Egyptian shores.
By love of opulence and science led,
Now Commerce wide her peaceful empire spread,
And seas, obedient to the pilot's art,
But join'd the regions which they seem'd to part;
Free intercourse disarm'd the barbarous mind,
Tam'd savage hate, and humaniz'd mankind.
Now Commerce wide her peaceful empire spread,
15
But join'd the regions which they seem'd to part;
Free intercourse disarm'd the barbarous mind,
Tam'd savage hate, and humaniz'd mankind.
But such of human things the unhappy state,
On every good attendant evils wait;
Still will the worm the richest fruit devour,
Still lurks the canker in the sweetest flower.
The simple native, who his guest believ'd,
Was oft by selfish artifice deceiv'd;
Oft would rude force the splendid prize obtain,
And rapine seize what barter fail'd to gain.
Hence the Phœnician mariner betray'd
By specious gifts of peace, the Argive maid;
Hence Græcia's heroes with vindictive ire,
By Jason led, and rous'd by Orpheus' lyre,
Launch'd their fam'd bark, and from the Phasian shore
The mingled spoils of wealth and beauty bore.
On every good attendant evils wait;
Still will the worm the richest fruit devour,
Still lurks the canker in the sweetest flower.
The simple native, who his guest believ'd,
Was oft by selfish artifice deceiv'd;
Oft would rude force the splendid prize obtain,
And rapine seize what barter fail'd to gain.
Hence the Phœnician mariner betray'd
By specious gifts of peace, the Argive maid;
Hence Græcia's heroes with vindictive ire,
By Jason led, and rous'd by Orpheus' lyre,
Launch'd their fam'd bark, and from the Phasian shore
The mingled spoils of wealth and beauty bore.
Alternate thus, the rival powers behold
From coast to coast insidious ravage roll'd,
Till Asia saw the bolt, by vengeance sped,
Recoiling dreadful on the spoiler's head;
And Ilion wept the hour in tears of blood,
When, rashly sailing o'er the Ionian flood,
Young Paris bore, with short but fatal joy,
Helen, and ruin, to the towers of Troy.—
Ye scenes of glory! borne by fame along
On the strong pinion of Mæonian song,
The same bold bard, that in celestial strain
Painted the chiefs of Ilion's trophied plain,
Leads to the sea-beat shore the willing Muse,
And through the perilous war of waves pursues,
From vanquish'd Phrygia to his native soil,
The mighty man of wisdom and of toil.
From coast to coast insidious ravage roll'd,
Till Asia saw the bolt, by vengeance sped,
Recoiling dreadful on the spoiler's head;
And Ilion wept the hour in tears of blood,
When, rashly sailing o'er the Ionian flood,
Young Paris bore, with short but fatal joy,
Helen, and ruin, to the towers of Troy.—
16
On the strong pinion of Mæonian song,
The same bold bard, that in celestial strain
Painted the chiefs of Ilion's trophied plain,
Leads to the sea-beat shore the willing Muse,
And through the perilous war of waves pursues,
From vanquish'd Phrygia to his native soil,
The mighty man of wisdom and of toil.
Yet still the thunder of the battle falls
On the vex'd plain, or shakes the city's walls;
Nor does the master of the Epic lay,
Whose strains each varied form of fight pourtray,
Picture one bark, whose hardy seamen dare
The uncertain conflict of the naval war.—
The fleet, disburthen'd of the invading host,
Spreads its light wings, and quits the hostile coast;
Or drawn ashore, fenc'd by the rampart's shield,
Awaits the issue of the embattled field.
On the vex'd plain, or shakes the city's walls;
Nor does the master of the Epic lay,
Whose strains each varied form of fight pourtray,
Picture one bark, whose hardy seamen dare
The uncertain conflict of the naval war.—
The fleet, disburthen'd of the invading host,
Spreads its light wings, and quits the hostile coast;
Or drawn ashore, fenc'd by the rampart's shield,
Awaits the issue of the embattled field.
Now Asia's subjugated tribes obey
The common mandate of a tyrant's sway;
Her numerous states, in one vast empire join'd,
Threaten the freedom of the human kind.
Then, as supreme, the Median despot rose,
O'er fair Ionia's sons his glance he throws;
Ionia's sons, who from the Grecian shore
Their arts, their commerce, and their freedom bore.
But as his arms their busy ports invade,
Greece flew attentive to her offspring's aid,
And taught the sons of luxury to feel
The radiant edge of European steel.
The tyrant, stung by anger and disdain,
Resolves to vindicate his proud domain;
The assembled fleet from every region brings,
And awes old Ocean with his watery wings.
Greece shrinks unequal from the unnumber'd band,
Quits the throng'd sea, and seeks her rocky strand.
On Marathon's fam'd field the invaders swarm.—
There injur'd Freedom lifts her nervous arm,
And her victorious myriad boldly sweep
The Persian locusts to the whelming deep.
The common mandate of a tyrant's sway;
Her numerous states, in one vast empire join'd,
Threaten the freedom of the human kind.
Then, as supreme, the Median despot rose,
O'er fair Ionia's sons his glance he throws;
Ionia's sons, who from the Grecian shore
Their arts, their commerce, and their freedom bore.
But as his arms their busy ports invade,
Greece flew attentive to her offspring's aid,
17
The radiant edge of European steel.
The tyrant, stung by anger and disdain,
Resolves to vindicate his proud domain;
The assembled fleet from every region brings,
And awes old Ocean with his watery wings.
Greece shrinks unequal from the unnumber'd band,
Quits the throng'd sea, and seeks her rocky strand.
On Marathon's fam'd field the invaders swarm.—
There injur'd Freedom lifts her nervous arm,
And her victorious myriad boldly sweep
The Persian locusts to the whelming deep.
The tyrant died, but not the tyrant's ire,
For Xerxes flam'd with all his father's fire.
Forests that hung o'er Syria's sultry caves,
Woods that o'er-arch'd Pactolus' golden waves,
Torn from the soil by sacrilegious hands,
Were launch'd impetuous from Ionia's sands;
The tangled oars the groaning billows sweep,
The sails wide spreading shade the darken'd deep;
Across the strait the floating causey cast,
In martial pomp the crowding nations pass'd,
While the proud despot bade his minions scourge,
With impotence of rage, the indignant surge.
Old Ocean view'd the attempt with angry eyes:
‘Vengeance be mine!’ the god insulted cries;
‘Tyrant, o'er Asian realms thy power extend,
‘There to thy frown bid servile millions bend!
‘O'er my dominions freedom's ensigns fly,
‘Mine the abode of peace and liberty.
‘No purple despot, or his crouching slaves,
‘Shall ever chain my independent waves.
‘My billows yet have roll'd a peaceful flood,
‘My sea-green wreaths are yet unstain'd by blood.
‘But rouse, my generous sons! my cause avow,
‘Shake from your decks the spear, and point the prow!’—
Greece heard—from each steep isle and rocky coast
Flames on the gleamy deep the naval host.—
With fleet on fleet, thick swarming o'er the tide,
While Persia's crowded barks the ocean hide.
As when the aquatic tribes behold afar
The ravening vultures threat destructive war,
On active wing their sedgy haunts they leave,
And the wide flood with oary pinion cleave:
From their devoted towers so Athens' train
Seek certain safety on the friendly main,
And view with sullen eye the foe assuage
On the deserted walls his baffled rage.
Short is his triumph—glory spreads the sail,
Loud swells her cheering pæan in the gale:
And Salamis beheld each adverse fleet
In the rude shock of martial conflict meet.
Exulting Freedom fix'd her future reign,
Rais'd her first trophies o'er her new domain,
And rode, by conquest crown'd, sole empress of the main.
For Xerxes flam'd with all his father's fire.
Forests that hung o'er Syria's sultry caves,
Woods that o'er-arch'd Pactolus' golden waves,
Torn from the soil by sacrilegious hands,
Were launch'd impetuous from Ionia's sands;
The tangled oars the groaning billows sweep,
The sails wide spreading shade the darken'd deep;
Across the strait the floating causey cast,
In martial pomp the crowding nations pass'd,
While the proud despot bade his minions scourge,
With impotence of rage, the indignant surge.
Old Ocean view'd the attempt with angry eyes:
‘Vengeance be mine!’ the god insulted cries;
‘Tyrant, o'er Asian realms thy power extend,
‘There to thy frown bid servile millions bend!
18
‘Mine the abode of peace and liberty.
‘No purple despot, or his crouching slaves,
‘Shall ever chain my independent waves.
‘My billows yet have roll'd a peaceful flood,
‘My sea-green wreaths are yet unstain'd by blood.
‘But rouse, my generous sons! my cause avow,
‘Shake from your decks the spear, and point the prow!’—
Greece heard—from each steep isle and rocky coast
Flames on the gleamy deep the naval host.—
With fleet on fleet, thick swarming o'er the tide,
While Persia's crowded barks the ocean hide.
As when the aquatic tribes behold afar
The ravening vultures threat destructive war,
On active wing their sedgy haunts they leave,
And the wide flood with oary pinion cleave:
From their devoted towers so Athens' train
Seek certain safety on the friendly main,
And view with sullen eye the foe assuage
On the deserted walls his baffled rage.
Short is his triumph—glory spreads the sail,
Loud swells her cheering pæan in the gale:
And Salamis beheld each adverse fleet
In the rude shock of martial conflict meet.
Exulting Freedom fix'd her future reign,
Rais'd her first trophies o'er her new domain,
And rode, by conquest crown'd, sole empress of the main.
Soon rash ambition warp'd each patriot aim,
Kindling the fatal sparks of discord's flame,
And Athens' sons by skill superior bless'd,
Aspir'd to shameful empire o'er the rest;
Till Greece uniting, with repeated blow
Shook the proud purpose of the kindred foe,
And all her hopes of boundless sway were o'er,
For ever shipwreck'd on the Thracian shore.
Kindling the fatal sparks of discord's flame,
19
Aspir'd to shameful empire o'er the rest;
Till Greece uniting, with repeated blow
Shook the proud purpose of the kindred foe,
And all her hopes of boundless sway were o'er,
For ever shipwreck'd on the Thracian shore.
But ah, too sure! with Athens' skilful train,
The glory sunk of Græcia's naval reign;
And on the northern bounds of Libya's land,
(Where now barbaric hords infest the strand,
And with ferocious insolence invade,
Her naval force defying, Europe's trade,)
Carthage beheld her sons their sails unfold,
Free as their Tyrian ancestors of old.
Sicilia's fertile vales their chiefs obey,
And proud Hesperia dreads their rising sway.
Their fleets awhile to Rome's proud shores give law,
And keep the mistress of the world in awe.
On vigorous pinion though her eagles soar
O'er Spain's dark heights, and far Illyria's shore,
Her trembling matrons view with tearful eye
On Sabine hills the Punic banners fly,
Till in their turn upon the swelling tide,
By victory fann'd, the Roman gallies ride,
And chase their rivals from their native main,
To meet disgrace on Zama's burning plain.
This potent foe subdued, no foreign force
Remains to awe their power, or check their course;
Peaceful they plough the billowy realms afar,
Or wage with piracy unnoticed war;
Till Civil Discord, arm'd by frantic pride,
Calls forth contending squadrons on the tide.
Now Ocean look'd for Freedom's sons in vain,
To take the empire of his blue domain.
Yet from the conflict of the tyrant foes,
With prescient eye the least oppressive chose,
And Cæsar's conquering fleet from Actium's shore
The prize of glory and dominion bore.
The glory sunk of Græcia's naval reign;
And on the northern bounds of Libya's land,
(Where now barbaric hords infest the strand,
And with ferocious insolence invade,
Her naval force defying, Europe's trade,)
Carthage beheld her sons their sails unfold,
Free as their Tyrian ancestors of old.
Sicilia's fertile vales their chiefs obey,
And proud Hesperia dreads their rising sway.
Their fleets awhile to Rome's proud shores give law,
And keep the mistress of the world in awe.
On vigorous pinion though her eagles soar
O'er Spain's dark heights, and far Illyria's shore,
Her trembling matrons view with tearful eye
On Sabine hills the Punic banners fly,
Till in their turn upon the swelling tide,
By victory fann'd, the Roman gallies ride,
And chase their rivals from their native main,
To meet disgrace on Zama's burning plain.
20
Remains to awe their power, or check their course;
Peaceful they plough the billowy realms afar,
Or wage with piracy unnoticed war;
Till Civil Discord, arm'd by frantic pride,
Calls forth contending squadrons on the tide.
Now Ocean look'd for Freedom's sons in vain,
To take the empire of his blue domain.
Yet from the conflict of the tyrant foes,
With prescient eye the least oppressive chose,
And Cæsar's conquering fleet from Actium's shore
The prize of glory and dominion bore.
While Rome's stern despots to their iron yoke,
By strong oppression's arm, the nations broke;
Free Commerce fled, and the degraded wave
Wafted alone the tribute of the slave.
But when the avenging warriors of the North
Burst from their icy barriers dreadful forth,
And pouring o'er the South with forceful sway,
Swept every charm of polish'd life away,
The fierce barbarian tribes, inur'd to brave
The storms that swell the Hyperborean wave,
By hope of plunder lur'd, from coast to coast,
Uncheck'd and fearless, sped the naval host.
Hence Britain saw, through many a circling year,
Contending plunderers on her shores appear;
While foes to foes in endless train succeed,
Alternate conquer, and alternate bleed.
By strong oppression's arm, the nations broke;
Free Commerce fled, and the degraded wave
Wafted alone the tribute of the slave.
But when the avenging warriors of the North
Burst from their icy barriers dreadful forth,
And pouring o'er the South with forceful sway,
Swept every charm of polish'd life away,
The fierce barbarian tribes, inur'd to brave
The storms that swell the Hyperborean wave,
By hope of plunder lur'd, from coast to coast,
Uncheck'd and fearless, sped the naval host.
Hence Britain saw, through many a circling year,
Contending plunderers on her shores appear;
While foes to foes in endless train succeed,
Alternate conquer, and alternate bleed.
21
II. PART II.
23
ANALYSIS OF PART II.
Compass.—Improvement of navigation.—Change in the form and size of ships.—A ship of war.—Shipwreck.—Loss of the Halsewell.—Falconer.—Gama's voyage to India.— Camoëns.—Mickle.—Columbus.—Reflections on the discovery of America.—South Sea.—Magellan.—English discoveries —their superiority—Empire in India.—Drake.—Armada. —Holland.—Naval wars between England and Holland. —French marine.—La Hogue.—A sea fight.—Succession of naval wars.—Seven years' war.—Pitt.—Saunders, Howe, Boscawen.—Hawke.—American war.—Success of the enemy.—Efforts of the British navy.—Gibraltar.—Victories of Rodney.—Peace.
25
As from night's murky fogs, and loaded skies,
With keener ray the beams of morning rise;
So mid the ignorance of barbaric foes,
With light superior, Navigation rose.
All that experience learn'd with curious eye,
From fires that gild the clear nocturnal sky,
Still to the art a straiten'd empire gave,
Still bound it to the shore's contiguous wave.
For when dun mists obscur'd the leading ray,
No star to guide him through the watery way,
Through pathless seas the trembling pilot stray'd,
By shoals unknown, and hidden rocks dimay'd;
Till chance the magnet's mighty aid reveal'd,
Wondrous its virtue, though the cause conceal'd,
Which, as it vibrates in suspended course,
Points to the pole with unremitting force.
With keener ray the beams of morning rise;
So mid the ignorance of barbaric foes,
With light superior, Navigation rose.
All that experience learn'd with curious eye,
From fires that gild the clear nocturnal sky,
Still to the art a straiten'd empire gave,
Still bound it to the shore's contiguous wave.
For when dun mists obscur'd the leading ray,
No star to guide him through the watery way,
Through pathless seas the trembling pilot stray'd,
By shoals unknown, and hidden rocks dimay'd;
Till chance the magnet's mighty aid reveal'd,
Wondrous its virtue, though the cause conceal'd,
Which, as it vibrates in suspended course,
Points to the pole with unremitting force.
Now, safely steer'd by this unerring guide,
The skilful seaman boldly stems the tide,
Hears Ocean's mountain waves regardless roar,
And feels no fear but from the neighbouring shore.
Seas unexplor'd, and stranger lands descries,
Where in the zenith of the glowing skies
His beams intense bright Sol incessant sheds,
Prone on the sable natives' throbbing heads;
Or where oblique his pale beams faintly cheer
The gloomy horrors of the polar year;—
Passing the bounds which ancient sages trace,
A fiery barrier to the human race,
Beyond the limits of the burning zone,
Wondering he views a hemisphere unknown,
And sees new stars and constellations roll
In stated orbits round another pole.
The skilful seaman boldly stems the tide,
26
And feels no fear but from the neighbouring shore.
Seas unexplor'd, and stranger lands descries,
Where in the zenith of the glowing skies
His beams intense bright Sol incessant sheds,
Prone on the sable natives' throbbing heads;
Or where oblique his pale beams faintly cheer
The gloomy horrors of the polar year;—
Passing the bounds which ancient sages trace,
A fiery barrier to the human race,
Beyond the limits of the burning zone,
Wondering he views a hemisphere unknown,
And sees new stars and constellations roll
In stated orbits round another pole.
The agile galley long and low, whose side
Swept with light dashing oar the placid tide,
Useless where, foaming to the angry skies,
By tempests lash'd, the billowy Alps arise;—
Tempests, that with accumulating force
O'er boundless oceans speed their furious course:
Vessels of firmer frame the surge must brave,
Vessels that, proudly rising o'er the wave,
Spread to the howling blast the spacious sail,
And only trust the guidance of the gale.
Swept with light dashing oar the placid tide,
Useless where, foaming to the angry skies,
By tempests lash'd, the billowy Alps arise;—
Tempests, that with accumulating force
O'er boundless oceans speed their furious course:
Vessels of firmer frame the surge must brave,
Vessels that, proudly rising o'er the wave,
Spread to the howling blast the spacious sail,
And only trust the guidance of the gale.
See yon vast fabric o'er the stormy tide
In warlike pomp majestically ride!
Her roomy decks, throng'd by the young and brave,
Look down defiance on the threatening wave;
Her towering masts ascend in giddy height,
Whose lessening summits mock the aching sight;
Aloft, where Britain's mingled crosses fly,
The holy labarum of liberty.
Her swelling sails, wide spread in ample sweep,
Loom a vast castle floating on the deep;
Dread the long batteries on her side appear,
Denouncing slaughter from their triple tier.
Secure in giant strength, her frame defies
Alike the warring waves, and angry skies.—
Vain confidence!—when loos'd, the tempest's force
Drives o'er the watery waste its darkling course;
Not swifter from the corn-van's whirling sail
Flies the light chaff before the winnowing gale,
Than the rude winds the mighty fabric urge
Through the dire thunders of the foaming surge.
Now o'er the heaving billow's mountain brow
Tremendous borne, now plung'd in gulfs below,
Where high the briny steeps, in death array'd,
Hang o'er the bending masts, a dreadful shade!
What now avail, the mass with strength combin'd,
The ponderous ribs that mock'd the waves and wind?—
The solid weight, and firm compacted form,
But aid the inroad of the furious storm;
And while the weaker bark light bounding glides
Safe o'er the surface of the boiling tides,
The unwieldy mountain labouring in the wave,
From its own strength receives a watery grave.
In warlike pomp majestically ride!
Her roomy decks, throng'd by the young and brave,
Look down defiance on the threatening wave;
27
Whose lessening summits mock the aching sight;
Aloft, where Britain's mingled crosses fly,
The holy labarum of liberty.
Her swelling sails, wide spread in ample sweep,
Loom a vast castle floating on the deep;
Dread the long batteries on her side appear,
Denouncing slaughter from their triple tier.
Secure in giant strength, her frame defies
Alike the warring waves, and angry skies.—
Vain confidence!—when loos'd, the tempest's force
Drives o'er the watery waste its darkling course;
Not swifter from the corn-van's whirling sail
Flies the light chaff before the winnowing gale,
Than the rude winds the mighty fabric urge
Through the dire thunders of the foaming surge.
Now o'er the heaving billow's mountain brow
Tremendous borne, now plung'd in gulfs below,
Where high the briny steeps, in death array'd,
Hang o'er the bending masts, a dreadful shade!
What now avail, the mass with strength combin'd,
The ponderous ribs that mock'd the waves and wind?—
The solid weight, and firm compacted form,
But aid the inroad of the furious storm;
And while the weaker bark light bounding glides
Safe o'er the surface of the boiling tides,
The unwieldy mountain labouring in the wave,
From its own strength receives a watery grave.
28
Yet midst the scene of dread, when certain fate
Rides on the tempest in terrific state,
Bold in the face of death the naval train
Exert their force, and brave the insulting main;
Though rising horrors on their efforts lower,
And the deaf whirlwind mock their useless power.
Rides on the tempest in terrific state,
Bold in the face of death the naval train
Exert their force, and brave the insulting main;
Though rising horrors on their efforts lower,
And the deaf whirlwind mock their useless power.
And shall the warrior meet his timeless doom,
No requiem chanted o'er his watery tomb,
Who Britain's conquering flag has oft unfurl'd
To every region of the peopled world,
And with bold prow the hostile coast explor'd,
When, louder than the surge, the battle roar'd?—
Ah no!—to him the weeping Muse shall pay
The votive tribute of a mournful lay;
Watch o'er his azure hearse with sorrowing care,
Hang her fresh wreaths, and bid them flourish there.
Yet, while she pours the unavailing tear,
Some transient gleams the night of horror cheer;
For scenes that frequent views of death impart,
Nerve the bold arm, and steel the manly heart;
And he who oft has seen his ghastly form
Glare in the fight, or thunder in the storm,
Will with firm breast his dreadful power engage;—
And while he combats, mitigates his rage.
No requiem chanted o'er his watery tomb,
Who Britain's conquering flag has oft unfurl'd
To every region of the peopled world,
And with bold prow the hostile coast explor'd,
When, louder than the surge, the battle roar'd?—
Ah no!—to him the weeping Muse shall pay
The votive tribute of a mournful lay;
Watch o'er his azure hearse with sorrowing care,
Hang her fresh wreaths, and bid them flourish there.
Yet, while she pours the unavailing tear,
Some transient gleams the night of horror cheer;
For scenes that frequent views of death impart,
Nerve the bold arm, and steel the manly heart;
And he who oft has seen his ghastly form
Glare in the fight, or thunder in the storm,
Will with firm breast his dreadful power engage;—
And while he combats, mitigates his rage.
But dire the horrors of his awful doom,
When youth and beauty meet the briny tomb!
Where the mild graces partial nature gave
To soothe the toils and dangers of the brave,
Soften'd by all the fond assiduous care
Man's anxious bosom gives the young and fair,
Each kind attention warm affection pays,
The parent's fondness, and the lover's praise,
Teach sensibility's endearing glow
To swell each fear, and double every woe:—
Say, how shall they whose eye's averted sight
Shrinks from the air-born phantoms of affright,
While care preventive shields each lovely form
From May's mild beam, or April's genial storm;
Say, how shall they with trembling bosom brave
The delug'd torrent of the rushing wave;
Or face the tempest, whose terrific breath
Howls the prophetic dirge of instant death?
When youth and beauty meet the briny tomb!
Where the mild graces partial nature gave
To soothe the toils and dangers of the brave,
29
Man's anxious bosom gives the young and fair,
Each kind attention warm affection pays,
The parent's fondness, and the lover's praise,
Teach sensibility's endearing glow
To swell each fear, and double every woe:—
Say, how shall they whose eye's averted sight
Shrinks from the air-born phantoms of affright,
While care preventive shields each lovely form
From May's mild beam, or April's genial storm;
Say, how shall they with trembling bosom brave
The delug'd torrent of the rushing wave;
Or face the tempest, whose terrific breath
Howls the prophetic dirge of instant death?
Behold yon gallant ship,
with swelling sails,
By beauty freighted, court the eastern gales:
From Vecta's chalky heights she feels the breeze,
And fears no danger from domestic seas;—
Seas, where full oft in summer's laughing hours,
When halcyon slumbers lull'd stern Ocean's powers,
The sportive bark has plough'd his azure realm,
“Youth at the prow, and Pleasure at the helm.”
Though with auspicious breath at evening's close,
Steady and full insidious Eurus blows,
Yet the skill'd seaman, with experienc'd eye,
Can read portentous omens in the sky.
Like some malignant meteor, dim and red,
Sol dyes with purple streams his western bed;
The floating rack, by winds uncertain driven,
Spreads in thin vapour o'er the face of heaven;
Through the dark haze the wan stars faintly gleam,
And sickly Luna sheds a blunted beam:—
Now clouds on clouds in wreathing column rise,
And wrap in deeper night the threatening skies.—
Down pours the cataract with horrid crash,
Borne on the deluge vivid lightnings flash;
While, with tremendous peal, from pole to pole
Instant and loud incessant thunders roll!
O'er the expanse of water, wide and far,
The wild winds urge the elemental war;
From Ocean's deepest bed the billows tear,
And hurl the enormous mountains high in air.
Steep Purbeck's chalky cliffs, whose welcome sight
So oft has fill'd the bosom with delight;
When, as from hostile coasts and distant skies,
The wave-worn mariner, returning, spies
Their well known heights in misty prospect rise,
Renews each scene with thoughts congenial dear,
And wets the cheek with joy's o'er-raptur'd tear;
Now in the threatening garb of horror dress'd,
Freeze life's warm tide, and chill the shuddering breast,
And the lov'd shore that life, that nurture gave,
Now sinks its offspring in the whelming wave!
So Jason's infant race, a suppliant train,
Around their frantic mother cling in vain,
Hang on the parent bosom, that supplied
Their earliest wants with nature's milky tide;
On all their pangs she smiles with savage joy,
And her own hands her bleeding babes destroy!
By beauty freighted, court the eastern gales:
From Vecta's chalky heights she feels the breeze,
And fears no danger from domestic seas;—
Seas, where full oft in summer's laughing hours,
When halcyon slumbers lull'd stern Ocean's powers,
The sportive bark has plough'd his azure realm,
“Youth at the prow, and Pleasure at the helm.”
Though with auspicious breath at evening's close,
Steady and full insidious Eurus blows,
Yet the skill'd seaman, with experienc'd eye,
Can read portentous omens in the sky.
Like some malignant meteor, dim and red,
Sol dyes with purple streams his western bed;
30
Spreads in thin vapour o'er the face of heaven;
Through the dark haze the wan stars faintly gleam,
And sickly Luna sheds a blunted beam:—
Now clouds on clouds in wreathing column rise,
And wrap in deeper night the threatening skies.—
Down pours the cataract with horrid crash,
Borne on the deluge vivid lightnings flash;
While, with tremendous peal, from pole to pole
Instant and loud incessant thunders roll!
O'er the expanse of water, wide and far,
The wild winds urge the elemental war;
From Ocean's deepest bed the billows tear,
And hurl the enormous mountains high in air.
Steep Purbeck's chalky cliffs, whose welcome sight
So oft has fill'd the bosom with delight;
When, as from hostile coasts and distant skies,
The wave-worn mariner, returning, spies
Their well known heights in misty prospect rise,
Renews each scene with thoughts congenial dear,
And wets the cheek with joy's o'er-raptur'd tear;
Now in the threatening garb of horror dress'd,
Freeze life's warm tide, and chill the shuddering breast,
And the lov'd shore that life, that nurture gave,
Now sinks its offspring in the whelming wave!
So Jason's infant race, a suppliant train,
Around their frantic mother cling in vain,
Hang on the parent bosom, that supplied
Their earliest wants with nature's milky tide;
31
And her own hands her bleeding babes destroy!
Now on the rolling surge, whose whitening brow
Frowns dreadful on the groaning rocks below,
Borne with terrific force,—while loud behind
The black wave roars, urg'd by the impetuous wind,
With fatal shock the giddy vessel drives—
The horrid crash her shatter'd timbers rives!
In pours the victor sea.—As o'er the wreck
The high-swoll'n billow rising, sweeps the deck,
What language can describe, what colours show,
Each varied form of terror and of woe!—
With pallid feature, and dishevell'd hair,
In all the agony of dumb despair,
Here, on the parting boards the victim lies,
And views approaching death with haggard eyes!—
Here, piercing cries, mock'd by the ruthless main,
Invoke an absent mother's aid in vain!—
Here, stony fear arrests the struggling breath,
And dread anticipates the stroke of death!
This on the crew her eye attentive throws,
To try if hope one glimmering ray bestows.—
And see, supreme in horror and distress,
The wretched sire his trembling daughters press!
Now down his cheeks the streaming torrents roll,
And speak the bitter anguish of his soul;
And now parental love his face beguiles,
And veils his heartfelt woe in joyless smiles;
Throws a short sunshine o'er the brow of care,
And gilds with hope the horrors of despair.
Heavens! that soul-piercing shriek!—the conflict's o'er!—
Hush'd are their cries—their bosoms beat no more.
Sad, silent all, save where the wild winds urge
The sullen fury of the labouring surge;
And floating lifeless, see each beauteous form
Drive a pale corse before the howling storm!
Even the rough mariner, whose doubtful hand
Just grasps the summit of the long'd for land,
While scarce his thoughts the sense of safety know,
Escap'd from rocks above, and waves below;
Amid the conflict dire of hope and fear,
Hears their last cries still vibrate on his ear,
Feels their keen anguish midst the uncertain strife,
And mourns their sufferings, while he toils for life.
Frowns dreadful on the groaning rocks below,
Borne with terrific force,—while loud behind
The black wave roars, urg'd by the impetuous wind,
With fatal shock the giddy vessel drives—
The horrid crash her shatter'd timbers rives!
In pours the victor sea.—As o'er the wreck
The high-swoll'n billow rising, sweeps the deck,
What language can describe, what colours show,
Each varied form of terror and of woe!—
With pallid feature, and dishevell'd hair,
In all the agony of dumb despair,
Here, on the parting boards the victim lies,
And views approaching death with haggard eyes!—
Here, piercing cries, mock'd by the ruthless main,
Invoke an absent mother's aid in vain!—
Here, stony fear arrests the struggling breath,
And dread anticipates the stroke of death!
This on the crew her eye attentive throws,
To try if hope one glimmering ray bestows.—
And see, supreme in horror and distress,
The wretched sire his trembling daughters press!
Now down his cheeks the streaming torrents roll,
And speak the bitter anguish of his soul;
And now parental love his face beguiles,
And veils his heartfelt woe in joyless smiles;
32
And gilds with hope the horrors of despair.
Heavens! that soul-piercing shriek!—the conflict's o'er!—
Hush'd are their cries—their bosoms beat no more.
Sad, silent all, save where the wild winds urge
The sullen fury of the labouring surge;
And floating lifeless, see each beauteous form
Drive a pale corse before the howling storm!
Even the rough mariner, whose doubtful hand
Just grasps the summit of the long'd for land,
While scarce his thoughts the sense of safety know,
Escap'd from rocks above, and waves below;
Amid the conflict dire of hope and fear,
Hears their last cries still vibrate on his ear,
Feels their keen anguish midst the uncertain strife,
And mourns their sufferings, while he toils for life.
Ill fated victims! could my feebler wire
Mate the bold descant of Arion's lyre,
On your sad doom congenial streams of woe
With those that bath'd Palemon's corpse should flow.
Arion! naval bard, the Muse in vain
Snatch'd her lov'd votary from the Athenian main,
Foredoom'd, alas! on distant regions thrown,
By nameless coasts to sink, and seas unknown:
Yet to thy fame her votive voice shall raise
The hallow'd guerdon of perennial praise;
While Mars and Phœbus, o'er thy watery bier,
With mutual zeal their mingled laurels rear.
Mate the bold descant of Arion's lyre,
On your sad doom congenial streams of woe
With those that bath'd Palemon's corpse should flow.
Arion! naval bard, the Muse in vain
Snatch'd her lov'd votary from the Athenian main,
Foredoom'd, alas! on distant regions thrown,
By nameless coasts to sink, and seas unknown:
Yet to thy fame her votive voice shall raise
The hallow'd guerdon of perennial praise;
33
With mutual zeal their mingled laurels rear.
Turn from the scene of sorrow; and again
Pursue the progress of the historic strain.
Now Gama steers from Lusitania's shore,
The course revers'd that Egypt led of yore;
Round Afric's southern point, with dæmon rage,
Where constant war opposing oceans wage,
His vessels plough the dangerous flood, and keep
Their steady course through India's stormy deep,
And to Europa's sons new stores unfold
Of Oriental adamant and gold.
Hail, happy chief!—Oblivion's sable wing
Ne'er o'er thy deeds its gloomy shade shall fling.
As to the heroes of the Colchian wave,
Wreaths of eternal fame an Orpheus gave;
So ceaseless glories to thy fame belong,
Recorded in the lays of Camoëns' song;
Lays given to Britain's ear, with native fire,
In the sweet warblings of her Mickle's lyre.
Pursue the progress of the historic strain.
Now Gama steers from Lusitania's shore,
The course revers'd that Egypt led of yore;
Round Afric's southern point, with dæmon rage,
Where constant war opposing oceans wage,
His vessels plough the dangerous flood, and keep
Their steady course through India's stormy deep,
And to Europa's sons new stores unfold
Of Oriental adamant and gold.
Hail, happy chief!—Oblivion's sable wing
Ne'er o'er thy deeds its gloomy shade shall fling.
As to the heroes of the Colchian wave,
Wreaths of eternal fame an Orpheus gave;
So ceaseless glories to thy fame belong,
Recorded in the lays of Camoëns' song;
Lays given to Britain's ear, with native fire,
In the sweet warblings of her Mickle's lyre.
Then rose the chief,
whose comprehensive mind
Conjecture bold to deep discernment join'd:
Wrapt in prophetic vision, to his eye
Rose promis'd lands o'er western waves that lie;
Atlantic isles before his fancy gleam,
And realize immortal Plato's dream.
In vain the terrors of the boundless deep
Their drear abode where brooding tempests keep,
Leading through regions never cross'd before,
O'er pathless oceans to a doubtful shore;
Danger, in vain, and disobedience join
To form a barrier 'gainst his bold design;
With persevering courage, that defied
Alike the murmuring crew, and adverse tide,
Onward he press'd, till full before his eyes,
In azure tint, the long-sought mountains rise,
And Spain astonish'd saw her flag unfurl'd
First, on the confines of another world.
Conjecture bold to deep discernment join'd:
Wrapt in prophetic vision, to his eye
Rose promis'd lands o'er western waves that lie;
Atlantic isles before his fancy gleam,
And realize immortal Plato's dream.
34
Their drear abode where brooding tempests keep,
Leading through regions never cross'd before,
O'er pathless oceans to a doubtful shore;
Danger, in vain, and disobedience join
To form a barrier 'gainst his bold design;
With persevering courage, that defied
Alike the murmuring crew, and adverse tide,
Onward he press'd, till full before his eyes,
In azure tint, the long-sought mountains rise,
And Spain astonish'd saw her flag unfurl'd
First, on the confines of another world.
Here must we pause—for as the Muse surveys
The scenes this wondrous theatre displays,
And careful weighs with contemplative mind
Their vast and varied influence o'er mankind;
She doubts, if to applaud or curse the hour
That gave it up to European power.
Now rush upon her thoughts, in crimson flood
Horrid and deep, the seas of guiltless blood
Through which Iberia's sons remorseless wade
To reap the fruits of avaricious trade.
Fell Persecution with infernal aim,
Arm'd with destructive steel and torturing flame,
Wild o'er the fields in frantic mood who trod,
Hell's work performing in the name of God.—
Oppression pale, whose iron chain confines
The wretched native to the noisome mines,
Till (wasted or destroy'd, the feeble train)
By shameless traffic wafted o'er the main,
A hardier race from Afric's burning skies
The failing mart of slavery supplies,
Doom'd to explore the silver's ductile vein,
Or, faint and breathless, on the sultry plain
For luxury's pall'd taste fresh banquets rear,
Manur'd by blood, and wet with Misery's tear.—
And now, in fairer prospect on her sight
Beam brighter scenes, and visions of delight;
She sees through every wild uncultur'd grove,
Her kindred arts and sister graces rove;
Sees the barbarian's rude and stubborn mind
By seraph Mercy's gentler sway refin'd;
Sees pure Religion's mild persuasive power
Wide o'er the Western world its influence shower,
Sees Law and Reason's empire to the skies,
On the firm base of British freedom, rise.
The scenes this wondrous theatre displays,
And careful weighs with contemplative mind
Their vast and varied influence o'er mankind;
She doubts, if to applaud or curse the hour
That gave it up to European power.
Now rush upon her thoughts, in crimson flood
Horrid and deep, the seas of guiltless blood
Through which Iberia's sons remorseless wade
To reap the fruits of avaricious trade.
Fell Persecution with infernal aim,
Arm'd with destructive steel and torturing flame,
Wild o'er the fields in frantic mood who trod,
Hell's work performing in the name of God.—
Oppression pale, whose iron chain confines
The wretched native to the noisome mines,
35
By shameless traffic wafted o'er the main,
A hardier race from Afric's burning skies
The failing mart of slavery supplies,
Doom'd to explore the silver's ductile vein,
Or, faint and breathless, on the sultry plain
For luxury's pall'd taste fresh banquets rear,
Manur'd by blood, and wet with Misery's tear.—
And now, in fairer prospect on her sight
Beam brighter scenes, and visions of delight;
She sees through every wild uncultur'd grove,
Her kindred arts and sister graces rove;
Sees the barbarian's rude and stubborn mind
By seraph Mercy's gentler sway refin'd;
Sees pure Religion's mild persuasive power
Wide o'er the Western world its influence shower,
Sees Law and Reason's empire to the skies,
On the firm base of British freedom, rise.
Columbus' eye, in transport of amaze,
The spacious region of delight surveys,
Charming with real scenes the raptur'd view,
Fairer than all his warmest wishes drew;
Isles in fair spring's eternal livery dight,
The vast savannah's space, the mountain's height;
Forests of growth gigantic, that display'd
O'er spacious continents impervious shade;
Fields that, uncultur'd, harvests rich produce,
Spontaneous fruits that yield ambrosial juice;
And rivers that their sea broad currents roll'd
Through groves of perfume, and o'er sands of gold.
The spacious region of delight surveys,
Charming with real scenes the raptur'd view,
Fairer than all his warmest wishes drew;
Isles in fair spring's eternal livery dight,
The vast savannah's space, the mountain's height;
Forests of growth gigantic, that display'd
O'er spacious continents impervious shade;
Fields that, uncultur'd, harvests rich produce,
Spontaneous fruits that yield ambrosial juice;
36
Through groves of perfume, and o'er sands of gold.
But while extended regions far and wide
Stretch beyond human ken on either side,
O'er Darien's narrow isthmus they descry
Another ocean, bounded by the sky;
Half petrified with doubt, they gaze to find
A fresh expanse of waves untried behind.
For yet they deem'd their shatter'd barks had cross'd
To the west verge of India's ancient coast.
Anxious the new dominions to explore,
They skirt the borders of the dreary shore,
To seas that Hyperborean winter chains,
To climes where frost Antarctic bleaker reigns;
Till Magellán along the turbid strait,
On which eternal storms and whirlwinds wait,
Where rocks whose craggy base the surge defied,
Tremendous frown'd upon the howling tide,
His daring bark with skilful courage steers,
Till full in sight the expanding deep appears,
Then leads with happy sail his shouting train
O'er the smooth bosom of the southern main.
Stretch beyond human ken on either side,
O'er Darien's narrow isthmus they descry
Another ocean, bounded by the sky;
Half petrified with doubt, they gaze to find
A fresh expanse of waves untried behind.
For yet they deem'd their shatter'd barks had cross'd
To the west verge of India's ancient coast.
Anxious the new dominions to explore,
They skirt the borders of the dreary shore,
To seas that Hyperborean winter chains,
To climes where frost Antarctic bleaker reigns;
Till Magellán along the turbid strait,
On which eternal storms and whirlwinds wait,
Where rocks whose craggy base the surge defied,
Tremendous frown'd upon the howling tide,
His daring bark with skilful courage steers,
Till full in sight the expanding deep appears,
Then leads with happy sail his shouting train
O'er the smooth bosom of the southern main.
As thus Iberia's sister nations share
The fairest spoils earth's richest regions bear,
Grasp all that ornaments their genial lands,
Blooms in their groves, and glitters on their sands;
Britannia's sons more precious mines explore
Than Indian diamonds or Peruvian ore;
For while unmeasur'd wealth with torpid charm
Congeals the bosom and unnerves the arm,
They, in the scaly myriads that surround
The barren shoals, their happier vessels found,
Treasure attain, nor gold, nor gems can buy,—
A hardy school of naval industry;
Which to the daring race in future gave
Decided empire o'er the subject wave;
Taught their bold arms each rival state to awe,
Ride the proud surge, and give the nations law;
Or spreading wide fair Commerce' peaceful sail,
Waft wealth, waft plenty home on every gale;
Rich in the spoils of either India shine,
Nor envy slaves the drudgery of the mine.
For them Columbus, o'er the watery waste,
New paths to glory and to empire trac'd;
For them bold Gama led his naval host
To Indian climes, and Ganges' peopled coast;
There over spacious realms their banners fly,
Which Philip's son beheld with envious eye;
Powers that defied the Macedonian lord,
Bow to the juster edge of George's sword;
And Britain's Monarch sees a vast domain,
Which Eastern tyrants rul'd with iron rein,
Bend to his sceptre's delegated sway,
A willing conquest, zealous to obey.
In fields where once Oppression stood supreme,
The native basks in Freedom's genial beam;
And Asian plains enfranchis'd send their stores
To heap fresh plenty on Augusta's shores.
The fairest spoils earth's richest regions bear,
Grasp all that ornaments their genial lands,
Blooms in their groves, and glitters on their sands;
Britannia's sons more precious mines explore
Than Indian diamonds or Peruvian ore;
37
Congeals the bosom and unnerves the arm,
They, in the scaly myriads that surround
The barren shoals, their happier vessels found,
Treasure attain, nor gold, nor gems can buy,—
A hardy school of naval industry;
Which to the daring race in future gave
Decided empire o'er the subject wave;
Taught their bold arms each rival state to awe,
Ride the proud surge, and give the nations law;
Or spreading wide fair Commerce' peaceful sail,
Waft wealth, waft plenty home on every gale;
Rich in the spoils of either India shine,
Nor envy slaves the drudgery of the mine.
For them Columbus, o'er the watery waste,
New paths to glory and to empire trac'd;
For them bold Gama led his naval host
To Indian climes, and Ganges' peopled coast;
There over spacious realms their banners fly,
Which Philip's son beheld with envious eye;
Powers that defied the Macedonian lord,
Bow to the juster edge of George's sword;
And Britain's Monarch sees a vast domain,
Which Eastern tyrants rul'd with iron rein,
Bend to his sceptre's delegated sway,
A willing conquest, zealous to obey.
In fields where once Oppression stood supreme,
The native basks in Freedom's genial beam;
38
To heap fresh plenty on Augusta's shores.
With stars less adverse, see our Drake pursue
The track where Magellán first led his crew;
Not doom'd, like him, to fall by savage hands,
Where distant billows break on barbarous lands.
The placid seas by Spain's brave seaman found,
His vessel ploughs, by happier omens crown'd;
On Chili's hostile coast the oppressors feel
Aveng'd, Pizarro's flame and Cortes' steel.
The vessels trim impell'd by prosperous gales
Shade unknown oceans with their swelling sails;
Now on the sickly shores of Java ride,
Now cut the billows of the Indian tide;
Afric's impervious continent surround,
Coast her high Cape, nor dread the stormy mound;
Till, earth encircled, lo! on Thames' smooth breast
His shatter'd barks in peaceful triumph rest;
And shouting Britons greet the venturous train,
Who add new lustre to Eliza's reign.
The track where Magellán first led his crew;
Not doom'd, like him, to fall by savage hands,
Where distant billows break on barbarous lands.
The placid seas by Spain's brave seaman found,
His vessel ploughs, by happier omens crown'd;
On Chili's hostile coast the oppressors feel
Aveng'd, Pizarro's flame and Cortes' steel.
The vessels trim impell'd by prosperous gales
Shade unknown oceans with their swelling sails;
Now on the sickly shores of Java ride,
Now cut the billows of the Indian tide;
Afric's impervious continent surround,
Coast her high Cape, nor dread the stormy mound;
Till, earth encircled, lo! on Thames' smooth breast
His shatter'd barks in peaceful triumph rest;
And shouting Britons greet the venturous train,
Who add new lustre to Eliza's reign.
But, like the Persian despot, Spain's proud lord
Deems Ocean's waves subjected to his sword—
Scorning the haughty islanders who dare
Wage on his confines predatory war,
He gives the rein to vengeance—soon the gales
Swell with their breath the vast Armada's sails,
Exulting proudly o'er the humble tide,
In dreadful pomp the floating castles ride,
Whose brazen engines with tremendous breath
Shower forth the vollied storm of blood and death.
Revenge, exulting, from the realms of night
Pours in loud yell the pæan of affright;
Profane her blessings Superstition flings,
And Persecution claps his iron wings.—
Again stern Neptune saw his free command
Snatch'd by the fury of a tyrant's hand;
Rising infuriate from his coral caves,
He rears his trident o'er the yielding waves;
‘Awake! awake! my tardy sons,’ he cries,
‘Lo! I and vengeance lead the bold emprize.
‘Another Salamis, with foul defeat,
‘Shall plunge in ruin rash invasion's fleet:
‘Another Greece, by glory fir'd, shall claim
‘Immortal wreaths of freedom and of fame.—
Britannia's Genius heard.—Her virgin Queen,
Active in toil, in danger's face serene,
Calls to her generous subjects—at her word
Art spread the sail, and Valour grasp'd the sword.
The gallant merchant quits the search of gain,
And launches arm'd his carracks on the main.—
Not the bold race alone, on ocean's shores
Who constant brave the tempest as it roars,
The patriot ardour feel—the kindling blaze
Through Britain's fertile fields its flame displays,
And from her inland vales the rustic race
Who tend the fold, or urge the sylvan chase,
Whose eye the expanse of ocean ne'er descried,
Whose ear ne'er listen'd to the roaring tide,
Rush forth vindictive on the threatening wave,
And elements untried for freedom brave.—
Though light and weak the barks, unfit to dare
The open fight, and front the shock of war;
Yet with their well trimm'd sails they skim the seas,
The current mark, and catch the flitting breeze;
The enormous mass of war at will surround,
As o'er the surge their buoyant vessels bound.
Now in the flaming van of fight appear,
Now coast their sides, or hang upon their rear:
Now from the culverin and sacker throw
Their burning vengeance 'mid the thronging foe;
Or with the bow they bring Iberian crowds
In headlong slaughter from the empurpled shrouds;
Till harass'd and dismay'd, the scatter'd fleet
Quits useless contest for secure retreat.—
In vain they fly—for swarming to the war,
Their eastward course increasing myriads bar.
Through northern seas they steer, untried before,
Where rough the wave, and steep the rugged shore;
Dash'd on the rock, or stranded on the shoal,
High o'er their falling masts the billows roll;
And Fate confirms the immutable decree,—
No force shall bow the race who will be free.
Deems Ocean's waves subjected to his sword—
Scorning the haughty islanders who dare
Wage on his confines predatory war,
He gives the rein to vengeance—soon the gales
Swell with their breath the vast Armada's sails,
Exulting proudly o'er the humble tide,
In dreadful pomp the floating castles ride,
39
Shower forth the vollied storm of blood and death.
Revenge, exulting, from the realms of night
Pours in loud yell the pæan of affright;
Profane her blessings Superstition flings,
And Persecution claps his iron wings.—
Again stern Neptune saw his free command
Snatch'd by the fury of a tyrant's hand;
Rising infuriate from his coral caves,
He rears his trident o'er the yielding waves;
‘Awake! awake! my tardy sons,’ he cries,
‘Lo! I and vengeance lead the bold emprize.
‘Another Salamis, with foul defeat,
‘Shall plunge in ruin rash invasion's fleet:
‘Another Greece, by glory fir'd, shall claim
‘Immortal wreaths of freedom and of fame.—
Britannia's Genius heard.—Her virgin Queen,
Active in toil, in danger's face serene,
Calls to her generous subjects—at her word
Art spread the sail, and Valour grasp'd the sword.
The gallant merchant quits the search of gain,
And launches arm'd his carracks on the main.—
Not the bold race alone, on ocean's shores
Who constant brave the tempest as it roars,
The patriot ardour feel—the kindling blaze
Through Britain's fertile fields its flame displays,
And from her inland vales the rustic race
Who tend the fold, or urge the sylvan chase,
Whose eye the expanse of ocean ne'er descried,
Whose ear ne'er listen'd to the roaring tide,
40
And elements untried for freedom brave.—
Though light and weak the barks, unfit to dare
The open fight, and front the shock of war;
Yet with their well trimm'd sails they skim the seas,
The current mark, and catch the flitting breeze;
The enormous mass of war at will surround,
As o'er the surge their buoyant vessels bound.
Now in the flaming van of fight appear,
Now coast their sides, or hang upon their rear:
Now from the culverin and sacker throw
Their burning vengeance 'mid the thronging foe;
Or with the bow they bring Iberian crowds
In headlong slaughter from the empurpled shrouds;
Till harass'd and dismay'd, the scatter'd fleet
Quits useless contest for secure retreat.—
In vain they fly—for swarming to the war,
Their eastward course increasing myriads bar.
Through northern seas they steer, untried before,
Where rough the wave, and steep the rugged shore;
Dash'd on the rock, or stranded on the shoal,
High o'er their falling masts the billows roll;
And Fate confirms the immutable decree,—
No force shall bow the race who will be free.
Stung by Ambition's rage, her harpy eye
Iberia throws on Belgic liberty.—
Long was the contest, till in many a field
By numbers press'd, the richer regions yield.
But a bold race by her pure flame inspir'd,
Of danger reckless, and by toil untir'd,
In the morass by mightier foes impell'd,
The marshy fastness 'gainst the oppressor held;
Their labour learn'd the stagnate deep to drain,
And snatch an empire from the lessening main.
Fenc'd by the sandy dyke, their cities brave
The rude invasion of the stormy wave;
From the tall ship the astonish'd eye looks down
On the green meadow and the peopled town;
And, curb'd by human art, loud Ocean roars
With harmless fury 'gainst the new-form'd shores.
Iberia throws on Belgic liberty.—
Long was the contest, till in many a field
By numbers press'd, the richer regions yield.
41
Of danger reckless, and by toil untir'd,
In the morass by mightier foes impell'd,
The marshy fastness 'gainst the oppressor held;
Their labour learn'd the stagnate deep to drain,
And snatch an empire from the lessening main.
Fenc'd by the sandy dyke, their cities brave
The rude invasion of the stormy wave;
From the tall ship the astonish'd eye looks down
On the green meadow and the peopled town;
And, curb'd by human art, loud Ocean roars
With harmless fury 'gainst the new-form'd shores.
Born mid the waves, a naval instinct runs
With kindred vigour through Batavia's sons;
Far with commercial industry they roam,
Or drain the peopled seas that wash their home;
While, mindful of oppression's former rage,
In distant climes a happier war they wage.
Astonish'd Spain beheld an exil'd race,
Whom from their ancient seats her armies chase,
On foreign shores avenge their former toils,
And shine exulting in their victor's spoils.
For when, in Lusitania's luckless hour,
She fell a victim to Iberian power,
Impartial justice to Batavia gave
Her better empire o'er the Indian wave.
With kindred vigour through Batavia's sons;
Far with commercial industry they roam,
Or drain the peopled seas that wash their home;
While, mindful of oppression's former rage,
In distant climes a happier war they wage.
Astonish'd Spain beheld an exil'd race,
Whom from their ancient seats her armies chase,
On foreign shores avenge their former toils,
And shine exulting in their victor's spoils.
For when, in Lusitania's luckless hour,
She fell a victim to Iberian power,
Impartial justice to Batavia gave
Her better empire o'er the Indian wave.
Yet though in Britain's and Batavia's race
Shades of congenial character we trace,
Oft were they foes on Ocean's briny flood,
His azure billows often stain'd with blood.—
Fierce were the foes and brave on either side,
Each skilful seamen, each in combat tried;
Nor did the tug of naval contest cease
Till William gave the rival nations peace;
And the twin fleets in friendly league combin'd
To guard the rights of freedom and mankind.
Shades of congenial character we trace,
42
His azure billows often stain'd with blood.—
Fierce were the foes and brave on either side,
Each skilful seamen, each in combat tried;
Nor did the tug of naval contest cease
Till William gave the rival nations peace;
And the twin fleets in friendly league combin'd
To guard the rights of freedom and mankind.
To crush those rights, that freedom to oppose,
In hostile strength imperious Gallia rose.—
A prince, by lust of boundless empire fir'd,
To sole domain o'er earth and sea aspir'd.
But though in flattery's fairy vision shown,
His naval sway submissive nations own,
His pride, nor industry nor commerce tries,
Sole base whence naval power can firmly rise;
But to the seas he sends a novice train,
Unused to danger, strangers to the main;
Hence, though awhile his streaming flags unfurl'd
Like baleful meteors awe the astonish'd world,
Strength unsustain'd by native power and wealth,
Death's wild convulsion, not the nerve of health,
Spend in a wild infuriate fit their force,
And leave the exhausted frame a lifeless corse.
In hostile strength imperious Gallia rose.—
A prince, by lust of boundless empire fir'd,
To sole domain o'er earth and sea aspir'd.
But though in flattery's fairy vision shown,
His naval sway submissive nations own,
His pride, nor industry nor commerce tries,
Sole base whence naval power can firmly rise;
But to the seas he sends a novice train,
Unused to danger, strangers to the main;
Hence, though awhile his streaming flags unfurl'd
Like baleful meteors awe the astonish'd world,
Strength unsustain'd by native power and wealth,
Death's wild convulsion, not the nerve of health,
Spend in a wild infuriate fit their force,
And leave the exhausted frame a lifeless corse.
On that triumphant day, by Gallia's shores
Where loud the awful storm of battle roars,
And Britain's and Batavia's mingled line
Their thunders in the cause of Freedom join,
Dejected Louis saw his shadowy power
Fade like the phantom of the midnight hour.—
Swift o'er the waves the floating bulwarks ran
Where victory and Russel led the van.—
From either fleet a thousand thunders spoke,
A thousand deaths from brazen engines broke.—
See, Gallia flies—her shatter'd barks in vain
The unequal combat on the deep sustain,
The wrecks wide floating on the billows lie,
Or to the hidden rocks and eddies fly;
For aid, to sands and shoals inglorious run,
“And danger grasp, a mightier fate to shun.”
In vain they fly, in vain the neighbouring land
Protects their ruins with its circling sand;
In vain, by monarchs led, a mighty host
In dread array defends the insulted coast.
Dauntless the British seaman fate defies;—
Lo, from the decks the smoky columns rise,
Sav'd from the watery battle's furious roar,
To meet more sure destruction on the shore.—
Fir'd at the glorious sight, from exil'd James
Burst with quick flash the naval warriors flames,
The tyrant's pride, and bigot's zeal subdued,
The heroes with a patriot eye he view'd,
Then loudly, with a seaman's honest pride,
‘None but my British tars could dare like this,’ he cried.
Where loud the awful storm of battle roars,
And Britain's and Batavia's mingled line
Their thunders in the cause of Freedom join,
43
Fade like the phantom of the midnight hour.—
Swift o'er the waves the floating bulwarks ran
Where victory and Russel led the van.—
From either fleet a thousand thunders spoke,
A thousand deaths from brazen engines broke.—
See, Gallia flies—her shatter'd barks in vain
The unequal combat on the deep sustain,
The wrecks wide floating on the billows lie,
Or to the hidden rocks and eddies fly;
For aid, to sands and shoals inglorious run,
“And danger grasp, a mightier fate to shun.”
In vain they fly, in vain the neighbouring land
Protects their ruins with its circling sand;
In vain, by monarchs led, a mighty host
In dread array defends the insulted coast.
Dauntless the British seaman fate defies;—
Lo, from the decks the smoky columns rise,
Sav'd from the watery battle's furious roar,
To meet more sure destruction on the shore.—
Fir'd at the glorious sight, from exil'd James
Burst with quick flash the naval warriors flames,
The tyrant's pride, and bigot's zeal subdued,
The heroes with a patriot eye he view'd,
Then loudly, with a seaman's honest pride,
‘None but my British tars could dare like this,’ he cried.
Of old, ere Neptune heard the tempest's sound
In louder peals of naval thunder drown'd;
Ere the deep roar from brazen engines driven
Rivall'd the dread artillery of heaven,
The oar-finn'd galley 'gainst the adverse side
To force its steely beak impetuous tried,
And the rude shock which force and fury urge
Whelm'd the torn bark beneath the swelling surge:
Or from their bows the skilful archers pour,
With sure and fatal aim, the arrowy shower;
Or by the grapple's crooked grasp confin'd,
In closer fight the furious warriors join'd.
In louder peals of naval thunder drown'd;
44
Rivall'd the dread artillery of heaven,
The oar-finn'd galley 'gainst the adverse side
To force its steely beak impetuous tried,
And the rude shock which force and fury urge
Whelm'd the torn bark beneath the swelling surge:
Or from their bows the skilful archers pour,
With sure and fatal aim, the arrowy shower;
Or by the grapple's crooked grasp confin'd,
In closer fight the furious warriors join'd.
But the dread tubes from whose infernal womb
Burst forth the fiery harbingers of doom,
Hurling in vollied lightning from afar
Wide o'er the deep the thunderbolts of war,
To the dire conflict on the heaving wave
New forms of fight, new scenes of slaughter gave.
The order now revers'd, the threat'ning side
Whence the loud battery pours its fiery tide,
The wary seaman brings with skilful care
Or on the hostile head or stern to bear,
Then rakes with fatal force the deck along,
And sweeps to certain death the adverse throng.
Burst forth the fiery harbingers of doom,
Hurling in vollied lightning from afar
Wide o'er the deep the thunderbolts of war,
To the dire conflict on the heaving wave
New forms of fight, new scenes of slaughter gave.
The order now revers'd, the threat'ning side
Whence the loud battery pours its fiery tide,
The wary seaman brings with skilful care
Or on the hostile head or stern to bear,
Then rakes with fatal force the deck along,
And sweeps to certain death the adverse throng.
While Britain's less intrepid rivals throw
Cautious, with distant aim, the uncertain blow;
Or, flight securing ere the barks engage,
Spend on the shrouds and sails the battle's rage;
Her seamen, train'd with firm and steady rein
Intemperate valour's fury to restrain,
Though o'er their heads the bolts of slaughter fly,
Though round them unreveng'd their comrades die,
In dreadful silence, o'er the burning deep
Onward their progress unremitting keep,
Till, closing on the foe, the mark secure,
Makes the impending blow of vengeance sure.—
Now from the broadside bursts with certain aim
The flash tremendous of vindictive flame;
The ponderous globes which powers resistless drive,
Pierce the strong ribs, the solid timbers rive.
Hush'd are th'affrighted winds—with sulphurous cloud
Volumes of smoke the scene of horror shroud,
Save that the frequent flash, in livid stream,
Shoots through the dun expanse a transient gleam.
The tottering masts torn by the close link'd ball
Low on the deck in fatal ruin fall;
The folds of canvas blaze, and down the side
The stream of slaughter rolls a purple tide.—
The batter'd planks give way—through the riv'n wood
Rushes with dreadful force the impetuous flood.
She heels—she sinks, and o'er her buried head
The yawning seas in circling eddy spread!—
Where's now the victor's rage?—pass'd with the fight—
Mercy's soft feelings reassume their right,
And the brave seaman stems the surge to save
The struggling victims from the whelming wave.
Cautious, with distant aim, the uncertain blow;
Or, flight securing ere the barks engage,
Spend on the shrouds and sails the battle's rage;
45
Intemperate valour's fury to restrain,
Though o'er their heads the bolts of slaughter fly,
Though round them unreveng'd their comrades die,
In dreadful silence, o'er the burning deep
Onward their progress unremitting keep,
Till, closing on the foe, the mark secure,
Makes the impending blow of vengeance sure.—
Now from the broadside bursts with certain aim
The flash tremendous of vindictive flame;
The ponderous globes which powers resistless drive,
Pierce the strong ribs, the solid timbers rive.
Hush'd are th'affrighted winds—with sulphurous cloud
Volumes of smoke the scene of horror shroud,
Save that the frequent flash, in livid stream,
Shoots through the dun expanse a transient gleam.
The tottering masts torn by the close link'd ball
Low on the deck in fatal ruin fall;
The folds of canvas blaze, and down the side
The stream of slaughter rolls a purple tide.—
The batter'd planks give way—through the riv'n wood
Rushes with dreadful force the impetuous flood.
She heels—she sinks, and o'er her buried head
The yawning seas in circling eddy spread!—
Where's now the victor's rage?—pass'd with the fight—
Mercy's soft feelings reassume their right,
And the brave seaman stems the surge to save
The struggling victims from the whelming wave.
46
Full many a year saw Britain's naval fame
Alternate mark'd by glory, and by shame;
Glory, by arms attain'd on every coast,
Shame, from those arms by selfish faction cross'd.
Here her bold sons undaunted, to the breeze
Spread her red cross triumphant o'er the seas,
There left the victims of a sultry sky,
Struck by disease, her languid seamen die;
Eye with faint glance the foe's insulting bands,
And curse the coward plea that chains their hands.
Hence Vernon's flag in conquering folds display'd,
Where Valour wept o'er injur'd Hosier's shade.
Alternate mark'd by glory, and by shame;
Glory, by arms attain'd on every coast,
Shame, from those arms by selfish faction cross'd.
Here her bold sons undaunted, to the breeze
Spread her red cross triumphant o'er the seas,
There left the victims of a sultry sky,
Struck by disease, her languid seamen die;
Eye with faint glance the foe's insulting bands,
And curse the coward plea that chains their hands.
Hence Vernon's flag in conquering folds display'd,
Where Valour wept o'er injur'd Hosier's shade.
At length, disdaining foul corruption's art,
Superior to intrigue, with patriot heart,
Thundering defiance on her treacherous foes,
Britannia's better genius, Pitt arose;
His energy the seaman's nerve new strung,
And senates caught decision from his tongue.
With him no partial favour interven'd,
Check'd rising worth, or sloth and treachery skreen'd;
True courage only, honour's meed could claim,
And real merit led to certain fame.
On every ocean, and by every shore,
Where the wild winds and angry billows roar,
From frozen seas that chill and sluggish roll,
Beneath the torpid influence of the pole,
To southern tides that genial climates lave,
Plata's broad flood, and Ganges' Bramin wave;
Where'er Britannia's ensign meets the gale,
Fame guides the helm, and conquest fills the sail.
Saunders for her the battle's tempest braves,
For her Boscawen awes the Atlantic waves;
Her Howe, her Rodney, with victorious prow
Warm in her cause, th'ensanguin'd billows plough:—
And see brave Hawke, in fortune's happiest hour,
Crush the vain hope of Gallia's waning power.
Nor the loud roar of a tempestuous main,
Nor coasts unknown the hero's course restrain;
In vain the pilot marks with wary eye
The various forms of fate that round him lie;
The rocky point conceal'd, the steep cliff near,
The driving whirlwinds of the wintry year,
The short and hazy day, the lengthen'd night,
Waves lash'd to fury by the tempest's spite.—
‘To point the danger,’ cries the chief, ‘was thine;
‘To execute what duty claims, be mine;—
‘Be in this conflict every effort shewn
‘To sink yon squadron, not to save our own.
‘I do not ask a bloodless wreath to wear
‘Inglorious snatch'd from terror's flying rear,
‘Proud of an empty triumph, while again
‘The foe, refitted, rides the insulted main.—
‘No!—be it mine, by one decisive blow,
‘To lay the aspiring crest of Gallia low;
‘And, at whatever hazard, boldly sweep
‘Her ruin'd navy from the enfranchis'd deep.’
He spoke.—Aloft the flag of battle flies,
Ardent and loud the shouts of combat rise;
And Britain's heroes o'er the labouring surge,
Through tempest, night, and flame, the conflict urge;—
Proudly they ride victorious o'er the flood,
And Gallia's tarnish'd glory sets in blood.
Superior to intrigue, with patriot heart,
Thundering defiance on her treacherous foes,
Britannia's better genius, Pitt arose;
His energy the seaman's nerve new strung,
And senates caught decision from his tongue.
With him no partial favour interven'd,
Check'd rising worth, or sloth and treachery skreen'd;
True courage only, honour's meed could claim,
And real merit led to certain fame.
On every ocean, and by every shore,
Where the wild winds and angry billows roar,
From frozen seas that chill and sluggish roll,
Beneath the torpid influence of the pole,
To southern tides that genial climates lave,
Plata's broad flood, and Ganges' Bramin wave;
74
Fame guides the helm, and conquest fills the sail.
Saunders for her the battle's tempest braves,
For her Boscawen awes the Atlantic waves;
Her Howe, her Rodney, with victorious prow
Warm in her cause, th'ensanguin'd billows plough:—
And see brave Hawke, in fortune's happiest hour,
Crush the vain hope of Gallia's waning power.
Nor the loud roar of a tempestuous main,
Nor coasts unknown the hero's course restrain;
In vain the pilot marks with wary eye
The various forms of fate that round him lie;
The rocky point conceal'd, the steep cliff near,
The driving whirlwinds of the wintry year,
The short and hazy day, the lengthen'd night,
Waves lash'd to fury by the tempest's spite.—
‘To point the danger,’ cries the chief, ‘was thine;
‘To execute what duty claims, be mine;—
‘Be in this conflict every effort shewn
‘To sink yon squadron, not to save our own.
‘I do not ask a bloodless wreath to wear
‘Inglorious snatch'd from terror's flying rear,
‘Proud of an empty triumph, while again
‘The foe, refitted, rides the insulted main.—
‘No!—be it mine, by one decisive blow,
‘To lay the aspiring crest of Gallia low;
‘And, at whatever hazard, boldly sweep
‘Her ruin'd navy from the enfranchis'd deep.’
He spoke.—Aloft the flag of battle flies,
Ardent and loud the shouts of combat rise;
48
Through tempest, night, and flame, the conflict urge;—
Proudly they ride victorious o'er the flood,
And Gallia's tarnish'd glory sets in blood.
Deeds of far different aspect—though between,
Long years of peace and commerce intervene,—
Mar the next page of England's naval reign.—
O from her annals tear the inglorious stain!
From the sham'd records of her senate tear
The base decree that faction planted there;
Blasting each wreath a grateful people gave,
To grace the hard-earn'd trophies of the brave;
By gilding with true valour's proudest claim
A shadowy triumph, and a doubtful fame.
Long years of peace and commerce intervene,—
Mar the next page of England's naval reign.—
O from her annals tear the inglorious stain!
From the sham'd records of her senate tear
The base decree that faction planted there;
Blasting each wreath a grateful people gave,
To grace the hard-earn'd trophies of the brave;
By gilding with true valour's proudest claim
A shadowy triumph, and a doubtful fame.
Now Britain saw the lowering brow of fate
Frown with malignant aspect on her state;
With sable plume while faction's wing display'd,
Threw o'er her drooping head funereal shade;
Her western sons by jealous anger stung,
And rous'd to madness by sedition's tongue,
In the tempestuous zeal for freedom warm,
Lift 'gainst her breast the parricidal arm.—
By the fond hope of power reviving pleas'd,
The ripe occasion Gallia saw, and seiz'd.
Again her fleets, with renovated pride,
The swelling wave in martial triumph ride.—
Iberia, reckless of the recent storms
That shook her realms, again the alliance forms.
And Belgium, mindless of each ancient claim,
That join'd her own to Britain's naval fame;
Forgetting many a glorious day of old,
When—as o'er Europe's regions Gallia roll'd
Fell despotism's deluge—to the flood
Their mingled arms a glorious barrier stood,
Aids with malignant industry the blow,
And arms against herself, her deadliest foe.
Britannia view'd, with firm though anxious eyes,
The awful tempest threatening round her rise—
Dreadful it burst—and round her chalky shores
The raging surge of desolation roars.—
O'er the Atlantic waves her baffled fleet
Rides, a sad witness of her troops' defeat.
On Calpé's rock, by land and sea assail'd,
Not naval power, but native strength prevail'd;
From the high steep the fiery torrent came,
That whelm'd the foe in cataracts of flame;
And by her coasts abash'd she wondering saw
Her circling seas a new armada awe.
Frown with malignant aspect on her state;
With sable plume while faction's wing display'd,
Threw o'er her drooping head funereal shade;
Her western sons by jealous anger stung,
And rous'd to madness by sedition's tongue,
In the tempestuous zeal for freedom warm,
Lift 'gainst her breast the parricidal arm.—
By the fond hope of power reviving pleas'd,
The ripe occasion Gallia saw, and seiz'd.
Again her fleets, with renovated pride,
The swelling wave in martial triumph ride.—
Iberia, reckless of the recent storms
That shook her realms, again the alliance forms.
49
That join'd her own to Britain's naval fame;
Forgetting many a glorious day of old,
When—as o'er Europe's regions Gallia roll'd
Fell despotism's deluge—to the flood
Their mingled arms a glorious barrier stood,
Aids with malignant industry the blow,
And arms against herself, her deadliest foe.
Britannia view'd, with firm though anxious eyes,
The awful tempest threatening round her rise—
Dreadful it burst—and round her chalky shores
The raging surge of desolation roars.—
O'er the Atlantic waves her baffled fleet
Rides, a sad witness of her troops' defeat.
On Calpé's rock, by land and sea assail'd,
Not naval power, but native strength prevail'd;
From the high steep the fiery torrent came,
That whelm'd the foe in cataracts of flame;
And by her coasts abash'd she wondering saw
Her circling seas a new armada awe.
The constant bosom shrinks not from defeat,—
Increasing danger stronger efforts meet,
Rising superior to each threatening blow,
Untam'd by loss, and great in overthrow,
Britannia's sons in kindling vengeance warm,
Stand with firm breasts a bulwark 'gainst the storm.
Chiefs by renown in former conflicts crown'd,
Rous'd by her wrongs, her sea-girt throne surround,
From Calpé's rock the foe astonish'd flies,
And 'neath the burning cope of tropic skies
Gallia once more laments her naval pride
Won by the foe, or sunk beneath the tide;—
Her proud allies, dismay'd and humbled, mourn,
Obscur'd their glory, and their laurels torn.
Three separate leaders of each hostile race,
Indignant captives, Rodney's triumph grace:
As many spoils as crown'd Rome's vaunted reign
Britannia sees one gallant chief attain,
Sees by one warrior's hand three garlands wove,
To deck the altars of Feretrian Jove.
‘Enough,’ the vanquish'd Gaul exclaims, ‘our prows
‘Have rashly follow'd our superior foes,
‘A hardy race by fortune unsubdued,
‘Whom 'tis our proudest triumph to elude.
‘Firm as the texture of their stubborn oak,
‘Mocking the winds, and from the woodman's stroke
‘Rising with force superior, on the main
‘To guard and vindicate their native reign.’
Increasing danger stronger efforts meet,
Rising superior to each threatening blow,
Untam'd by loss, and great in overthrow,
Britannia's sons in kindling vengeance warm,
Stand with firm breasts a bulwark 'gainst the storm.
Chiefs by renown in former conflicts crown'd,
Rous'd by her wrongs, her sea-girt throne surround,
50
And 'neath the burning cope of tropic skies
Gallia once more laments her naval pride
Won by the foe, or sunk beneath the tide;—
Her proud allies, dismay'd and humbled, mourn,
Obscur'd their glory, and their laurels torn.
Three separate leaders of each hostile race,
Indignant captives, Rodney's triumph grace:
As many spoils as crown'd Rome's vaunted reign
Britannia sees one gallant chief attain,
Sees by one warrior's hand three garlands wove,
To deck the altars of Feretrian Jove.
‘Enough,’ the vanquish'd Gaul exclaims, ‘our prows
‘Have rashly follow'd our superior foes,
‘A hardy race by fortune unsubdued,
‘Whom 'tis our proudest triumph to elude.
51
‘Mocking the winds, and from the woodman's stroke
‘Rising with force superior, on the main
‘To guard and vindicate their native reign.’
The name assumed by Falconer, in his excellent and original poem, the Shipwreck; and who was afterwards lost in the Aurora.
When a Roman general killed or vanquished a general of the enemy with his own hand, the arms of the conquered chief were deposited in the temple of Jupiter Feretrius, and called Spolia Opima. This happened but three times during the annals of Rome. Two admirals engaging may fairly be compared to a single combat on shore. Propertius gives the etymology of the name:
Nunc spolia in templo tria condita causa Feretrî,Omine quod certo dux ferit ense ducem.
Seu quia victa suis humeris hæc arma ferebant,
Hince Feretrî dicta est ara superba Jovis.
Cervi luporum præda rapacium
Spectamur ultro, quos opimus
Fallere, et effugere est triumphus;
Gens quæ ------
Duris ut Ilex tonsa bipennibus
Nigræ feraci frondis in Algido,
Per damnum, per cædis, ab ipso
Ducit opes, animumque ferro.
Spectamur ultro, quos opimus
Fallere, et effugere est triumphus;
Gens quæ ------
Duris ut Ilex tonsa bipennibus
Nigræ feraci frondis in Algido,
Per damnum, per cædis, ab ipso
Ducit opes, animumque ferro.
53
III. PART III.
55
ANALYSIS OF PART III.
Voyages of discovery by the orders of his present Majesty.— Cook.—French Revolution.—Destruction of the French marine. —Victory of Lord Howe.—Victory of Lord St. Vincent. —Apostrophe to commerce and peace.—Danger of relaxing military exertion.—Carthage and Rome.—France and England. —Comparison between naval and internal strength.— Character of the British seamen;—coast navigation one of their chief nurseries—danger of canal navigation interfering with it.—Canal by the sea side, near Southampton.—Naval Mutiny.—Lord Duncan's Victory.—Onslow.—Burgess.— Contribution for the widows and orphans of the slain.—Inequality of the verse to the subject.—Naval songs.—Conclusion.
57
Awhile let War his bloody banners fold,
And smiling Peace her gentler triumphs hold.
The generous flame that warm'd Eliza's days,
Shines forth in George's reign with brighter blaze.
Again Britannia's sons, through seas unknown,
Round Earth's vast circle trace a naval zone,
Her Wallis, Byron, Carteret, try once more
The course her Drake, her Ca'ndish led of yore.
And see true Genius, rais'd by native worth
O'er the proud claims of fortune and of birth,
Born to control the rage of winds and seas,
Skill'd to arrest the ravage of disease,
Her Cook behold!—before his eagle eye
The dread of death, the sense of hardship fly;
And o'er his sails Hygeia hovering, flings
Health's genial influence from her silver wings.
From the soft dalliance of the amorous train
Who haunt the islets of the Southern main,
Boldly he ventures to the rugged coast
Clad in the horrors of Antarctic frost,
Where endless winter o'er the iron plains
In all the pomp of desolation reigns:
His course he keeps with persevering soul,
To seek a more inhospitable pole.
For where the northern constellations rise
In the dim zenith of the chilling skies,
Still neighbouring Europe's friendly harbours yield
A near asylum from the frozen field.
Not so the southern regions—drear—unknown—
Rude coasts, where cheerless solitude alone
Reigns death-like in terrific silence, save
Where howling famine prowls the ice-bound wave.
Nought damps the breast pure virtue's flame inspires,
Not the red blaze of wild ambition's fires.
Sent by a Prince benign, whose parent sway
Freedom's true vot'ries glory to obey;
Friend to the human race,—whose generous mind,
His country bless'd,—that blessing o'er mankind
Prompt to extend, bids his expanding sails
Waft peace and plenty on the favouring gales.—
The gallant chief obeys with ready breast
His pious Sovereign's mild and just behest.
O'er oceans wafted, 'mid New Zealand's groves
Bleats the meek flock, the lowing heifer roves;
By guiltless plenty spread, dire feasts no more
The blushing herbage stain with human gore.
On Otaheité's soft and genial fields
Its cheering juice the vine ambrosial yields;
And on the enormous island's region wide,
A continent encircled by the tide,
O'er lands uncultur'd yellow harvests rise,
And infant cities meet the wondering eyes.
There, peopled realms with art and science crown'd,
Sages and kings in future times renown'd,
Truth's moral rules by deep reflection given,
And Faith's illumin'd creed, that opens heaven;
Scenes of warm hope, and ages of delight
Crowd in prophetic prospect on the sight.—
Such were the chiefs that fabling Greece of old
Amid her legendary gods enroll'd,
And taught her sons to pile the votive flame
To Pan's, to Ceres', and to Bacchus' name.
Mourn Virtue, mourn the rash insidious blow
That laid on earth thy faithful votary low!—
Yet as the weeping powers of Mercy pay
Their solemn tribute to their Cook's morai,
And o'er his tomb by guiltless laurels crown'd,
As the slow dirge and swelling hymn resound,
Proud of a son in toil, in danger tried,
Fearless in both, in both by blood undy'd,
Fame to the listening winds her voice shall raise,
And breathe the immortal song of virtuous praise;
While heavenly justice from the empyreal sphere
Sends down its seraphs to his briny bier,
To waft his spirit from the realms of night
To the bless'd mansions of celestial light.
And smiling Peace her gentler triumphs hold.
The generous flame that warm'd Eliza's days,
Shines forth in George's reign with brighter blaze.
Again Britannia's sons, through seas unknown,
Round Earth's vast circle trace a naval zone,
Her Wallis, Byron, Carteret, try once more
The course her Drake, her Ca'ndish led of yore.
And see true Genius, rais'd by native worth
O'er the proud claims of fortune and of birth,
Born to control the rage of winds and seas,
Skill'd to arrest the ravage of disease,
Her Cook behold!—before his eagle eye
The dread of death, the sense of hardship fly;
And o'er his sails Hygeia hovering, flings
Health's genial influence from her silver wings.
From the soft dalliance of the amorous train
Who haunt the islets of the Southern main,
58
Clad in the horrors of Antarctic frost,
Where endless winter o'er the iron plains
In all the pomp of desolation reigns:
His course he keeps with persevering soul,
To seek a more inhospitable pole.
For where the northern constellations rise
In the dim zenith of the chilling skies,
Still neighbouring Europe's friendly harbours yield
A near asylum from the frozen field.
Not so the southern regions—drear—unknown—
Rude coasts, where cheerless solitude alone
Reigns death-like in terrific silence, save
Where howling famine prowls the ice-bound wave.
Nought damps the breast pure virtue's flame inspires,
Not the red blaze of wild ambition's fires.
Sent by a Prince benign, whose parent sway
Freedom's true vot'ries glory to obey;
Friend to the human race,—whose generous mind,
His country bless'd,—that blessing o'er mankind
Prompt to extend, bids his expanding sails
Waft peace and plenty on the favouring gales.—
The gallant chief obeys with ready breast
His pious Sovereign's mild and just behest.
O'er oceans wafted, 'mid New Zealand's groves
Bleats the meek flock, the lowing heifer roves;
By guiltless plenty spread, dire feasts no more
The blushing herbage stain with human gore.
On Otaheité's soft and genial fields
Its cheering juice the vine ambrosial yields;
59
A continent encircled by the tide,
O'er lands uncultur'd yellow harvests rise,
And infant cities meet the wondering eyes.
There, peopled realms with art and science crown'd,
Sages and kings in future times renown'd,
Truth's moral rules by deep reflection given,
And Faith's illumin'd creed, that opens heaven;
Scenes of warm hope, and ages of delight
Crowd in prophetic prospect on the sight.—
Such were the chiefs that fabling Greece of old
Amid her legendary gods enroll'd,
And taught her sons to pile the votive flame
To Pan's, to Ceres', and to Bacchus' name.
Mourn Virtue, mourn the rash insidious blow
That laid on earth thy faithful votary low!—
Yet as the weeping powers of Mercy pay
Their solemn tribute to their Cook's morai,
And o'er his tomb by guiltless laurels crown'd,
As the slow dirge and swelling hymn resound,
Proud of a son in toil, in danger tried,
Fearless in both, in both by blood undy'd,
Fame to the listening winds her voice shall raise,
And breathe the immortal song of virtuous praise;
While heavenly justice from the empyreal sphere
Sends down its seraphs to his briny bier,
To waft his spirit from the realms of night
To the bless'd mansions of celestial light.
60
O form'd o'er vice, o'er madness to prevail,
Bless'd source of blameless glory! Science, hail!—
When bleeding Discord rear'd her gorgon head,
And wide o'er earth and ocean ruin spread,
A generous foe to thy fam'd vot'ries gave
A peaceful passage o'er the hostile wave.—
Gallia! though stern Oppression's iron arm
Hung o'er thy plains, blasting each genial charm,
Thy gallant nobles knew with gentlest care
To heal by courtesy the wounds of war.—
Semblance alone of mercy—for beneath,
Writhed the fell serpent in the flowery wreath.—
The showy plumes that valour's crest adorn,
From pining Labour's wretched hands were torn,
And the kind smile that cheer'd the suppliant foe,
Frown'd unrelenting on domestic woe.—
Bless'd source of blameless glory! Science, hail!—
When bleeding Discord rear'd her gorgon head,
And wide o'er earth and ocean ruin spread,
A generous foe to thy fam'd vot'ries gave
A peaceful passage o'er the hostile wave.—
Gallia! though stern Oppression's iron arm
Hung o'er thy plains, blasting each genial charm,
Thy gallant nobles knew with gentlest care
To heal by courtesy the wounds of war.—
Semblance alone of mercy—for beneath,
Writhed the fell serpent in the flowery wreath.—
The showy plumes that valour's crest adorn,
From pining Labour's wretched hands were torn,
And the kind smile that cheer'd the suppliant foe,
Frown'd unrelenting on domestic woe.—
The hour of vengeance comes!—but vengeance dress'd
In such dire horrors, that a rival's breast,—
An envied, injur'd rival's—swells with grief
At ills that pass excess, and mock belief.—
The hour of vengeance comes!—Justice in vain
Tries with numb'd arm the tempest to restrain.
She drops the sword, and Anarchy's wild hand
Waves the red torch of ruin o'er the land.—
Though her strong forts, and stronger hosts oppose
A dreadful barrier to assailing foes,
Domestic fury arm'd with civic rage,
Beyond the inroads of a Vandal age,
Spreading sad desolation's cruel sway,
Sweeps every trace of ancient worth away;
Rears slaughter's pile where slavery's fabric stood,
And stains fair Freedom's cause with blameless blood.—
So Ætna lifts aloft her haughty brow,
And hears the harmless tempest howl below:
Sublimely great, her azure head she shrouds
In the thick umbrage of surrounding clouds,
Her ample base while golden harvests hide,
And the ripe vintage purples o'er her side.—
But ah! the dreadful harbingers of doom
In silent ambush lurk within her womb,
Prompt at the fated moment to ascend,
And with fierce shock her fiery entrails rend;
Pour down the steeps with laughing plenty grac'd,
Lay every hope and every beauty waste,
Till the wide regions to the affrighted eye
One vast extent of smoking ruin lie.
In such dire horrors, that a rival's breast,—
An envied, injur'd rival's—swells with grief
At ills that pass excess, and mock belief.—
The hour of vengeance comes!—Justice in vain
Tries with numb'd arm the tempest to restrain.
She drops the sword, and Anarchy's wild hand
Waves the red torch of ruin o'er the land.—
Though her strong forts, and stronger hosts oppose
A dreadful barrier to assailing foes,
Domestic fury arm'd with civic rage,
Beyond the inroads of a Vandal age,
61
Sweeps every trace of ancient worth away;
Rears slaughter's pile where slavery's fabric stood,
And stains fair Freedom's cause with blameless blood.—
So Ætna lifts aloft her haughty brow,
And hears the harmless tempest howl below:
Sublimely great, her azure head she shrouds
In the thick umbrage of surrounding clouds,
Her ample base while golden harvests hide,
And the ripe vintage purples o'er her side.—
But ah! the dreadful harbingers of doom
In silent ambush lurk within her womb,
Prompt at the fated moment to ascend,
And with fierce shock her fiery entrails rend;
Pour down the steeps with laughing plenty grac'd,
Lay every hope and every beauty waste,
Till the wide regions to the affrighted eye
One vast extent of smoking ruin lie.
Not to her native seats confin'd alone
Was struggling Gallia's wild convulsive groan;
With maniac rage she lifts her blood-stain'd hand,
And waves confusion o'er each neighbour land.
Europe's astonish'd sons, with trembling awe
Breathless and pale, the impending mischief saw,
And fearful threw their trembling eyes for aid
To shores their coward envy once betray'd.
Did Britain frown malignant on the woes
By fate retorted on her faithless foes?—
No—prone to godlike mercy, lo, she spreads
Her ample buckler o'er their prostrate heads.—
Each former wrong from memory's tablet tore,—
They were oppress'd, and she a foe no more.
Useless her generous aid—the furious bands
Pour like a torrent o'er Batavia's lands.
Iberia, struck with fear, the tempest flies,
And shameful safety by submission buys.
The swarming millions of exhaustless foes,
Nor valour can defeat, no skill oppose,
Vain was her force on foreign regions shewn,
Compell'd perhaps to combat for her own,
But that the guard of her surrounding wave
A potent check to mad invasion gave;
There in her native fortress firm she stood,
And frown'd defiance from her subject flood.
Not the wild frenzy of a transient hour
The trident firm can grasp of naval power.
That sceptre high she waves with sway supreme,
And scorns the phantoms of ambition's dream.—
Behold her veteran chief, victorious Howe,
The faded laurel tear from Gallia's brow;
On her own shores o'erthrown her naval pride,
Her captur'd ships in Britain's harbours ride.—
From brave Cornwallis' sails, in base retreat,
Flies with inglorious speed the numerous fleet.
Safe in the sheltering port, the timid foe
Eludes of Bridport's arm the threat'ning blow;
By peril taught with what resistless might
He knew to hurl the tempest of the fight.
And valiant Jarvis by the Iberian coast
Pours on the faithless foe his scanty host.
Superior squadrons rashly try in vain,
With swarming numbers to usurp the main;
Strict discipline to skill and courage join'd,
A penetrating eye, and ardent mind,
Conceive and execute the bold design,—
His thunder breaks the bold extended line,
And with a dauntless few he bears away
The well earn'd spoils of Britain's proudest day.
Was struggling Gallia's wild convulsive groan;
With maniac rage she lifts her blood-stain'd hand,
And waves confusion o'er each neighbour land.
Europe's astonish'd sons, with trembling awe
Breathless and pale, the impending mischief saw,
And fearful threw their trembling eyes for aid
To shores their coward envy once betray'd.
Did Britain frown malignant on the woes
By fate retorted on her faithless foes?—
62
Her ample buckler o'er their prostrate heads.—
Each former wrong from memory's tablet tore,—
They were oppress'd, and she a foe no more.
Useless her generous aid—the furious bands
Pour like a torrent o'er Batavia's lands.
Iberia, struck with fear, the tempest flies,
And shameful safety by submission buys.
The swarming millions of exhaustless foes,
Nor valour can defeat, no skill oppose,
Vain was her force on foreign regions shewn,
Compell'd perhaps to combat for her own,
But that the guard of her surrounding wave
A potent check to mad invasion gave;
There in her native fortress firm she stood,
And frown'd defiance from her subject flood.
Not the wild frenzy of a transient hour
The trident firm can grasp of naval power.
That sceptre high she waves with sway supreme,
And scorns the phantoms of ambition's dream.—
Behold her veteran chief, victorious Howe,
The faded laurel tear from Gallia's brow;
On her own shores o'erthrown her naval pride,
Her captur'd ships in Britain's harbours ride.—
From brave Cornwallis' sails, in base retreat,
Flies with inglorious speed the numerous fleet.
Safe in the sheltering port, the timid foe
Eludes of Bridport's arm the threat'ning blow;
By peril taught with what resistless might
He knew to hurl the tempest of the fight.
63
Pours on the faithless foe his scanty host.
Superior squadrons rashly try in vain,
With swarming numbers to usurp the main;
Strict discipline to skill and courage join'd,
A penetrating eye, and ardent mind,
Conceive and execute the bold design,—
His thunder breaks the bold extended line,
And with a dauntless few he bears away
The well earn'd spoils of Britain's proudest day.
Pure source of every joy! mild Concord, bring
Each healing blessing on thy snowy wing;
Teach the wild storm of ruthless war to cease,
And charm the nations to the reign of Peace.
Then happier Commerce to the ambrosial gale
Shall free and fearless spread her welcome sail;
Waft wealth and plenty on each favouring breeze,
And dread no danger but from winds and seas.
Yet must the Muse, though cruel seem her lays,
Her warning voice in strain prophetic raise.
When hush'd to peace the ruder tempests sleep,
And Zephyr gently curls the rippling deep,
Will the skill'd mariner disarm his mind,
Lull'd by the placid swell and silken wind?—
No—long experience points the uncertain skies
Where unexpected whirlwinds sudden rise:
And though amid th'unruffled seas of spring
The flitting halcyon dip his azure wing,
By danger school'd, he stands prepar'd to brave
The loudest fury of the wintery wave.
Each healing blessing on thy snowy wing;
Teach the wild storm of ruthless war to cease,
And charm the nations to the reign of Peace.
Then happier Commerce to the ambrosial gale
Shall free and fearless spread her welcome sail;
Waft wealth and plenty on each favouring breeze,
And dread no danger but from winds and seas.
Yet must the Muse, though cruel seem her lays,
Her warning voice in strain prophetic raise.
When hush'd to peace the ruder tempests sleep,
And Zephyr gently curls the rippling deep,
Will the skill'd mariner disarm his mind,
Lull'd by the placid swell and silken wind?—
No—long experience points the uncertain skies
Where unexpected whirlwinds sudden rise:
And though amid th'unruffled seas of spring
The flitting halcyon dip his azure wing,
64
The loudest fury of the wintery wave.
Foster'd too oft by Peace's laughing reign,
Will luxury corrupt her fair domain:
Too oft with timid eye will Commerce gaze
On the rich stores surrounding wealth displays;
Then chill'd by danger, and by toil dismay'd,
Buy from a foreign force precarious aid.—
So Carthage fell!—in native strength elate
While the bold inmates of her rival state,
A race rapacious, unexhausted stood,
Resistless sons of rapine and of blood.—
Will luxury corrupt her fair domain:
Too oft with timid eye will Commerce gaze
On the rich stores surrounding wealth displays;
Then chill'd by danger, and by toil dismay'd,
Buy from a foreign force precarious aid.—
So Carthage fell!—in native strength elate
While the bold inmates of her rival state,
A race rapacious, unexhausted stood,
Resistless sons of rapine and of blood.—
War's dreadful clarion by Ambition blown,
The Muse of mercy ever must disown,
Though selfish pride assume the patriot's name,
And worlds, misjudging, call oppression fame:
Yet while by Cruelty or Avarice led,
Arm'd Violence will rear the hydra head;
While warlike hords will gaze with harpy eye
On the rich fields of peace and industry;
Let not her moral strain, seductive, charm
The sword of vengeance from the manly arm;
Or, while of war's destructive band she sings,
Forget what ill from coward softness springs:—
Full well she knows to paint the horrors spread
Terrific o'er the bleeding soldier's head,
When sinking breathless 'neath the hostile wound,
Wild War's insulting tumult raging round,
The last convulsive throe of ebbing life
Hangs on the orphan child and widow'd wife.
But ah! though dread that scene—let fancy trace
The woes degrading of the unwarlike race,
The gentle sons of sentimental fear,
Too weak to guard what manhood holds most dear,
When lust and murder with unbridled sway
Speed o'er their ruin'd seats their fatal way.—
Then to the gallant race who bravely stand
A breathing bulwark to their native land,
Shall not the Muse with care assiduous raise
The deathless guerdon of unblemish'd praise,
And o'er the martyr'd soldier's hallow'd bier
Pour with swoll'n eye affliction's grateful tear?—
Secure those chiefs of glory's purest meed,
Like Hawke who conquer, or like Wolfe who bleed.
The Muse of mercy ever must disown,
Though selfish pride assume the patriot's name,
And worlds, misjudging, call oppression fame:
Yet while by Cruelty or Avarice led,
Arm'd Violence will rear the hydra head;
While warlike hords will gaze with harpy eye
On the rich fields of peace and industry;
Let not her moral strain, seductive, charm
The sword of vengeance from the manly arm;
Or, while of war's destructive band she sings,
Forget what ill from coward softness springs:—
Full well she knows to paint the horrors spread
Terrific o'er the bleeding soldier's head,
When sinking breathless 'neath the hostile wound,
Wild War's insulting tumult raging round,
65
Hangs on the orphan child and widow'd wife.
But ah! though dread that scene—let fancy trace
The woes degrading of the unwarlike race,
The gentle sons of sentimental fear,
Too weak to guard what manhood holds most dear,
When lust and murder with unbridled sway
Speed o'er their ruin'd seats their fatal way.—
Then to the gallant race who bravely stand
A breathing bulwark to their native land,
Shall not the Muse with care assiduous raise
The deathless guerdon of unblemish'd praise,
And o'er the martyr'd soldier's hallow'd bier
Pour with swoll'n eye affliction's grateful tear?—
Secure those chiefs of glory's purest meed,
Like Hawke who conquer, or like Wolfe who bleed.
Arm'd in her cause, on Chalgrave's fatal plain,
Where sorrowing Freedom mourns her Hambden slain,
Say, shall the moralizing bard presume
From his proud hearse to tear one warlike plume,
Because a Cæsar or a Cromwell wore
An impious wreath, wet with their country's gore?
Where sorrowing Freedom mourns her Hambden slain,
Say, shall the moralizing bard presume
From his proud hearse to tear one warlike plume,
Because a Cæsar or a Cromwell wore
An impious wreath, wet with their country's gore?
Oft as the exulting Muse with pride surveys
The pile of fame Britannia's navies raise,
Trembling she sees the glorious fabric stand
On the loose basis of a shifting sand.
Athens and Carthage shine on history's page,
Portentous beacons to a distant age.—
How high their naval power, her annals tell,
Her annals too record how soon they fell.—
So may Britannia fall—yon bleeding shore,
Wasted by black revenge, and drench'd with gore,
Her commerce lost, her shatter'd fleets destroy'd,
Her coasts by predatory war annoy'd;
Her frantic sons by brutal fury stung,
Flames in the eye, and poison on the tongue,
Rushing in wild delirium of disease
With venom'd fang their shrinking foes to seize,
Spreading with hornet rage destruction round,
And satisfied to perish, if they wound.—
Yet, strong in native power, should Peace again
Bless with returning smile her genial plain,
Soon would her renovated fields display
Their freshening treasures to the healing ray;
As spring, emerging from the wintery blast,
Her flowers unfolds, nor heeds the tempest past.
But should the horrors of domestic broil,
Or hostile inroad Britain's bosom spoil;—
Whelm'd in the blood-stain'd wave her naval force,
Or basely poison'd in its vital source;
Though her firm sons in sullen courage stood,
And mark'd invasion's fatal paths with blood;
Though myriads pour'd upon her shores in vain,
But whiten'd with their bones her hostile plain;
Though Fame, where'er she turn'd her wondering eyes,
Beheld new Agincourts, new Creçis rise;
Yet, press'd at home, while on each distant coast
She mourn'd her empire sunk, her commerce lost,
Prone in the dust her vaunted power would lie,
Undone, amid the shouts of victory.
So when the loud tornado's fatal powers
Shake from their base the city's lofty towers,
The ruin'd fragments lie, no more to rise
Beneath the influence bland of brightening skies;
But noisome weeds 'mid the fall'n columns spread,
And the loath'd reptile shrouds his venom'd head.
The pile of fame Britannia's navies raise,
Trembling she sees the glorious fabric stand
On the loose basis of a shifting sand.
Athens and Carthage shine on history's page,
Portentous beacons to a distant age.—
66
Her annals too record how soon they fell.—
So may Britannia fall—yon bleeding shore,
Wasted by black revenge, and drench'd with gore,
Her commerce lost, her shatter'd fleets destroy'd,
Her coasts by predatory war annoy'd;
Her frantic sons by brutal fury stung,
Flames in the eye, and poison on the tongue,
Rushing in wild delirium of disease
With venom'd fang their shrinking foes to seize,
Spreading with hornet rage destruction round,
And satisfied to perish, if they wound.—
Yet, strong in native power, should Peace again
Bless with returning smile her genial plain,
Soon would her renovated fields display
Their freshening treasures to the healing ray;
As spring, emerging from the wintery blast,
Her flowers unfolds, nor heeds the tempest past.
But should the horrors of domestic broil,
Or hostile inroad Britain's bosom spoil;—
Whelm'd in the blood-stain'd wave her naval force,
Or basely poison'd in its vital source;
Though her firm sons in sullen courage stood,
And mark'd invasion's fatal paths with blood;
Though myriads pour'd upon her shores in vain,
But whiten'd with their bones her hostile plain;
Though Fame, where'er she turn'd her wondering eyes,
Beheld new Agincourts, new Creçis rise;
Yet, press'd at home, while on each distant coast
She mourn'd her empire sunk, her commerce lost,
67
Undone, amid the shouts of victory.
So when the loud tornado's fatal powers
Shake from their base the city's lofty towers,
The ruin'd fragments lie, no more to rise
Beneath the influence bland of brightening skies;
But noisome weeds 'mid the fall'n columns spread,
And the loath'd reptile shrouds his venom'd head.
'Tis not the oak whose hardy branches wave
O'er Britain's cliffs, and all her tempests brave;
'Tis not the ore her iron bowels yield,
The cordage growing on her fertile field,
That form her naval strength.—'Tis the bold race
Laughing at toil, and gay in danger's face,
Who quit with joy, when fame and glory lead,
Their richest pasture and their greenest mead,
The perils of the stormy deep to dare,
And jocund own their dearest pleasures there.
One common zeal the manly race inspires,
One common cause each ardent bosom fires,
From the bold youth whose agile limbs ascend
The giddy mast when angry winds contend,
And while the yard dips low its pointed arm,
Clings to the cord, and sings amidst the storm,
To the experienced chief, who knows to guide
The labouring vessel through the rolling tide;
Or when contending squadrons fierce engage,
Directs the battle's thunder where to rage:—
All, all alike with cool unfeign'd delight
Brave the tempestuous gale, and court the fight.
Britain! with jealous industry maintain
The sacred sources of this generous train,
Daring beyond what fable sings of old,
Yet mild in conquest, and humane as bold;
Now rushing on the foe with frown severe,
Now mov'd to mercy by compassion's tear.—
Fierce as the ruthless elements they brave
When their wrong'd country calls them to the wave;
Mild as the softest breeze that fans thy isle,
When sooth'd by peace and wooing beauty's smile.
A race peculiar to thy happy coast,
But lost by folly once, for ever lost.
Ne'er from the lap of luxury and ease
Shall spring the hardy warrior of the seas.—
A toilsome youth the mariner must form,
Nurs'd on the wave, and cradled in the storm.
This school thy coasts supply—the unwrought ore
Wafted from port to port around thy shore,
The northern mines, that sable stores unfold
To chase from blazing hearths frore winter's cold;—
These nurseries have train'd the daring crew
Through storms and war thy glory to pursue:
These have thy leaders train'd, and naval fame
Reads in their rolls her Cook's immortal name.
O ne'er may Commerce with misdeeming zeal
Weaken this source, her own, her country's weal,
And the canal, by tortur'd streams supplied,
Along our coasts with baleful labour guide,
Then boast, if war insults our chalky shores,
It yields safe conduct to our arms and stores.—
Perish such safety!—ne'er may commerce know
Safe conduct here but from a vanquish'd foe.—
Where mountain forests spread their deep'ning shade,
Where metals lurk beneath the midland glade,
Where mingled art and industry combine,
Weave the rich web, the liquid ore refine,
Let the canal, scoop'd out with plastic care,
To distant marts the useful produce bear;
But never may its stagnate waters lave
The sandy borders of the briny wave,
Or the rude bargeman's vile inglorious race
The generous hero of the sea replace.
O'er Britain's cliffs, and all her tempests brave;
'Tis not the ore her iron bowels yield,
The cordage growing on her fertile field,
That form her naval strength.—'Tis the bold race
Laughing at toil, and gay in danger's face,
Who quit with joy, when fame and glory lead,
Their richest pasture and their greenest mead,
The perils of the stormy deep to dare,
And jocund own their dearest pleasures there.
One common zeal the manly race inspires,
One common cause each ardent bosom fires,
From the bold youth whose agile limbs ascend
The giddy mast when angry winds contend,
And while the yard dips low its pointed arm,
Clings to the cord, and sings amidst the storm,
To the experienced chief, who knows to guide
The labouring vessel through the rolling tide;
Or when contending squadrons fierce engage,
Directs the battle's thunder where to rage:—
68
Brave the tempestuous gale, and court the fight.
Britain! with jealous industry maintain
The sacred sources of this generous train,
Daring beyond what fable sings of old,
Yet mild in conquest, and humane as bold;
Now rushing on the foe with frown severe,
Now mov'd to mercy by compassion's tear.—
Fierce as the ruthless elements they brave
When their wrong'd country calls them to the wave;
Mild as the softest breeze that fans thy isle,
When sooth'd by peace and wooing beauty's smile.
A race peculiar to thy happy coast,
But lost by folly once, for ever lost.
Ne'er from the lap of luxury and ease
Shall spring the hardy warrior of the seas.—
A toilsome youth the mariner must form,
Nurs'd on the wave, and cradled in the storm.
This school thy coasts supply—the unwrought ore
Wafted from port to port around thy shore,
The northern mines, that sable stores unfold
To chase from blazing hearths frore winter's cold;—
These nurseries have train'd the daring crew
Through storms and war thy glory to pursue:
These have thy leaders train'd, and naval fame
Reads in their rolls her Cook's immortal name.
O ne'er may Commerce with misdeeming zeal
Weaken this source, her own, her country's weal,
And the canal, by tortur'd streams supplied,
Along our coasts with baleful labour guide,
69
It yields safe conduct to our arms and stores.—
Perish such safety!—ne'er may commerce know
Safe conduct here but from a vanquish'd foe.—
Where mountain forests spread their deep'ning shade,
Where metals lurk beneath the midland glade,
Where mingled art and industry combine,
Weave the rich web, the liquid ore refine,
Let the canal, scoop'd out with plastic care,
To distant marts the useful produce bear;
But never may its stagnate waters lave
The sandy borders of the briny wave,
Or the rude bargeman's vile inglorious race
The generous hero of the sea replace.
O Millbrook!
shall my devious feet no more
Pace the smooth margin of thy pebbly shore?
No more my eyes, when even the zephyrs sleep,
View the broad mirror of thy glassy deep,
Where the reflected spire and bordering shade
Inverted shine, by softer tint portray'd;
Or by the dancing moon-beam's silvery gleam
See the bright ripple of the curling stream,
While round the passing bark as eddies play,
A track of trembling radiance marks her way;
Or as the surge with ineffectual roar
Spends its rude force on the surrounding shore,
Behold its harmless vengeance idly beat
With vain and baffled fury at my feet?—
No more along the Channel's azure space
My sight the ship's expanding sail shall trace,
Through whose white folds—clad by the leafy year,
On the green uplands future fleets appear!—
Now through the stagnate pool, by banks confin'd,
Rolls the slow barge, dragg'd by the inglorious hind.—
By vengeance arm'd, ye powers of ocean rise!
And when full orb'd in equinoctial skies
The pale moon hangs, and with malignant pride
Rouses the driving storm, and swells the tide,
Lift high the trident, and with giant blow
Lay of vain man the pigmy labours low,
Chastize the weak presumption that would chain
The briny surge, and subjugate the main.
Pace the smooth margin of thy pebbly shore?
No more my eyes, when even the zephyrs sleep,
View the broad mirror of thy glassy deep,
Where the reflected spire and bordering shade
Inverted shine, by softer tint portray'd;
Or by the dancing moon-beam's silvery gleam
See the bright ripple of the curling stream,
While round the passing bark as eddies play,
A track of trembling radiance marks her way;
Or as the surge with ineffectual roar
Spends its rude force on the surrounding shore,
70
With vain and baffled fury at my feet?—
No more along the Channel's azure space
My sight the ship's expanding sail shall trace,
Through whose white folds—clad by the leafy year,
On the green uplands future fleets appear!—
Now through the stagnate pool, by banks confin'd,
Rolls the slow barge, dragg'd by the inglorious hind.—
By vengeance arm'd, ye powers of ocean rise!
And when full orb'd in equinoctial skies
The pale moon hangs, and with malignant pride
Rouses the driving storm, and swells the tide,
Lift high the trident, and with giant blow
Lay of vain man the pigmy labours low,
Chastize the weak presumption that would chain
The briny surge, and subjugate the main.
Though bold, and skill'd in all his native art,
On shore the mariner's incautious heart
Unpractic'd in the devious paths of guile
Falls a sure prey to each insidious wile;
Hence oft the dupe of selfish avarice made,
Hence oft by beauty's venal smile betray'd;
And hence did Faction once with treacherous aim
Lure the brave seaman from the paths of fame;
And Britain saw, amaz'd, her strongest power
On her own head with dreadful aspect lower;
While the base art of Gallic miscreants draws
Her truest patriots from their country's cause.—
Turn—turn the eye, nor view the only stain
That blots the annals of our naval reign;
On one dark tint of shame O cease to gaze,
Lost in surrounding glory's brighter blaze;
As the small spots that cloud the orb of day
Vanish to nothing in his noontide ray!
On shore the mariner's incautious heart
Unpractic'd in the devious paths of guile
Falls a sure prey to each insidious wile;
Hence oft the dupe of selfish avarice made,
Hence oft by beauty's venal smile betray'd;
And hence did Faction once with treacherous aim
Lure the brave seaman from the paths of fame;
And Britain saw, amaz'd, her strongest power
On her own head with dreadful aspect lower;
While the base art of Gallic miscreants draws
Her truest patriots from their country's cause.—
71
That blots the annals of our naval reign;
On one dark tint of shame O cease to gaze,
Lost in surrounding glory's brighter blaze;
As the small spots that cloud the orb of day
Vanish to nothing in his noontide ray!
And see the beams of naval glory rise
Bright in meridian splendour to the skies!
Batavia's fleets, which long our hovering host
Held timid prisoners on their sheltering coast,
The transitory hour of absence seize,
And give their canvas to the freshening breeze.
The buoyant cutter spreads her agile wings,
And to our coast the wish'd-for tidings brings;
The foe's designs while valiant Trollope views,
By turns eludes them, and by turns pursues.
Soon as the bark arrives in Garien's bay,
Where Britain's wave-worn vessels anchoring lay,
Instant aloft the expected signal flies,
All view with beating hearts and ardent eyes;
All see with joy the leading flag display'd,
Bent is each sail, and every anchor weigh'd:
With canvas crowded groans the bending mast,
Loud through the cordage sings the favouring blast,
And as the keels the foaming surge divide,
Before the prow wild roars the whitening tide.
And now their eyes with glance impatient meet
The long hop'd prospect of the adverse fleet.
No squadron this by hands unskilful sped,
A race of seamen by a seaman led.—
Impetuous through the battle's fiery tides
The storm of war heroic Duncan guides.
The opposing line is pierced—when clustering foes
Vindictive round the daring warrior close;
Now on his beam the vollied thunders break
With dreadful peal, and now his stern they rake;—
Calm 'mid the fiery storm of death he stands,
Firm in his conduct, clear in his commands.—
Courage must bend to greater courage still,
Superior numbers to superior skill.
Her masts o'erthrown, and pil'd with dead her deck,
The Belgic leader lies a cumbrous wreck;
The scatter'd squadrons see with haggard eye
Britannia's ensign o'er Batavia's fly.
Dismay'd,—confus'd,—along the stormy main
Vainly they try the friendly coast to gain:
For all whose barks the battle's rage had borne,
Their timbers batter'd, and their cordage torn,
Fall to the victor's power,—while a mean race,
Veiling in coward boasts their own disgrace,
Safe in the shoaly Texel's channel, tell
How Belgium triumph'd, and Britannia fell.
Bright in meridian splendour to the skies!
Batavia's fleets, which long our hovering host
Held timid prisoners on their sheltering coast,
The transitory hour of absence seize,
And give their canvas to the freshening breeze.
The buoyant cutter spreads her agile wings,
And to our coast the wish'd-for tidings brings;
The foe's designs while valiant Trollope views,
By turns eludes them, and by turns pursues.
Soon as the bark arrives in Garien's bay,
Where Britain's wave-worn vessels anchoring lay,
Instant aloft the expected signal flies,
All view with beating hearts and ardent eyes;
All see with joy the leading flag display'd,
Bent is each sail, and every anchor weigh'd:
With canvas crowded groans the bending mast,
Loud through the cordage sings the favouring blast,
And as the keels the foaming surge divide,
Before the prow wild roars the whitening tide.
72
The long hop'd prospect of the adverse fleet.
No squadron this by hands unskilful sped,
A race of seamen by a seaman led.—
Impetuous through the battle's fiery tides
The storm of war heroic Duncan guides.
The opposing line is pierced—when clustering foes
Vindictive round the daring warrior close;
Now on his beam the vollied thunders break
With dreadful peal, and now his stern they rake;—
Calm 'mid the fiery storm of death he stands,
Firm in his conduct, clear in his commands.—
Courage must bend to greater courage still,
Superior numbers to superior skill.
Her masts o'erthrown, and pil'd with dead her deck,
The Belgic leader lies a cumbrous wreck;
The scatter'd squadrons see with haggard eye
Britannia's ensign o'er Batavia's fly.
Dismay'd,—confus'd,—along the stormy main
Vainly they try the friendly coast to gain:
For all whose barks the battle's rage had borne,
Their timbers batter'd, and their cordage torn,
Fall to the victor's power,—while a mean race,
Veiling in coward boasts their own disgrace,
Safe in the shoaly Texel's channel, tell
How Belgium triumph'd, and Britannia fell.
What trophies shall the Muse to Duncan raise,
Whose worth transcends the boldest flight of praise?—
Will all the powers man's genius can display
Give added lustre to the beams of day?
His virtues shine in native worth array'd,
Nor want, nor ask, precarious flattery's aid.
Him to his senate Britain's Monarch calls,
His praise resounding from that senate's walls;
Walls where in woven tints portray'd are seen
The naval triumph of the maiden Queen.
The delegated sons of Britain's choice
In his applauses speak a people's voice;
And while from Caledonia's northern skies,
Prolific parent of the brave and wise,
Bursts the full strain in patriot ardour loud
Of such a son with honest vaunting proud,
England asserts her share of Duncan's fame,
And claims the hero in Britannia's name.
Whose worth transcends the boldest flight of praise?—
73
Give added lustre to the beams of day?
His virtues shine in native worth array'd,
Nor want, nor ask, precarious flattery's aid.
Him to his senate Britain's Monarch calls,
His praise resounding from that senate's walls;
Walls where in woven tints portray'd are seen
The naval triumph of the maiden Queen.
The delegated sons of Britain's choice
In his applauses speak a people's voice;
And while from Caledonia's northern skies,
Prolific parent of the brave and wise,
Bursts the full strain in patriot ardour loud
Of such a son with honest vaunting proud,
England asserts her share of Duncan's fame,
And claims the hero in Britannia's name.
Nor, Onslow, shall the Muse to thee deny
The warrior's meed, the wreath of victory;
Or, gallant Burgess, o'er thy trophied bier
Forget to pour the tributary tear.
Nor the less known, though not less valiant train,
Who, nobly purging faction's recent stain,
Rush'd to the watery field at glory's call,
Unprais'd shall live, nor unlamented fall.—
Ah, gallant race! by bleeding victory crown'd,
Who, while life's current stream'd from every wound,
Cried with exulting, though with parting breath,
‘Now has our faith been prov'd!’ and smil'd in death.
Nor o'er the tombs of those who nobly died
Hang only pageant plumes of funeral pride;
All ranks unite to aid whom all revere,
And wipe the widow's and the orphan's tear:
Not opulence the boon alone bestows,
From humbler hearts the stream benignant flows;
And while the chiefs of Britain's banner'd host
Console the friends of kindred warriors lost,
The meanest soldier of the generous band
His scantier offering brings with liberal hand.
The warrior's meed, the wreath of victory;
Or, gallant Burgess, o'er thy trophied bier
Forget to pour the tributary tear.
Nor the less known, though not less valiant train,
Who, nobly purging faction's recent stain,
Rush'd to the watery field at glory's call,
Unprais'd shall live, nor unlamented fall.—
Ah, gallant race! by bleeding victory crown'd,
Who, while life's current stream'd from every wound,
Cried with exulting, though with parting breath,
‘Now has our faith been prov'd!’ and smil'd in death.
74
Hang only pageant plumes of funeral pride;
All ranks unite to aid whom all revere,
And wipe the widow's and the orphan's tear:
Not opulence the boon alone bestows,
From humbler hearts the stream benignant flows;
And while the chiefs of Britain's banner'd host
Console the friends of kindred warriors lost,
The meanest soldier of the generous band
His scantier offering brings with liberal hand.
Imperial mistress of the briny plains,
Without a rival, now Britannia reigns.
Where'er in warlike pomp her barks appear,
Abash'd her recreant foes avow their fear,
On Gallia's threat'ning boasts, with scornful frown,
From her white cliffs she looks indignant down;
And while her fleet each clime remote explores,
While wide increasing Commerce spreads her stores
Wealth, science, courage, mingled flowers bestow
To deck the naval crown on George's brow.
Without a rival, now Britannia reigns.
Where'er in warlike pomp her barks appear,
Abash'd her recreant foes avow their fear,
On Gallia's threat'ning boasts, with scornful frown,
From her white cliffs she looks indignant down;
And while her fleet each clime remote explores,
While wide increasing Commerce spreads her stores
Wealth, science, courage, mingled flowers bestow
To deck the naval crown on George's brow.
Ye laurel'd chiefs, who rais'd his billowy reign!
Ye living heroes, who that power maintain!
Whose actions of renown my voice has sung
In feeble accents with a faltering tongue,
Forgive the daring effort, nor repine,
Though but recorded in a verse like mine.
The proudest Muse who soars on fiction's wings
Dims the bright lustre of the deeds she sings,
The minstrels of the epic song of old,
Who mighty acts of fabled chiefs unfold,
What seeds of fame for others have they sown,
Whose glorious works ennobled but their own?—
Your worth on that eternal base shall live
Nor fiction can destroy nor fiction give;
For History on her adamantine page
Those names displays to Time's remotest age,
Who free and fearless Glory's track pursued
Through every danger, and o'er every flood,
Britannia's thunder on Oppression hurl'd,
And thron'd her empress of the naval world.
Ye living heroes, who that power maintain!
75
In feeble accents with a faltering tongue,
Forgive the daring effort, nor repine,
Though but recorded in a verse like mine.
The proudest Muse who soars on fiction's wings
Dims the bright lustre of the deeds she sings,
The minstrels of the epic song of old,
Who mighty acts of fabled chiefs unfold,
What seeds of fame for others have they sown,
Whose glorious works ennobled but their own?—
Your worth on that eternal base shall live
Nor fiction can destroy nor fiction give;
For History on her adamantine page
Those names displays to Time's remotest age,
Who free and fearless Glory's track pursued
Through every danger, and o'er every flood,
Britannia's thunder on Oppression hurl'd,
And thron'd her empress of the naval world.
Yet though the Muse wake not her sounding strings
With cadence equal to the theme she sings,
Oft tuned to humbler mood, her warbled lay
Has cheer'd the seaman on his watery way;
Now painting to his mind the faithful band
Of love and friendship in his native land,
Hailing with accents partial to the brave
The kind and constant warrior of the wave;
Now chanting slow the melancholy dirge
To Hosier, festering on the hostile surge;
Now striking loud the free heroic lyre
Kindling the blaze of emulative fire,
While the recording sailor's notes repeat
How gallant Russel vanquish'd Gallia's fleet.—
Nor let the sons of letter'd pride despise
Germs whence the vigorous shoots of valour rise:
So Attic freedom own'd Harmodius' strain,
So rous'd Tyrtæus' song the Spartan train.
Never shall Anarchy's mad dæmon tread
Insulting here, o'er Freedom's hallow'd head,
While Freedom's sons in festive carol raise
To George and Liberty their votive lays;
Never shall sink Britannia's naval fire
While rous'd to glory by her Thomson's lyre.—
Responsive to his lay, her Genius long
In act shall realize the raptur'd song
His fancy heard—what time the angelic train
Hail'd the bless'd isle emerging from the main,
With seraph hand their golden viols strung,
And to his ear the hymn prophetic sung.—
‘Long as her native oak's strong limbs defy
‘The furious blasts that rend her stormy sky,
‘Long as her rocky shores the ocean laves,
‘Shall Freedom and Britannia rule the waves.’
With cadence equal to the theme she sings,
Oft tuned to humbler mood, her warbled lay
Has cheer'd the seaman on his watery way;
Now painting to his mind the faithful band
Of love and friendship in his native land,
Hailing with accents partial to the brave
The kind and constant warrior of the wave;
Now chanting slow the melancholy dirge
To Hosier, festering on the hostile surge;
Now striking loud the free heroic lyre
Kindling the blaze of emulative fire,
76
How gallant Russel vanquish'd Gallia's fleet.—
Nor let the sons of letter'd pride despise
Germs whence the vigorous shoots of valour rise:
So Attic freedom own'd Harmodius' strain,
So rous'd Tyrtæus' song the Spartan train.
Never shall Anarchy's mad dæmon tread
Insulting here, o'er Freedom's hallow'd head,
While Freedom's sons in festive carol raise
To George and Liberty their votive lays;
Never shall sink Britannia's naval fire
While rous'd to glory by her Thomson's lyre.—
Responsive to his lay, her Genius long
In act shall realize the raptur'd song
His fancy heard—what time the angelic train
Hail'd the bless'd isle emerging from the main,
With seraph hand their golden viols strung,
And to his ear the hymn prophetic sung.—
‘Long as her native oak's strong limbs defy
‘The furious blasts that rend her stormy sky,
‘Long as her rocky shores the ocean laves,
‘Shall Freedom and Britannia rule the waves.’
To show this is no poetic fiction, the following facts are given from unquestionable authority. ‘Many of the seamen who were wounded in the action of the eleventh of October had been concerned in the late mutiny. All expressed their hope that it would now be forgotten; and some of those who were wounded mortally, said, a short time before their death, that they hoped they had now made atonement for their conduct on that occasion.’ —What pen can do justice to such heroism!
‘Fortunati omnes! si quid mea carmina possint
‘Nulla dies unquam memori vos eximet ævo.’
‘Nulla dies unquam memori vos eximet ævo.’
THE END.
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