The Poetical Works of the late Mrs Mary Robinson including many pieces never before published. In Three Volumes |
 | I. |
 | II. |
A FRAGMENT.
|
| III. |
 | The Poetical Works of the late Mrs Mary Robinson |  |
308
A FRAGMENT.
Supposed to be written near the Temple, at Paris, on the Night before the Execution of Louis XVI.
Now Midnight spreads her sable vest
With starry rays, light-tissu'd o'er;
Now from the desart's thistled breast
The chilling dews begin to soar;
The owl shrieks from the tott'ring tow'r,
Dread watch-bird of the witching hour!
Spectres, from their charnel cells,
Cleave the air with hideous yells!
Not a glow-worm ventures forth
To gild his little speck of earth!
In wild despair Creation seems to wait,
While Horror stalks abroad, to deal the shafts of Fate!
With starry rays, light-tissu'd o'er;
Now from the desart's thistled breast
The chilling dews begin to soar;
The owl shrieks from the tott'ring tow'r,
Dread watch-bird of the witching hour!
Spectres, from their charnel cells,
Cleave the air with hideous yells!
Not a glow-worm ventures forth
To gild his little speck of earth!
In wild despair Creation seems to wait,
While Horror stalks abroad, to deal the shafts of Fate!
To yonder damp and dreary cave,
From black Oblivion's silent wave,
Borne on Desolation's wings,
Death his poison'd chalice brings!
Wide beneath the turbid sky,
Fierce Rebellion's banners fly,
Sweeping to her iron den
The agonizing hearts of men!
There, in many a ghastly throng,
Blood-stain'd myriads glide along,
While each above his crest a faulchion rears,
Imbu'd with tepid gore, or drench'd with scalding tears!
From black Oblivion's silent wave,
Borne on Desolation's wings,
Death his poison'd chalice brings!
309
Fierce Rebellion's banners fly,
Sweeping to her iron den
The agonizing hearts of men!
There, in many a ghastly throng,
Blood-stain'd myriads glide along,
While each above his crest a faulchion rears,
Imbu'd with tepid gore, or drench'd with scalding tears!
About yon tow'r, (whose grated cell
Entombs the fairest child of earth,
August in misery, as in birth)
The hosts of Pandimonium dwell!
Night and day the fiends conspire
To glut their desolating ire:
Ire that feeds on human woe,
That smiling deals the murd'rous blow;
And as the hopeless victim dies,
Fills with shouts the threat'ning skies;
Nor trembles, lest the vengeful light'ning's glare
Should blast their recreant arms, and scatter them to air!
Entombs the fairest child of earth,
August in misery, as in birth)
The hosts of Pandimonium dwell!
Night and day the fiends conspire
To glut their desolating ire:
Ire that feeds on human woe,
That smiling deals the murd'rous blow;
And as the hopeless victim dies,
Fills with shouts the threat'ning skies;
Nor trembles, lest the vengeful light'ning's glare
Should blast their recreant arms, and scatter them to air!
Round the deep entrenchments stand
Bold Ambition's giant band;
Beneath, insidious Malice creeps,
And keen Revenge that never sleeps;
While dark Suspicion hovers near,
Stung by the dastard scorpion, Fear;
Reason, shrinking from her gaze,
Flies the scene in wild amaze;
While trembling Pity dies to see
The barb'rous sons of Anarchy
Drench their unnatural hands in human blood,
While patriot Virtue sinks beneath the whelming flood!
Bold Ambition's giant band;
Beneath, insidious Malice creeps,
And keen Revenge that never sleeps;
310
Stung by the dastard scorpion, Fear;
Reason, shrinking from her gaze,
Flies the scene in wild amaze;
While trembling Pity dies to see
The barb'rous sons of Anarchy
Drench their unnatural hands in human blood,
While patriot Virtue sinks beneath the whelming flood!
Hark! the petrifying shriek
Breaks from yonder turret bleak;
The lofty tower returns the sound,
Echoing through its base profound!
The rising moon, with paly light,
Faintly greets the aching sight
With many a gliding centinel,
Whose shadow would his steps repel;
Whose soul, convuls'd with conscious woe,
Pants for the morning's purple glow,
The purple glow that cheers his breast,
And gives his startled mind a short-liv'd hour of rest.
Breaks from yonder turret bleak;
The lofty tower returns the sound,
Echoing through its base profound!
The rising moon, with paly light,
Faintly greets the aching sight
With many a gliding centinel,
Whose shadow would his steps repel;
Whose soul, convuls'd with conscious woe,
Pants for the morning's purple glow,
The purple glow that cheers his breast,
And gives his startled mind a short-liv'd hour of rest.
But when shall morn's effulgent light
The hapless sufferer's glance invite?
When shall the breath of rosy day
Around the infant victims play?
When will the vivifying orb
The tears of widow'd love absorb?
See, see, the palpitating breast,
By the weeping graces drest,
Now dumb with grief, now raving wild,
Bending o'er each with'ring child,
The only treasures spar'd by savage ire,
The fading shadows of their murder'd sire!
The hapless sufferer's glance invite?
When shall the breath of rosy day
Around the infant victims play?
311
The tears of widow'd love absorb?
See, see, the palpitating breast,
By the weeping graces drest,
Now dumb with grief, now raving wild,
Bending o'er each with'ring child,
The only treasures spar'd by savage ire,
The fading shadows of their murder'd sire!
The seraph Hope, with transient light,
Illumes the dreary shade of night;
Suspends a while the frenzy'd shriek,
The slow-pac'd tear of suff'rance meek:
But soon the demon Wrath appears,
Who braves the touch of mortal fears;
His flaming sword, with hideous glare,
Proves the dire signal of Despair!
Retiring Hope beholds, subdu'd,
The fatal mandate sign'd with blood,
With kindred blood! Oh, horrible and base,
To stigmatize with shame a long illustrious race!
Illumes the dreary shade of night;
Suspends a while the frenzy'd shriek,
The slow-pac'd tear of suff'rance meek:
But soon the demon Wrath appears,
Who braves the touch of mortal fears;
His flaming sword, with hideous glare,
Proves the dire signal of Despair!
Retiring Hope beholds, subdu'd,
The fatal mandate sign'd with blood,
With kindred blood! Oh, horrible and base,
To stigmatize with shame a long illustrious race!
Oh, Fancy! spread thy powerful wing,
From Hell's polluted confines spring;
Quit, quit the cell where Madness lies,
With wounded breast, and starting eyes!
The ruthless fiends have done their worst,
They triumph in the deed accurs'd.
See, her veil Oblivion throws
O'er the last of human woes!
Life's curtain falls with many a crimson stain,
Closing from every eye the scene of pain,
While from afar the war-song dins the ear,
And drowns the dying groan, which angels weep to hear.
From Hell's polluted confines spring;
Quit, quit the cell where Madness lies,
With wounded breast, and starting eyes!
The ruthless fiends have done their worst,
They triumph in the deed accurs'd.
312
O'er the last of human woes!
Life's curtain falls with many a crimson stain,
Closing from every eye the scene of pain,
While from afar the war-song dins the ear,
And drowns the dying groan, which angels weep to hear.
| The Poetical Works of the late Mrs Mary Robinson | |