 | Poems on several occasions |  |
43
An ODE,
On the Surrender of Edinburgh.
I
While on Edina's fate intent,In sighs my joyless soul I sent,
In tears my melting heart;
The weeping streams gave tear for tear,
And echo'd ev'ry sigh sincere,
With sympathetic smart.
II
Along the lilly'd bank reclin'd,My Being all to grief resign'd,
Which ev'n my groans restrain'd;
While ev'ry trembling sallow bough,
That on the verdant margent grew,
A silent harp sustain'd.
III
For, like his kindred fiends below,Pleas'd to insult our hopeless woe,
44
Resume the lyre, and strike the string,
Edina's new deliv'rance sing,
The Tyrant Victor cry'd.
IV
What mighty pow'r, what pleasing theme,Can bid the long extinguish'd flame,
Rekindling warm my veins?
Not he who leads th' eternal choir,
Though all in heav'n the song admire,
While Scotia mourns in chains.
V
When I Edina not deplore,Thy freedom, wealth, and peace, no more,
And ev'ry grief of thine;
On me, Oh fate! thy quiver show'r,
Let all thy rage, with all thy pow'r,
To wreck my joys combine.
VI
If, while beneath this life I groan,Beyond thy good a bliss I own,
45
Perish the muse, and all her fire,
Be dead my hand, and curst my lyre,
My portion deep despair.
VII
Thus oft provok'd, remember still,Eternal judge of good and ill,
When our remorseless foes,
Arm'd in a base-born Coward's cause,
To blast our freedom, peace, and laws,
Durst thee and George oppose.
VIII
As they, with boundless fury fraught,To blast our laws, and freedom sought,
And all thy vengeance dar'd:
Thy strong vindictive arm extend,
On them let all those plagues descend,
Which they for us prepar'd.
IX
And thou, with hell and mischief join'd,Thou curse and stain of human kind,
46
See, see the angel of thy fate,
Whom panting hours pursue too late,
Wave high the sword of flame.
X
Why then, my soul, so low depress'd?Ah! why those tumults in my breast?
In God thy hope still place:
In God, whose goodness warms my lays
With all th' inraptur'd soul of praise,
With smiles adorns thy face.
47
An ODE,
On the present REBELLION.
I
When, urg'd by thirst of lawless sway,Undreading nations to explore,
The spurious exile plough'd his way,
And mark'd with cursed steps the shore,
Him Albion's potent angel view'd,
As on the naked beech he stood,
And plann'd Britannia's future woe:
Then spread his wings, and pois'd on high,
Revolv'd, in doubt, to mount the sky.
Or tend his hapless charge below.
II
As, when expell'd from heav'n and light,To gloom, to anguish, and despair,
Hell's angry Tyrant wing'd his flight,
To Eden's soft and fragrant air;
His curst approach the conscious scene
Confess'd, by various marks of pain:
48
Each blasted cedar bent his head,
Each charm forsook the tarnish'd mead,
And silent horror shook the place.
III
Far distant from the once lov'd coast,Which now unhallow'd feet prophane,
In clouds his dazling splendor lost,
The genius hover'd o'er the main:
Pierc'd with as much of mortal woe,
As essences divine can know,
He thus effac'd his melting heart;
While the hoarse surges ceas'd to rore,
And echo sad, from shore to shore,
Repell'd the accents of his smart.
IV
Pleas'd with the task by God assign'd,On Albion long I bent my care:
For her my throne in heav'n resign'd,
And ev'ry deathless pleasure there:
Long I beheld, with glad survey,
Her honours grow beneath my sway;
49
The gilded hours, a choral throng,
With sacred freedom, peace, and song,
With ev'ry social charm were blest.
V
But why, with sudden gloom o'ercast,Does all the radiant scene appear?
What cursed spell, what envious blast,
Withers the smile of joy sincere?
Britannia, thine the mighty blame:
From thee those woes, this havock came;
Thy guilt provok'd the dreadful blow,
Thy guilt impell'd the wave to roll,
Thy guilt inspir'd th' ætherial soul,
That wafted to the port thy foe.
VI
For this, reproach shall cloud thy fame;Whose blaze, nor earth, nor sea confin'd:
For this, thy harvests, wrapt in flame,
In curling smoaks shall mount the wind:
For this, with unextinguish'd hate,
And thirst of blood, those hearts shall beat,
50
For this, to nature deaf and blind,
The cruel sire his son shall find,
And blast the being he bestow'd.
VII
For this, thy bravest sons, subdu'd,Manure their natal soil with slain:
For this, thy rivers, ting'd with blood,
Flow crimson to the frighted main:
For this, the bride, whose smiling eyes,
Ah! false presage of future joys,
Late saw the-torch of Hymen glow,
Shall the lov'd youth with shrieks deplore,
Deform'd with dust, and bath'd in gore,
And curse her lot in frantic woe.
VIII
Hence, fraud unbars Edina's gate,Hence, recent slaughter loads you plain,
Hence, trace thy God-like Gard'ner's fate,
Whom angels wish'd to shield, in vain:
Ah! lov'd of God, by man deplor'd,
Ah! yet too soon to heav'n restor'd,
51
Thy worth the heav'n taught bard shall sing,
The earliest beauties of the spring
With annual verdure deck thy urn.
IX
While heav'n's perennial orbs of flameDuration's flowing series bound,
Race shall to race transmit thy name,
With ever-bright'ning glories crown'd:
For him, ye gates of endless day,
For him your living valves display:
Angels, to hail your friend prepare,
For him erect the saphire throne,
Of gold immortal frame the zone,
With all your art to grace his hair.
X
And thou, from whom those horrors grew,Thy short-liv'd triumph now enjoy:
Soon other thoughts shall bend thy brow,
And other cares thy soul employ:
In fate's eternal balance weigh'd,
By foes oppress'd, by friends betray'd,
52
Soon shall thy life thy fame attone,
For ev'ry pang and ev'ry groan,
Which Scotia breath'd beneath thy wound.
XI
Rome's wooden gods, a nameless crew,Who not to Egypt's numbers yield,
Though thousands in each garden grew,
And thousands low'd in ev'ry field,
The villain priest, and trembling shrine,
Shall dread their fate, involv'd in thine:
While Gallia's arms, repell'd with scorn,
Shall seek in night her shame to hide,
In tears of blood repent her pride,
And curse the moment thou wert born.
XII
Albion shall fly, with just disdain,The source from whence her sorrows spring:
Wash from each hand the purple stain,
And cleanse from fraud the double tongue.
While Tyrant pow'r, and Discord fell,
The darling progeny of hell,
53
While freedom, peace, and virtue join'd,
Resume their empire o'er mankind,
Nor age, nor distance check thy reign.
XIII
Thus he: and instant, from the sky,Immortal myriads join the strain;
Glory they sung to God on high,
Benevolence and peace to men.
With smiles, ineffably divine,
Like that which first taught light to shine,
Th' Almighty list'ned from his seat;
Then, with a strong decisive nod,
That to its centre shook th' abode,
Approv'd the song, and seal'd it Fate.
| Poems on several occasions | |