Valentine Verses or, Lines of Truth, Love, and Virtue. By the Reverend Richard Cobbold |
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CÆSAR PASSING THE RUBICON. |
 | Valentine Verses |  |
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CÆSAR PASSING THE RUBICON.
Pause! dread Ambition! Pause thou horrid fiend
Of civil discord! Cæsar paus'd awhile;
O not to think, but urge his soldiers on.
Stung with offended honor, Pompey's pride,
Cabals at home, and jealousies within;
The Hero's wrongs were magnified to crime
Resentment, rage, and passion had inflam'd
His noble Spirit. He but saw in Rome
The object of his aim. To conquer worlds,
And yet be subject to the will of one,
No more, and not so much a conquerer!
To conquer Worlds, and be in Rome denied;
O no! it was not Cæsar! He, or nought,
The first, or last! or Victory, or Death!
Cæsar was Cæsar, at the Rubicon.
Of civil discord! Cæsar paus'd awhile;
O not to think, but urge his soldiers on.
Stung with offended honor, Pompey's pride,
Cabals at home, and jealousies within;
The Hero's wrongs were magnified to crime
Resentment, rage, and passion had inflam'd
His noble Spirit. He but saw in Rome
The object of his aim. To conquer worlds,
And yet be subject to the will of one,
No more, and not so much a conquerer!
To conquer Worlds, and be in Rome denied;
O no! it was not Cæsar! He, or nought,
The first, or last! or Victory, or Death!
Cæsar was Cæsar, at the Rubicon.
'Tis mighty well: let Cæsar be a king,
And those who like it, imitate his step;
Hadst thou, or I, been leader of the host
That Cæsar was, and seen as Roman did,
The only Virtue in the art of war,
We should have foremost past the boundary;
And bade defiance to the foe, who stood
'Twixt us and Honor.
And those who like it, imitate his step;
Hadst thou, or I, been leader of the host
That Cæsar was, and seen as Roman did,
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We should have foremost past the boundary;
And bade defiance to the foe, who stood
'Twixt us and Honor.
Glory, Sir, is chang'd.—
Our Spirits are within us, to subdue
Those deadly passions, which engender strife.
England has heroes! may she ever have,
Such faithful soldiers as obey the word
Commanded them by leader from above.
Our Spirits are within us, to subdue
Those deadly passions, which engender strife.
England has heroes! may she ever have,
Such faithful soldiers as obey the word
Commanded them by leader from above.
'Twixt us and Love, the Rubicon of Pride
Flows seemingly a quiet placid stream.
What thousands sailing shamelessly along,
Steer o'er its waters, and pretend to pass;
Yet never care, or ever dare, to stem
This torrent of the World. 'Tis well! 'tis well!
Our Leader has advanced, a mightier One
Than ever Cæsar could be; He has gone,
And shown us, how the river may be past.
Flows seemingly a quiet placid stream.
What thousands sailing shamelessly along,
Steer o'er its waters, and pretend to pass;
Yet never care, or ever dare, to stem
This torrent of the World. 'Tis well! 'tis well!
Our Leader has advanced, a mightier One
Than ever Cæsar could be; He has gone,
And shown us, how the river may be past.
Be brave! be faithful! Conquer, Sir, thyself.—
Forgive, and be not angry with the line;
But onward, onward, o'er the world pass on,
Be more than Cæsar, at the Rubicon.
Forgive, and be not angry with the line;
But onward, onward, o'er the world pass on,
Be more than Cæsar, at the Rubicon.
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