 | The poetical works (1829) |  |
TO THE EXILED PATRIOTS MUIR AND PALMER.
Martyrs of Freedom! ye who firmly good,
Stept forth the champions in her glorious cause;
Ye, who against Corruption nobly stood
For Justice, Liberty, and equal laws;
Stept forth the champions in her glorious cause;
Ye, who against Corruption nobly stood
For Justice, Liberty, and equal laws;
Ye, who have urged the cause of man so well,
Firm when Corruption's torrent swept along;
Ye, who so firmly stood, so nobly fell,
Accept one honest Briton's grateful song.
Firm when Corruption's torrent swept along;
Ye, who so firmly stood, so nobly fell,
Accept one honest Briton's grateful song.
Take from one honest heart the meed of praise;
Let Justice strike her high-toned harp for you;
Take from the minstrel's hand the garland bays
Who feels your energy and sorrows too.
Let Justice strike her high-toned harp for you;
Take from the minstrel's hand the garland bays
Who feels your energy and sorrows too.
But be it yours to triumph in disgrace,
Above the storms of Fate be yours to tower
Unchanged in Virtue or by Time or Place,
Unscared is Justice by the throue of Power.
Above the storms of Fate be yours to tower
Unchanged in Virtue or by Time or Place,
Unscared is Justice by the throue of Power.
No, by the tyrant's heart let fear be known,
Let the Judge tremble who perverts his trust,
Let proud Oppression totter on his throne;
Fear is a stranger to the good and just.
Let the Judge tremble who perverts his trust,
Let proud Oppression totter on his throne;
Fear is a stranger to the good and just.
And is there aught amid the tyrant's state,
Or aught in mighty Nature's ample reign,
So excellently good, so grandly great,
As Freedom struggling with Oppression's chain?
Or aught in mighty Nature's ample reign,
So excellently good, so grandly great,
As Freedom struggling with Oppression's chain?
Swells not the soul with ardour at the view?
Bounds not the breast at Freedom's sacred call?
Ye, noble Martyrs, then she feels for you,
Glows in your cause, and crimsons at your fall.
Bounds not the breast at Freedom's sacred call?
Ye, noble Martyrs, then she feels for you,
Glows in your cause, and crimsons at your fall.
And shall Oppression vainly think by Fear
To quench the fearless energy of Mind,
And glorying in your fall, exult it here,
As though no free-born soul was left behind?
To quench the fearless energy of Mind,
And glorying in your fall, exult it here,
As though no free-born soul was left behind?
Thinks the proud tyrant, by the pliant law,
The hireling Jury and the Judge unjust,
To strike the soul of Liberty with awe,
And scare the friends of Freedom from their trust?
The hireling Jury and the Judge unjust,
To strike the soul of Liberty with awe,
And scare the friends of Freedom from their trust?
As easy might the Despot's empty pride
The onward course of rushing Ocean stay:
As easy might his jealous caution hide
From mortal eyes the Orb of general day.
The onward course of rushing Ocean stay:
As easy might his jealous caution hide
From mortal eyes the Orb of general day.
For like that general Orb's eternal flame
Glows the mild force of Virtue's constant light;
Though clouded by Misfortune, still the same,
For ever constant and for ever bright.
Glows the mild force of Virtue's constant light;
Though clouded by Misfortune, still the same,
For ever constant and for ever bright.
Not till eternal Chaos shall that light
Before Oppression's fury fade away;
Not till the Sun himself be quenched in night,
Not till the frame of Nature shall decay.
Before Oppression's fury fade away;
Not till the Sun himself be quenched in night,
Not till the frame of Nature shall decay.
Go then—secure in steady Virtue—go,
Nor heed the peril of the stormy seas;
Nor heed the fclon's name—the felon's woe,
Contempt and pain and sorrow and disease.
Nor heed the peril of the stormy seas;
Nor heed the fclon's name—the felon's woe,
Contempt and pain and sorrow and disease.
Though cankering cares corrode the sinking frame,
Though Sickness rankle in the sallow breast,
Though Death himself should quench the vital flame,
Think but for what ye suffer, and be blest.
Though Sickness rankle in the sallow breast,
Though Death himself should quench the vital flame,
Think but for what ye suffer, and be blest.
So shall your great examples fire each soul,
So in each free-born breast for ever dwell,
Till MAN shall rise above the unjust control,
Stand where ye stood, and triumph where ye fell.
So in each free-born breast for ever dwell,
Till MAN shall rise above the unjust control,
Stand where ye stood, and triumph where ye fell.
Ages unborn shall glory in your shame,
And curse the ignoble spirit of the time,
And teach their lisping infants to exclaim—
He who ailows Oppression, shares the crime.
And curse the ignoble spirit of the time,
And teach their lisping infants to exclaim—
He who ailows Oppression, shares the crime.
The sixth day of the first decade of the fourth month of the
third year of the French Republic, One and Indivisible.
| The poetical works (1829) | |