The poetical works of James Montgomery collected by himself |
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THE MOLE-HILL. |
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 | The poetical works of James Montgomery |  |
THE MOLE-HILL.
Tell me, thou dust beneath my feet,
Thou dust that once hadst breath!
Tell me how many mortals meet
In this small hill of death?
Thou dust that once hadst breath!
Tell me how many mortals meet
In this small hill of death?
The mole that scoops with curious toil
Her subterranean bed,
Thinks not she ploughs a human soil,
And mines among the dead.
Her subterranean bed,
Thinks not she ploughs a human soil,
And mines among the dead.
But, O! where'er she turns the ground,
My kindred earth I see:
Once every atom of this mound
Lived, breathed, and felt, like me.
My kindred earth I see:
Once every atom of this mound
Lived, breathed, and felt, like me.
Like me these elder-born of clay
Enjoy'd the cheerful light,
Bore the brief burden of a day,
And went to rest at night.
Enjoy'd the cheerful light,
Bore the brief burden of a day,
And went to rest at night.
Far in the regions of the morn,
The rising sun surveys
Palmyra's palaces forlorn,
Empurpled with his rays.
The rising sun surveys
Palmyra's palaces forlorn,
Empurpled with his rays.
The spirits of the desert dwell
Where eastern grandeur shone,
And vultures scream, hyænas yell
Round Beauty's mouldering throne.
Where eastern grandeur shone,
And vultures scream, hyænas yell
Round Beauty's mouldering throne.
There the pale pilgrim, as he stands,
Sees, from the broken wall,
The shadow tottering on the sands,
Ere the loose fragment fall.
Sees, from the broken wall,
The shadow tottering on the sands,
Ere the loose fragment fall.
Destruction joys, amid those scenes,
To watch the sport of Fate,
While Time between the pillars leans,
And bows them with his weight.
To watch the sport of Fate,
While Time between the pillars leans,
And bows them with his weight.
But towers and temples, crush'd by Time,
Stupendous wrecks! appear
To me less mournfully sublime
Than the poor Mole-hill here.
Stupendous wrecks! appear
To me less mournfully sublime
Than the poor Mole-hill here.
Through all this hillock's crumbling mould
Once the warm life-blood ran:
Here thine original behold,
And here thy ruins, Man!
Once the warm life-blood ran:
Here thine original behold,
And here thy ruins, Man!
Methinks this dust yet heaves with breath;
Ten thousand pulses beat;
Tell me,—in this small hill of death,
How many mortals meet?
Ten thousand pulses beat;
Tell me,—in this small hill of death,
How many mortals meet?
286
By wafting winds and flooding rains,
From ocean, earth, and sky,
Collected here, the frail remains
Of slumbering millions lie.
From ocean, earth, and sky,
Collected here, the frail remains
Of slumbering millions lie.
What scene of terror and amaze
Breaks through the twilight gloom?
What hand invisible displays
The secrets of the tomb?
Breaks through the twilight gloom?
What hand invisible displays
The secrets of the tomb?
All ages and all nations rise,
And every grain of earth
Beneath my feet, before mine eyes,
Is startled into birth.
And every grain of earth
Beneath my feet, before mine eyes,
Is startled into birth.
Like gliding mists the shadowy forms
Through the deep valley spread,
And like descending clouds in storms
Lower round the mountain's head.
Through the deep valley spread,
And like descending clouds in storms
Lower round the mountain's head.
O'er the wild champaign while they pass,
Their footsteps yield no sound,
Nor shake from the light trembling grass
A dew-drop to the ground.
Their footsteps yield no sound,
Nor shake from the light trembling grass
A dew-drop to the ground.
Among the undistinguish'd hosts,
My wondering eyes explore
Awful, sublime, terrific ghosts,
Heroes and kings of yore:—
My wondering eyes explore
Awful, sublime, terrific ghosts,
Heroes and kings of yore:—
Tyrants, the comets of their kind,
Whose withering influence ran
Through all the promise of the mind,
And smote and mildew'd man:—
Whose withering influence ran
Through all the promise of the mind,
And smote and mildew'd man:—
Sages, the Pleiades of earth,
Whose genial aspects smiled,
And flowers and fruitage sprang to birth
O'er all the human wild.
Whose genial aspects smiled,
And flowers and fruitage sprang to birth
O'er all the human wild.
Yon gloomy ruffian, gash'd and gored,
Was he, whose fatal skill
First beat the plough-share to a sword,
And taught the art to kill.
Was he, whose fatal skill
First beat the plough-share to a sword,
And taught the art to kill.
Behind him skulks a shade, bereft
Of fondly worshipp'd fame;
He built the Pyramids, but left
No stone to tell his name.
Of fondly worshipp'd fame;
He built the Pyramids, but left
No stone to tell his name.
Who is the chief, with visage dark
As tempests when they roar?
—The first who push'd his daring bark
Beyond the timid shore.
As tempests when they roar?
—The first who push'd his daring bark
Beyond the timid shore.
Through storms of death and seas of graves
He steer'd with steadfast eye;
His path was on the desert waves,
His compass in the sky.
He steer'd with steadfast eye;
His path was on the desert waves,
His compass in the sky.
That youth who lifts his graceful hand,
Struck the unshapen block,
And beauty leap'd, at his command,
A Venus from the rock.
Struck the unshapen block,
And beauty leap'd, at his command,
A Venus from the rock.
Trembling with ecstasy of thought,
Behold the Grecian maid,
Whom love's enchanting impulse taught
To trace a slumberer's shade.
Behold the Grecian maid,
Whom love's enchanting impulse taught
To trace a slumberer's shade.
Sweet are the thefts of love;—she stole
His image while he lay,
Kindled the shadow to a soul,
And breathed that soul through clay.
His image while he lay,
Kindled the shadow to a soul,
And breathed that soul through clay.
Yon listening nymph, who looks behind,
With countenance of fire,
Heard midnight music in the wind,—
And framed the Æolian lyre.
With countenance of fire,
Heard midnight music in the wind,—
And framed the Æolian lyre.
All hail!—The Sire of Song appears
The Muse's eldest born;
The skylark in the dawn of years,
The poet of the morn.
The Muse's eldest born;
The skylark in the dawn of years,
The poet of the morn.
He from the depth of cavern'd woods,
That echoed to his voice,
Bade mountains, valleys, winds, and floods,
And earth and heaven, rejoice.
That echoed to his voice,
Bade mountains, valleys, winds, and floods,
And earth and heaven, rejoice.
Though, charm'd to meekness while he sung,
The wild beasts round him ran,
This was the triumph of his tongue,—
It tamed the heart of man.
The wild beasts round him ran,
This was the triumph of his tongue,—
It tamed the heart of man.
Dim through the mist of twilight times
The ghost of Cyrus walks;
Behind him, red with glorious crimes,
The son of Ammon stalks.
The ghost of Cyrus walks;
Behind him, red with glorious crimes,
The son of Ammon stalks.
287
Relentless Hannibal, in pride
Of sworn fix'd hatred, lowers;
Cæsar,—'tis Brutus at his side,—
In peerless grandeur towers.
Of sworn fix'd hatred, lowers;
Cæsar,—'tis Brutus at his side,—
In peerless grandeur towers.
With moonlight softness Helen's charms
Dissolve the spectred gloom,
The leading star of Greece in arms,
Portending Ilion's doom.
Dissolve the spectred gloom,
The leading star of Greece in arms,
Portending Ilion's doom.
But Homer;—see the bard arise!
And hark!—he strikes the lyre;
The Dardan warriors lift their eyes,
The Argive Chiefs respire.
And hark!—he strikes the lyre;
The Dardan warriors lift their eyes,
The Argive Chiefs respire.
And while his music rolls along,
The towers of Troy sublime,
Raised by the magic breath of song,
Mock the destroyer Time.
The towers of Troy sublime,
Raised by the magic breath of song,
Mock the destroyer Time.
For still around the eternal walls
The storms of battle rage:
And Hector conquers, Hector falls,
Bewept in every age.
The storms of battle rage:
And Hector conquers, Hector falls,
Bewept in every age.
Genius of Homer! Were it mine
To track thy fiery car,
And in thy sunset course to shine
A radiant evening star,—
To track thy fiery car,
And in thy sunset course to shine
A radiant evening star,—
What theme, what laurel, might the Muse
Reclaim from ages fled?
What realm-restoring hero choose
To summon from the dead?
Reclaim from ages fled?
What realm-restoring hero choose
To summon from the dead?
Yonder his shadow flits away:
—Thou shalt not thus depart;
Stay, thou transcendent spirit, stay,
And tell me who thou art!
—Thou shalt not thus depart;
Stay, thou transcendent spirit, stay,
And tell me who thou art!
'Tis Alfred!—In the rolls of Fame,
And on a midnight page,
Blazes his broad refulgent name,
The watch-light of his age.
And on a midnight page,
Blazes his broad refulgent name,
The watch-light of his age.
A Danish winter, from the north,
Howl'd o'er the British wild,
But Alfred, like the spring, brake forth,
And all the desert smiled.
Howl'd o'er the British wild,
But Alfred, like the spring, brake forth,
And all the desert smiled.
Back to the deep he roll'd the waves,
By mad invasion hurl'd;
His voice was liberty to slaves,
Defiance to the world.
By mad invasion hurl'd;
His voice was liberty to slaves,
Defiance to the world.
And still that voice o'er land and sea
Shall Albion's foes appal;
The race of Alfred will be free;
Hear it, and tremble, Gaul!
Shall Albion's foes appal;
The race of Alfred will be free;
Hear it, and tremble, Gaul!
But lo! the phantoms fade in flight,
Like fears that cross the mind,
Like meteors gleaming through the night,
Like thunders on the wind.
Like fears that cross the mind,
Like meteors gleaming through the night,
Like thunders on the wind.
The vision of the tomb is past;
Beyond it who can tell
In what mysterious region cast
Immortal spirits dwell?
Beyond it who can tell
In what mysterious region cast
Immortal spirits dwell?
I know not,—but I soon shall know,
When life's sore conflicts cease,
When this desponding heart lies low,
And I shall rest in peace.
When life's sore conflicts cease,
When this desponding heart lies low,
And I shall rest in peace.
For see, on Death's bewildering wave,
The rainbow Hope arise,
A bridge of glory o'er the grave,
That bends beyond the skies.
The rainbow Hope arise,
A bridge of glory o'er the grave,
That bends beyond the skies.
From earth to heaven it swells and shines
The pledge of bliss to Man;
Time with Eternity combines,
And grasps them in a span.
The pledge of bliss to Man;
Time with Eternity combines,
And grasps them in a span.
1807.
| The poetical works of James Montgomery | |