The poetical works of James Montgomery collected by himself |
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 | The poetical works of James Montgomery |  |
11
V. PART V.
The Wanderer, being left alone with the Shepherd, relates his Adventures after the Battle of Underwalden.
“When the good man yields his breath
(For the good man never dies),
Bright beyond the gulf of death,
Lo! the land of promise lies.
(For the good man never dies),
Bright beyond the gulf of death,
Lo! the land of promise lies.
Peace to Albert's awful shade,
In that land where sorrows cease;
And to Albert's ashes, laid
In the earth's cold bosom, peace.”
In that land where sorrows cease;
And to Albert's ashes, laid
In the earth's cold bosom, peace.”
Wand.
“On the fatal field I lay
Till the hour when twilight pale,
Like the ghost of dying day,
Wander'd down the darkening vale.
Till the hour when twilight pale,
Like the ghost of dying day,
Wander'd down the darkening vale.
Then in agony I rose,
And with horror look'd around,
Where embracing, friends and foes,
Dead and dying, strew'd the ground.
And with horror look'd around,
Where embracing, friends and foes,
Dead and dying, strew'd the ground.
Many a widow fix'd her eye,
Weeping where her husband bled,
Heedless though her babe was by,
Prattling to his father dead.
Weeping where her husband bled,
Heedless though her babe was by,
Prattling to his father dead.
Many a mother, in despair
Turning up the ghastly slain,
Sought her son, her hero, there,
Whom she long'd to seek in vain.
Turning up the ghastly slain,
Sought her son, her hero, there,
Whom she long'd to seek in vain.
Dark the evening-shadows roll'd
On the eye that gleam'd in death;
And the evening-dews fell cold
On the lip that gasp'd for breath.
On the eye that gleam'd in death;
And the evening-dews fell cold
On the lip that gasp'd for breath.
As I gazed, an ancient dame,
—She was childless by her look,—
With refreshing cordials came;
Of her bounty I partook.
—She was childless by her look,—
With refreshing cordials came;
Of her bounty I partook.
Then, with desperation bold,
Albert's precious corpse I bore
On these shoulders weak and old,
Bow'd with misery before.
Albert's precious corpse I bore
On these shoulders weak and old,
Bow'd with misery before.
Albert's angel gave me strength,
As I stagger'd down the glen;
And I hid my charge at length
In its wildest, deepest den.
As I stagger'd down the glen;
And I hid my charge at length
In its wildest, deepest den.
Then returning through the shade
To the battle-scene, I sought,
'Mongst the slain, an axe and spade;—
With such weapons Freemen fought.
To the battle-scene, I sought,
'Mongst the slain, an axe and spade;—
With such weapons Freemen fought.
Scythes for swords our youth did wield
In that execrable strife;
Ploughshares in that horrid field
Bled with slaughter, breathed with life.
In that execrable strife;
Ploughshares in that horrid field
Bled with slaughter, breathed with life.
In a dark and lonely cave,
While the glimmering moon arose,
Thus I dug my Albert's grave;
There his hallow'd limbs repose.
While the glimmering moon arose,
Thus I dug my Albert's grave;
There his hallow'd limbs repose.
Tears then, tears too long represt,
Gush'd:—they fell like healing balm,
Till the whirlwind in my breast
Died into a dreary calm.
Gush'd:—they fell like healing balm,
Till the whirlwind in my breast
Died into a dreary calm.
On the fresh earth's humid bed,
Where my martyr lay enshrined,
This forlorn, unhappy head,
Crazed with anguish, I reclined.
Where my martyr lay enshrined,
This forlorn, unhappy head,
Crazed with anguish, I reclined.
But while o'er my weary eyes
Soothing slumbers seem'd to creep,
Forth I sprang, with strange surprise,
From the clasping arms of sleep.
Soothing slumbers seem'd to creep,
Forth I sprang, with strange surprise,
From the clasping arms of sleep.
For the bones of Albert dead
Heaved the turf with horrid throes,
And his grave beneath my head
Burst asunder;—Albert rose!
Heaved the turf with horrid throes,
And his grave beneath my head
Burst asunder;—Albert rose!
‘Ha! my Son—my Son,’ I cried,
‘Wherefore hast thou left thy grave?’
—‘Fly, my father,’—he replied;
‘Save my wife—my children save.’—
‘Wherefore hast thou left thy grave?’
—‘Fly, my father,’—he replied;
‘Save my wife—my children save.’—
In the passing of a breath
This tremendous scene was o'er.
Darkness shut the gates of Death,
Silence seal'd them as before.
This tremendous scene was o'er.
Darkness shut the gates of Death,
Silence seal'd them as before.
12
One pale moment fix'd I stood
In astonishment severe;
Horror petrified my blood,—
I was wither'd up with fear.
In astonishment severe;
Horror petrified my blood,—
I was wither'd up with fear.
Then a sudden trembling came
O'er my limbs; I felt on fire,
Burning, quivering like a flame
In the instant to expire.”
O'er my limbs; I felt on fire,
Burning, quivering like a flame
In the instant to expire.”
Shep.
“Rather like the mountain-oak,
Tempest-shaken, rooted fast,
Grasping strength from every stroke,
While it wrestles with the blast.”
Wand.
“Ay!—my heart, unwont to yield,
Quickly quell'd the strange affright,
And undaunted o'er the field
I began my lonely flight.
Quickly quell'd the strange affright,
And undaunted o'er the field
I began my lonely flight.
Loud the gusty night-wind blew;—
Many an awful pause between,
Fits of light and darkness flew,
Wild and sudden o'er the scene.
Many an awful pause between,
Fits of light and darkness flew,
Wild and sudden o'er the scene.
For the moon's resplendent eye
Gleams of transient glory shed;
And the clouds, athwart the sky,
Like a routed army fled.
Gleams of transient glory shed;
And the clouds, athwart the sky,
Like a routed army fled.
Sounds and voices fill'd the vale,
Heard alternate loud and low;
Shouts of victory swell'd the gale,
But the breezes murmur'd woe.
Heard alternate loud and low;
Shouts of victory swell'd the gale,
But the breezes murmur'd woe.
As I climb'd the mountain's side,
Where the Lake and Valley meet,
All my country's power and pride
Lay in ruins at my feet.
Where the Lake and Valley meet,
All my country's power and pride
Lay in ruins at my feet.
On that grim and ghastly plain,
Underwalden's heart-strings broke.
When she saw her heroes slain,
And her rocks receive the yoke.
Underwalden's heart-strings broke.
When she saw her heroes slain,
And her rocks receive the yoke.
On that plain, in childhood's hours,
From their mothers' arms set free,
Oft those heroes gather'd flowers,
Often chased the wandering bee.
From their mothers' arms set free,
Oft those heroes gather'd flowers,
Often chased the wandering bee.
On that plain, in rosy youth,
They had fed their fathers' flocks,
Told their love, and pledged their truth,
In the shadow of those rocks.
They had fed their fathers' flocks,
Told their love, and pledged their truth,
In the shadow of those rocks.
There, with shepherd's pipe and song,
In the merry mingling dance,
Once they led their brides along,
Now!—Perdition seize thee, France!”
In the merry mingling dance,
Once they led their brides along,
Now!—Perdition seize thee, France!”
Shep.
“Heard not Heaven the accusing cries
Of the blood that smoked around,
While the life-warm sacrifice
Palpitated on the ground?”
Wand.
“Wrath in silence heaps his store,
To confound the guilty foe;
But the thunder will not roar
Till the flash has struck the blow.
To confound the guilty foe;
But the thunder will not roar
Till the flash has struck the blow.
Vengeance, Vengeance will not stay;
It shall burst on Gallia's head,
Sudden as the judgment-day
To the unexpecting dead.
It shall burst on Gallia's head,
Sudden as the judgment-day
To the unexpecting dead.
From the Revolution's flood
Shall a fiery dragon start;
He shall drink his mother's blood,
He shall eat his father's heart.
Shall a fiery dragon start;
He shall drink his mother's blood,
He shall eat his father's heart.
Nurst by Anarchy and Crime,
He—but distance mocks my sight,
O thou great avenger, TIME!
Bring thy strangest birth to light.”
He—but distance mocks my sight,
O thou great avenger, TIME!
Bring thy strangest birth to light.”
Shep.
“Prophet, thou hast spoken well,
And I deem thy words divine:
Now the mournful sequel tell
Of thy country's woes and thine.”
Wand.
“Though the moon's bewilder'd bark,
By the midnight tempest tost,
In a sea of vapours dark,
In a gulf of clouds was lost;
By the midnight tempest tost,
In a sea of vapours dark,
In a gulf of clouds was lost;
Still my journey I pursued,
Climbing many a weary steep,
Whence the closing scene I view'd
With an eye that would not weep.
Climbing many a weary steep,
Whence the closing scene I view'd
With an eye that would not weep.
13
Stantz—a melancholy pyre—
And her hamlets blazed behind,
With ten thousand tongues of fire,
Writhing, raging in the wind.
And her hamlets blazed behind,
With ten thousand tongues of fire,
Writhing, raging in the wind.
Flaming piles, where'er I turn'd,
Cast a grim and dreadful light;
Like funereal lamps they burn'd
In the sepulchre of night;
Cast a grim and dreadful light;
Like funereal lamps they burn'd
In the sepulchre of night;
While the red illumined flood,
With a hoarse and hollow roar,
Seem'd a lake of living blood,
Wildly weltering on the shore.
With a hoarse and hollow roar,
Seem'd a lake of living blood,
Wildly weltering on the shore.
'Midst the mountains far away,
Soon I spied the sacred spot,
Whence a slow consuming ray
Glimmer'd from my native cot.
Soon I spied the sacred spot,
Whence a slow consuming ray
Glimmer'd from my native cot.
At the sight my brain was fired,
And afresh my heart's wounds bled;
Still I gazed:—the spark expired—
Nature seem'd extinct:—I fled.—
And afresh my heart's wounds bled;
Still I gazed:—the spark expired—
Nature seem'd extinct:—I fled.—
Fled; and, ere the noon of day,
Reach'd the lonely goat-herd's nest,
Where my wife, my children, lay—
Husband—Father—think the rest.”
Reach'd the lonely goat-herd's nest,
Where my wife, my children, lay—
Husband—Father—think the rest.”
| The poetical works of James Montgomery | |