[A Volunteer Song A Collection of Pieces in Verse Numbered I.-XI. By Francis Wrangham] |
 | I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
 | VII. | No VII. |
| X. |
| XI. |
 | [A Volunteer Song |  |
No VII.
THE VISION.
Beneath a yew's funereal shade,
All lonely at the midnight hour,
A dame of Corsica was laid,
And dreams of horrour throng'd the bower:
Ah! dreams like that, which scared the Queen of Troy,
When in her breast she bore the shepherd-boy.
All lonely at the midnight hour,
A dame of Corsica was laid,
And dreams of horrour throng'd the bower:
Ah! dreams like that, which scared the Queen of Troy,
When in her breast she bore the shepherd-boy.
Fast by her side in war's attire,
Her rouge-blush ill exchanged for blood,
With streaming hair and eyes of fire
The fiend of rapine, Gallia, stood;
And “Hail that womb's ripe promise (loud she cried)
“My sceptre doom'd to grasp, my spear to guide.
Her rouge-blush ill exchanged for blood,
With streaming hair and eyes of fire
The fiend of rapine, Gallia, stood;
And “Hail that womb's ripe promise (loud she cried)
“My sceptre doom'd to grasp, my spear to guide.
“Let him, rash youth, but shun the wave,
“Whose billows bathe my double coast;
“Where Pompey found his treacherous grave,
“Where Spain's Invincible was lost.
“—Ah see, what dark prophetic visions rise!
“Once saved by flight, again he dares—and dies.”
“Whose billows bathe my double coast;
“Where Pompey found his treacherous grave,
“Where Spain's Invincible was lost.
“—Ah see, what dark prophetic visions rise!
“Once saved by flight, again he dares—and dies.”
Shrieking, the ghastly spectre fled;
With shrieks awoke the shuddering dame:
Lo! at her feet a monster spread,
Its heart of ice, its head of flame!
And still, as night's black vapours drench'd the yew,
With upturn'd lip it quaff'd the deadly dew.
With shrieks awoke the shuddering dame:
Lo! at her feet a monster spread,
Its heart of ice, its head of flame!
And still, as night's black vapours drench'd the yew,
With upturn'd lip it quaff'd the deadly dew.
Chill through its veins the venom ran,
And curdling poisons choked its breast;
And now, a spotted ape of man,
O'er Gallia reigns the purple pest.
But, half engulf'd on Egypt's vengeful shore,
In Albion's surge it sinks—to rise no more.
And curdling poisons choked its breast;
And now, a spotted ape of man,
O'er Gallia reigns the purple pest.
But, half engulf'd on Egypt's vengeful shore,
In Albion's surge it sinks—to rise no more.
| [A Volunteer Song | |