The Poetry of Real Life A New Edition, Much Enlarged and Improved. By Henry Ellison |
 |
TO ENGLAND, ON HER TREATMENT OF GENOA. |
 |
|
 | The Poetry of Real Life |  |
TO ENGLAND, ON HER TREATMENT OF GENOA.
My country! hadst thou done thy duty, how,
How Godlike wouldst thou be rewarded by
That love which ever waits on actions high!
Hadst thou held, with thy mighty hand, the plough
Of Civilization but as firm as thou
Hast grasped the sword, what harvests now would lie
Ripe for the sickle of Humanity!
But thou wilt learn too late, nay! even now
Time brings the lesson home, that love can bind
Surer than force, and that to conquer Mind
Is measurelessly more than War can do!
Thou might'st have given light unto the blind,
And left the barren waste behind thee too
A smiling Eden, gladdening mankind!
How Godlike wouldst thou be rewarded by
That love which ever waits on actions high!
Hadst thou held, with thy mighty hand, the plough
Of Civilization but as firm as thou
Hast grasped the sword, what harvests now would lie
Ripe for the sickle of Humanity!
But thou wilt learn too late, nay! even now
Time brings the lesson home, that love can bind
Surer than force, and that to conquer Mind
Is measurelessly more than War can do!
Thou might'st have given light unto the blind,
And left the barren waste behind thee too
A smiling Eden, gladdening mankind!
73
Thou should'st have been transfigured by the light
Divine thou held'st, in sight of those it blest,
Like him who saved mankind—from thy proud crest
Thou should'st have cast reflections infinite
(Like Morning from some earth-o'er-gazing height,)
Of civilization, on thy sacred quest
Still speeding: till thou had'st, from east to west,
Stretched out thine arm, like God's, a pillar of might!
Then had thy voice been mightier than thy hand
Is now, thy whisper than an army's shout—
Like the great sea, o'er which thou hast command,
Thou should'st have cast a zone of peace about
The world, and bound its members in one grand,
Indissoluble bond of Love throughout!
Divine thou held'st, in sight of those it blest,
Like him who saved mankind—from thy proud crest
Thou should'st have cast reflections infinite
(Like Morning from some earth-o'er-gazing height,)
Of civilization, on thy sacred quest
Still speeding: till thou had'st, from east to west,
Stretched out thine arm, like God's, a pillar of might!
Then had thy voice been mightier than thy hand
Is now, thy whisper than an army's shout—
Like the great sea, o'er which thou hast command,
Thou should'st have cast a zone of peace about
The world, and bound its members in one grand,
Indissoluble bond of Love throughout!
Unright can never prosper! Good alone
Endures: through envy, error, prejudice,
It passes on, like the Divinity's
Life-giving breath, and that on which 't has blown,
If false, must wither, and if true, make known
Its blessing and its presence to men's eyes
And hearts, as at the breath of Spring arise
The flowers! 'tis a seed that's never sown
In vain; for though not reaped at once, 't may be,
'Tis paid tenfold: with love of all mankind,
Not merely of the one served or set free!
For there is still an eye among the blind,
An ear among the deaf, to hear and see,
A voice among the dumb, that none can bind!
Endures: through envy, error, prejudice,
It passes on, like the Divinity's
Life-giving breath, and that on which 't has blown,
If false, must wither, and if true, make known
Its blessing and its presence to men's eyes
And hearts, as at the breath of Spring arise
The flowers! 'tis a seed that's never sown
In vain; for though not reaped at once, 't may be,
'Tis paid tenfold: with love of all mankind,
Not merely of the one served or set free!
For there is still an eye among the blind,
An ear among the deaf, to hear and see,
A voice among the dumb, that none can bind!
74
There is an universal conscience—by
Unnumbered single consciences is this
Made up, and, as their highest utterance, is
God's voice! oh England! do not then rely
On the vain hope, that men, from envy, try
To blacken thee; there is no plotting, 'tis
No mean conspiracy, to rob of his
Just laurels the deserving head—on high
This voice is heard and marked—men are not so
Unjust: though individuals often do
From envy judge, this sublime voice knows no
Regards: the Godlike only and the True,
Which each heart feels, it utters, and thus, through
Mankind's own voice, God speaks His will below!
Unnumbered single consciences is this
Made up, and, as their highest utterance, is
God's voice! oh England! do not then rely
On the vain hope, that men, from envy, try
To blacken thee; there is no plotting, 'tis
No mean conspiracy, to rob of his
Just laurels the deserving head—on high
This voice is heard and marked—men are not so
Unjust: though individuals often do
From envy judge, this sublime voice knows no
Regards: the Godlike only and the True,
Which each heart feels, it utters, and thus, through
Mankind's own voice, God speaks His will below!
| The Poetry of Real Life | |