Sonnets and Fugitive Pieces by Charles Tennyson |
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| IV. |
| VII. |
| XII. |
| XIII. |
| XV. |
| XVIII. |
| XXII. |
| XXXI. |
| XXXIX. |
| XL. |
| XLII. |
| XLIV. |
| XLV. |
| XLVII. |
[The council of the brave are met] |
 | Sonnets and Fugitive Pieces |  |
68
[The council of the brave are met]
The council of the brave are met,
Soon will their swords with blood be wet,
The blood of tyranny and pride,
On—on—this is not regicide!
Soon will their swords with blood be wet,
The blood of tyranny and pride,
On—on—this is not regicide!
He thinks his sand is not outrun,
But he shall start to find it done;
He mocketh at our bold emprize,
Tho' Freedom looks him in the eyes.
But he shall start to find it done;
He mocketh at our bold emprize,
Tho' Freedom looks him in the eyes.
What claim have they on further breath,
For momentary league with death,
Who dare to make the human heart
Throb with the fears themselves impart?
For momentary league with death,
Who dare to make the human heart
Throb with the fears themselves impart?
69
And he hath done this shameless deed,
Thus answered in a nation's need;
He link'd our fetters to his crown
So tight, they burst, and flung him down.
Thus answered in a nation's need;
He link'd our fetters to his crown
So tight, they burst, and flung him down.
When kings demand with haughtiest aims
Beyond their weight of kingly claims,
With worthy scorn and anger stirr'd,
We fill the balance with the sword!
Beyond their weight of kingly claims,
With worthy scorn and anger stirr'd,
We fill the balance with the sword!
We seek a soil for hope to thrive—
But where is hope, if tyrants live?
We burn to draw a bolder breath
By quenching his in forceful death!
But where is hope, if tyrants live?
We burn to draw a bolder breath
By quenching his in forceful death!
70
Slaves, each and all, our necks have borne
His yoke with grief that swallow'd scorn,
Till, galling deeper, it began
To make all men, and each a man!
His yoke with grief that swallow'd scorn,
Till, galling deeper, it began
To make all men, and each a man!
| Sonnets and Fugitive Pieces | |