 | A batch of war ballads |  |
4
I. BE READY!
War! is the word: no more delays
By diplomatic notes;
Rogues only mind what Must-be says
From brass and iron throats;
The last resort of crowds and kings
Is all that now remains,—
And we must fetter men and things
With Must-be's honest chains!
By diplomatic notes;
Rogues only mind what Must-be says
From brass and iron throats;
The last resort of crowds and kings
Is all that now remains,—
And we must fetter men and things
With Must-be's honest chains!
Soon as the breath of balmy May
Dissolves the Russian snows,—
Soon as above its granite quay
The swollen Neva flows,—
Look out! look out! as sure as suns
Those Arctic fetters melt,
A squadron with a thousand guns
Shall gather at The Belt!
Dissolves the Russian snows,—
Soon as above its granite quay
The swollen Neva flows,—
Look out! look out! as sure as suns
Those Arctic fetters melt,
A squadron with a thousand guns
Shall gather at The Belt!
O prudent Britain, stand prepared
By fortress and by fleet;
Stand on your guard, by watch and ward,
Those Scythian guests to greet!
O Firth of Forth, their welcome shout
From every cannon's mouth!
O Thames, let thunderclaps ring out
Their coming to the South!
By fortress and by fleet;
Stand on your guard, by watch and ward,
Those Scythian guests to greet!
5
From every cannon's mouth!
O Thames, let thunderclaps ring out
Their coming to the South!
Be ready!—On our virgin coast
No buccanier shall land,—
No quarter for the pirate host,
—Except on Goodwin Sand!
Or if by chance one floats ashore,
And calls in jetsam-style,
He'll scarcely get aboard once more
—It won't be worth his while!
No buccanier shall land,—
No quarter for the pirate host,
—Except on Goodwin Sand!
Or if by chance one floats ashore,
And calls in jetsam-style,
He'll scarcely get aboard once more
—It won't be worth his while!
Be ready!—if by darker chance
Invaders really came
With every horrid circumstance
Of ruthless sword and flame,
Then should we know—too late for Some!—
How wise it is to stand
Prepared,—if brigands dare to come—
To hang them out of hand!
Invaders really came
With every horrid circumstance
Of ruthless sword and flame,
Then should we know—too late for Some!—
How wise it is to stand
Prepared,—if brigands dare to come—
To hang them out of hand!
Shame! that a despot, mad and blind
By pampered pride too long,
Can, in this age of march of mind,
O'erwhelm the world with wrong!
Like Attila, at his sole will
Can flog it as a Rod,
By hecatombs his people kill,
And then be called their God!
By pampered pride too long,
Can, in this age of march of mind,
O'erwhelm the world with wrong!
Like Attila, at his sole will
Can flog it as a Rod,
By hecatombs his people kill,
And then be called their God!
6
II. THE VAN AND THE REAR.
Brilliant troops in proud array,
Thrilling trumpets, rattling drums,
Colours, plumes, and pennons gay,
Helmets flashing back the day,—
In this spirit-stirring way
The gallant wargod comes!
Thrilling trumpets, rattling drums,
Colours, plumes, and pennons gay,
Helmets flashing back the day,—
In this spirit-stirring way
The gallant wargod comes!
Mangled wretches, horrors dire,
Groans and curses, wounds and woes,
Slaughter, fever, famine, fire,
Devils doing hell's desire,—
By this road of blood and mire
The cruel wargod goes!
Groans and curses, wounds and woes,
Slaughter, fever, famine, fire,
Devils doing hell's desire,—
By this road of blood and mire
The cruel wargod goes!
Spouting flame sublimely out
Batteries thunder in the Van,
Fling their glorious bolts about,
Gaily scare some rabble rout,
And wake up Moloch with a shout
In every heart of man!
Batteries thunder in the Van,
Fling their glorious bolts about,
Gaily scare some rabble rout,
And wake up Moloch with a shout
In every heart of man!
7
But those murderous guns do more
Than Fury's furnace heat;
Gunner's match and cannon's roar
Rearward, red libations pour
Of limbs and lives and human gore
Around the wargod's feet!
Than Fury's furnace heat;
Gunner's match and cannon's roar
Rearward, red libations pour
Of limbs and lives and human gore
Around the wargod's feet!
And are you caught by glittering bait,
O woman-hearted Man?
Shall one mean prize of tinsel state
Outflare those bloody blanks of fate
And daub with gilt the fiends that wait
The passing of the Van?
O woman-hearted Man?
Shall one mean prize of tinsel state
Outflare those bloody blanks of fate
And daub with gilt the fiends that wait
The passing of the Van?
Turn then, poor glory-stricken fool,
Come hither to the Rear,
Where under agony's stern school
Fevers grow hot, while passions cool,
And lying in a bloody pool
Dead Glory festers here!
Come hither to the Rear,
Where under agony's stern school
Fevers grow hot, while passions cool,
And lying in a bloody pool
Dead Glory festers here!
O nothing but the strongest need
Demands a marching Van,—
For whether Right or Wrong succeed
The Rearward, where so many bleed,
Proclaims in groans that War's best deed
Is conquering Peace for Man!
Demands a marching Van,—
For whether Right or Wrong succeed
The Rearward, where so many bleed,
Proclaims in groans that War's best deed
Is conquering Peace for Man!
Therefore, in that red Rearward's spite,
Reluctantly, at length,
England has roused her lion might
And sent her Vanguard out to fight
Bound by such Need, for Peace and Right,
A threefold cord of strength.
Reluctantly, at length,
England has roused her lion might
And sent her Vanguard out to fight
Bound by such Need, for Peace and Right,
A threefold cord of strength.
8
III. THE LION AND THE BEAR.
England, home of holy Light,
Where the peaceful virtues dwell,—
England, lover of the Right
For thy weal almost too well,—
Friend of all by wrong oppress'd,
Foe to all who dare that wrong,
Now at length thy patient rest
Break,—for vengeance swift and strong!
Where the peaceful virtues dwell,—
England, lover of the Right
For thy weal almost too well,—
Friend of all by wrong oppress'd,
Foe to all who dare that wrong,
Now at length thy patient rest
Break,—for vengeance swift and strong!
What a pity, what a shame,
That one madman's lust of power
So can set the world aflame
And its crop of peace devour;
That this bad ambitious Czar
Thus can human progress check,
And let loose the storms of war
So much happiness to wreck!
That one madman's lust of power
So can set the world aflame
And its crop of peace devour;
That this bad ambitious Czar
Thus can human progress check,
And let loose the storms of war
So much happiness to wreck!
O that Judgment from High Heaven
Fell upon that caitiff first!
O that all this thundery leven
On his single head might burst,
Ere so many myriads groan
For the woes his lust hath bred,
Would that God on Mercy's throne
Struck the world's disturber dead!
Fell upon that caitiff first!
O that all this thundery leven
On his single head might burst,
9
For the woes his lust hath bred,
Would that God on Mercy's throne
Struck the world's disturber dead!
But,—if Providence allows,
In His wisdom dark and deep,
This one reveller to carouse
On the tears that myriads weep,—
Up, Great England! let him feel
That thy might can match his own;
Set thy giant armèd heel
On this rude barbarian's throne!
In His wisdom dark and deep,
This one reveller to carouse
On the tears that myriads weep,—
Up, Great England! let him feel
That thy might can match his own;
Set thy giant armèd heel
On this rude barbarian's throne!
Tread his honour in the dust;
To the winds his pride be tost,—
And for his ambitious lust
Make his coffers pay the cost:
Waste no courtesies ill-timed
On this Scythian burglar-chief,
But his hands, by crime begrimed,
Pinion like a common thief!
To the winds his pride be tost,—
And for his ambitious lust
Make his coffers pay the cost:
Waste no courtesies ill-timed
On this Scythian burglar-chief,
But his hands, by crime begrimed,
Pinion like a common thief!
Forced, as champion of the right,
Forced, as pledged against the wrong,
Forced, reluctantly, to fight
After peaceful suffering long,—
Now, since Duty calls, at length
Rouse thee from thy slumbrous lair,
And with all thy Lion strength
Rend this rough marauding Bear!
Forced, as pledged against the wrong,
Forced, reluctantly, to fight
After peaceful suffering long,—
Now, since Duty calls, at length
Rouse thee from thy slumbrous lair,
And with all thy Lion strength
Rend this rough marauding Bear!
10
IV. THE RIGHT AND THE WRONG.
“Thou shalt not covet”:—righteous Czar
So orthodox and sound,
So swift to wage a Holy War
Lest heresies abound,—
Has ever that old sentence left
(In some more pious time)
Your soul imprest that thoughts of theft
Are nothing short of crime?
So orthodox and sound,
So swift to wage a Holy War
Lest heresies abound,—
Has ever that old sentence left
(In some more pious time)
Your soul imprest that thoughts of theft
Are nothing short of crime?
“Thou shalt not steal”:—illustrious Man,
The thief you brand and knout
Sins on a very petty plan
To this you set about;
What's in a hen, a horse, a sheep,
Whose loss some goodwife grieves,
To guilt that makes ten millions weep
Because a Monarch thieves?
The thief you brand and knout
Sins on a very petty plan
To this you set about;
What's in a hen, a horse, a sheep,
Whose loss some goodwife grieves,
To guilt that makes ten millions weep
Because a Monarch thieves?
“Thou shalt not murder”:—mighty Sire,
The cutthroat whom you hang
Has learnt his trade of some one higher,
And says he's of Your gang!
What's in one weasand slit—a boor's—
To slaughter, famine, fire,
Ravaging villages by scores,
To glut a Czar's desire?
The cutthroat whom you hang
Has learnt his trade of some one higher,
And says he's of Your gang!
11
To slaughter, famine, fire,
Ravaging villages by scores,
To glut a Czar's desire?
O who can truly think or tell
The sorrows and the sins
This lust of conquest fierce and fell
Achieves when it begins?
What depth can gauge a despot's guilt
Whose dread ukase is still
To myriads—that their blood be spilt
To work one evil will!
The sorrows and the sins
This lust of conquest fierce and fell
Achieves when it begins?
What depth can gauge a despot's guilt
Whose dread ukase is still
To myriads—that their blood be spilt
To work one evil will!
But shall we tamely stand aside
To let a bandit's power,
Wholesale in guilt, and craft, and pride,
His neighbour's home devour?
Or blast half Europe's common weal,
And make the rest a wreck,
By suffering him to set his heel
Upon the world's broad neck?
To let a bandit's power,
Wholesale in guilt, and craft, and pride,
His neighbour's home devour?
Or blast half Europe's common weal,
And make the rest a wreck,
By suffering him to set his heel
Upon the world's broad neck?
No!—England, to whose crown belongs
The custody of Right,
Resolves to crush such utter wrongs
With all her main and might;
To vindicate eternal laws
At Duty's high behest,
And fighting in a righteous cause
For Right to do her best!
The custody of Right,
Resolves to crush such utter wrongs
With all her main and might;
To vindicate eternal laws
At Duty's high behest,
And fighting in a righteous cause
For Right to do her best!
12
V. OUR FALSE-AND-TRUE POSITION.
Odd things happen nowadays;
Earth's kaleidoscope of change
Brings about in wondrous ways
Combinations passing strange:
Fixt by more than mortal power
Every pattern is perplext,
And we watch from hour to hour
What on earth's to happen next!
Earth's kaleidoscope of change
Brings about in wondrous ways
Combinations passing strange:
Fixt by more than mortal power
Every pattern is perplext,
And we watch from hour to hour
What on earth's to happen next!
Here we are, by no mischance,
(Duty's call we dare not shirk,)
Hand in hand with papal France
Fighting for the pagan Turk
All against a christian Czar
And his holy church of Greece
Forced unwillingly to war
Simply as the friends of peace!
(Duty's call we dare not shirk,)
Hand in hand with papal France
Fighting for the pagan Turk
All against a christian Czar
And his holy church of Greece
Forced unwillingly to war
Simply as the friends of peace!
Who could, but a year ago,
Such involvements have foreseen?
Who might guess that friend and foe
Could so queerly mixt have been?
Then, the Frenchman was our fear,
And our utter scorn the Pope,
While, against all perils near,
Russia stood for Europe's hope!
Such involvements have foreseen?
Who might guess that friend and foe
Could so queerly mixt have been?
13
And our utter scorn the Pope,
While, against all perils near,
Russia stood for Europe's hope!
Russia, pah! the caitiff's name
(Though his people are more worth)
In our nostrils stinks for shame,
For his empire blights this earth:
By his lustful crafty crimes
Nicholas has grown outright,
In the judgment of the times,
Europe's hatred and despite.
(Though his people are more worth)
In our nostrils stinks for shame,
For his empire blights this earth:
By his lustful crafty crimes
Nicholas has grown outright,
In the judgment of the times,
Europe's hatred and despite.
Everywhere he steals and blasts,—
Poland, Finland, Georgia, Greece;
Wheresoe'er his net he casts
There he sets his curse on peace:
Hatred frowns where Russia rules,
For her evil lord commands
Peoples to be tyrant's tools
Briareus's hundred hands!
Poland, Finland, Georgia, Greece;
Wheresoe'er his net he casts
There he sets his curse on peace:
Hatred frowns where Russia rules,
For her evil lord commands
Peoples to be tyrant's tools
Briareus's hundred hands!
Therefore shall dear England's power
Stoutly such false rule deny,
And when despots would devour
Shall their tyranny defy:
Therefore will we, Queen and Realm,
With fraternal France stand strong,
Lest this madman overwhelm
Right unjustly suffering Wrong.
Stoutly such false rule deny,
And when despots would devour
Shall their tyranny defy:
Therefore will we, Queen and Realm,
With fraternal France stand strong,
Lest this madman overwhelm
Right unjustly suffering Wrong.
14
VI. THE TWO NEIGHBOURS.
A quarrelsome churl and a peaceable man
Were living side by side,
And the peaceable man as the wisest plan
Put up with his neighbour's pride,
Put up with his humours, and never said nay
To much that my lord condescended to say.
Were living side by side,
And the peaceable man as the wisest plan
Put up with his neighbour's pride,
Put up with his humours, and never said nay
To much that my lord condescended to say.
But soon Sir Quarrelsome got up a sham,
—Much like the wolf in the fable—
Resolved to devour this peaceable lamb
As he fancied he was able;
So to brew up a worry he makes a great fuss
About his religion, this quarrelsome Russ.
—Much like the wolf in the fable—
Resolved to devour this peaceable lamb
As he fancied he was able;
So to brew up a worry he makes a great fuss
About his religion, this quarrelsome Russ.
The peaceable man,—tho' they call him a Turk,
Gave all that his neighbour desired,
Whatever was reason he made no work
Of yielding, as required;
But nothing would do, for the quarrelsome boor
Wanted a quarrel—and something more!
Gave all that his neighbour desired,
Whatever was reason he made no work
Of yielding, as required;
But nothing would do, for the quarrelsome boor
Wanted a quarrel—and something more!
15
He wanted more than the Turk could yield,
And more than a man should give;
He wanted to steal his neighbour's field,
In his neighbour's house to live:
In fact, he coveted warmer climes
And took little court of covetous crimes.
And more than a man should give;
He wanted to steal his neighbour's field,
In his neighbour's house to live:
In fact, he coveted warmer climes
And took little court of covetous crimes.
So Menskickoff with vigour and spite
Did all that his master bid him;
He kick'd to the left, and he kick'd to the right,
And nobody check'd or chid him;
A worthy ambassador, rude and rough,
Was this redoubtable Menskickoff!
Did all that his master bid him;
He kick'd to the left, and he kick'd to the right,
And nobody check'd or chid him;
A worthy ambassador, rude and rough,
Was this redoubtable Menskickoff!
The Turk he happened to have two friends,
Good sensible fellows and strong,
To one and the other in trouble he sends
To tell them of this wrong,
And they together resolve as they can
To put into limbo the quarrelsome man.
Good sensible fellows and strong,
To one and the other in trouble he sends
To tell them of this wrong,
And they together resolve as they can
To put into limbo the quarrelsome man.
For the quarrelsome churl had managed to be
A nuisance to all around him;
In short, all Europe seem'd to agree
That blest were the bonds that bound him;
For he gloom'd on the earth like a northerly cloud,
And every one wish'd that his shirt was a shroud!
A nuisance to all around him;
In short, all Europe seem'd to agree
That blest were the bonds that bound him;
For he gloom'd on the earth like a northerly cloud,
And every one wish'd that his shirt was a shroud!
Accordingly, those two friends and the Turk
Have come to a fix'd conclusion
Of that world-worry to make short work
And cover him up with confusion:
By sea and by land this boor to withstand,
And muzzle the Bear with a resolute hand.
Have come to a fix'd conclusion
Of that world-worry to make short work
And cover him up with confusion:
By sea and by land this boor to withstand,
And muzzle the Bear with a resolute hand.
16
VII. TO THE SOLDIERS.
Soldiers! best of friends to Peace
When you make a Tyrant yield,—
Honour's Watch! the world's Police!
Law's defence, and Order's shield!
Soldiers! glory and success
Shall with laurel shade each brow,
For, while God and Duty bless
You shall march to conquest now!
When you make a Tyrant yield,—
Honour's Watch! the world's Police!
Law's defence, and Order's shield!
Soldiers! glory and success
Shall with laurel shade each brow,
For, while God and Duty bless
You shall march to conquest now!
Prompt and glad to aid the right,
Zealous to avenge the wrong,
Britain's lion in his might
Now uprises stern and strong,—
To deliver them that cry,
And to rescue the opprest,
Righteousness to set on high,
And to crush a despot's crest!
Zealous to avenge the wrong,
Britain's lion in his might
Now uprises stern and strong,—
To deliver them that cry,
And to rescue the opprest,
Righteousness to set on high,
And to crush a despot's crest!
Strange it seems, but it is just
That the Cross and Crescent stand
Thus, to quell a tyrant's lust,
Side by side and hand in hand;
Just, and right, for wrongful Might
Roars in the way a rude wild beast,
And if Man forbears the fight
All are victims, West and East!
That the Cross and Crescent stand
Thus, to quell a tyrant's lust,
Side by side and hand in hand;
17
Roars in the way a rude wild beast,
And if Man forbears the fight
All are victims, West and East!
Stolen from their distant homes,
Knouted to the ranks like cattle
Lo! the host of serfdom comes
Sadly sluggishly to battle!
Wretched people, would we might
Save the lives of such poor slaves,—
But to spare them in the fight
Freemen then must fill their graves!
Knouted to the ranks like cattle
Lo! the host of serfdom comes
Sadly sluggishly to battle!
Wretched people, would we might
Save the lives of such poor slaves,—
But to spare them in the fight
Freemen then must fill their graves!
No! with vigour to the fray
Forwards march, and pity not,—
Pick the officers away
With your rifles at long shot,—
Scatter then with grape and shell
Each dull boor and stubborn serf,
Till Wallachia's harvests swell
With half Russia in its turf!
Forwards march, and pity not,—
Pick the officers away
With your rifles at long shot,—
Scatter then with grape and shell
Each dull boor and stubborn serf,
Till Wallachia's harvests swell
With half Russia in its turf!
No half-measures! gun to gun,
Man to man, and horse to horse,
Quickly do what must be done,
Battle down this Bear by force!
No more tenderness! the time
For such tameness now is past,—
Sternly let us kill the crime,
To make sure it is the last!
Man to man, and horse to horse,
Quickly do what must be done,
Battle down this Bear by force!
No more tenderness! the time
For such tameness now is past,—
Sternly let us kill the crime,
To make sure it is the last!
18
VIII. TO THE SAILORS.
Noble children of the Sea,
Hearty, honest, kind and true,—
England, mother of the free,
Looks in hope to men like you:
Well may she now confide the Right,
British Sailors, to your power,
Well assured in storm and fight
You stand true in trial's hour!
Hearty, honest, kind and true,—
England, mother of the free,
Looks in hope to men like you:
Well may she now confide the Right,
British Sailors, to your power,
Well assured in storm and fight
You stand true in trial's hour!
Look you! Russia thinks to steal
Wider countries, warmer climes,
Daring with rapacious zeal
Coldest crafts and boldest crimes:
So, he covets evermore
Good men's hearths and free men's homes,
Till, outstretch'd from shore to shore,
Hitherward the despot comes!
Wider countries, warmer climes,
Daring with rapacious zeal
Coldest crafts and boldest crimes:
So, he covets evermore
Good men's hearths and free men's homes,
Till, outstretch'd from shore to shore,
Hitherward the despot comes!
Stop him! stop him while you may;
Let the horrid woes of war
Be exhausted far away
Round about this ravening Czar;
Grapple with him near his lair,
Catch him in this Turkish noose,
Muzzle, throttle this rough bear,
Let not the marauder loose!
Let the horrid woes of war
Be exhausted far away
Round about this ravening Czar;
19
Catch him in this Turkish noose,
Muzzle, throttle this rough bear,
Let not the marauder loose!
For Sinope's coward slaughter
Deal him wages in hot shot,
Blow the bully out of water,
Let him taste the pirate's lot;
In due vengeance deep and dire
On his head your thunders roll,
Battering down with deadly fire
Cronstadt and Sebastopol!
Deal him wages in hot shot,
Blow the bully out of water,
Let him taste the pirate's lot;
In due vengeance deep and dire
On his head your thunders roll,
Battering down with deadly fire
Cronstadt and Sebastopol!
Think not it's for Turkey's cause
Or for Mahomet we fight;—
No! for all men's rights and laws
Schemed against by brutal might:
This great burglar must be taught
That his course of crime must cease,
And the common foe be caught
That the world may live in peace.
Or for Mahomet we fight;—
No! for all men's rights and laws
Schemed against by brutal might:
This great burglar must be taught
That his course of crime must cease,
And the common foe be caught
That the world may live in peace.
Ah! you know not, what a blain,
If he won, the world would smite;
Genghis Khan and Tamerlane
In this hungry Hunn unite!
O! you guess not, when you win,
What a conquest yours will be,
Good triumphant over Sin,
Russia crush'd, and Europe free!
If he won, the world would smite;
Genghis Khan and Tamerlane
In this hungry Hunn unite!
O! you guess not, when you win,
What a conquest yours will be,
Good triumphant over Sin,
Russia crush'd, and Europe free!
20
IX. NEUTRALITY:
And Postscript, overleaf.
As well as one can, and as long as one can,
Keep out of a quarrel, no doubt,—
This must be the plan for a sensible man
Whose wisdom it is to keep out!
But—let him be sure it is wise from the first,
And see whether fast-fighting friends
Wouldn't make for his quarrel, wherever it burst,
Some solid sufficient amends.
Keep out of a quarrel, no doubt,—
This must be the plan for a sensible man
Whose wisdom it is to keep out!
But—let him be sure it is wise from the first,
And see whether fast-fighting friends
Wouldn't make for his quarrel, wherever it burst,
Some solid sufficient amends.
Yes, Austria! Prussia! and Sweden, and all!
Look sharp if your trimming be wise;
You'll feel pretty small, if Russia should fall,
And smaller, if Russia should rise;
If Europe's police have the Czar on the hip,
And you haven't helped,—it is ill,—
But if he should happen to give them the slip,
Your state is more desperate still!
Look sharp if your trimming be wise;
You'll feel pretty small, if Russia should fall,
And smaller, if Russia should rise;
If Europe's police have the Czar on the hip,
And you haven't helped,—it is ill,—
But if he should happen to give them the slip,
Your state is more desperate still!
There's Lombardy watching, and Poland awake,
And Hungary, gnawing her heart,
Like a leash of good greyhounds, right eager to take
The chance of the day for a start;
And Russia herself, if she once have the power
Will render you bitterest thanks
For succour withheld in necessity's hour
When all her dear neighbours were—blanks!
And Hungary, gnawing her heart,
Like a leash of good greyhounds, right eager to take
The chance of the day for a start;
21
Will render you bitterest thanks
For succour withheld in necessity's hour
When all her dear neighbours were—blanks!
O had you been wiser, and join'd with the good
In aiding the Right as you ought,
In the stern coming struggle you all should have stood,
But—trimmers must ever be nought;
Had you fought as you ought in defence of the Right,
It surely had sped, and been strong,
But just as your cowardice fails in the fight
You add a new strength to the Wrong!
In aiding the Right as you ought,
In the stern coming struggle you all should have stood,
But—trimmers must ever be nought;
Had you fought as you ought in defence of the Right,
It surely had sped, and been strong,
But just as your cowardice fails in the fight
You add a new strength to the Wrong!
Be sure the best policy is (as we know)
To be honest, and fearless, and true;
To deal the wrongdoer one vigorous blow,
And give the rightdealer his due;
We grant, it is awkward to quarrel with friends,
But if they grow wicked, we must;
We grant it, that Mahomet's name recommends
No further the claim that is Just!
To be honest, and fearless, and true;
To deal the wrongdoer one vigorous blow,
And give the rightdealer his due;
We grant, it is awkward to quarrel with friends,
But if they grow wicked, we must;
We grant it, that Mahomet's name recommends
No further the claim that is Just!
But, since this red Russia is given to steal,
All honest men now must unite
And turn special constables for the world's weal
To guard and deliver the Right!
If shame has withheld you from helping the Russ,
Shame ought not your help to withhold
From us who are honestly hindering thus
A wolf from attacking the fold.
All honest men now must unite
And turn special constables for the world's weal
To guard and deliver the Right!
If shame has withheld you from helping the Russ,
Shame ought not your help to withhold
From us who are honestly hindering thus
A wolf from attacking the fold.
22
POSTSCRIPT.
It is well: you have wisely considered the chance,
And seen that it pays to belong
To the phalanx of right, with England and France
Array'd against Russia and wrong!
It is well: we commend your discretion, though slow;
But had you stood sooner with us,
The world's thunder-Word, without need of a Blow,
Would have settled this recreant Russ.
And seen that it pays to belong
To the phalanx of right, with England and France
Array'd against Russia and wrong!
It is well: we commend your discretion, though slow;
But had you stood sooner with us,
The world's thunder-Word, without need of a Blow,
Would have settled this recreant Russ.
But, mark you!—we must not be hampered by friends,
Nor hinder'd in victory's hour
From stèrnly exacting the strictest amends,
And crushing despotical power:
Our Ægis shall be to you Ajax's shield,
And Teucer may shoot from behind,
But what we will loose in the fairly-fought field
Diplomacy never shall bind!
Nor hinder'd in victory's hour
From stèrnly exacting the strictest amends,
And crushing despotical power:
Our Ægis shall be to you Ajax's shield,
And Teucer may shoot from behind,
But what we will loose in the fairly-fought field
Diplomacy never shall bind!
Vienna can scatter her friends with the pen
Much more than her foes with the sword;
Berlin may do damage to decenter men
Than Vladimir's barbarous horde:
Allies, with a conscience made wicked and weak
By “Poland,” that ghost never laid,
Of trusting too strongly “each giftbearing Greek”
May sensibly make us “afraid.”
Much more than her foes with the sword;
Berlin may do damage to decenter men
Than Vladimir's barbarous horde:
23
By “Poland,” that ghost never laid,
Of trusting too strongly “each giftbearing Greek”
May sensibly make us “afraid.”
Our motto is simply—“May God guard the right!”
Our trust, that the “Truth shall prevail;”
Our text, that “Accursed in everyone's sight
The land-mark-remover shall fail:”
Our only real fear, lest cousins and kings
Should hinder the swing of the whip,—
For each has been guilty of similar things
Unwept by the heart or the lip!
Our trust, that the “Truth shall prevail;”
Our text, that “Accursed in everyone's sight
The land-mark-remover shall fail:”
Our only real fear, lest cousins and kings
Should hinder the swing of the whip,—
For each has been guilty of similar things
Unwept by the heart or the lip!
Let Hungary, Italy, Poland, be righted;
And Austria turn from her crimes:
Let Prussia's good king to his people united
Grant all that he promised betimes:
Let the Pope from his crafts and his cruelties cease,
And Tuscany's Duke be ashamed,
And Bomba of Naples his martyrs release,
As Gladstone indignantly claim'd!
And Austria turn from her crimes:
Let Prussia's good king to his people united
Grant all that he promised betimes:
Let the Pope from his crafts and his cruelties cease,
And Tuscany's Duke be ashamed,
And Bomba of Naples his martyrs release,
As Gladstone indignantly claim'd!
Let both Principalities, under one crown,
Our bulwark be fix'd as a rock;
Let Russia, degraded, cut up, and cut down,
Be made the world's byeword and mock:
Let happiness, Liberty, brotherhood, reason
Advance with all peoples around,—
And glad shall we be if an Emperor's treason
Occasions so blest a rebound!
Our bulwark be fix'd as a rock;
Let Russia, degraded, cut up, and cut down,
Be made the world's byeword and mock:
Let happiness, Liberty, brotherhood, reason
Advance with all peoples around,—
And glad shall we be if an Emperor's treason
Occasions so blest a rebound!
24
X. FRENCH ALLIANCE.
Rochefoucault and others tell us,
In our friendships to take heed
Lest our friends hereafter sell us,
Turning to be—foes in need;
And old Talleyrand advises
Every man his friends to greet
Much as foes in fair disguises,
And his foes as friends to treat!
In our friendships to take heed
Lest our friends hereafter sell us,
Turning to be—foes in need;
And old Talleyrand advises
Every man his friends to greet
Much as foes in fair disguises,
And his foes as friends to treat!
Well; we won't despise the sages,
But will hear them out, good sooth;
Proverbs are the pith of ages,
Pretty near the heart of truth:
But, without unduly scorning
Those old pundits of this earth,
We need not expound their warning
Into worse than it is worth.
But will hear them out, good sooth;
Proverbs are the pith of ages,
Pretty near the heart of truth:
But, without unduly scorning
Those old pundits of this earth,
We need not expound their warning
Into worse than it is worth.
No,—we've not the least suspicion
But of unison with us,—
Everybody's present mission
Is to stop this recreant Russ;
Everybody means to do it,
And to make him pay the shot;
Deeply must the despot rue it,
Might were Right if he did not.
But of unison with us,—
Everybody's present mission
Is to stop this recreant Russ;
Everybody means to do it,
And to make him pay the shot;
Deeply must the despot rue it,
Might were Right if he did not.
25
But when this is once effected,
There remains one query still,
Must the Popular-Elected
Not reflect his people's will?
May our strange ally, Sieur Crapaud,
Not be glad to snatch this chance
Of waving Oriflamme for drapeau
Over us, as well as France?
There remains one query still,
Must the Popular-Elected
Not reflect his people's will?
May our strange ally, Sieur Crapaud,
Not be glad to snatch this chance
Of waving Oriflamme for drapeau
Over us, as well as France?
Freely would we give him credit
For good sense and conduct too,—
But he meant it, when he said it,
He must wipe out Waterloo!
'Tis his destiny, he knows it;
And, if “Fleur de lis” revives,—
That's the sop, he simply throws it
To his Cerberus,—and thrives!
For good sense and conduct too,—
But he meant it, when he said it,
He must wipe out Waterloo!
'Tis his destiny, he knows it;
And, if “Fleur de lis” revives,—
That's the sop, he simply throws it
To his Cerberus,—and thrives!
Cherbourg rings with sturdy labour,
Troops are drilling night and day;
Just as well for some near neighbour
As for others far away!
Yes,—if “Danai bring a present,”
It were well to look ahead,
Lest what now may seem so pleasant
Turn at last to loss instead!
Troops are drilling night and day;
Just as well for some near neighbour
As for others far away!
Yes,—if “Danai bring a present,”
It were well to look ahead,
Lest what now may seem so pleasant
Turn at last to loss instead!
It is well: we stand together,
Fighting nobly for the right;
But, consider calmly whether,
Had there been no Eastern fight,
We should not have felt more jealous
Of such armaments in France?
O remember,—Frenchmen tell us
Friends may turn to foes perchance!
Fighting nobly for the right;
But, consider calmly whether,
Had there been no Eastern fight,
We should not have felt more jealous
Of such armaments in France?
O remember,—Frenchmen tell us
Friends may turn to foes perchance!
26
XI. THE BITER BIT.
He thought the time was come at last,
The full four hundredth year,—
That destiny the die had cast,
And there was nought to fear;
That St. Sophia's new-named dome
Should gladden Catherine's soul,
And the blest day at length was come
When he might see Stamboul!
The full four hundredth year,—
That destiny the die had cast,
And there was nought to fear;
That St. Sophia's new-named dome
Should gladden Catherine's soul,
And the blest day at length was come
When he might see Stamboul!
He thought that Peter's embryo dream
Was ready to be born,—
That he was doom'd to clench the scheme,
And clutch the Golden Horn;
That England cared not for the Turk,
And gloried in the Czar,—
And France had rather too much work
At home to wish for war.
Was ready to be born,—
That he was doom'd to clench the scheme,
And clutch the Golden Horn;
That England cared not for the Turk,
And gloried in the Czar,—
And France had rather too much work
At home to wish for war.
He thought that Louis Nap himself
Was Britain's fear and scorn,—
That Austria pined for want of pelf
In bankruptcy forlorn,—
That Blanc, Mazzini, and Kossuth
Kept every king in dread,—
And so he plann'd to cross the Pruth
And fiercely go ahead!
Was Britain's fear and scorn,—
That Austria pined for want of pelf
In bankruptcy forlorn,—
27
Kept every king in dread,—
And so he plann'd to cross the Pruth
And fiercely go ahead!
He thought,—I'll pick a quarrel now
With that weak Turk at home,
My Menskickoff shall make a row
About the Church of Rome,
Or Monks, or Greeks, or anything
Or nothing,—that's the plan,—
An orthodox and Christian king
Shall quarrel, as he can!
With that weak Turk at home,
My Menskickoff shall make a row
About the Church of Rome,
Or Monks, or Greeks, or anything
Or nothing,—that's the plan,—
An orthodox and Christian king
Shall quarrel, as he can!
So down stole Bruin from his frost
In hairy strength of limb;
But lightly did he count the cost
Of such a march to him:
The way was long; the Turk too strong;
And all the world agreed
That injured Right from rampant Wrong
Should sturdily be freed!
In hairy strength of limb;
But lightly did he count the cost
Of such a march to him:
The way was long; the Turk too strong;
And all the world agreed
That injured Right from rampant Wrong
Should sturdily be freed!
He found that England stood with France
Against him in array,—
And Bruin cursed his sad mischance,
But could not get away;
Baffled, and to destruction hurl'd,
And caught in his own pit,—
The wondering and applauding world
Beholds the Biter Bit!
Against him in array,—
And Bruin cursed his sad mischance,
But could not get away;
Baffled, and to destruction hurl'd,
And caught in his own pit,—
The wondering and applauding world
Beholds the Biter Bit!
28
XII.—A SUSPICION. I.—AND A HOPE. II.
[I.]
Chivalrous England! too ready to fightFor any one's wrong, or any one's right,
Dear Quixote of Nations, complacently vow'd
To rescue the weak and to baffle the proud,—
While generous (as usual) on every side,
Be just to yourself, whatever betide!
For subtlety still may be shrewdly at work
To stir up this strife with the Russ and the Turk,
That you, the magnanimous lion, may roam
In silly knight-errantry far from your home,
And leave it unguarded, for jackals to tear
The Lioness left with her cubs in your lair.
O look to yourself: if your fleets are away
And thanklessly fighting in nobody's pay;
If Chobham's rehearsal was all for the Czar,
And Portsmouth regatta meant Muscovite war;
If stolidly now you maintain and defend
So false a position as Mahomet's friend,
And leave not alone such a couple of foes
To hew done each other by fortunate blows;
If still, like an Ajax, in stupid resolve
You choose your brute strength in such strife to involve
As muzzling two savages, tiger and bear,
And not leaving either the other to tear:
You will richly deserve as you dearly shall rue
The doom which a brigand may destine for you,
An Algerine razzia over the land,
Secretly, suddenly, ruthlessly plann'd,
A burglary schemed when the Master's away,
A desperate vengeance for Waterloo Day!
29
II.
And yet,—if there be any cunning forsooth,Any honour or honesty, prudence or truth,
If even self-interest reckon for aught,
Or sense, in the school of adversity taught,
Your “brigand,” whom paradox seems to delight,
May still disappoint us,—by doing quite right!
We surely may trust, as between man and man,
An Emperor's word to be kept if he can,
If he can, without loss to his handsomest gain,
If he can, without hazarding peril or pain:
And what should he win by this desperate chance
Of feeding with slaughter the vengeance of France,—
His glory disgraced by such bandit-like ways,
And popular generals reaping the praise?
What might he not lose, by evoking to life
The spirit of faction, rebellion, and strife,
The spirit of anarchy,—by his strong hand
Quell'd into quiet all over his land?
No! give him his due: for, truly to tell,
Many things wisely, many things well,
Much that is noble and just hath he done,
And fairly may end what was foully begun:
If steady persistence in good be pursued,
Repentance of evil may grow from that good,—
Both nations and men may have grace to return,
Manasseh be pious, and Nineveh mourn!
Then, hope for the better, while well is in sight,
And let not suspicion sincerity blight,
But honest good fellowship rivet the bands
That bind in one brotherhood alien hands.
30
XIII.—AMBIDEXTERA.
[I.]
And what if they fight? can it matter to usThat Russ worry Turk, and Turk worry Russ?
That two fierce fanatics manage at length
To weaken each other's barbarian strength,
And Sultan and Czar, from their pinnacles hurl'd,
Both bleed in the dust for the gain of the world?
Can it matter to us? what need that we fight
For Muscovite insult, or Mussulman right,
For Mahomet's Turkey, presuming on Fate,
Or Petersburg tyranny, founded in hate?
No!—England, the peaceful, does all that she can
For the welfare and progress of civilised Man,
But cannot consent in a quarrel to mix
The limits of savage with savage to fix,
Or strive to prop up, for one dearly-bought hour.
So false and so foolish a “balance of power:”
Then, rush to the battle! make short bloody work!
Fall foul of each other, O Russ and O Turk!
By mutual slaughter and fury to purge
Fair Europe of boils at her uttermost verge!
Press forward, ye frenzied and barbarous hordes
With matchlocks and arrows and lances and swords,
That thus the bad blood of the world be let out
By hands that are skill'd in the bowstring and knout!
Go,—turban'd and scymetar'd Pagan, attack
The blood-drunken Tartar and brutal Cossack!
Go,—red-revolutionist infidel herd,
The kite and the raven and every foul bird,
Go, mix with the mêlée! and drain to the South
This ulcer of Earth in the Danube's red mouth!
31
II.
Can it matter to us? O, the matter is muchIf England be purg'd from the poison of such;
If Christendom's humours be drawn from her head
To the foot-distant seton of Turkey instead;
If soldiers of fortune, and scoundrels of chance
Converge to the Balkan from Prussia and France;
If Europe be cleansed of her dregs and her scum
By the blare of the bugle and tap of the drum;
If the flare of the Crescent grow more and more dim,
And the Bear be made weak in each murderous limb;
If tyranny, darkness, and fatalist zeal
Be shot down by bullet and cut down by steel,
And all that is hostile to all that is good
Be broken together, and smothered in blood!
Can it matter to us? can it matter to Man?
O, press to the battle, dear Liberty's van!
Arouse thee, fair Hungary, crush'd and cast down,
And find a new use for thy newly-found crown!
Can it matter? The Rubicon now is the Pruth,
Go forth, Alexander in Louis Kossuth!
Can it matter? O Poland, thy glory revives,
Kosciusko still lives in ten million of lives!
Can it matter? Young Italy, patient but bold,
Rekindle dead Rome and her greatness of old;
Awake her to life by this storm in the East,
And send to their limbo the Pope and the priest!
Can it matter? O Greece, thou world-honour'd Greece,
Arise in old majesty, beauty, and peace,
And out of this turmoil win back for mankind
A Pericles Age in the Reign of the Mind!
32
III.
What more can it matter? O more than them all,Than Liberty's triumph, or Tyranny's fall,
Than despots unsceptred, or popery crush'd,
Or red revolution with victory flush'd!
It matters to us, that the downtrodden Right
Be raised and revenged and establish'd in Might;
It matters to us, that the Wrong and the Base
Be check'd and confounded and drown'd in disgrace;
That Russia be stopp'd in its criminal course
And brigand rapacity fettered by force,—
That all the fierce wrath of that roaming wild beast
Be cribb'd and confined to the bounds of the East,
Its mammoth-like muscles be pinion'd betimes,
And stern retribution be dealt for its crimes!
That Turkey, the innocent, injured, abused,
Be help'd in right earnest and nothing refused,
By sea and by land be delivered from wrong,
And the weak be made able to grapple the strong,
Its honest good-fellowship rescued in need,
And the Lamb from the Wolf be courageously freed!
It matters,—O much does it matter to Man,
For who sees the End of what Russia began?
This earthquake of nations, this hurricane dire,
This heaving volcano, this deluge of fire,
Must grow to a vortex and ever increase,—
Till HE that is coming bring Glory and Peace,
And shut up this Saturday Night of the Earth
With its six thousandth year, its Sabbath-day's birth,
When Right shall stand highest, and Wrong be down-hurl'd,
And Justice and Mercy shall govern the world!
| A batch of war ballads | |