 | Gustavus Vasa, The Deliverer of his Country |  |
PROLOGUE.
Britons! this Night presents a State distress'd,
Tho' brave, yet vanquish'd; and tho' great, oppress'd;
Vice, rav'ning Vulture, on her Vitals prey'd,
Her Peers, her Prelates, fell Corruption sway'd;
Their Rights, for Pow'r, th' Ambitious weakly sold,
The Wealthy, poorly, for superfluous Gold;
Hence wasting Ills, hence sev'ring Factions rose,
And gave large Entrance to invading Foes;
Truth, Justice, Honour fled th' infected Shore,
For Freedom, sacred Freedom was no more.
Tho' brave, yet vanquish'd; and tho' great, oppress'd;
Vice, rav'ning Vulture, on her Vitals prey'd,
Her Peers, her Prelates, fell Corruption sway'd;
Their Rights, for Pow'r, th' Ambitious weakly sold,
The Wealthy, poorly, for superfluous Gold;
Hence wasting Ills, hence sev'ring Factions rose,
And gave large Entrance to invading Foes;
Truth, Justice, Honour fled th' infected Shore,
For Freedom, sacred Freedom was no more.
Then, greatly rising in his Country's Right,
Her Hero, her Deliverer sprung to Light;
A Race of hardy, northern Sons he led,
Guiltless of Courts, untainted, and unread,
Whose inborn Spirit spurn'd th' ignoble Fee,
Whose Hands scorn'd Bondage, for their Hearts were free.
Her Hero, her Deliverer sprung to Light;
A Race of hardy, northern Sons he led,
Guiltless of Courts, untainted, and unread,
Whose inborn Spirit spurn'd th' ignoble Fee,
Whose Hands scorn'd Bondage, for their Hearts were free.
Ask ye what Law their conq'ring Cause confess'd?
Great Nature's Law, the Law within the Breast,
Form'd by no Art, and to no Sect confin'd,
But stamp'd by Heav'n upon th' unletter'd Mind.
Great Nature's Law, the Law within the Breast,
Form'd by no Art, and to no Sect confin'd,
But stamp'd by Heav'n upon th' unletter'd Mind.
Such, such, of old, the first born Natives were,
Who breath'd the Vertues of Brittania's Air,
The Realm, when mighty Cæsar vainly sought;
For mightier Freedom against Cæsar fought,
And rudely drove the fam'd Invader Home,
To tyrannize o'er polish'd—venal Rome.
Who breath'd the Vertues of Brittania's Air,
The Realm, when mighty Cæsar vainly sought;
For mightier Freedom against Cæsar fought,
And rudely drove the fam'd Invader Home,
To tyrannize o'er polish'd—venal Rome.
Our Bard, exalted in a freeborn Flame,
To ev'ry Nation wou'd transfer this Claim,
He to no State, no Climate bounds his Page,
He bids the Moral beam thro' ev'ry Age;
Then be your Judgment gen'rous as his Plan,
Ye Sons of Freedom!—save the Friend of Man.
To ev'ry Nation wou'd transfer this Claim,
He to no State, no Climate bounds his Page,
He bids the Moral beam thro' ev'ry Age;
Then be your Judgment gen'rous as his Plan,
Ye Sons of Freedom!—save the Friend of Man.
| Gustavus Vasa, The Deliverer of his Country | |