Far other scenes than these my fancy viewed; Rocks robed in ice, a mountain solitude; Where on Helvetian hills, in godlike state, Alone and awful, Europe's angel sate. Silent and stern he sate; then bending low, Listened the ascending plaints of human wo, And waving as in grief his towery head,
Not yet, not yet the day of rest,' he said; It may not be. Destruction's gory wing Soars o'er the banners of the younger king, Too rashly brave, who seeks with single sway To stem the lava on its destined way. Poor, glittering warriors, only wont to know The bloodless pageant of a martial show; Nurselings of peace, for fiercer fights prepare, And dread the step-dame sway of unaccustomed
They fight, they bleed-O, had that blood been shed
When Charles and valor Austria's armies led, Had these stood forth the righteous cause to shield,
When victory wavered on Moravia's field,
Then France had mourned her conquests made in vain,
Her backward-beaten ranks, and countless slain, Then had the strength of Europe's freedom stood,
And still the Rhine had rolled a German flood. 'O, nursed in many a wile,and practised long To spoil the poor, and cringe before the strong, To swell the victor's state, and hovering near, Like some base vulture in the battle's rear, To watch the carnage of the field, and share Each loathsome alms the prouder eagles spare: A curse is on thee, Brandenburgh, the sound Of Poland's wailing drags thee to the ground, And drunk with guilt, thy harlot lips shall know The bitter dregs of Austria's cup of wo.
'Enough of vengeance. O'er the ensanguined plain
I gaze, and seek their numerous host in vain, Gone like the locust band, when whirlwinds
Their flimsy legions through the waste of air. Enough of vengeance. By the glorious dead, Who bravely fell where youthful Lewis led, By Blucher's sword in fiercest danger tried, And the true heart that burst when Brunswic died,
By her whose charms the coldest zeal might
The manliest firmness in the fairest form—
Save, Europe, save the remnant.-Yet remains One glorious path to free the world from chains. Why, when your northern band in Eylau's wood
Retreating struck, and tracked their course with
While one firm rock the floods of ruin stayed, Why, generous Austria,were thy wheels delayed? And Albion !'-Darker sorrow veiled his brow- 'Friend of the friendless-Albion,where art thou? Child of the Sea, whose wing-like sails are spread, The covering cherub of the ocean's bed; The storm and tempest render peace to thee, And the wild-roaring waves a stern security. But hope not thou in Heaven's own strength to ride,
Freedom's loved ark, o'er broad oppression's tide, If virtue leave thee, if thy careless eye
Glance in contempt on Europe's agony. Alas! where now the bands who wont to pour Their strong deliverance on the Egyptian shore ? Wing,wing your course, a prostrate world to save, Triumphant squadrons of Trafalgar's wave.
'And thou, blest star of Europe's darkest hour, Whose words were wisdom, and whose counsels power,
Whom Earth applauded through her peopled shores,
(Alas! whom Earth too early lost deplores ;-) Young without follies, without rashness bold, And greatly poor amidst a nation's gold;
In every veering gale of faction true, Untarnished Chatham's genuine child, adieu. Unlike our common suns, whose gradual ray Expands from twilight to intenser day,
Thy blaze broke forth at once in full meridian sway.
O, proved in danger, not the fiercest flame Of Discord's rage thy constant soul could tame; Not when, far-striding o'er thy palsied land, Gigantic Treason took his bolder stand;
Not when wild Zeal, by murderous Faction led, On Wicklow's hills, her grass-green banner spread;
Or those stern conquerors of the restless wave Defied the native soil they wont to save.- Undaunted patriot, in that dreadful hour, When pride and genius own a sterner power; When the dimmed eyeball, and the struggling breath,
And pain, and terror, mark advancing death;— Still in that breast thy country held her throne, Thy toil, thy fear, thy prayer were hers alone, Thy last faint effort hers, and hers thy parting
Yes, from those lips while fainting nations drew Hope ever strong, and courage ever new ;-
Yet, yet, I deemed, by that supporting hand
Propped in her fall might Freedom's ruin stand; And purged by fire, and stronger from the storm, Degraded Justice rear her reverend form.
Now, hope, adieu ;-adieu the generous care To shield the weak, and tame the proud in war; The golden chain of realms, when equal awe Poised the strong balance of impartial law; When rival states as federate sisters shone, Alike, yet various, and though many, one ; And, bright and numerous as the spangled sky, Beamed each fair star of Europe's galaxy- All, all are gone, and after-time shall trace One boundless rule, one undistinguished race; Twilight of worth, where nought remains to move The patriot's ardor, or the subject's love.
'Behold, e'en now, while every manly lore And every muse forsakes my yielding shore; Faint, vapid fruits of slavery's sickly clime, Each tinsel art succeeds, and harlot rhyme; To gild the vase, to bid the purple spread In sightly foldings o'er the Grecian bed, Their mimic guard where sculptured gryphons keep,
And Memphian idols watch o'er beauty's sleep To rouse the slumbering sparks of faint desire With the base tinkling of the Teian lyre,
While youth's enervate glance and gloating age
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