They rose the forester-the mountaineer— Oh! what hath earth more strong than the good peasant spear?

XI.

Sacred be Grutli's field! Their vigil keeping Through many a blue and starry summer night— There, while the sons of happier lands were sleeping,

Had those brave Switzers met; and in the sight Of the just God, who pours forth burning might To gird the oppress'd, had given their deep thoughts way,

And braced their spirits for the patriot fight, With lovely images of homes that lay [spray. Bower'd midst the rustling pines, or by the torrent

XII.

Now had endurance reach'd its bounds! They

came

With courage set in each bright earnest eye,
The day, the signal, and the hour to name,
When they should gather on their hills to die,
Or shake the glaciers with their joyous cry
For the land's freedom. "Twas a scene combining
All glory in itself-the solemn sky,

The stars, the waves their soften'd light enshrining, And man's high soul supreme o'er mighty Nature shining.

XIII.

Calmly they stood, and with collected mien,
Breathing their souls in voices firm but low-
As if the spirit of the hour and scene, [flow,
With the woods' whisper and the waves' sweet
Had temper'd in their thoughtful hearts the glow
Of all indignant feeling. To the breath
Of Dorian flute, and lyre-note soft and slow,
E'en thus of old, the Spartan from its sheath
Drew his devoted sword, and girt himself for death.

XIV.

And three, that seem'd as chieftains of the band,
Were gather'd in the midst on that lone shore
By Uri's lake. A father of the land,1
One on his brow the silent record wore

Of many days, whose shadows had pass'd o'er
His path among the hills, and quench'd the dreams
Of youth with sorrow. Yet from memory's lore
Still his life's evening drew its loveliest gleams,
For he had walk'd with God, beside the mountain
streams.

1 Walter Furst, the father-in-law of Tell.

2 Werner Stauffacher, who had been urged by his wife to

XV.

And his gray hairs, in happier times, might well
To their last pillow silently have gone,

As melts a wreath of snow. But who shall tell
How life may task the spirit? He was one
Who from its morn a freeman's work had done,
And reap'd his harvest, and his vintage press'd,
Fearless of wrong; and now, at set of sun,
He bow'd not to his years, for on the breast
Of a still chainless land he deem'd it much to
rest.

XVI.

But for such holy rest strong hands must toil,
Strong hearts endure! By that pale elder's side,
Stood one that seem'd a monarch of the soil,
Serene and stately in his manhood's pride-
Werner, the brave and true! If men have died
Their hearths and shrines inviolate to keep,
He was a mate for such. The voice that cried
Within his breast, "Arise!" came still and deep
From his far home, that smiled e'en then in moon-
light sleep.

XVII.

It was a home to die for! As it rose
Through its vine foliage, sending forth a sound
Of mirthful childhood, o'er the green repose
And laughing sunshine of the pastures round;
And he, whose life to that sweet spot was bound,
Raised unto Heaven a glad yet thoughtful eye,
And set his free step firmer on the ground,
When o'er his soul its melodies went by,
As, through some Alpine pass, a breeze of Italy.

XVIII.

But who was he that on his hunting-spear
Lean'd, with a prouder and more fiery bearing?
His was a brow for tyrant hearts to fear,
Within the shadow of its dark locks wearing
That which they may not tame-a soul declaring
War against earth's oppressors. Midst that throng
Of other mould he seem'd, and loftier daring,
One whose blood swept high impulses along,
One that should pass, and leave a name for war-
like song

XIX.

A memory on the mountains!—one to stand,
When the hills echo'd with the deepening swell
Of hostile trumpets, foremost for the land,
And in some rock defile, or savage dell,

rouse and unite his countrymen for the deliverance of Switzerland.

1 Erni, Arnold Melchthal.

* The Lammer-Geyer, the largest kind of Alpine eagle. The eyes of his aged father had been put out by the orders of the Austrian governor.

bright,

In Werner's dwelling flow'd; through leafless vines

4 Forest-Sea-the lake of the Four Cantons is frequently so called.