XXV. LINES ON THE EXPECTED INVASION. 1803. COME ye, who, if (which Heaven avert !) the Lard Were with herself at strife, would take your stand, Like gallant Falkland, by the Monarch's side, And, like Montrose, make Loyalty your pride; Come ye, who, not less zealous, might display Banners at enmity with regal sway, And, like the Pyms and Miltons of that day, Would keep, perhaps with many a fruitless tear, Come ye, XXVI. ANTICIPATION. OCTOBER, 1803. SHOUT, for a mighty Victory is won! On British ground the invaders are laid low; Never to rise again! — the work is done. Come forth, ye old men, now in peaceful show, And greet your sons! drums beat and trumpets blow! Make merry, wives! ye little children, stun Your grandame's ears with pleasure of your noise! Clap, infants, clap your hands! Divine must be That triumph, when the very worst, the pain, And even the prospect of our brethren slain, Hath something in it which the heart enjoys:In glory will they sleep and endless sanctity. XXVII. NOVEMBER, 1806. ANOTHER year!-another deadly blow! 'Tis well! from this day forward we shall know That in ourselves our safety must be sought;" That by our own right hands it must be wrought; XXVIII. ODE. I. Who rises on the banks of Seine, And binds her temples with the civic wreath? What joy to read the promise of her mien! How sweet to rest her wide-spread wings beneath But they are ever playing, And twinkling in the light, And, if a breeze be straying, That breeze she will invite; And stands on tiptoe, conscious she is fair, Melt, Principalities, before her melt! Her love ye hailed, her wrath have felt! But she through many a change of form hath gone, And stands amidst you now an armèd creature, Whose panoply is not a thing put on, But the live scales of a portentous nature; That, having forced its way from birth to birth, Stalks round, abhorred by Heaven, a terror to the Earth! II. I marked the breathings of her dragon crest; My Soul, a sorrowful interpreter, In many a midnight vision bowed Before the ominous aspect of her spear; Whether the mighty beam, in scorn upheld, Threatened her foes, or, pompously at rest, Seemed to bisect her orbèd shield, As stretches a blue bar of solid cloud Across the setting sun and all the fiery west. III. So did she daunt the Earth, and God defy! And, wheresoe'er she spread her sovereignty, Pollution tainted all that was most pure. -Have we not known,-and live we not to tell,— That Justice seemed to hear her final knell? Faith buried deeper in her own deep breast Her stores, and sighed to find them insecure! And Hope was maddened by the drops that fell From shades, her chosen place of short-lived rest. Shame followed shame, and woe supplanted woe,Is this the only change that time can show? How long shall vengeance sleep? - Heavens, how long? Ye patient - Infirm ejaculation! from the tongue IV. Weak Spirits are there, who would ask, Upon the pressure of a painful thing, Of herbs and lowly flowers, Or seek, from saints above, miraculous aid, - He must sink down to languish In worse than former helplessness, - and lie Till the caves roar,- and, imbecility Again engendering anguish, The same weak wish returns, that had before deceived him. V. But Thou, supreme Disposer! mayst not speed The course of things, and change the creed Which hath been held aloft before men's sight Since the first framing of societies, |