TO THE MEMORY OF RAISLEY CALVERT.
CALVERT! it must not be unheard by them Who may respect my name, that I to thee Owed many years of early liberty.
This care was thine when sickness did condemn Thy youth to hopeless wasting, root and stem: That I, if frugal and severe, might stray Where'er I liked; and finally array My temples with the muse's diadem. Herce, if in freedom I have loved the truth, If there be aught of pure, or good, or great, In my past verse,- -or shall be, in the lays Of higher mood which now I meditate,- It gladdens me, O worthy, short-lived youth! To think how much of this will be thy praise.
Sonnets dedicated to Liberty.
COMPOSED BY THE SEA-SIDE, NEAR CALAIS, AUGUST 1802.
FAIR star of evening, splendour of the west, Star of my country !-on the horizon's brink Thou hangest, stooping, as might seem, to sink On England's bosom; yet well pleased to rest, Meanwhile, and be to her a glorious crest Conspicuous to the nations. Thou, I think, Shouldst be my country's emblem; and shouldst wink, Bright star, with laughter on her banners, dressed In thy fresh beauty. There; that dusky spot Beneath thee-it is England! there it lies. Blessings be on you both! one hope, one lot, One life, one glory! I with many a fear For my dear country, many heartfelt sighs, 'Mong men who do not love her, linger here.
CALAIS, AUGUST 1802.
Is it a reed that's shaken by the wind,
Or what is it that ye go forth to see?
Lords, lawyers, statesmen, squires of low degree,
Men known, and men unknown, sick, lame, and blind,
Post forward all, like creatures of one kind, With first-fruit offerings crowd to bend the knee In France, before the new-born majesty. 'Tis ever thus. Ye men of prostrate mind! A seemly reverence may be paid to power; But that's a loyal virtue, never sown
In haste, nor springing with a transient shower: When truth, when sense, when liberty were flown, What hardship had it been to wait an hour? Shame on you, feeble heads to slavery prone!
COMPOSED NEAR CALAIS, ON THE ROAD LEADING TO ARDRES, AUGUST 7, 1807.
JONES! when from Calais southward you and I Travelled on foot together, then this way Which I am pacing now, was like the May With festivals of new-born Liberty:
A homeless sound of joy was in the sky; The antiquated earth, as one might say,
Beat like the heart of man: songs, garlands, play, Banners, and happy faces, far and nigh! And now, sole register that these things were, Two solitary greetings have I heard,
"Good morrow, Citizen !" a hollow word,
As if a dead man spake it! Yet despair I feel not happy am I as a bird;
Fair seasons yet will come, and hopes as fair.
I GRIEVED for Buonaparte, with a vain And an unthinking grief! for, who aspires To genuine greatness but from just desires, And knowledge such as he could never gain? 'Tis not in battles that from youth we train The governor who must be wise and good, And temper with the sternness of the brain Thoughts motherly and meek as womanhood. Wisdom doth live with children round her knees Books, leisure, perfect freedom, and the talk Man holds with week-day man in the hourly walk Of the mind's business: these are the degrees By which true sway doth mount; this is the stalk True power doth grow on; and her rights are these.
FESTIVALS have I seen that were not names: This is young Buonaparte's natal day,
And his is henceforth an established sway, Consul for life. With worship France proclaims Her approbation, and with pomps and games. Heaven grant that other cities may be gay! Calais is not; and I have bent my way To the seacoast, noting that each man frames His business as he likes. Another time That was, when I was here long years ago; The senselessness of joy was then sublime! Happy is he, who, caring not for pope, Consul, or king, can sound himself to know The destiny of man, and live in hope.
ON THE EXTINCTION OF THE VENETIAN REPUBLIC.
ONCE did she hold the gorgeous East in fee; And was the safeguard of the West: the worth Of Venice did not fall below her birth- Venice, the eldest child of Liberty! She was a maiden city, bright and free; No guile seduced, no force could violate; And when she took unto herself a mate, She must espouse the everlasting sea. And what if she had seen those glories fade, Those titles vanish, and that strength decay; Yet shall some tribute of regret be paid When her long life hath reached its final day: Men are we, and must grieve when even the shade Of that which once was great is passed away.
THE voice of song from distant lands shall call To that great king; shall hail the crowned youth Who, taking counsel of unbending Truth, By one example hath set forth to all How they with dignity may stand-or fall, If fall they must. Now, whither doth it tend? And what to him and his shall be the end? That thought is one which neither can appal
Nor cheer him ; for the illustrious Swede hath done The thing which ought to be; he stands above All consequences: work he hath begun
Of fortitude, and piety, and love,
Which all his glorious ancestors approve : The heroes bless him-him their rightful son.
TO TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE.
TOUSSAINT, the most unhappy man of men! Whether the all-cheering sun be free to shed His beams around thee, or thou rest thy head Pillowed in some dark dungeon's noisome den- O miserable chieftain! where and when Wilt thou find patience? Yet die not; do thou Wear rather in thy bonds a cheerful brow Though fallen thyself, never to rise again, Live, and take comfort. Thou hast left behind
Powers that will work for thee: air, earth, and skies; There's not a breathing of the common wind That will forget thee; thou hast great allies; Thy friends are exultations, agonies,
And love, and man's unconquerable mind.
WE had a fellow-passenger who came From Calais with us, gaudy in array,— A negro woman like a lady gay, Yet silent as a woman fearing blame; Dejected, meek, yea pitiably tame, She sat, from notice turning not away, But on our proffered kindness still did lay A weight of languid speech,- -or at the same Was silent, motionless in eyes and face. She was a negro woman driven from France, Rejected like all others of that race,
Not one of whom may now find footing there; This the poor outcast did to us declare, Nor murmured at the unfeeling ordinance.
COMPOSED IN THE VALLEY, NEAR DOVER, ON THE DAY OF LANDING.
DEAR fellow-traveller, here we are once more! The cock that crows, the smoke that curls, that sound Of bells, those boys who in yon meadow-ground In white-sleeved shirts are playing,-and the roar Of the waves breaking on the chalky shore,- All, all are English. Oft have I looked round With joy in Kent's green vales; but never found Myself so satisfied in heart before.
Europe is yet in bonds; but let that pass, Thought for another moment. Thou art free, My country! and 'tis joy enough and pride For one hour's perfect bliss, to tread the grass Of England once again, and hear and see, With such a dear companion at my side.
INLAND, within a hollow vale, I stood; And saw, while sea was calm and air was clear, The coast of France-the coast of France how near! Drawn almost into frightful neighbourhood.
I shrunk, for verily the barrier flood
Was like a lake, or river bright and fair,
A span of waters; yet what power is there! What mightiness for evil and for good! Even so doth God protect us if we be
Virtuous and wise. Winds blow, and waters roll, Strength to the brave, and power, and deity, Yet in themselves are nothing! One decree Spake laws to them, and said that by the soul Only the nations shall be great and free.
THOUGHT OF A BRITON ON THE SUBJUGATION OF SWITZERLAND
Two voices are there-one is of the sea,
One of the mountains-each a mighty voice: In both from age to age, thou didst rejoice, They were thy chosen music, Liberty! There came a tyrant, and with holy glee
Thou fought'st against him; but hast vainly striven, Thou from thy Alpine holds at length are driven, Where not a torrent murmurs heard by thee.
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