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NOVEMBER, 1813.

[flow

OCCASIONED BY THE BATTLE OF
WATERLOO.

Inscription.)

FEBRUARY, 1816.

Now that all hearts are glad, all faces (The last six lines are intended for an
bright,
Our aged sovereign sits; to the ebb and
Of states and kingdoms, to their joy or woe,
Insensible he sits deprived of sight,
And lamentably wrapt in twofold night,
Whom no weak hopes deceived; whose

mind ensued,

Through perilous war, with regal fortitude,
Peace that should claim respect from law-
less might.
[divine
Dread King of kings, vouchsafe a ray
To his forlorn condition! let thy grace
Upon his inner soul in mercy shine;
Permit his heart to kindle, and embrace

(Though were it only for a moment's
space)

The triumphs of this hour; for they are
THINE!

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the day: "When the Austrians took Hockheim, in one part of the engagement they got to the brow of the hill, whence they had their first view of the Rhine. They instantly halted-not a gun was fired-not a voice heard: they stood gazing on the river, with those feelings which the events of the last fifteen years at once called up. Prince Schwartzenberg rode up to know the cause of this sudden stop: they then gave three cheers, rushed after the enemy, and drove them into the water."

INTREPID Sons of Albion! not by you
Ne'er saw a race who held, by right of birth,
Is life despised; ah, no, the spacious earth
Ye slight not life—to God and nature true;
So many objects to which love is due.
But death, becoming death, is dearer far,
When duty bids you bleed in open war:
Hence hath your prowess quelled that
impious crew.

Heroes! for instant sacrifice prepared,
Yet filled with ardour, and on triumph bent,
'Mid direst shocks of mortal accident,
To you who fell, and you whom slaughter
spared,
[event,
To guard the fallen, and consummate the
Your country rears this sacred monument!

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Of past events,-to whom, in vision clear,
The aspiring heads of future things appear,
Like mountain-tops whose mists have rolled

away:

Nor wanted lurking hamlet, dusky towns,
And scattered rural farms of aspect bright,
And, here and there, between the pastoral
downs,

Assoiled from all incumbrance of our time,*The azure sea upswelled upon the sight.

He only, if such breathe, in strains devout
Shall comprehend this victory sublime;
And worthily rehearse the hideous rout,
Which the blest angels, from their peaceful
clime

Beholding, welcomed with a choral shout.

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Fair prospect, such as Britain only shows!
But not a living creature could be seen
Through its wide circuit, hushed in deep
repose,

Yea, even to sadness, quiet and serene!
Amid this solitude of earth and sky,
Through portal clear as loop-hole in a

storm

Opening before the sun's triumphant eye,
Issued, to sudden view, a radiant form!
Earthward it glided with a swift descent:
Saint George himself this visitant may be;
And ere a thought could ask on what intent
He sought the regions of humanity,
A thrilling voice was heard, that vivified
City and field and flood,--aloud it cried,

'Though from my celestial home,
Like a champion armed I come;
On my helm the dragon crest,
And the red cross on my breast;
I, the guardian of this land,
Speak not now of toilsome duty-
Well obeyed was that command,
Hence bright days of festive beauty;
Haste, virgins, haste !-the flowers which

summer gave

Have perished in the field;

[yield

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Maids and matrons-dight

In robes of dazzling white,

And ye, Pierian sisters, sprung from Jove And sage Mnemosyne,-full long debarred

While from the crowd bursts forth a From your first mansions,-exiled all too

rapturous noise

By the cloud-capt hills retorted, -
And a throng of rosy boys

In loose fashion tell their joys,---
And gray-haired sires, on staffs supported,
Look round-and by their smiling seem

to say,

Thus strives a grateful country to display The mighty debt which nothing can repay!

Anon before my sight a palace rose,
Built of all precious substances,--so pure
And exquisite, that sleep alone bestows
Ability like splendour to endure;
Entered, with streaming thousands, through
the gate,
[of state,
I saw the banquet spread beneath a dome
A lofty dome, that dared to emulate
The heaven of sable night

With starry lustre; and had power to throw
Solemn effulgence, clear as solar light,
Upon a princely company below,
While the vault rang with choral harmony,
Like some nymph-haunted grot beneath
the roaring sea.

No sooner ceased that peal, than on the
Of exultation hung a dirge,
[verge
Breathed from a soft and lonely instrument,
That kindled recollections
Of agonized affections;

And, though some tears the strain attended,
The mournful passion ended

In peace of spirit, and sublime content!

But garlands wither, -festal shows depart, Like dreams themselves; and sweetest Albeit of effect profound, [sound, It was--and it is gone! Victorious England! bid the silent art Reflect, in glowing hues that shall not fade, These high achievements, even as she arrayed With second life the deed of Marathon,

Upon Athenian walls:

So may she labour for thy civic halls;
And be the guardian spaces

Of consecrated places,

As nobly graced by sculpture's patient toil;
And let imperishable structures grow
Fixed in the depths of this courageous soil;
Expressive signals of a glorious strife,
And competent to shed a spark divine
Into the torpid breast of daily life; [shine,
Records on which the morning sun may

As changeful ages flow,
With gratulation thoroughly benign!

long

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And give the treasure to our British tongue!
So shall the characters of that proud page
Support their mighty theme from age to age;
And, in the desert places of the earth,
When they to future empires have given
birth,

So shall the people gather and believe
The bold report, transferred to every clime;
And the whole world, not envious but ad-

And to the like aspiring, [miring,
Own that the progeny of this fair isle
Had power as lofty actions to achieve
As were performed in man's heroic prime;
Nor wanted, when their fortitude had held
Its even tenor, and the foe was quelled,
A corresponding virtue to beguile
The hostile purpose of wide-wasting time;
That not in vain they laboured to secure,
For their great deeds, perpetual memory,
And fame as largely spread as land and sea,
By works of spirit high and passion p

'THANKSGIVING ODE. JANUARY 18, 1816.

ADVERTISEMENT. WHOLLY unworthy of touching upon the momentous subject here treated would that poet be, which this kingdom labours could interpose a before whose eyes the present distresses under veil sufficiently thick to hide, or even to obscure, the splendour of this great moral triumph. If

the author has given way to exultation, unchecked by these distresses, it might be sufficient to protect him from a charge of insensibility, should he state his own belief that the sufferings will be transitory. On the wisdom of a very large majority of the British nation rested that generosity which poured out the treasures of this country for the deliverance of Europe: and in the same national wisdom, presiding in time of peace over an energy not inferior to that which has been displayed in war, they confide, who encourage a firm hope, that the cup of our wealth will be gradually replenished. There will, doubtless, be no few ready to indulge in regrets and repinings; and to feed a morbid satisfaction, by aggravating these burthens in imagination, in order that calamity so confidently prophesied, as it has not taken the shape which their sagacity allotted to it, may appear as grievous as possible under another. But the body of the nation will not quarrel with the gain, because it might have been purchased at a less price and, acknowledging in these sufferings, which they feel to have been in a great degree unavoidable, a consecration of their noble efforts, they will vigorously apply themselves to remedy the evil.

tion; and, by permitting, they invite her to give way to the courageous instincts of human nature, and to strengthen and to refine them by culture. But some have more than insinuated that a design exists to subvert the civil character of the English people by unconstitutional applications and unnecessary increase of military power. The advisers and abettors of such a design, were it possible that it should exist, would be guilty of the most heinous crime, which, upon this planet, can be committed. The author, trusting that this apprehension arises from the delusive influences of an honourable jealousy, hopes that the martial qualities he venerates will be fostered by adhering to those good old usages which experience has sanctioned: and by availing ourselves of new means of indisputable promise: particularly by applying, in its utmost possible extent, that system of tuition whose master-spring is a habit of gradually enlightened subordination ;-by imparting knowledge, civil, moral, and religious, in such measure that the mind, among all classes of the community, may love, admire, and be prepared and accomplished to defend that country under whose protection its faculties have been unfolded, and its riches acquired ;-by just dealing towards all Nor is it at the expense of rational patriotism orders of the state, so that no members of it or in disregard of sound philosophy, that the being trampled upon, courage may everywhere author hath given vent to feelings tending to continue to rest immovably upon its ancient encourage a martial spirit in the bosoms of his English foundation, personal self-respect;-by countrymen, at a time when there is a general adequate rewards, and permanent honours, conoutcry against the prevalence of these disposi-ferred upon the deserving; by encouraging athtions. The British army, both by its skill and letic exercises and manly sports among the valour in the field, and by the discipline which peasantry of the country;-and by especial care has rendered it much less formidable than the to provide and support institutions, in which, armies of other powers to the inhabitants of the during a time of peace, a reasonable proportion several countries where its operations were car- of the youth of the country may be instructed ried on, has performed services that will not in military science. allow the language of gratitude and admiration to be suppressed or restrained (whatever be the temper of the public mind) through a scrupulous dread lest the tribute due to the past should prove an injurious incentive for the future. Every man deserving the name of Briton adds his voice to the chorus which extols the exploits of his countrymen, with a consciousness, at times overpowering the effort, that they transcend all praise.-But this particular sentiment, thus irresistibly excited, is not sufficient. The nation would err grievously, if she suffered the abuse which other states have made of military power, to prevent her from perceiving that no people ever was, or can be, independent, free, or secure, much less great, in any sane application of the word, without martial propensities and an assiduous cultivation of military virtues. Nor let it be overlooked, that the benefits derivable from these sources are placed within the reach of Great Britain, under conditions peculiarly favourable. The same insular position which, by rendering territorial incorporation impossible, utterly precludes the desire of conquest under the most seductive shape it can assume, enables her to rely, for her defence against foreign foes, chiefly upon a species of armed force from which her own liberties have nothing to fear. Such are the privileges of her situa

The author has only to add, that he should feel little satisfaction in giving to the world these limited attempts to celebrate the virtues of his country, if he did not encourage a hope that 3 subject, which it has fallen within his province to treat only in the mass, will by other poets be illustrated in that detail which its importance calls for, and which will allow opportunities to give the merited applause to PERSONS as well as to THINGS.

This Ode was published along with other pieces, now interspersed through this Volume.

ODE.

THE MORNING OF THE DAY APPOINTED
FOR A GENERAL THANKSGIVING,

JANUARY 18, 1816.

HAIL, universal source of pure delight!
Thou that canst shed the bliss of gratitude
On hearts howe'er insensible or rude;
Whether thy orient visitations smite
The haughty towers where monarchs dwell;
Or thou, impartial sun, with presence bright

Cheer'st the low threshold of the peasant's

cell!

Not unrejoiced I see thee climb the sky
In naked splendour, clear from mist or
haze,

Or cloud approaching to divert the rays,
Which even in deepest winter testify

Thy power and majesty,

Dazzling the vision that presumes to gaze.
Well does thine aspect usher in this day;
As aptly suits therewith that timid pace
Submitted to the chains
[dains
That bind thee to the path which God or-
That thou shalt trace,
[away!
Till, with the heavens and earth, thou pass
Nor less, the stillness of these frosty plains,
Their utter stillness, and the silent grace
Of yon ethereal summits white with snow,
(Whose tranquil pomp, and spotless purity,

Report of storms gone by
To us who tread below)

Do with the service of this day accord.
Divinest object, which the uplifted eye
Of mortal man is suffered to behold;
Throu, who upon yon snow-clad heights hast
poured
[vale,
Meek splendour, nor forget'st the humble
Thou who dost warm earth's universal
mould,

And for thy bounty wert not unadored

By pious men of old; [hail! Once more, heart-cheering sun, I bid thee Bright be thy course to-day, let not this promise fail!

'Mid the deep quiet of this morning hour, All nature seems to hear me while I speak, By feelings urged, that do not vainly seek Apt language, ready as the tuneful notes That stream in blithe succession from the Of birds in leafy bower, [throats Warbling a farewell to a vernal shower. There is a radiant but a short-lived flame, That burns for poets in the dawning east ; And oft my soul hath kindled at the same, When the captivity of sleep had ceased; But he who fixed immovably the frame Of the round world, and built, by laws as A solid refuge for distress, [strong, The towers of righteousness;

He knows that from a holier altar came The quickening spark of this day's sacrifice; Knows that the source is nobler whence doth

rise

The current of this matin song;
That deeper far it lies

Than aught dependent on the fickle skies.

Have we not conquered ?-By the vengeful sword?

Ah, no, by dint of magnanimity;
That curbed the baser passions, and left free
A loyal band to follow their liege lord,
Clear-sighted honour-and his staid com-
peers,

Along a track of most unnatural years,
In execution of heroic deeds;

Whose memory, spotless as the crystal beads
Of morning dew upon the untrodden meads,
Shall live enrolled above the starry spheres.
Who to the murmurs of an earthly string,
Of Britain's acts would sing,

He with enraptured voice will tell Of one whose spirit no reverse could quell'; Of one that 'mid the failing never failed: Who paints how Britain struggled and prevailed

Shall represent her labouring with an eye

Of circumspect humanity;

Shall show her clothed with strength All martial duties to fulfil; [and skill, Firm as a rock in stationary fight: In motion rapid as the lightning's gleam; Fierce as a flood-gate bursting in the night To rouse the wicked from their giddy

dream

Woe, woe to all that face her in the field! Appalled she may not be, and cannot yield.

And thus is missed the sole true glory That can belong to human story! At which they only shall arrive [dive. Who through the abyss of weakness The very humblest are too proud of heart : And one brief day is rightly set apart To Him who lifteth up and layeth low; For that Almighty God to whom we owe, Say not that we have vanquished--but that we survive.

How dreadful the dominion of the impure !

Why should the song be tardy to proclaim That less than power unbounded could not

tame

That soul of evil-which, from hell let loose, [abuse, Had filled the astonished world with such As boundless patience only could endure? Wide-wasted regions - cities wrapt in flame[eye Who sees, and feels, may lift a streaming To heaven,-who never saw may heave a sigh;

But the foundation of our nature shakes, And with an infinite pain the spirit aches,

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