"Fill high the sparkling bowl, "The rich repast prepare; "Reft of a crown, he yet may share the feast: "Close by the regal chair "Fell Thirst and Famine scowl "A baleful smile upon their baffled guest. "Heard ye the din of battle bray, "Lance to lance, and horse to horse! "Long years of havoc urge their destin'd course, "And through the kindred squadrons mow their way. "Ye towers of Julius, London's lasting shame, "With many a foul and midnight murder fed, "Revere his consort's faith, his father's fame, "And spare the meek usurper's holy head. "Above, below, the rose of snow, "Twin'd with her blushing foe we spread: "The bristled boar in infant gore "Wallows beneath the thorny shade. "Now, brothers, bending o'er th' accursed loom, "Stamp we our vengeance deep, and ratify his doom. "Edward, lo! to sudden fate "(Weave we the woof. The thread is spun.) "Half of thy heart we consecrate. 66 6 (The web is wove. The work is done.)" Stay, oh stay! nor thus forlorn Leave me unbless'd, unpitied, here to mourn: In yon bright track, that fires the western skies, They melt, they vanish from my eyes. • But oh! what solemn scenes on Snowdon's height Descending slow their glittering skirts unroll? 'Ye unborn ages, crowd not on my soul! 'No more our long-lost Arthur we bewail. All hail, ye genuine kings; Britannia's issue, hail! Girt with many a baron bold • Sublime their starry fronts they rear; And gorgeous dames and statesmen old, In bearded majesty, appear. In the midst a form divine! Her eye proclaims her of the Briton-line'; What strings symphonious tremble in the air! • What strains of vocal transport round her play! 6 Hear from the grave, great Taliessin, hear; They breathe a soul to animate thy clay. Bright Rapture calls, and soaring, as she sings, •Waves in the eye of heaven her many-colour'd wings. The verse adorn again 'Fierce War, and faithful Love, ⚫ And Truth severe, by fairy Fiction drest. 'In buskin'd measures move Pale Grief, and pleasing Pain, With Horror, tyrant of the throbbing breast. Gales from blooming Eden bear; And distant warblings lessen on my ear, That lost in long futurity expire. Fond, impious man, think'st thou, yon sanguine cloud, 'Rais'd by thy breath, has quench'd the orb of day? To-morrow he repairs the golden flood, And warms the nations with redoubled ray. Enough for me: with joy I see The different doom our fates assign. Be thine despair, and scepter'd care; To triumph, and to die, are mine.' He spoke, and headlong from the mountain's height Deep in the roaring tide he plung'd to endless night. ON EDUCATION. As sickly plants betray a niggard earth, So fond instruction on the growing powers Say, then, through ages by what fate confin'd To different climes seem different souls assign'd? Here measur'd laws and philosophic ease Fix, and improve the polish'd arts of peace. There industry and gain their vigils keep, Here force and hardy deeds of blood prevail; The blue-eyed myriads from the Baltic coast. |