That by our own right hands it must be wrought; XXVIII. ODE. I. Wno 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, That breeze she will invite"; And stands on tiptoe, conscious she is fair, 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; 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? Ye patient Heavens, how long? - Infirm ejaculation! from the tongue Of Nations wanting virtue to be strong Up to the measure of accorded might, And daring not to feel the majesty of right! IV. Weak Spirits are there, - who would ask. Among the lurking powers Or seek, from saints above, miraculous aid, - If, when that interference hath relieved him, He must sink down to languish In worse than former helplessness, Till the caves roar, and lie and, imbecility Again engendering anguish, The same weak wish returns, that had before de ceived him. V. But Thou, supreme Disposer! mayst not speed The course of things, and change the creed Whether, as bards have told in ancient song, Or prest together by the appetite, And by the power, of wrong. PART II. I. ON A CELEBRATED EVENT IN ANCIENT HISTORY, A ROMAN Master stands on Grecian ground, By all the blended powers of Earth and Heaven. II. UPON THE SAME EVENT. WHEN, far and wide, swift as the beams of morn adorn His envied temples with the Isthmian crown, III. TO THOMAS CLARKSON, ON THE FINAL PASSING OF THE BILL FOR THE ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE-TRADE. MARCH, 1807. CLARKSON! it was an obstinate hill to climb: |