HAIL, orient Conqueror of gloomy Night!
Thou that canst shed the bliss of gratitude By feelings urged that do not vainly seek

In execution of heroic deeds
Whose memory, spotless as the crystal
beads

Of morning dew upon the untrodden
meads,

65

Shall live enrolled above the starry spheres.

That soul of Evil-which, from Hell let loose,

95 Had filled the astonished world with such abuse

As boundless patience only could endure? -Wide-wasted regions-cities wrapt in flame

a sigh;

100

He, who in concert with an earthly string Who sees, may lift a streaming eye Of Britain's acts would sing, To Heaven;-who never saw, may heave He with enraptured voice will tell Of One whose spirit no reverse could quell; 70 Of One that 'mid the failing never failedWho paints how Britain struggled and prevailed

But the foundation of our nature shakes,
And with an infinite pain the spirit aches,
When desolated countries, towns on fire,
Are but the avowed attire

Of warfare waged with desperate mind 105

Shall represent her labouring with an eye Against the life of virtue in mankind;

All martial duties to fulfil;
Firm as a rock in stationary fight;
In motion rapid as the lightning's gleam;
Fierce as a flood-gate bursting at mid-
night

To rouse the wicked from their giddy
dream-

Woe, woe to all that face her in

field!

80

the

Appalled she may not be, and cannot yield.

IV.

scorn,

Not all the light of earthly power could
And to desires whose ever-waxing horn

fill; 116 Opposed to dark, deep plots of patient skill,

And thus is missed the sole true glory And to celerities of lawless force;

That can belong to human story!
At which they only shall arrive 85
Who through the abyss of weakness

dive.

Which, spurning God, had flung away

remorse

What could they gain but shadows of re

dress?

120

-No more-these lingerings of distress
Sully the limpid stream of thankfulness.
What robe can Gratitude employ
So seemly as the radiant vest of Joy?
What steps so suitable as those that move
In prompt obedience to spontaneous

measures

Of glory, and felicity, and love,

Lives inexhaustibly in precious gems,
Fixed on the front of Eastern diadems,
So shine our thankfulness for ever bright!
What offering, what transcendent monu-

ment

170

Shall our sincerity to Thee present? 136-Not work of hands; but trophies that may reach

Surrendering the whole heart to sacred To highest Heaven-the labour of the

332 Poems Dedicated to National Independence and Liberty.

Their solemn joy-praising the Eternal But in the bosom, with devout respect

MEMORIALS OF A TOUR ON THE

CONTINENT1.

1820.

DEDICATION.

(SENT WITH THESE POEMS, IN MS., TO
DEAR Fellow-travellers! think not that the Muse,
To You presenting these memorial Lays,
Can hope the general eye thereon would gaze,
As on a mirror that gives back the hues
Of living Nature; no-though free to choose
The greenest bowers, the most inviting ways,
The fairest landscapes and the brightest days-
Her skill she tried with less ambitious views.
For You she wrought: Ye only can supply
The life, the truth, the beauty: she confides
In that enjoyment which with You abides
Trusts to your love and vivid memory;
Thus far contented, that for You her verse
Shall lack not power the "meeting soul to pierce!"
W. WORDSWORTH.

RYDAL MOUNT, Nov., 1821.

1 These Memorials were published as a separate volume early in 1822. The poems were mostly written between January and November, 1821, the latest written of all, the Dedication, being dated November. To save needless repetition, none of the following poems will be furnished with the usual chronological note, except those to which the preceding observation does not apply. Where the usual note is wanting, the following general note may be taken as appropriate:-Composed 1821.Published 1822.-Exceptions will be duly noted.-ED.