"LOOK NOW ON THAT ADVENTURER WHO HATH PAID "

Composed 1809. - Published 1815

Look now on that Adventurer who hath paid
His vows to Fortune; who, in cruel slight
Of virtuous hope, of liberty, and right,
Hath followed wheresoe'er a way was made
By the blind Goddess, ruthless, undismayed ;
And so hath gained at length a prosperous height,
Round which the elements of worldly might
Beneath his haughty feet, like clouds, are laid.
O joyless power that stands by lawless force!
Curses are his dire portion, scorn, and hate,
Internal darkness and unquiet breath;

5

10

And, if old judgments keep their sacred course,
Him from that height shall Heaven precipitate

By violent and ignominious death.

The "Adventurer" who "paid his vows to Fortune," in contrast to the royal Swede "who never did to Fortune bend the knee," was of course Napoleon Buonaparte. - ED.

"IS THERE A POWER THAT CAN SUSTAIN AND CHEER"

Composed 1809.-Published 1815

Is there a power that can sustain and cheer
The captive chieftain, by a tyrant's doom,
Forced to descend into his destined tomb-1

A dungeon dark! where he must waste the year,

1 1837.

Forced to descend alive into his tomb,

1815.

The text of 1815 was re-adopted in 1838; the text of 1840

returned to that of 1837.

And lie cut off from all his heart holds dear;
What time his injured country is a stage
Whereon deliberate Valour and the rage
Of righteous Vengeance side by side appear,
Filling from morn to night the heroic scene
With deeds of hope and everlasting praise :-
Say can he think of this with mind serene
And silent fetters? Yes, if visions bright
Shine on his soul, reflected from the days
When he himself was tried in open light.

5

10

This may refer to Palafox, alluded to in the sonnet (p. 222) beginning, "And is it among rude untutored Dales," and in the one next in order in the series (p. 223); although, from the latter sonnet, it would seem that Wordsworth did not know that Palafox was, in 1809, a prisoner at Vincennes.

In his edition of the poems published in 1837, Professor Henry Reed of Philadelphia said, "He must be dull of heart who, in perusing this series of Poems 'dedicated to Liberty,' does not feel his affection for his own country-wherever it may be and his love of freedom, under whatever form of government his lot may have been cast-at once invigorated and chastened into a purer and more thoughtful emotion."-ED.

EPITAPHS TRANSLATED FROM
CHIABRERA

[Those from Chiabrera were chiefly translated when Mr. Coleridge was writing his Friend, in which periodical my "Essay on Epitaphs," written about that time, was first published. For further notice of Chiabrera, in connection with his Epitaphs, see Musings near Aquapendente. —I. F.]

It is better to print all the Epitaphs from Chiabrera together, than to spread them out over the years when they were written or published. Some of them were certainly written in 1809, or at least before 1810; others at a later date. But it is impossible to say in what year those published after 1810 were composed. They are all to be found in the class of "Epitaphs and Elegiac Pieces."-ED.

I

"WEEP NOT, BELOVED FRIENDS! NOR LET

THE AIR".

Published 1837

WEEP not, beloved Friends! nor let the air
For me with sighs be troubled. Not from life
Have I been taken; this is genuine life
And this alone the life which now I live
In peace eternal; where desire and joy
Together move in fellowship without end.—
Francesco Ceni willed that, after death,
His tombstone thus should speak for him.1 And surely
Small cause there is for that fond wish of ours

5

Long to continue in this world; a world
That keeps not faith, nor yet can point a hope
To good, whereof itself is destitute.

II

"PERHAPS SOME NEEDFUL SERVICE OF

1

THE STATE"

Published 1810 *

PERHAPS some needful service of the State

Drew TITUS from the depth of studious bowers,
And doomed him to contend in faithless courts,
Where gold determines between right and wrong.

1849.

Francesco Ceni after death enjoined
That thus his tomb should speak for him.

Yet did at length his loyalty of heart,
And his pure native genius, lead him back
To wait upon the bright and gracious Muses,
Whom he had early loved. And not in vain
Such course he held! Bologna's learned schools
Were gladdened by the Sage's voice, and hung
With fondness on those sweet Nestorian strains.1
There pleasure crowned his days; and all his thoughts
A roseate fragrance breathed.2 *—O human life,
That never art secure from dolorous change!

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10

Behold a high injunction suddenly

15

To Arno's side hath brought him, and he charmed

A Tuscan audience: but full soon was called

To the perpetual silence of the grave.

Mourn, Italy, the loss of him who stood

O THOU who movest onward with a mind

Intent upon thy way, pause, though in haste !

1

1815.

Nestrian

1810.

2 1815.

There did he live content; and all his thoughts
Were blithe as vernal flowers. -

1810.

3 1837.

1810.

To Arno's side conducts him,

* Ivi vivea giocondo ei suoi pensieri
Erano tutti rose.

The Translator had not skill to come nearer to his original.-W. W. 1815. † In The Friend, February 22.-ED.

'Twill be no fruitless moment. I was born
Within Savona's walls, of gentle blood.
On Tiber's banks my youth was dedicate
To sacred studies; and the Roman Shepherd
Gave to my charge Urbino's numerous flock.
Well 1 did I watch, much laboured, nor had power
To escape from many and strange indignities;
Was smitten by the great ones of the world,
But did not fall; for Virtue braves all shocks,

Upon herself resting immoveably.
Me did a kindlier fortune then invite

To serve the glorious Henry, King of France,
And in his hands I saw a high reward

Stretched out for my acceptance,—but Death came.
Now, Reader, learn from this my fate, how false,
How treacherous to her promise, is the world;
And trust in God-to whose eternal doom
Must bend the sceptred Potentates of earth.

5

IO

15

20

IV

"THERE NEVER BREATHED A MAN WHO,

WHEN HIS LIFE"

Published 1809 *

THERE never breathed a man who, when his life
Was closing, might not of that life relate
Toils long and hard. The warrior will report
Of wounds, and bright swords flashing in the field,
And blast of trumpets. He who hath been doomed 5
To bow his forehead in the courts of kings,
Will tell of fraud and never-ceasing hate,
Envy and heart-inquietude, derived

1 1837.

Much

1810.

* In The Friend, December 28.-ED.