Sidor som bilder
PDF
ePub

ENGLAND.

ENGLAND, with all thy faults, I love thee

still

My country! and, while yet a nook is left

Where English minds and manners may be found, Shall be constrain'd to love thee. Though thy

clime

Be fickle, and thy year most part deform'd
With dripping rains, or wither'd by a frost,
I would not yet exchange thy sullen skies,
And fields without a flow'r, for warmer France
With all her vines; nor for Ausonia's groves
Of golden fruitage, and her myrtle bow'rs.
To shake thy senate, and from heights sublime
Of patriot eloquence to flash down fire
Upon thy foes, was never meant my task:
But I can feel thy fortunes, and partake
Thy joys and sorrows, with as true a heart
As any thund'rer there. And I can feel
Thy follies too; and with a just disdain

Frown at effeminates, whose very looks
Reflect dishonour on the land I love.

How, in the name of soldership and sense,

Should England prosper, when such things, as smooth

And tender as a girl, all essenc'd o'er

With odours, and as profligate as sweet;

Who sell their laurel for a myrtle wreath,

And love when they should fight; when such as these

Presume to lay their hand upon the ark

Of her magnificent and awful cause?

Time was when it was praise and boast enough
In ev'ry clime, and travel where we might,
That we were born her children. Praise enough
To fill th' ambition of a private man,

That Chatham's language was his mother tongue,
And Wolfe's great name compatriot with his own.
Farewell those honours, and farewell with them
The hope of such hercafter! They have fall'n
Each in his field of glory; one in arms,
And one in council-Wolfe upon the lap
Of smiling victory that moment won,

And Chatham heart-sick of his country's shame!

They made us many soldiers. Chatham, still Consulting England's happiness at home, Secur'd it by an unforgiving frown,

If any wrong'd her. Wolfe, where'er he fought, Put so much of his heart into his act,

That his example had a magnet's force,

And all were swift to follow whom all lov'd. Those suns are set. Oh, rise some other such! Or all that we have left is empty talk

Of old achievements, and despair of new.

Now hoist the sail, and let the streamers float Upon the wanton breezes. Strew the deck With lavender, and sprinkle liquid sweets, That no rude savour maritime invade The nose of nice nobility! Breathe soft, Ye Clarionets; and softer still, ye flutes; That winds and waters, lull'd by magic sounds, May bear us smoothly to the Gallic shore! True, we have lost an empire-let it pass. True, we may thank the perfidy of France, That pick'd the jewel out of England's crown, With all the cunning of an envious shrew. And let that pass-'twas but a trick of state!

A brave man knows no malice, but at once
Forgets in peace the injuries of war,

And gives his direst foe a friend's embrace.
And, sham'd as we have been, to th' very beard
Brav'd and defied, and in our own sea prov'd
Too weak for those decisive blows that once
Ensur'd us mast'ry there, we yet retain
Some small pre-eminence; we justly boast
At least superior jockeyship, and claim
The honours of the turf as all our own!
Go, then, well worthy of the praise ye seek,
And show the shame ye might conceal at home
In foreign eyes!-be grooms, and win the plate,
Where once your nobler fathers won a crown!

PLEASURES

OF DOMESTIC PEACE.

DOMESTIC happiness, thou only bliss

Of Paradise that hast surviv'd the fall!
Though few now taste thee unimpair'd and pure,
Or, tasting, long enjoy thee; too infirm,
Or too incautious, to preserve thy sweets
Unmixt with drops of bitter, which neglect
Or temper sheds into thy crystal cup.
Thou art the nurse of virtue-in thine arms
She smiles, appearing, as in truth she is,
Heav'n-born, and destin'd to the skies again.
Thou art not known where pleasure is ador'd,
That reeling goddess with the zoneless waist
And wand'ring eyes, still leaning on the arm
Of novelty, her fickle frail support;
For thou art meek and constant, hating change,
And finding, in the calm of truth-tried love,
Joys that her stormy raptures never yield.
Forsaking thee, what shipwreck have we made
Of honour, dignity, and fair renown!

« FöregåendeFortsätt »