Then come!-thy Arab maid will be Oh! there are looks and tones that dart As if the very lips and eyes So came thy every glance and tone, Then fly with me!—if thou hast known Come!-if the love thou hast for me Is But if for me thou dost forsake Then, fare thee well-I'd rather make XXX.-ODE TO ELOQUENCE. HEARD ye those loud-contending waves, Saw Who shall calm the angry storm? And bid the raging tumult cease? With Syren tongue, and speaking eyes, See the olive branches waving See the nymphs and swains advancing, To thee, O Power! who can inspire And shook thy plumes in Attic skies! Lo! from the regions of the north, Fastens on the Olynthian towers. Where rests the sword? where sleep the brave? Awake! Cecropia's ally save From the fury of the blast: Burst the storm on Phocis' walls, Up! or freedom breathes her last. The jarring States, obsequious now, One voice, one mind, inspire the throng: 66 Grasp the shield, and draw the sword; Lead us to Philippi's lord; Let us conquer him, or die!” Ah, Eloquence! thou wast undone; And blotted out the stars of heaven! When Liberty from Greece withdrew, To where the Tiber pours his urn— Now shining forth, thou mad'st compliant I see thee stand by Freedom's fane, Giving vast conceptions birth! First-born of Liberty divine! Put on Religion's bright array: 1 Rise, kindling with the orient beam, Unfold the garments roll'd in blood! And point the way to heaven-to God! XXXI.-HOPE AT THE CLOSE OF LIFE. UNFADING Hope! when life's last embers burn, When soul to soul, and dust to dust return! Heav'n to thy charge resigns the awful hour! Oh! then, thy kingdom comes! Immortal Power! What though each spark of earth-born rapture fly The quivering lip, pale cheek, and closing eye! Bright to the soul thy seraph hands convey The morning dream of life's eternal day— Then, then, the triumph and the trance begin! And all the phoenix spirit burns within! O deep-enchanting prelude to repose, The dawn of bliss, the twilight of our woes! Yet half I hear the panting spirit sigh, It is a dread and awful thing to die! Mysterious worlds, untravell'd by the sun! Where Time's far wandering tide has never run, From your unfathom'd shades, and viewless spheres, A warning comes, unheard by other ears. "Tis Heaven's commanding trumpet, long and loud, Like Sinai's thunder, pealing from the cloud! While Nature hears with terror-mingled trust, The shock that hurls her fabric to the dust; And, like the trembling Hebrew, when he trod The roaring waves, and call'd upon his God, With mortal terrors clouds immortal bliss, And shrieks, and hovers o'er the dark abyss! Daughter of Faith, awake, arise, illume The dread unknown, the chaos of the tomb; Melt, and dispel, ye spectre-doubts, that roll XXXII. WHAT CONSTITUTES A STATE? WHAT constitutes a state? Not high-rais'd battlement and labour'd mound, Thick wall, or moated gate: Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crown'd: Not bays and broad-arm'd ports, Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride: Not starr'd and spangled courts, Where low-bred baseness wafts perfume to pride: No-men, high-minded men, With powers as far above dull brutes endu'd, In forest, brake, or den, As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude: Men, who their duties know, But know their rights: and, knowing, dare maintain, Prevent the long-aim'd blow, And crush the tyrant, while they rend the chain. These constitute a state: And sovereign law, that state's collected will, O'er thrones and globes elate, Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill. |