have known

Here wave his amber locks; unfold
His pinions clothed with downy gold;
Here smiling stretch his tutelary wand?
And you, ye host of Saints, for
Each dreary path in life's perplexing maze,
Though now ye circle yon eternal throne
With harpings high of inexpressible praise,

ye

5

10

Will not your train descend in radiant state, [Fate? To break with Mercy's beam this gathering cloud of

I. 2.

'Tis silence all. No Son of Light
Darts swiftly from his heavenly height;
No train of radiant Saints descend.
"Mortals, in vain ye hope to find,

If guilt, if fraud has stain'd your mind,

Or Saint to hear, or Angel to defend."

15

So Truth proclaims. I hear the sacred sound

Burst from the centre of her burning throne;

20

Where aye she sits with star-wreathed lustre

A bright sun clasps her adamantine zone. [crown'd: So Truth proclaims: her awful voice I hear : With many a solemn pause it slowly meets my ear. I. 3.

"Attend, ye sons of men; attend, and say, Does not enough of my refulgent ray

Break through the veil of your mortality? Say, does not reason in this form descry Unnumber'd, nameless glories, that surpass The Angel's floating pomp, the Seraph's glowing grace?

II. 1.

"Shall then your earth-born daughters vie With me? Shall she, whose brightest eye

29

But emulates the diamond's blaze,

Whose cheek but mocks the peach's bloom, Whose breath the hyacinth's perfume, Whose melting voice the warbling woodlark's lays, Shall she be deem'd my rival? Shall a form Of elemental dross, of mouldering clay,

35

Vie with these charms imperial? The poor worm Shall prove her contest vain. Life's little day

40

Shall pass, and she is gone; while I appear [year. Flush'd with the bloom of youth thro' Heaven's eternal II. 2.

"Know, Mortals, know, ere first ye sprung,
Ere first these orbs in ether hung,

I shone amid the heavenly throng.
These eyes beheld Creation's day,
This voice began the choral lay,
And taught Archangels their triumphant song.
Pleased I survey'd bright Nature's gradual birth,
Saw infant light with kindling lustre spread,
Soft vernal fragrance clothe the flowering earth,

And Ocean heave on his extended bed;
Saw the tall pine aspiring pierce the sky,
The tawny lion stalk, the rapid eagle fly.

II. 3.

45

50

55

"Last, Man arose, erect in youthful grace, Heaven's hallow'd image stampt upon his face, And as he rose the high behest was given, That I alone, of all the host of Heaven, Should reign Protectress of the godlike youth: Thus the Almighty spake: he spake, and call'd me

Truth."

MASON.

P

THE BARD.

I. 1.

"RUIN seize thee, ruthless King!
Confusion on thy banners wait;
Though fann'd by Conquest's crimson wing,
They mock the air with idle state.
Helm, nor hauberk's twisted mail,
Nor ev'n thy virtues, tyrant, shall avail
To save thy secret soul from nightly fears,

From Cambria's curse, from Cambria's tears !"
Such were the sounds that o'er the crested pride
Of the first Edward scatter'd wild dismay,
As down the steep of Snowdon's shaggy side

10

He wound with toilsome march his long array. Stout Glo'ster stood aghast in speechless trance: "To arms!" cried Mortimer, and couch'd his quivering

lance.

I. 2.

On a rock, whose haughty brow

15

Frowns o'er old Conway's foaming flood,
Robed in the sable garb of woe,

With haggard eyes the poet stood; (Loose his beard, and hoary hair

Stream'd, like a meteor, to the troubled air)
And with a master's hand, and prophet's fire,
Struck the deep sorrows of his lyre.

20

"Hark, how each giant oak, and desert cave, Sighs to the torrent's awful voice beneath! O'er thee, O king! their hundred arms they wave, 25 Revenge on thee in hoarser murmurs breathe;

Vocal no more, since Cambria's fatal day,

To high-born Hoel's harp, or soft Llewellyn's lay.

Made huge Plinlimmon bow his cloud-topt head.
On dreary Arvon's shore they lie,
Smear'd with gore, and ghastly pale:
Far, far aloof the affrighted ravens sail

The famish'd eagle screams, and passes by.
Dear lost companions of my tuneful art,

Dear as the light that visits these sad eyes, Dear as the ruddy drops that warm my heart.

Ye died amidst your dying country's criesNo more I weep. They do not sleep.

On yonder cliff, a grisly band,

I see them sit; they linger yet,
Avengers of their native land:

With me in dreadful harmony they join,

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And weave with bloody hands the tissue of thy line."

II. 1.

"Weave the warp, and weave the woof,

The winding-sheet of Edward's race;
Give ample room, and verge enough

The characters of hell to trace.
Mark the year, and mark the night,

When Severn shall re-echo with affright

50

The shrieks of death thro' Berkeley's roof that ring, 55 Shrieks of an agonizing king!

She-wolf of France, with unrelenting fangs,

That tear'st the bowels of thy mangled mate,

From thee be born, who o'er thy country hangs 59 The scourge of Heaven. What terrors round him wait! Amazement in his van, with Flight combined, And Sorrow's faded form, and Solitude behind. II. 2.

"Mighty victor, mighty lord!

Low on his funeral couch he lies!

No pitying heart, no eye, afford

A tear to grace his obsequies.

Is the sable warrior fled?

Thy son is gone. He rests among the dead.
The swarm, that in thy noontide beam were born,
Gone to salute the rising morn.

Fair laughs the morn, and soft the zephyr blows,
While proudly riding o'er the azure realm

In gallant trim the gilded vessel goes;

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Youth on the prow, and Pleasure at the helm: Regardless of the sweeping whirlwind's sway, 75 That, hush'd in grim repose, expects his evening prey. II. 3.

"Fill high the sparkling bowl,

The rich repast prepare;

Reft of a crown, he yet may share the feast:

Close by the regal chair,

Fell Thirst and Famine scowl

A baleful smile upon their baffled guest.

Heard ye the din of battle bray,

Lance to lance, and horse to horse?

80

Long years of havoc urge their destined course, 85 And through the kindred squadrons mow their way.