"Now should they burst on thy devoted coast, Go, ask thy bosom, who deserves them most? "The law of heaven and earth is life for life; "And she who raised in vain regrets the strife." London, 1812. ODE. Он, shame to thee, Land of the Gaul! A mockery that never shall die; And proud o'er thy ruin for ever be hurl'd Oh, where is thy spirit of yore, The spirit that breathed in thy dead, For where is the glory they left thee in trust? Go look through the kingdoms of earth, From Indus all round to the pole, And something of goodness, of honour, and worth, Shall brighten the sins of the soul. But thou art alone in thy shame, The world cannot liken thee there; Abhorrence and vice have disfigured thy name Beyond the low reach of compare ; Stupendous in guilt, thou shalt lend us through. time A proverb, a bye-word, for treachery and crime! While conquest illumined his sword, While yet in his prowess he stood, Though tyranny sat on his crown, And wither'd the nations afar, Yet bright in thy view was that despot's renown, Till fortune deserted his car; Then back from the chieftain thou slunkest away, The foremost t' insult, the first to betray! Forgot were the feats he had done, The toils he had borne in thy cause; Thou turned'st to worship a new rising sun, But the storm was beginning to lower, Adversity clouded his beam ; And honour and faith were the brag of an hour, And loyalty's self but a dream : To him thou hadst banish'd thy vows were restored, And the first that had scoff'd were the first that What tumult thus burthens the air? What throng thus encircles his throne? 'Tis the shout of delight, 'tis the millions that swear His sceptre shall rule them alone. Reverses shall brighten their zeal, Misfortune shall hallow his name, And the world that pursues him shall mournfully feel How quenchless the spirit and flame That Frenchmen will breathe, when their hearts are on fire, For the hero they love, and the chief they admire! Their hero has rush'd to the field; His laurels are cover'd with shade But where is the spirit that never should yield, The loyalty never to fade? In a moment desertion and guile Abandon'd him up to the foe; The dastards that flourish'd and grew in his smile, Forsook and renounced him in woe; And the millions that swore they would perish to save, Beheld him a fugitive, captive, and slave! The savage all wild in his glen Is nobler and better than thou; If thou wert the place of my birth, At once from thy arms would I sever; And quit thee for ever and ever; Oh, shame to thee, Land of the Gaul! Oh, shame to thy children and thee! Unwise in thy glory, and base in thy fall, How wretched thy portion shall be! tears. |