4. Oh! blest be thine unbroken light! And stood between me and the night, 5. And when the cloud upon us came, Which strove to blacken o'er thy ray Then purer spread its gentle flame, And dash'd the darkness all away. 6. Still may thy spirit dwell on mine, And teach it what to brave or brookThere's more in one soft word of thine, Than in the world's defied rebuke. 7. Thou stood'st, as stands a lovely tree, That still unbroke, though gently bent, Still waves with fond fidelity Its boughs above a monument. 8. The winds might rend-the skies might pour, But there thou wert-and still wouldst be Devoted in the stormiest hour To shed thy weeping leaves o'er me. 9. But thou and thine shall know no blight, For heaven in sunshine will requite The kind-and thee the most of all. 10. Then let the ties of baffled love Be broken-thine will never break; Thy heart can feel-but will not move; 11. And these, when all was lost beside, Were found and still are fix'd in thee And bearing still a breast so tried, Earth is no desert-ev'n to me. ODE. [FROM THE FRENCH.] I. We do not curse thee, Waterloo! Though Freedom's blood thy plain bedew; There 'twas shed, but is not sunk Rising from each gory trunk, Like the Water-spout from ocean, It soars, and mingles in the air, With that of lost LABEDOYERE With that of him whose honour'd grave As then shall shake the world with wonder Never yet was seen such lightning, As o'er heaven shall then be bright'ning! Like the Wormwood Star foretold By the sainted Seer of old, Show'ring down a fiery flood, Turning rivers into blood. (6) II. The Chief has fallen, but not by you, Vanquishers of Waterloo! When the soldier citizen Sway'd not o'er his fellow men Save in deeds that led them on Where Glory smiled on Freedom's son Who, of all the despots banded, With that youthful chief competed? Till lone Tyranny commanded? Till, goaded by ambition's sting, The Hero sunk into the King? Then he fell;-So perish all, Who would men by man enthral! III. And thou too of the snow-white plume! France o'er hosts of hirelings bleeding, Such as he of Naples wears, Who thy blood-bought title bears. Like a stream which burst its banks, While helmets cleft, and sabres clashing, Shone and shiver'd fast around thee Of the fate at last which found thee: Was that haughty plume laid low Once as the Moon sways o'er the tide, |