Of faith and quiet hope, and all that soothes As the vile sea-weed which some mountain blast I have told, O Britons! O my brethren! I have told All change from change of constituted power; On which our vice and wretchedness were tagged Poor drudges of chastising Providence, From our own folly and rank wickedness, Which gave them birth and nursed them. Others, meanwhile, Dote with a mad idolatry; and all Who will not fall before their images, And yield them worship, they are enemies Even of their country! Such have I been deemed But, O dear Britain! O my Mother Isle ! Needs must thou prove a name most dear and holy To me, a son, a brother, and a friend, A husband, and a father! who revere All bonds of natural love, and find them all Within the limits of thy rocky shores. O native Britain! O my Mother Isle ! How shouldst thou prove aught else but dear and holy Have drunk in all my intellectual life, All sweet sensations, all ennobling thoughts, May my fears, My filial fears, be vain! and may the vaunts Pass like the gust, that roared and died way But now the gentle dew-fall sends abroad And elmy fields, seems like society— Thy church-tower, and, methinks, the four huge elms And my babe's mother dwell in peace! With light Is softened, and made worthy to indulge Love, and the thoughts that yearn for human kind. FIRE, FAMINE, AND SLAUGHTER. A WAR ECLOGUE. WITH AN APOLOGETIC PREFACE. * The Scene a desolated Tract in La Vendée. FAMINE is discovered lying on the ground; to her enter FIRE and SLAUGHTER. Fam. SISTERS! sisters! who sent you here? Spirits hear what spirits tell; 'Twill make a holiday in Hell. Myself, I named him once below, And all the souls that damned be, Clapped their hands and danced for glee. They no longer heeded me; But laughed to hear Hell's burning rafters No! no! no! * Printed on page 217. Spirits hear what spirits tell : Fam. Whisper it, sister! so and so! Slau. Letters four do form his nameAnd who sent you ? Both. The same the same! Slau. He came by stealth and unlocked my den, And I have drunk the blood since then Of thrice three hundred thousand men. Slau. The same! the same! Letters four do form his name. He let me loose, and cried Halloo ! To him alone the praise is due. Fam. Thanks, sister, thanks! the men have bled, Their wives and their children faint for bread. I stood in a swampy field of battle; With bones and skulls I made a rattle, Both. Whisper it, sister! in our ear. I had starved the one and was starving the other! Fam. The same! the same! Letters four do form his name. He let me loose, and cried Halloo ! To him alone the praise is due. Fire. Sisters! I from Ireland came! Hedge and corn-fields all on flame, On as I strode with my huge strides, It was so rare a piece of fun To see the sweltered cattle run With uncouth gallop through the night, By the light of his own blazing cot The house-stream met the flame and hissed, On some of those old bed-rid nurses, That deal in discontent and curses. Both. Who bade Fire. you do't? The same the same! Letters four do form his name. He let me loose, and cried Halloo ! To him alone the praise is due. All. He let us loose, and cried Halloo ! How shall we yield him honor due ? Fam. Wisdom comes with lack of food. I'll gnaw, I'll gnaw the multitude, Till the cup of rage o'erbrim : They shall seize him and his brood Slau. They shall tear him limb from limb! Fire. O thankless beldames and untrue! And is this all that you can do For him, who did so much for you? Cling to him everlastingly. 1796. |