I find myself upon the brow, and pause This burst of prospect, here the shadowy main, And elmy fields, seems like society- Thy church-tower, and, methinks, the four huge elms Clustering, which mark the mansion of my friend; Love, and the thoughts that yearn for human kind. Nether Stowey, FIRE, FAMINE, AND SLAUGHTER. A WAR ECLOGUE. WITH AN APOLOGETIC PREFACE.1 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? Slau. [to Fire]. I will whisper it in her ear. Fire. No! no! no! Spirits hear what spirits tell: "Twill make a holiday in Hell. Myself, I named him once below, Clapped their hands and danced for glee. They no longer heeded me; But laughed to hear Hell's burning rafters No! no! no! Spirits hear what spirits tell: Fam. Whisper it, sister! so and so! In a dark hint, soft and slow. 1 Printed at the end of this volume. Slau. Letters four do form his name And 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, To frighten the wolf and carrion-crow Both. Whisper it, sister! in our ear. I had starved the one and was starving the other! Both. Who bade you Fam. 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. Fire. Sisters! I from Ireland came! sides, To see the sweltered cattle run The house-stream met the flame and hissed, Fire. 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 honour due? Fam. Wisdom comes with lack of food. I'll gnaw I'll gnaw, the multitude, o'erbrim : They shall seize him and his brood Slau. They shall tear him limb from limb! Fire. O thankless beldames and untrue! |