Then come !—thy Arab maid will be XXX.-ODE TO ELOQUENCE. Heard ye those loud-contending waves, That shook Cecropia's pillar'd state ? Saw ye the mighty from their graves Look up, and tremble at her fate ? Who shall calm the angry storm ? And bid the raging tumult cease ? Hush the noise, and soothe to peace! See the olive branches waving O'er Ilissus' winding stream, The Muses smiling by, supreme! 1 See the nymphs and swains advancing, Grateful Io Pæans rise And shook thy plumes in Attic skies ! The reddening storm of battle pours, Fastens on the Olynthian towers. From the fury of the blast : Up! or freedom breathes her last. The jarring States, obsequious now, View the patriot's hand on high ; Lightning flashing from his eye. • To arms! to arms! to arms !” they cry; Grasp the shield, and draw the sword; Lead us to Philippi's lord ; Let us conquer him, or die !" Wast from thy native country driven, And blotted out the stars of heaven! When Liberty from Greece withdrew, And o'er the Adriatic flew To where the Tiber pours his urn- Again thy fires began to burn ! The Conscript Fathers to thy charms, Sinking fast in Slavery's arms. Giving vast conceptions birth! Shake the pillars of the earth | Put on Religion's bright array: The portal of eternal day! Rise, kindling with the orient beam, Unfold the garments rollid in blood ! And point the way to heaven—to God! XXXI.- HOPE AT THE CLOSE OF LIFE. UNFADING Hope! when life's last embers burn, When soul to soul, and dust to dust return! Heav'n to thy charge resigns the awful hour! Oh! then, thy kingdom comes! Immortal Power! What though each spark of earth-born rapture fly The quivering lip, pale cheek, and closing eye! Bright to the soul thy seraph hands convey The morning dream of life's eternal dayThen, then, the triumph and the trance begin! And all the phenix spirit burns within ! 0! deep-enchanting prelude to repose, The dawn of bliss, the twilight of our woes! Yet half I hear the panting spirit sigh, It is a dread and awful thing to die! Mysterious worlds, untravell’d by the sun! Where Time's far wandering tide has never run, From your unfathom’d shades, and viewless spheres, A warning comes, unheard by other ears. 'Tis Heaven's commanding trumpet, long and loud, Like Sinai's thunder, pealing from the cloud ! While Nature hears with terror-mingled trust, The shock that hurls her fabric to the dust; And, like the trembling Hebrew, when he trod The roaring waves, and call’d upon his God, With mortal terrors clouds immortal bliss, And shrieks, and hovers o'er the dark abyss ! Daughter of Faith, awake, arise, illume The dread unknown, the chaos of the tomb; Melt, and dispel, ye spectre-doubts, that roll XXXII.-WHAT CONSTITUTES A STATE ? What constitutes a state ? Not high-rais'd battlement and labour'd mound, Thick wall, or moated gate: Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crown'd: Not bays and broad-arm d ports, Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride: Not starr'd and spangled courts, Where low-bred baseness wafts perfume to pride: No-men, high-minded men, With powers as far above dull brutes endu'd, In forest, brake, or den, As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude: Men, who their duties know, But know their rights: and, knowing, dare maintain, Prevent the long-aini’d blow, And crush the tyrant, while they rend the chain. These constitute a state: And sovereign law, that state's collected will, O'er thrones and globes elate, Sits enpress, crowning good, repressing ill. : |