"Didst thou for this sustain a mortal wound, "While Heaven, and Earth, and Hell, hung trembling "'round? "That these vile fetters might my body bind, "And agony like this distract my mind? "On thee I call'd with reverential awe, "Ador'd thy wisdom, and embrac'd thy law; "Yet mark thy destin'd convert as he lies, His groans of anguish, and his livid eyes, "These galling chains, polluted with his blood, "Then bid his tongue proclaim thee just and good! "But if too weak thy vaunted power to spare, "Or sufferings move thee not, O hear despair! "Thy hopes and blessings I alike resign, "But let revenge, let swift revenge be mine! "Be this proud bark, which now triumphant rides, "Toss'd by the winds, and shatter'd by the tides! "And may these fiends, who now exulting view "The horrors of my fortune, feel them too! "Be theirs the torment of a lingering fate, "Slow as thy justice, dreadful as my hate; "Condemn'd to grasp the riven plank in vain, "And chac'd by all the monsters of the main ; "And while they spread their sinking arms to thee, "Then let their fainting souls remember me! "Thanks, righteous God!-Revenge shall yet be "mine; "Yon flashing lightning gave the dreadful sign, 26 'Prophetic visions flash before my sight; "Eternal justice wakes, and in their turn "The vanquish'd triumph, and the victors mourn ;— Lo! Discord, fiercest of the infernal band, Fires all her snakes, and waves her flaming brand; No more proud Commerce courts the western gales, But marks the lurid skies, and furls her sails; War mounts his iron car, and at his wheels In vain soft Pity weeps, and Mercy kneels ; He breathes a savage rage thro' all the host, And stains with kindred blood the impious coast; Then, while with horror sickening Nature groans, And earth and heaven the monstrous race disowns, "Then the stern genius of my native land, "With delegated vengeance in his hand, "Shall raging cross the troubled seas, and pour "The plagues of Hell on you devoted shore. "What tides of ruin mark his ruthless way! "How shriek the fiends exulting o'er their prey! "I see their warriors gasping on the ground,"I hear their flaming cities crash around."In vain with trembling heart the coward turns, "In vain with generous rage the valiant burns.— "One common ruin, one promiscuous grave, "O'erwhelms the dastard, and receives the brave "For Afric triumphs !--his avenging rage "No tears can soften, and no blood assuage. "He smites the trembling waves, and at the shock "Their fleets are dash'd upon the pointed rock. "He waves his flaming dart, and o'er their plains, "In mournful silence, Desolation reigns "Fly swift, ye years !-Arise, thou glorious morn! "Thou great avenger of thy race be born! "The conqueror's palm, and deathless fame be thine! "One generous stroke, and liberty be mine! "And now, ye Powers, to whom the brave are dear, "Receive me falling, and your suppliant hear. "To you this unpolluted blood I pour, "To you that spirit which ye gave restore! "I ask no lazy pleasures to possess, "No long eternity of happiness ;— "But if, unstain'd by voluntary guilt, "At your great call this being I have spilt, "For all the wrongs which innocent I share, "For all I've suffer'd, and for all I dare; "O lead me to that spot, that sacred shore, "Where souls are free, and men oppress no more! EPITAPH ON MRS. F. LITTLE, BY MISS H. MORE. OH! Could this verse her bright example spread, LINES On the Late Rev. Henry Moore, of Liskeard. BY MISS LUCY AIKIN. BARD of the golden lyre! that pour'd'st again And rapturous wonder chain'd the faultering tongue, The glance indignant flash'd, or gave the tear to roll! That conscious smile exulting Genius fires, 1803. EPIGRAMS, On Garrick and Barry in the Character of King Lear. BY MR. KENDAL, OF PETER HOUSE, CAMBRIDGE. THE town has found out different ways To praise its different Lears. To Barry it gives loud huzzas, A king? Aye, every inch a king- But Garrick's quite another thing; VOL, VIII. |