Relentless Hannibal, in pride

Of sworn, fix'd hatred, lowers; Cæsar,- 'tis Brutus at his side, In peerless grandeur towers.

With moonlight softness Helen's charms
Dissolve the spectred gloom,

The leading star of Greece in arms,
Portending Ilion's doom.

But Homer;

see the bard arise!

And hark!- he strikes the lyre;

The Dardan warriors lift their eyes,
The Argive Chiefs respire.

And while his music rolls along,
The towers of Troy sublime,
Raised by the magic breath of song,
Mock the destroyer Time.

For still around the eternal walls
The storms of battle rage:

And Hector conquers, Hector falls,
Bewept in every age.

Genius of Homer! Were it mine

To track thy fiery car,

And in thy sunset course to shine

A radiant evening star,

What theme, what laurel might the Muse Reclaim from ages fled?

What realm-restoring hero choose
To summon from the dead?

Yonder his shadow flits away:

Thou shalt not thus depart;

Stay, thou transcendent spirit, stay,

And tell me who thou art!

"Tis Alfred! In the rolls of Fame,
And on a midnight page,
Blazes his broad refulgent name,
The watch-light of his age.

A Danish winter, from the north,
Howl'd o'er the British wild,

But Alfred, like the spring, brake forth,
And all the desert smiled.

Back to the deep he roll'd the waves,

By mad invasion hurl'd;

His voice was liberty to slaves,

Defiance to the world.

And still that voice o'er land and sea

Shall Albion's foes appal;

The race of Alfred will be free;
Hear it, and tremble, Gaul!

But lo! the phantoms fade in flight,
Like fears that cross the mind,

Like meteors gleaming through the night,
Like thunders on the wind.

The vision of the tomb is past;
Beyond it who can tell

In what mysterious region cast
Immortal spirits dwell?

I know not, but I soon shall know
When life's sore conflicts cease,
When this desponding heart lies low,
And I shall rest in peace.

For see, on Death's bewildering wave,

The rainbow Hope arise,

A bridge of glory o'er the grave,

That bends beyond the skies.

From earth to heaven it swells and shines
The pledge of bliss to Man;
Time with Eternity combines,
And grasps them in a span.

THE CAST-AWAY SHIP.

The subjects of the two following poems were suggested by the loss of the Blenheim, commanded by Sir Thomas Trowbridge, which was separated from the vessels under its convoy, during a storm in the Indian Ocean. -The Admiral's son afterwards made a voyage, without success, in search of his father. - Trowbridge was one of Nelson's captains at the Battle of the Nile, but his ship unfortunately ran a-ground as he was bearing down on the enemy.

A VESSEL Sail'd from Albion's shore,

To utmost India bound,

Its crest a hero's pendant bore,

In

With broad sea-laurels crown'd

many a fierce and noble fight,
Though foil'd on that Egyptian night
When Gallia's host was drown'd,
And NELSON o'er his country's foes,
Like the destroying angel rose.

A

gay and gallant company,

With shouts that rend the air,

For warrior-wreaths upon the sea,

Their joyful brows prepare;
But many a maiden's sigh was sent,
And many a mother's blessing went,
And many a father's prayer,
With that exulting ship to sea,
With that undaunted company.

The deep, that like a cradled child

In breathing slumber lay,

More warmly blush'd, more sweetly smiled,

As rose the kindling day:

Through ocean's mirror, dark and clear,
Reflected clouds and skies appear

In morning's rich array;

The land is lost, the waters glow, 'Tis heaven above, around, below.

Majestic o'er the sparkling tide,
See the tall vessel sail,

With swelling winds in shadowy pride,
A swan before the gale;
Deep-laden merchants rode behind;

- But, fearful of the fickle wind,
Britannia's cheek grew pale,

When, lessening through the flood of light, Their leader vanish'd from her sight.

Oft had she hail'd its trophied prow,

Victorious from the war,

And banner'd masts that would not bow,
Though riven with many a scar;

Oft had her oaks their tribute brought,
To rib its flanks, with thunder fraught;
But late her evil star

Had cursed it on its homeward way,

"The spoiler shall become the prey.”