"Weave the warp, and weave the woof, When Severn shall re-echo with affright The shrieks of death, through Berkeley's roof that ring, Shrieks of an agonizing king! She-wolf of France, with unrelenting fangs, That tear'st the bowels of thy mangled mate, From thee be born, who o'er thy country hangs The Scourge of Heaven. What terrors round him wait! Amazement in his van, with Flight combined, And Sorrow's faded form, and Solitude behind. II.-2. "Mighty victor, mighty lord, Low on his funeral couch he lies! No pitying heart, no eye, afford A tear to grace his obsequies! Is the sable warrior fled? Thy son is gone; he rests among the dead. Fair laughs the Morn, and soft the Zephyr blows, In gallant trim the gilded vessel goes, Youth at the prow, and Pleasure at the helm; Regardless of the sweeping whirlwind's sway, That, hush'd in grim repose, expects his evening prey. II.-3. "Fill high the sparkling bowl, The rich repast prepare, Reft of a crown, he yet may share the feast, Close by the regal chair Fell Thirst and Famine scowl A baleful smile upon their baffled guest. Heard ye the din of battle bray? Lance to lance, and horse to horse; Long years of havock urge their destined course, And through the kindred squadrons mow their way. Ye towers of Julius, London's lasting shame, With many a foul and midnight murder fed, Revere his consort's faith, his father's fame, And spare the meek usurper's holy head. Above, below, the rose of snow, Twined with her blushing foe, we spread; The bristled Boar in infant gore Wallows beneath the thorny shade. Now, brothers, bending o'er the accursed loom, Stamp we our vengeance deep, and ratify his doom. III.-1. "Edward, lo! to sudden fate (Weave we the woof, the thread is spun), Half of thy heart we consecrate (The web is wove, the work is done). Stay, oh, stay! nor thus forlorn Leave me unbless'd, unpitied here to mourn; But, oh! what solemn scenes on Snowdon's height Visions of glory, spare my aching sight! Ye unborn ages, crowd not on my soul ! No more our long-lost Arthur we bewail: III.-2. "Girt with many a baron bold, Sublime their starry fronts they rear; THE BARD. And gorgeous dames, and statesmen old In the midst a form divine! Her eyes proclaim her of the Briton line; 239 What strings symphonious tremble in the air, "The verse adorn again III.-3. Fierce War and Faithful Love, And Truth severe, by fairy Fiction dress'd, In buskin'd measures move Pale Grief, and pleasing Pain, With Horror, tyrant of the throbbing breast. A voice, as of the cherub-choir, Gales from blooming Eden bear; And distant warblings lessen on my ear, That lost in long futurity expire. Fond, impious man! think'st thou yon sanguine cloud, Raised by thy breath, has quench'd the orb of day? To-morrow he repairs the golden flood, And warms the nation with redoubled ray. Enough for me; with joy I see The different dooms our fates assign. Be thine despair and sceptred care; To triumph, and to die, are mine!" He spoke, and headlong from the mountain's height Deep in the roaring tide he plunged to endless night. Gray. HOPE. UNFADING Hope! when life's last embers burn- Oh, deep-enchanting prelude to repose, "Tis Heaven's commanding trumpet, long and loud, Daughter of Faith, awake, arise, illume THE WARRIORS OF RODERICK DHU. 241 On heavenly winds, that waft her to the sky, Campbell. THE WARRIORS OF RODERICK DHU. He whistled shrill, And he was answer'd from the hill; From crag to crag the signal flew; Instant, through copse and heath, arose Like the loose crags whose threatening mass Ꭱ |