Of conscious guilt or Death's rapacious hand,
Which left thee void of hope! O ye who roam
In exile! ye who thro' th' embattled field
Seek bright renown, or who for nobler palms
Contend, the leaders of a public cause!
Approach; behold this Marble! know ye not
The features? hath not oft his faithful tongue
Told you the fashion of your own estate,
The secrets of your bosom? Here then round 15 His monument with reverence while ye stand Say to each other "This was Shakspere's form, "Who walk'd in ev'ry path of human life, "Felt ev'ry passion, and to all mankind
Doth now, will ever, that experience yield "Which his own genius only could acquire." 21
GVLIELMVS III. FORTIS, PIVS, LIBERATOR, CVMINEVNIE AETATE PATRIAE LABENTI ADFVISSET SALVS IPSE VNICA; CVM MOX ITIDEM REIPVBLICAE BRITANNICAE VINDEX RENVNCIATVS ESSET ATQVE STATOR; TVM DENIQVE AD ID SE NATVM RECOGNOVIT ET REGEM FACTVM, VT CVRARET NE DOMINO IMPOTENTI CEDERENT PAX, FIDES, FORTVNA, GENERIS HVMANI. AVCTORI PVBLICAE FELICITATIS P. G. A. M. A.
VI. FOR A COLUMN AT RUNNYMEDE.
THOU who the verdant plain dost traverse here
While Thames among his willows from thy view
Retires, O Stranger! stay thee, and the scene
Around contemplate well. This is the place
Where England's ancient barons, clad in arms,
And stern with conquest, from their tyrant king
(Then render'd tame) did challenge and secure
The Charter of thy freedom. Pass not on
Till thou hast bless'd their memory, and paid
Those thanks which God appointed the reward 10
Of public virtue. And if chance thy home
Salute thee with a father's honour'd name,
Go call thy sons, instruct them what a debt
They owe their ancestors, and make them swear
To pay it, by transmitting down entire
Those sacred rights to which themselves were born. is
VII. THE WOODNYMPH.
APPROACH in silence; 't is no vulgar tale
Which I the Dryad of this hoary oak
Pronounce to mortal ears. The second age
Now hasteneth to its period since I rose
On this fair lawn. The groves of yonder vale
Are all my offspring; and each Nymph who guards
The copses and the furrow'd fields beyond
Obeys me. Many changes have I seen
In human things, and many awful deeds
Of justice, when the ruling hand of Jove
Against the tyrants of the land, against
Th' unhallow'd sons of Luxury and Guile,
Was arm'd for retribution. Thus at length
Expert in laws divine I know the paths
Of Wisdom, and erroneous Folly's end
Have oft' presag'd; and now well pleas'd I wait
Each ev'ning till a noble youth who loves
My shade a while releas'd from public cares
Yon peaceful gate shall enter, and sit down
Beneath my branches: then his musing mind 20
I prompt unseen, and place before his view
Sincerest forms of good, and move his heart
With the dread bounties of the Sire Supreme
Of gods and men, with Freedom's gen'rous deeds,
The lofty voice of Glory, and the faith
Of sacred Friendship. Stranger! I have told
My function if within thy bosom dwell
Aught which may challenge praise, thou wilt not leave Unhonour'd my abode, nor shall I hear
A sparing benediction from thy tongue.
E Pow'rs unseen! to whom the bards of Greece Erected altars, ye who to the mind
More lofty views unfold, and prompt the heart
With more divine emotions, if erewhile
Not quite unpleasing have my votive rites
Of
you been deem'd when oft this lonely seat
Το you I consecrated, then vouchsafe
Here with your instant energy to crown
My happy solitude. It is the hour
When most I love t' invoke you, and have felt o Most frequent your glad ministry divine.
The air is calm, the sun's unveiled orb
Shines in the middle heav'n; the harvest round;
Stands quiet, and among the golden sheaves
The reapers lie reclin'd; the neighb'ring groves is
Are mute, nor ev'n a linnet's random strain'
Echoeth amid the silence. Let me feel
Your influence ye kind Pow'rs! Aloft in heav'n
Abide ye
? or on those transparent clouds
Pass ye from hill to hill or on the shades.
Which yonder elms cast o'er the lake below
Do you converse retir'd?. From what lov'd haunt
Shall I expect you? Let me once more feel
Your influence O ye kind inspiring Pow'rs!
And I will guard it well; nor shall a thought 25
Rise in my mind, nor shall a passion move
Across my bosom, unobserv'd, unstor'd,
By faithful Memory: and then at some
More active moment will I call them forth
Anew, and join them in majestic forms,
And give them utt'rance in harmonious strains,
That all mankind shall wonder at your sway.
My tho' in life's sequester'd vale
Th' Almighty sire ordain'd to dwell,
Remote from Glory's toilsome ways
And the great scenes of public praise,
Yet let me still with grateful pride
Remember how my infant frame
He temper'd with prophetic flame,
And early music to my tongue supply'd. ¡upe'
'Twas then my future fate he weigh'd,comms
And this be thy concern he said,
At once with Passion's keen alarms,
And Beauty's pleasurable charms,
And sacred Truth's eternal light,
To move the various mind of man,
Till under one unblemish'd plan
His reason, fancy, and his heart, unite.
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