ARMINIUS.* "Cernebatur contra minitabundus Arminius, præliumque denuntians." TACIT. Annal. ii. 10. I. BACK,-back!--he fears not foaming flood Who fears not steel-clad line! No offspring this of German blood,— No brother thou of mine; Some bastard spawn of menial birth,— II. Away! be mingled with the rest And win the chain to gird the neck, The gems to hide the hilt, * Arminius, the assertor of the liberties of Germany, had a brother who had been brought up and had risen to high rank in the Roman service. Upon one occasion, when the two armies were separated by the river Weser, the brothers, after a colloquy which ended in reciprocal reproaches, were scarcely prevented, says Tacitus, from rushing into the stream and engaging hand to hand. And blazon honour's hapless wreck With all the gauds of guilt. III. And would'st thou have me share the prey? By all that I have done, By Varus' bones, which day by day Are whitening in the sun,— I would not be, for earth and sky, IV. Ho! bring me here the wizard, boy, To agonize, and not destroy, If there be truth in that dread art, V. I curse him by our country's gods, The terrible, the dark, The scatterers of the Roman rods, They fill a cup with bitter woe, Where shades of warriors feast below, VI. I curse him by the gifts our land VII. I curse him by the hearts that sigh The tears of aged men ;— When swords are out, and spear and dart Leave little space for prayer, No fetter on man's arm and heart Hangs half so heavy there. VIII. Oh misery, that such a vow Why comes he not, my brother, now, To be my mate in banquet bowl, But it is past IX. where heroes press And spoilers bend the knee, Arminius is not brotherless, His brethren are the free! They come around; one hour, and light X. To-night, to-night,—when we shall meet In combat face to face, There only would Arminius greet The renegade's embrace; The canker of Rome's guilt shall be And as he lives in slavery, (1827.) So shall he die in shame! REMEMBER ME. IN Seville, when the feast was long, At Inez' feet, amid the throng, "Remember me in shine and shower, In sorrow and in glee; When summer breathes upon the flower, When winter blasts the tree, When there are dances in the bower Or sails upon the sea. "Remember me beneath far skies, When others worship those wild eyes Of which I mar the key. |