Then of our purpose this appears the scope,
To weigh the danger with the doubtful hope.
Though forely buffeted by every fea,
Our hull unbroken long may try a-lee.
The crew, tho' harrafs'd long with toils fevere,
Still at their pumps perceive no hazards near.
Shall we, incautious, then the danger tell,
At once their courage and their hope to quell ?
Prudence forbids -This fouthern tempeft foon
May change its quarter with the changing moon.
Its rage, tho' terrible, may foon fubfide,
Nor into mountains lafh th' unruly tide.
Thefe leaks fhall then decrease; the fails once more
Direct our course to fome relieving thore.-
Thus while he spoke, around from man to man
At either pump a hollow murmur ran.
For while the veffel, thro' unnumber'd chinks,
Above, below, th' invading water drinks,
Sounding her depth, they ey'd the wetted scale,
And lo! the leaks o'er all their powers prevail.
Yet in their pott, by terrors unfubdu'd,
They with redoubling force their task pursued.
And now the fenior pilot feem'd to wait
Arion's voice to close the dark debate.
Tho' many a bitter ftorm, with peril fraught,
In Neptune's school the wandering stripling
taught,
Not twice nine fummers yet matur'd his thought.
So oft he bled by fortune's cruel dart,
It fell at laft innoxious on his heart,
His mind still shunning care with fecret hate,
In patient indolence refign'd to fate.
But now the horrors that around him roll,
Thus rous'd to action his rekindling foul.
With fix'd attention, pondering in my mind
The dark diftreffes on each fide combin'd;
While here we linger in the pafs of fate,
I fee no moment left for fad debate.
For fome decifion if we wish to form,
Ere yet our veffel fink beneath the storm,
Her fhatter'd state and yon defponding crew
At once fuggeft what measures to pursue.
The labouring hull already seems half fill'd
With waters thro' an hundred leaks diftill'd;
As in a dropfy, wallowing with her freight,
Half-drown'd the lies, a dead inactive weight!
Thus, drench'd by every wave, her riven deck,
Stript and defencelefs, floats a naked wreck;
Her wounded flanks no longer can sustain
Thefe fell invafions of the bursting main.
At every pitch, th' o'erwhelming billows bend
Beneath their load, the quivering bowfprit-end.
A fearful warning! fince the mafts on high
On that fupport with trembling hope-rely.
At either pump our feamen pant for breath,
In dark difmay anticipating death.
Still all our powers th' increafing leaks defy:
We fink at fea, no fiore, no haven nigh.
One dawn of hope yet breaks athwart the gloom,
To light and fave us from the watery tomb.
That bids us fhun the death impending here;
Fly from the following blast, and shoreward fteer.
'Tis urg'd indeed, the fury of the gale
Precludes the help of every guiding fail;
And driven before it on the wat'ry waste,
To rocky fhores and fcenes of death we hafte.
But haply Falconera we may fhun:
And far to Greciat coafts is yet the run:
Lefs harrafs'd then, our fcudding fhip may bear
Th' affaulting furge repell'd upon her rear;
Ev'n then the wearied ftorm as foon fhall die,
Or leís torment the groaning pines on high.
Should we at laft be driven by dire decree
Too near the fatal margin of the fea,
The hull difmatted there awhile may ride,
With lengthen'd cables, on the raging tide.
Perhaps kind heaven, with interpofing power,
May curb the tempeft ere that dreadful hour.
But here ingulf'd and foundering while we stay,
Fate hovers o'er and marks us for her prey.
He faid;-Palemon faw, with grief of heart,
The ftorm prevailing o'er the pilot's art;
In filent terror and diftress involv'd,
He heard their leaft alternative refolv'd.
High beat his bofom; with fuch fear fubdu'd,
Beneath the gloom of fome enchanted wood,
Oft in old time the wandering fwain explor'd,
The midnight wizards, breathing rites abhorr'd;
Trembling approach'd their incantations fell,
And, chill'd with horror, heard the fongs of hell.
Arion faw, with fecret anguish mov'd,
The deep affliction of the friend he lov'd;
And, all awake to friendship's genial heat,
His bofom felt confenting tumults beat.
Alas! no feafon this for tender love;
Far hence the mufic of the myrtle grove!→→→
With comfort's foothing voice, from hope deriv'd,
Palemon's drooping spirit he reviv'd.
For confolation, oft with healing art,
Retunes the jarring numbers of the heart.-
Now had the pilots all th' events revolv'd, ́
And on their final refuge thus refolv'd,
When, like the faithful shepherd, who beholds
Some prowling wolf approach his fleecy folds;
To the brave crew, whom racking doubts perplex,
The dreadful purpose Albert thus directs:
Unhappy partners in a wayward fate!
Whofe gallant fpirits now are known too late;
Ye! who unmov'd behold this angry storm
With terrors all the rolling deep deform;
Who, patient in adverfity, ftill bear
The firmest front when greatest ills are near !
The truth tho' grievous I must now reveal,
That long in vain I purpos'd to conceal.
Ingulf'd, all helps of art we vainly try,
To weather leeward fhores, alas! too nigh.
Our crazy bark no longer can abide
The feas that thunder o'er her batter'd fide:
And, while the leaks a fatal warning give,
That in this raging sea she cannot live,
One only refuge from despair we find ;
At once to wear and fcud before the wind *.
Perhaps ev'n then to ruin we may fteer;
For broken fhores beneath our lee appear;
But that's remote, and inftant death is here
Yet there, by heaven's affiftance we may gain
Some creek or inlet of the Grecian main;
Or, fhelter'd by fome rock, at anchor ride,
Till with abating rage the blast fubfide.
But if determin'd by the will of heaven,
Our helpless bark at last afhore is driven,
Thefe counfels follow'd, from the wat❜ry grave
Our floating failors in the furf may fave.
* For an explanation of these manœuvres, the reader is referred to the laft note of this Canto.
And firft let all our axes be fecur'd, To cut the masts and rigging from aboard. Then to the quarters bind each plank and oar, To float between the vessel and the shore. The longest cordage too must be convey'd On deck, and to the weather-rails belay'd. So they who haply reach alive the land, Th' extended lines may faften on the strand. When'er, loud thundering on the leeward shore, While yet aloof we hear the breakers roar, Thus for the terrible event prepar'd, Brace fore and aft to ftarboard every yard. So fhall our mafts fwim lighter on the wave, And from the broken rocks our feamen five. Then weftward turn the item, that every maft May shoreward fall, when from the veffel caft.When o'er her fide once more the billows bound, Afcend the rigging till she strikes the ground: And when you hear aloft th' alarming shock That strikes her bottom on fome pointed rock, The boldest of our failors must defcend, The dangerous bufinefs of the deck to tend: Then each, fecur'd by fome convenient cord, Should cut the shrouds and rigging from the board. Let the broad axes next affail each mait; And booms and oars and rafts to leeward catt. This, while the cordage stretch'd afhore may guide Our brave companions thro' the swelling tide, This floating lumber fhall fuftain them, o'er The rocky shelves, in fafety to the shore. But as your firmest fuccour, till the laft, Ocling fecurely on each faithful mast! Tho' great the danger, and the task severe, Yet bow not to the tyranny of fear! If once that flavish yoke your fpirits quell, Adieu to hope! to life itself farewell!
I know, among you fome full oft have view'd, With murdering weapon's arm'd, a lawless brood, On England's vile inhuman fhore who ftand, The foul reproach and scandal of our land! To rob the wanderers wreck'd upon the strand. Thefe, while their favage office they pursue, Oft wound to death the helpless plunder'd crew, Who 'fcap'd from every horror of the main, Implor'd their mercy, but implor'd in vain. But dread not this!-a crime to Greece unknown! Such blood-hounds all her circling fhores difown: Her fons, by barbarous tyranny oppreft, Can fhare affliction with the wretch diftreft: Their hearts, by cruel fate inur'd to grief, Oft to the friendless stranger yield relief.
With confcious horror ftruck, the naval band
Detested for awhile their native land.
They curs'd the fleeping vengeance of the laws,
That thus forgot her guardian failor's caufe.
Mean while the master's voice again they heard,
Whom, as with filial duty, all rever'd.
No more remains-but now a trusty band
Mutt ever at the pump industrious stand;
And while with us the reft attend to wear,
Two skilful feamen to the helm repair!-
O fource of life! our refuge and our stay!
Whofe voice the warning elements obey,
On thy fupreme affistance we rely;
Thy mercy fupplicate, if doom'd to die!
Perhaps this form is fent, with healing breath,
From neighbouring fhores to fcourge difeafe
'Tis ours on thine unerring laws to truft:
With thee, great Lord! whatever is, is juft.
He faid; and with confenting reverence fraught,.'
The failors join'd his prayer in filent thought.
His intellectual eye, ferenely bright;
Saw diftant objects with prophetic light,
Thus in a land, that lafting wars oppress,
That groans beneath misfortune and diftrefs;
Whose wealth to conquering armies falls a prey;
Her bulworks finking, as her troops decay;
Some bold fagacious ftatesman, from the helm,
Sees defolation gathering o'er his realm:
He darts around his penetrating eyes,
Where dangers grow, and hoftile unions rife!
With deep attention marks the invading foe;
Eludes their wiles, and fruftrates every blow;
Tries his laft art the tottering state to fave,
Or in its ruins finds a glorious grave.
Still in the yawning trough the vessel reels,
Ingulf'd beneath two fluctuating hills:
On either fide they rife; tremendous scene;
A long dark melancholy vale between *.
* That the reader who is unacquainted with the manœuvres of navigation, may conceive a clearer idea of a fhip's ftate when trying, and of the change of her fituation to that of fcudding, I have quoted a part of the explanation of those articles as they appear in the Dictionary of the Marine.
Trying is the fituation in which a ship lies nearly in the trough or hollow of the sea in a tempeft, pasticularly when it blows contrary to her course.
In trying as well as in fcudding, the fails are always reduced in proportion to the increase of the ftorm, and in either state, if the ftorm is exceffive, the may have all her fails furled; or be, according to the fea phrafe, under bare poles.
The intent of fpreading a fail at this time is to keep the fhip more steady, and to prevent her from rolling violently, by preffing her fide down in the water; and alfo to turn her head towards the fource of the wind, fo that the fhock of the feas may fall more obliquely on her flank, than when the lies along the trough of the fea, or in the interval between two waves. While the lies in this fituation, the helm is fastened clofe to the lee-fide, to prevent her, as much as poffible, from falling to leeward. But as the ship is not then kept in equilibrio by the operation of her fails, which at other times counterbalance each other at the head and ftern, the is moved by a flow but continual vibration, which turns her head alternately to windward and to leeward, forming an angle of 30 or 40 degrees in the interval. That part where the ftops in approaching the direction of the wind, is called her coming to; and the contrary excess of the angle to lecward is called her falling off.
Veering, or wearing, as used in the prefent fenfe, may be defined, the movement by which a ship changes her ftate from trying to that of fcudding, or of running before the direction of the wind and fea.
It is an axiom in natural philofophy, "That every body will perfevere in a state of reft, or if moving uniformly in a right line, unless it be compelled to change its state by forces impreffed: and that the change of motion is proportional to the moving force impreffed, and made acording to the right line in which that force acts."
The balanc'd fhip, now forward, now behind,
Sill felt th' impreffion of the waves and wind,
And to the right and left by turns inclin'd.
But Albert from behind the balance drew,
And on the prow its double efforts threw.➡
The order now was given to bear away;
The order given, the timoneers obey.
High o'er the bowfprit stretch'd the tortur'd fail,
As on the rack, diftends beneath the gale.
But fcarce the yielding prow its impulse knew,
When in a thousand flitting fhreds it flew !—
Yet Albert new refources still prepares,
And, bridling grief, redoables all his cares.
Away there; lower the mizen-yard on deck!
He calls, and brace the foremast yards aback!
His great example every bosom fires;
New life rekindles, and new hope infpires;
While to the helm unfaithful still she lies,
One defperate remedy at last he tries.-
Hence it is eafy to conceive how a fhip is compelled to turn into any direction by the force of the wind, acting upon any part of her length in lines parallel to theplane of the horizon. Thus in the act of veering, which is a neceffary confequence of this invariable principle, the object of the feaman is to reduce the action of the wind on the ship's hind part, and to receive its utmost exertion on her fore part, fo that the latter may be pushed to leeward. This effect is either produced by the operation of the fails, or by the impreffion of the wind on the mafts and yards. In the former cafe the fails on the hind-part of the fhip are either furled or arranged nearly parallel to the di-Hafte, with your weapons cut the shrouds and stay } rection of the wind, which then glides ineffectually And hew at once the mizen-mast away! along their furfaces; at the fame time the foremost He faid; th' attentive failors on each fide, fails are spread abroad, fo as to receive the greatest exertion of the wind. The fore-part accordingly yields to this impulfe, and is put in motion; and this motion, neceffarily confpiring with that of the wind, pushes the ship about as much as is requifite to produce the desired effect.
But when the tempeft is fo violent as to preclude the ufe of fails, the effort of the wind operates almoft equally on the oppofite ends of the ship, becaufe the mafts and yards fituated near the head and stern ferve to counterbalance each other, in receiving its impreffion. The effect of the helm is alfo confiderably diminished, because the head-way which gives life and vigour to all its operations, is at this time feeble and ineffectual. Hence it becomes necellary to destroy this equilibrium which fubfifts between the mafts and yards before and behind, and to throw the balance forward to prepare for veering. If this cannot be effected by the arrangement of the yards on the mafts, and it becomes abfolutely neceffary to veer, in order to fave the ship from deftruction (fee line 17, p. 129.), the mizenmaft must be cut away, and even the main-maft, if the still remains incapable of answering the helm by turning her prow to leeward.
Scudding is that movement in navigation by which a fhip is carried precipitately before a tempeft.
As a fhip flies with amazing rapidity through the water, whenever this expedient is put in practice, it is never attempted in a contrary wind, unlefs when her condition renders her incapable of sustaining the mutual effort of the wind and waves any longer on her fide, without being exposed to the most imminent danger.
A fhip either feuds with a fail extended on her fore-mait, or, if the ftorm is exceffive, without any fail, which in the fea phrafe is called fcudding under bare poles.
The principal hazards incident to fcudding are, generally, a fea ftriking the ship's ftern; the difficulty of steering, perpetually exposes her to the danger of broaching-to; and the want of fufficient fearoom. A fea which ftrikes the ftern violently may fhatter it to pieces, by which the fhip muft inevitably founder. By broaching-to suddenly, the is threatened with lofing all her mafts and fails, or being immediately overturned; and for want of fea-room, the is exposed to the dangers of being wrecked on a leeshore.
At his command the trembling cards divide.
Faft by the fated pine bold Rodmond stands;
Th'impatient axe hung gleaming in his hands;
Brandifh'd on high, it fell with dreadful found;
The tall maft groaning, felt the deadly wound.
Deep gafh'd with fores, the tott'ring structure rings,
And crashing, thund'ring, o'er the quarter swings.
Thus when fome limb, convuls'd with pangs of
death,
Imbibes the gangrene's peftilential breath;
Th' experienc'd artist from the blood betrays
The latent venom, or its courfe delays;
But if th' infection triumphs o'er his art,
Tainting the vital stream that warms the heart,
Refolv'd at last, he quits th' unequal ftrife,
Severs the member, and preferves the life.
The defign and influence of poetry-Applied to the fubject-Wreck of the mizen-maft cleared away-Ship veers before the wind-Her violent agitation-Different flations of the officers-Appearance of the island of Falconera-Excurfion to the adjacent nation of Greece, renowned in antiquity-Athens-SocratesPlato-Ariftides-Salon-Corinth-Sparta-Leoni
das-Invafion of Xerxes-Lycurgus-Epaminondas -Modern appearance-Arcadia-Its former happinefs and fertility-Prefent diftrefs, the effect of flavery-Ithaca-Ulyffes and Penelope-Argos and Mycena Agamemnon-Macronifi Lemnos-Vulcan and Venus-Delos-Apollo and Diana-TroySeftos-Leander and Hero-Delphos--Temple of Apollo-Parnaffus The Mujes The fubje& refumed-Sparkling of the fea-Prodigious tempest, accompanied with rain, hail and meteors-Darkness, lightning and thunder-Approach of day-Divery
of land-The Ship in great danger paffes the ifland For this, my theme thro' mazes I purfac,
of St. George Turns her broadfide to the fore-Which nor Mæonidas nor Maro knew.
Her bowfprit, foremaft and main-top-maft carried
away-She firikes a rock-Splits ajunder-Fate of
Awhile the maft, in ruins dragg'd behind,
Balanc'd the impreffion of the helm and wind:
The wounded ferpent, agoniz'd with pain,"
Thus trails his mangled volume on the plain,
But now the wreck diffever'd from the rear,
The Scene ftretches from that part of the Archi-1 he long reluctant prow began to veer;
pelago which lies ten miles to the northward of Fal-And while around before the wind it falls,
conera, to Cape Colonna, in Attica. The time is
about feven hours, being from one till eight in the
morning.
Squire all the yards the attentive matter calls-
You, timoneers, her motion ftill attend!
For on your fteerage all our lives depend.
So, freddy + meet her, watch the blast behind,
And fteer her right before the feas and wind!
WHEN in a barbarous age, with blood defil'd, Starboard ag in! the watchful pilot cries;
The human favage roam'd the gloomy wild;
When fullen Ignorance her flag difplay'd,
And Rapine and Revenge her voice obey'd;
Sent from the fhores of light the Mufes came,
The dark and folitary race to tame.
"Twas their's the lawlefs paffions to controul,
And melt in tender fympathy the foul;
The heart from vice and error to reclaim,
And breathe in human breafts celeftial flame.
The kindling fpirit caught th' empyreal ray,
And glow'd congenial with the fwelling lay.
Rous'd from the chaos of primeval night,
At once fair Truth and Reafon fprung to light.-
When great Mæonidas, in rapid fong,
The thundering tide of battle rolls along,
Each ravish'd bofom feels the high alarms,
And all the burning pulfes beat to arms.
From earth upborn, on Pégafean wings,
Far thro' the boundlefs realms of thought he fprings;
While diftant poets, trembling as they view
His funward flight, the dazzling track purfue
But when his ftrings, with mournful magic, tell
What dire diftrefs Laertes' fon befel,
The ftrains, meand'ring thro' the maze of woc,
Bid facred fympathy the heart o'erflow.
Thus, in old time, the Mufes' heavenly breath
With vital force diffolv'd the chains of death:
Each bard in epic lays began to fing,
Taught by the matter of the vocal string.-
'Tis mine, alas! thro' dangerous fcenes to stray,
Far from the light of his unerring ray!
While, all unus'd the wayward path to tread,
Darkling I wander with prophetic dread.
To me in vain the bold Mæonian lyre
Awakes the numbers, fraught with living fire!-
Full oft indeed, that mournful harp of yore
Wept the fad wanderer loft upon the shore;
But o'er that scene th' impatient numbers ran,
Subfervient only to a nobler plan.
'Tis mine, the unravel'd profpect to display,
And chain th' events in regular array.
Tho' hard the tafk, to fing in varied ftrains,
While all unchang'd the tragic theme remains!
Thrice happy! might the fecret powers of art
Unlock the latent wirdings of the heart!
Might the fad numbers draw compaffion's tear
For kindred-miferies, oft beheld too near:
For kindred-wretches, oft in ruin caft
On Albion's ftrand, beneath the wint'ry blaft:
For all the pangs, the complicated woe,
Her bravest fons, her faithful failors know!
So pity gufhing o'er each British breaft,
Might fympathife with Britain's fons diftreft:
Starboard, the obedient timoneer replies.
Then to the left the ruling helm returns;
The wheel revolves; the ringing axle burns!
The fhip no longer, foundering by the lee,
Bears on her fide th' invafions of the fea:
All loanly o'er the defart waite the flies,
Scourg'd on by furges, ftorm and bursting skies.
As when the mafters of the lance affail,
In Hyperborean feas, the flumbering whale;
Soon as the javelins pierce his fcaly hide,
With anguish itung, he cleaves the downward tide;
In vain he flies! no friendly refpite found;
His life-blood guthes thro' th' inflaming wound.
The wounded bark, thus fmarting with her pain,
Scuds from purfuing waves along the main;
While, dah'd apart by her dividing prow,
Like burning adamant the waters glow.
Her joints forget their firm elaftic tone;
Her long keel trembles, and her timbers groan.
Upheav'd behind her, in tremendous height,
The billows frown, with fearful radiance bright!
Now thivering, o'er the topmost wave the rides,
While deep beneath th' enormous gulf divides.
Now launching headlong down the horrid vale,
She hears no more the roaring of the gale;
Till up the dreadful height again the flies,
Trembling beneath the current of the fkies.
As that rebellious angel who from heaven
To regions of eternal pain was driven;
When dreadle's he forfook the Stygian fhore,
The diftant realms of Eden to explore;
Here on fulphureous clouds fublime upheav'd,
With during wing th' infernal air he cleav'd;
There, in fome hideous gulf defcending prone,
Far in the raylefs void of night was thrown:
Even fo the fcales the briny mountain's height,
Then down the black abyfs precipitates her flight.
The mafts, around whofe tops the whirlwinds fing,
With long vibration round her axle fwing.
To guide the wayward courfe amid the gloom,
The watchful pilots different pofts affume.
Albert and Rodmond, ftation'd on the rear,
With warning voice direct each timoneer.
High on the prow the guard Arion keeps,
To thun the cruifers wandering o'er the deeps:
To fquare the yards, in this place is meant to arrange them directly athwart the ship's length.
Steddy, is the order to fteer the fhip according to the line on which the advances at that inftant, without deviating to the right or left thereof.
In all large fhips the helm is managed by a wheel.
Where'er he moves Palemon till attends,
As if on him his only hope depends:
While Rodmond, fearful or fome neighbouring
fhore,
Cries, ever and anon, Look out afore!
Four hours thus fcudding on the tide the flew,
When Falconera's rocky height they view.
High o'er its fummit, thro' the gloom of night,
The glimmering watch-tower cafts a mournful light.
In dire amazement rivetred they stand,
And hear the breakers lafh the rugged ftrand:
But foon beyond this shore the veffel flies,
Swift as the rapid eagle cleaves the fkies.
So from the fangs of her infatiate fue,
O'er the broad champain fcuds the trembling roe.-
That danger patt, reflects a feeble joy ;
But foon returning fears their hope destroy.
Thus, in th Atlantic, oft the failor eyes,
While melting in the reign of fofter skies,
Some Alp of ice, from polar regions blown,
Hail the glad influence of a warmer zone:
Its frozen cliffs attemper'd gales fupply:
In cooling stream the aerial billows fly;
Awhile deliver'd from the fcorching heat,
In gentler tides the feverish pulfes beat.
So, when their trembling veffel pait this isle,
Such vifionary joys the crew beguile :
Th' illufive meteors of a lifeleis fire!
Too foon they kindle, and too foon expire!
Say, Memory! thou from whofe unerring tongue
Inftructive flows the animated fong!
What regions now the flowing fhip furround?
Regions of old, thro' all the world renown'd;
That, once the poet's theme the mufes boaft,
Now lie in ruins; in oblivion loft !
Did they, whofe fad diftrefs thefe lays deplore,
Unfkill'd in Grecian or in Roman lore,
Unconscious pass each famous circling shore?
They did; for, blafted in the barren shade, Here, all too foon, the buds of fcience fade: Sad ocean's genius, in untimely hour, Withers the bloom of every fpringing flower. Here fancy droops, while füllen cloud and storm The generous climate of the foul deform. Then if, among the wandering naval train, One ftripling, exil'd from th' Aonian plain, Had e'er, entranc'd in fancy's foothing dream, Approach'd to tafte the fweet Caftalian stream, (Since those falubrious streams, with power divine, To purer fenfe th' attemper'd foul refine) His heart, with liberal commerce here unbleft, Alien to joy! fincerer grief poffeft. Yet on the youthful mind th' impreffion caft Of ancient glory, fhall for ever lait. There, all unquench'd by cruel fortune's ire, It glows with inextinguishable fire.
Immortal Athens first, in ruin spread,
Contiguous lies at Port Liono's head,
Great fource of fcience! whofe immortal name
Stands foremost in the glorious roll of fame.
Here godlike Socrates and Plato fhone,
And, firm to truth, eternal honour won,
The first in Virtue's cause his life refign'd,
By Heav'n pronounc'd the wifeft of mankind:
The last foretold the fpark of vital fire,
The foul's fine effence, never could expire.
Here Solon dwelt, the philofophic fage,
That fled Pififtratus' vindictive rage.
Juft Ariftides here maintain'd the cause,
Whofe ficred precepts fnine thro' Solon's laws.
Of all her towering structures, now alone
Some scatter'd columns ftand, with weeds o'ergrown-
The wandering ftranger, near the port, defcries
A milk-white lion of ftupendous fize;
Unknown the fculptor; marble is the frame:
And hence th' adjacent haven drew its name.
Next, in the gulph of Engia, Corinth lies,
Whofe gorgeous fabrics feem'd to ftrike the skies;
Whom, tho' by tyrant victors ofe' subdu'd,
Greece, Egypt, Rome, with awful wonder view'd,
Her name, for Pallas' heavenly art renown'd *,
Spread like the foliage which her pillars crown'd,
But now, in fatal defolation laid,
Oblivion o'er it draws a difmal fhade.
Then further weftward on Morea's land, Fair Mifitra! thy modern turrets ftand. Ah! who, unmov'd with fecret woe, can tell That here great Lacedemon's glory tell? Here once the flourin'd, at whofe trumpet's found War burit his chains, and nations thook around. Here brave Leonidas from fhore to fhore Thro' all Achaia bade her thunders roar: He, when imperial Xerxes, from afar, Advanc'd with Perfia's fumless troops to war, Till Macedonia fhrunk beneath his fpear, And Greece difmay'd beheld the chief draw near ; He, at Thermopyla's immortal plain, His force repell'd with Sparta's glorious train. Tall Oeta faw the tyrant's conquer'd bands, In gafping millions, bleed on hoftile lands. Thus vanquish'd Afia trembling heard thy name, And Thebes and Athens ficken'd at thy fame! Thy ftate, fupported by Lycurgus' laws, Drew, like thine arms, fuperlative applaufe, Even great Epaminondas ftrove in vain To curb that spirit with a Theban chain. But ah! how low her free-born fpirit now! Her abject fons to haughty tyrants bow; A falfe, degenerate, fuperftitious race Infeit thy region, and thy name difgrace!
Not diftant far, Arcadia's bleft domains Peloponnefus' circling fhore contains. Thrice happy foil! where ftill ferenely gay, Indulgent Flora breath'd perpetual May ; Where buxom Ceres taught th' obfequious field, Rich without art, fpontaneous gifts to yield. Then with fome rural nymph fupremely bleit, While tranfport glow'd in each enamour'd breast, Each faithful fhepherd told his tender pain, And fung of fylvan fports in artless ftrain. Now, fad reverfe! Oppreffion's iron hand Enslaves her natives, and defpoils the land. In lawless rapine bred, a fanguine train With midnight-ravage fcour th' uncultur'd plain. Weftward of these, beyond the Ifthmus, lies The long-lost ifle of Ithacus the wife; Where fair Penelope her abfent lord Full twice ten years with faithful love deplor'd, Tho' many a princely heart her beauty won, She, guarded only by her ftripling fan, Each bold attempt of fuitor-kings repell'd, And undefil'd the nuptial contract held. With various arts to win her love they toil'd, But all their wiles by virtuous fraud the foil'd.
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