’Tis night! ’tis night! the solemn hour is come;
A storm-toss’d bark, “’lexandra,”’s on the foam:
Sound an alarm ere she is rift!
To Heaven a hundred eyes uplift:
His Answer comes as doubly swift,—
The winds abate; calm is the crested main,
The goodly craft rides on in peace again.
Touch, touch the thread, which stretches land and sea;
Command it bear the news, with accuracy,
Through channels, rivers, lakes, and rills;
Through England’s vales, o’er Scotland’s hills;
Through Ireland’s uplands, creeks, and dells,—
“Ere proud Aurora flush’d the purple East,
The Danish bark was safe, and sleeps at rest.”
Sound, sound the cymbal, sound the silver horn;
Herald afar “a Prince to-day is born:”
Tell Denmark’s King, “Safe is his child,
That the Great God in kindness smil’d;
A nation’s heart is reconciled:”
Tell him “his Daughter is old England’s pride;
That in our love she alway may confide.”
Send forth the word unto Balmoral halls,—
“That pray’rs were said within our sacred walls,
To Him above, the gracious Giver,
For her, for him, and his for ever:
All hail the little princely brother!”
On British hearts, engraven is the word—
“Our crown and country rules with one accord.”
O Lord, inspire the mother’s tender breast,
That she may offer up her thanks, the best;
And have, in Thee, the surest friend,
To-day, and to a distant end;
Down on her children comfort send:
Bless, Thou, the haven which the shelter gave;
Guard sire, and dame, and children to the grave!
[78] Written on the occasion of the birth of Prince George Frederick
Ernest Albert, second son of their Royal Highnesses the Prince and
Princess of Wales, at Marlborough House, Pall Mall, 3rd June, 1865, at
1.18.