On the tired household of corporeal sense,
And Fancy, keeping unreluctant watch,
Was free her choicest favours to dispense;[131]
I saw, in wondrous pérspective displayed, 5
A landscape more august than happiest skill[132]
Of pencil ever clothed with light and shade;
An intermingled pomp of vale and hill,
City, and naval stream, suburban grove,[133]
And stately forest where the wild deer rove; 10
Nor wanted lurking hamlet, dusky towns,
And scattered rural farms of aspect bright;
And, here and there, between the pastoral downs,
The azure sea upswelled upon the sight.
Fair prospect, such as Britain only shows! 15
But not a living creature could be seen
Through its wide circuit, that, in deep repose,
And, even to sadness, lonely and serene,
Lay hushed; till--through a portal in the sky
Brighter than brightest loop-hole, in a storm, 20
Opening before the sun's triumphant eye--
Issued, to sudden view, a glorious Form![134]
Earthward it glided with a swift descent:
Saint George himself this Visitant must be;[135]
And, ere a thought could ask on what intent 25
He sought the regions of humanity,
A thrilling voice was heard, that vivified
City and field and flood;--aloud it cried--
"Though from my celestial home,
Like a Champion, armed I come; 30
On my helm the dragon crest,
And the red cross on my breast;
I, the Guardian of this Land,[136]
Speak not now of toilsome duty;
Well obeyed was that command-- 35
Whence bright days of festive beauty;[137]
Haste, Virgins, haste!--the flowers which summer gave
Have perished in the field;
But the green thickets plenteously shall yield[138]
Fit garlands for the brave, 40
That will be welcome, if by you entwined;
Haste, Virgins, haste; and you, ye Matrons grave,
Go forth with rival youthfulness of mind,
And gather what ye find
Of hardy laurel and wild holly boughs-- 45
To deck your stern Defenders' modest brows!
Such simple gifts prepare,
Though they have gained a worthier meed;
And in due time shall share
Those palms and amaranthine wreaths 50
Unto their martyred Countrymen decreed,
In realms where everlasting freshness breathes!"
II
And lo! with crimson banners proudly streaming,
And upright weapons innocently gleaming,
Along the surface of a spacious plain 55
Advance in order the redoubted Bands,
And there receive green chaplets from the hands
Of a fair female train--
Maids and Matrons, dight
In robes of dazzling white;[139] 60
While from the crowd bursts[140] forth a rapturous noise
By the cloud-capt hills retorted;
And a throng of rosy boys
In loose fashion tell their joys;[141]
And grey-haired sires, on staffs supported, 65
Look[142] round, and by their smiling seem[143] to say,
Thus strives a grateful Country to display
The mighty debt which nothing can repay!
III
Anon before my sight a palace rose
Built of all precious substances,--so pure 70
And exquisite, that sleep alone bestows
Ability like splendour to endure:
Entered, with streaming thousands, through the gate,
I saw the banquet spread beneath a Dome of state,
A lofty Dome, that dared to emulate 75
The heaven of sable night
With starry lustre; yet had power to throw
Solemn effulgence, clear as solar light,
Upon a princely company below,
While the vault rang with choral harmony, 80
Like some Nymph-haunted grot beneath the roaring sea,
--No sooner ceased that peal, than on the verge
Of exultation hung a dirge[144]
Breathed from a soft and lonely instrument,
That kindled recollections 85
Of agonised affections;[BN]
And, though some tears the strain attended,
The mournful passion ended
In peace of spirit, and sublime content!
IV
But garlands wither; festal shows depart, 90
Like dreams themselves; and sweetest sound--
(Albeit of effect profound)
It was--and it is gone!
Victorious England! bid the silent Art
Reflect, in glowing hues that shall not fade, 95
Those[145] high achievements;[BO] even as she arrayed
With second life the deed of Marathon
Upon Athenian walls;[BP]
So may she labour for thy civic halls:
And be the guardian spaces 100
Of consecrated places,
As nobly graced by Sculpture's patient toil;
And let imperishable Columns rise[146]
Fixed in the depths of this courageous soil;[BQ]
Expressive signals[147] of a glorious strife, 105
And competent to shed a spark divine
Into the torpid breast of daily life;--
Records on which, for pleasure of all eyes,
The morning sun may shine[148]
With gratulation thoroughly benign![BR] 110
V
And ye, Pierian Sisters,[BS] sprung from Jove
And sage Mnemosyne,--full long debarred[149]
From your first mansions, exiled all too long[150]
From many a hallowed stream and grove,[151]
Dear native regions[BT] where ye wont to rove, 115
Chanting for patriot heroes the reward
Of never-dying song!
Now (for, though Truth descending from above
The Olympian summit hath destroyed for aye
Your kindred Deities, _Ye_ live and move,[BU] 120
Spared for obeisance from perpetual love
For privilege redeemed of god-like sway)
Now,[152] on the margin of some spotless fountain,
Or top serene of unmolested mountain,
Strike audibly the noblest of your lyres, 125
And for a moment meet the soul's desires![153]
That I, or some more favoured Bard, may hear
What ye, celestial Maids! have often sung
Of Britain's acts,--may catch it with rapt ear,
And give the treasure to our British tongue! 130
So shall the characters of that proud page
Support their mighty theme from age to age;
And, in the desert places of the earth,
When they to future empires have given birth,
So shall the people gather and believe 135
The bold report, transferred to every clime;
And the whole world, not envious but admiring,
And to the like aspiring,
Own--that the progeny of this fair Isle
Had power as lofty actions to achieve 140
As were performed in man's heroic prime;
Nor wanted, when their fortitude had held
Its even tenor, and the foe was quelled,
A corresponding virtue to beguile
The hostile purpose of wide-wasting Time-- 145
That not in vain they laboured to secure,
For their great deeds, perpetual memory,
And fame as largely spread as land and sea,
By Works of spirit high and passion pure!
VARIANTS:
[Footnote 131: 1827.
And Fancy in her airy bower kept watch,
Free to exert some kindly influence;
I saw--but little boots it that my verse
A shadowy visitation should rehearse,
For to our Shores such glory hath been brought,
That dreams no brighter are than waking thought-- 1816.
Free to exert her kindliest influence; 1820.
]
[Footnote 132: 1827.
A landscape richer than the happiest skill 1816.
]
[Footnote 133: 1827.
Tower, town, and city--and suburban grove, 1816.
]
[Footnote 134: 1832.
... wild deer rove;
And, in a clouded quarter of the sky,
Through such a portal as with chearful eye
The traveller greets in time of threatened storm,
Issued, to sudden view, a radiant Form! 1816.
Nor wanted lurking hamlet, dusky towns,
And scattered rural farms of aspect bright,
And, here and there, between the pastoral downs,
The azure sea upswelled upon the sight.
Fair prospect, such as Britain only shows!
But not a living creature could be seen
Through its wide circuit, hushed in deep repose,
Yea, even to sadness, quiet and serene!
Amid this solitude of earth and sky,
Through portal clear as loop-hole in a storm
Opening before the sun's triumphant eye,
Issued, to sudden view, a radiant form! 1827.
]
[Footnote 135: 1845
... may be; 1816.
]
[Footnote 136: 1827.
A thrilling voice was heard, that vivified
My patriotic heart;--aloud it cried,
"I, the Guardian of this Land, 1816.
]
[Footnote 137: 1837.
"Days are come of festive beauty; 1816.
Hence bright days of festive beauty; 1827.
]
[Footnote 138: 1820.
... will yield 1816.
]
[Footnote 139: 1827.
... of purest white,-- 1816.
]
[Footnote 140: 1827.
... burst ... 1816.
]
[Footnote 141: 1827.
... told their joys,-- 1816.
]
[Footnote 142: 1827.
Looked ... 1816.
]
[Footnote 143: 1827.
... seemed ... 1816.
]
[Footnote 144: 1837.
Anon, I saw, beneath a dome of state,
The feast dealt forth with bounty unconfined;
And while the vaulted roof did emulate
The starry heavens through splendour of the show,
It rang with music,--and methought the wind
Scattered the tuneful largess far and near,
That they who asked not might partake the cheer,
Who listened not could hear,
Where'er the wild winds were allowed to blow!
--That work reposing, on the verge
Of busiest exultation hung a dirge, 1816.
... and had power to throw 1827.
The edition of 1827 is otherwise identical with that of 1837.]
[Footnote 145: 1837.
These ... 1816.
]
[Footnote 146: 1845.
Graced with such gifts as Sculpture can bestow,
When inspiration guides her patient toil;
And let imperishable trophies grow 1816.
As nobly graced by Sculpture's patient toil;
And let imperishable structures grow 1827.
]
[Footnote 147: 1827.
... records ... 1816.
]
[Footnote 148: 1845.
Trophies on which the morning sun may shine,
As changeful ages flow, 1816.
Records on which the morning sun may shine,
As changeful ages flow, 1827.
]
[Footnote 149: 1816.
... Ye muses long debarred C.
]
[Footnote 150: 1816.
... As mythic lore
For not unwise belief proclaimed of yore C.
]
[Footnote 151: 1827.
... consecrated stream and grove, 1816.
]
[Footnote 152: 1845.
... and move,
And exercise unblamed a generous sway,)
Now, ... 1816.
And exercise unblamed a god-like sway) 1837.
]
[Footnote 153: 1837.
... my soul's desires! 1816.
]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote BL: The title of this Ode, when first published along with the
_Thanksgiving Ode_, was _Ode, composed in January 1816_. In 1845 the
date 1814 was given; but there seems no reason to distrust the earlier
one.--ED.]
[Footnote BM: These lines were first inserted in the edition of
1827.--ED.]
[Footnote BN: Compare _Ode, Intimations of Immortality_, etc., stanza
ix.--
But for those first affections,
Those shadowy recollections.
ED.
]
[Footnote BO: Haydon painted Wellington on the field of Waterloo.
Compare the sonnet which Wordsworth wrote on that picture, in 1840,
beginning--
By Art's hold privilege Warrior and War-horse stand.
ED.
]
[Footnote BP: The allusion is to the picture of the battle of Marathon,
on the walls of the Stoa Poecile, in Athens. Compare the _Effusion, in
presence of Tell's Tower_, in the "Memorials of a Tour on the Continent"
(1820), st. i. and note.--ED.]
[Footnote BQ: In many places throughout Britain this was carried out.
Statues to the memory of Wellington were erected in many towns, and
buildings were named after him.--ED.]
[Footnote BR: In many places throughout Britain this was carried out.
Statues to the memory of Wellington were erected in many towns, and
buildings were named after him.--ED.]
[Footnote BS: The nine Muses, called the Pierides, from Pieria, near
Olympus, where they were said to have been born, or first worshipped by
the Thracians.--ED.]
[Footnote BT: Compare the first line of the _Extract from the conclusion
of a poem, composed in anticipation of leaving school_ (vol. i. p. 2)--
Dear native regions, I foretell.
ED.
]
[Footnote BU: Compare Schiller's _Piccolomini_, in S. T. Coleridge's
version (act II. scene 4)--
The intelligible forms of ancient poets,
The fair humanities of old religion,
The power, the beauty, and the majesty,
That had their haunts in dale, or piny mountain,
Or forest by slow stream, or pebbly spring,
Or chasms and wat'ry depths; all these have vanished.
They live no longer in the faith of reason!
But still the heart doth need a language, still
Doth the old instinct bring back the old names,
And to yon starry world they now are gone,
Spirits or gods, that used to share this earth
With man as with their friend; and to the lover
Yonder they move, from yonder visible sky
Shoot influence down: and even at this day
'Tis Jupiter who brings whate'er is great,
And Venus who brings everything that's fair!
ED.
]
ODE
Composed 1816.--Published 1816
Included in 1820 among the "Poems of the Imagination," afterwards placed
among the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty."--ED.
I
Who rises on the banks of Seine,
And binds her temples with the civic wreath?
What joy to read the promise of her mien!
How sweet to rest her wide-spread wings beneath!
But they are ever playing, 5
And twinkling in the light,
And, if a breeze be straying,
That breeze she will invite;
And stands on tiptoe, conscious she is fair,
And calls a look of love into her face, 10
And spreads her arms, as if the general air
Alone could satisfy her wide embrace.
--Melt, Principalities, before her melt!
Her love ye hailed--her wrath have felt!
But She through many a change of form hath gone, 15
And stands amidst you now an armèd creature,
Whose panoply is not a thing put on,
But the live scales of a portentous nature;
That, having forced[154] its way from birth to birth, 19
Stalks round-abhorred by Heaven, a terror to the Earth!
II
I marked the breathings of her dragon crest;
My Soul, a sorrowful interpreter,
In many a midnight vision bowed
Before the ominous aspect of her spear;[155]
Whether the mighty beam, in scorn upheld, 25
Threatened her foes,--or, pompously at rest,
Seemed to bisect her orbèd shield,
As stretches a blue bar of solid cloud[156]
Across the setting sun and all the fiery west.[157]
III
So did she daunt the Earth, and God defy! 30
And, wheresoe'er she spread her sovereignty,
Pollution tainted all that was most pure.
--Have we not known--and live we not to tell--
That Justice seemed to hear her final knell?
Faith buried deeper in her own deep breast 35
Her stores, and sighed to find them insecure!
And Hope was maddened by the drops that fell
From shades, her chosen place of short-lived rest.[158]
Shame followed shame, and woe supplanted woe--
Is this the only change that time can show? 40
How long shall vengeance sleep? Ye patient Heavens, how long?
--Infirm ejaculation! from the tongue
Of Nations wanting virtue to be strong
Up to the measure of accorded might,
And daring not to feel the majesty of right! 45
IV
Weak Spirits are there--who would ask,
Upon the pressure of a painful thing,
The lion's sinews, or the eagle's wing;
Or let their wishes loose, in forest-glade,
Among the lurking powers 50
Of herbs and lowly flowers,
Or seek, from saints above, miraculous aid--
That Man may be accomplished for a task
Which his own nature hath enjoined;--and why?
If, when that interference hath relieved him, 55
He must sink down to languish
In worse than former helplessness--and lie
Till the caves roar,--and, imbecility
Again engendering anguish,
The same weak wish returns, that had before deceived him. 60
V
But Thou, supreme Disposer! may'st[159] not speed
The course of things, and change the creed
Which hath been held aloft before men's sight
Since the first framing of societies,
Whether, as bards have told in ancient song, 65
Built up by soft seducing harmonies;
Or prest together by the appetite,
And by the power, of wrong.
The date of the composition of this Ode is uncertain. Wordsworth himself
gives no clue: but it seems to refer to the rise of the French Republic,
with its illusive promises of Liberty: the freedom of the many being
sacrificed to the despotism of one. The Republic passed "through many a
change of form." It became both tyrannous and aggressive. The
"Principalities" of Europe "melted" before it. It stood forth "an armèd
creature," and "a terror to the Earth." It in turn put down "Justice,"
"Faith," and "Hope" throughout Europe; and the writer of the Ode says,
How long shall vengeance sleep? Ye patient Heavens, how long?
The allusions in stanza iv. suggest that this Ode was written before
Waterloo, and the final overthrow of the power of Napoleon, but it is
difficult, if not impossible, to determine the point with exactness from
internal evidence.
The reference in the last stanza may be to the legend of Amphion moving
stones, and building up the walls of Thebes, by the sound of his lyre;
the stones advancing to their places, and being fitted together, as he
played his instrument. Compare Tennyson's _Amphion_.--ED.
VARIANTS:
[Footnote 154: 1845.
That, having wrought ... 1816.
]
[Footnote 155: 1827.
My soul in many a midnight vision bowed
Before the meanings which her spear expressed; 1816.
]
[Footnote 156: 1827.
Seemed to bisect the orbit of her shield,
Like to a long blue bar of solid cloud 1816.
]
[Footnote 157: 1845.
At evening stretched across the fiery West. 1816.
Across the setting sun, and through the fiery west. 1827.
Across the setting sun--and through all the fiery west. 1837.
]
[Footnote 158: 1827.
... short-lived rest,
Which, when they first received her, she had blest: 1816.
]
[Footnote 159: 1827.
... might'st ... 1816.
]
THE FRENCH ARMY IN RUSSIA, 1812-13[160]
Composed 1816.--Published 1816
This was first published in 1816 in the "Miscellaneous Pieces, referring
chiefly to recent public Events," in the volume entitled _Thanksgiving
Ode, January 18, 1816, with other short pieces_, etc. In 1820 it was
placed among the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty, Part II."--ED.
Humanity, delighting to behold
A fond reflection of her own decay,
Hath painted Winter like a traveller old,
Propped on a staff, and, through the sullen day,
In hooded mantle, limping o'er the plain,[161] 5
As though his weakness were disturbed by pain:
Or, if a juster fancy should allow
An undisputed symbol of command,
The chosen sceptre is a withered bough,
Infirmly grasped within a palsied hand. 10
These emblems suit the helpless and forlorn;
But mighty Winter the device shall scorn.
For he it was--dread Winter! who beset,
Flinging round van and rear his ghastly net,
That host, when from the regions of the Pole 15
They shrunk, insane ambition's barren goal--
That host, as huge and strong as e'er defied
Their God, and placed their trust in human pride!
As fathers persecute rebellious sons,
He smote the blossoms of their warrior youth; 20
He called on Frost's inexorable tooth
Life to consume in Manhood's firmest hold;
Nor spared the reverend blood that feebly runs;
For why--unless for liberty enrolled
And sacred home--ah! why should hoary Age be bold? 25
Fleet the Tartar's reinless steed,
But fleeter far the pinions of the Wind,
Which from Siberian caves the Monarch freed,
And sent him forth, with squadrons of his kind,
And bade the Snow their ample backs bestride, 30
And to the battle ride.
No pitying voice commands a halt,
No courage can repel the dire assault;
Distracted, spiritless, benumbed, and blind,
Whole legions sink--and, in one instant, find 35
Burial and death: look for them--and descry,
When morn returns, beneath the clear blue sky,
A soundless waste, a trackless vacancy!
The French "retreat from Moscow was perhaps the most disastrous on
record since the days of Xerxes.... On the night of 6th November, the
temperature suddenly fell to that of the most rigorous winter. In that
dreadful night thousands of men perished, and nearly all the horses,
which compelled the abandonment of the greater part of the convoys. From
this point the road began to be strewn with corpses, presenting the
aspect of one continuous battlefield.... At Smolensk the cold was at 20
degrees of Réaumur." (Dyer's _History of Modern Europe_, vol. iv. pp.
518, 519.)--ED.
VARIANTS:
[Footnote 160: 1827.
The original title was _Composed in Recollection of
the Expedition of the French into Russia.
February 1816._ 1816.
]
[Footnote 161: 1820.
Hath painted Winter like a shrunken, old,
And close-wrapt Traveller--through the weary day--
Propped on a staff, and limping o'er the Plain, 1816.
]
ON THE SAME OCCASION[162]
Composed 1816.--Published 1816
One of the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty."--ED.
Ye Storms, resound the praises of your King!
And ye mild Seasons--in a sunny clime,
Midway on some high hill, while father Time
Looks on delighted--meet in festal ring,
And loud and long of Winter's triumph sing! 5
Sing ye, with blossoms crowned, and fruits, and flowers,
Of Winter's breath surcharged with sleety showers,
And the dire flapping of his hoary wing!
Knit the blithe dance upon the soft green grass;
With feet, hands, eyes, looks, lips, report your gain; 10
Whisper it to the billows of the main,
And to the aërial zephyrs as they pass,
That old decrepit Winter--_He_ hath slain
That Host, which rendered all your bounties vain!
[Footnote 162: 1820.
The title in 1816 was
_Sonnet on the same occasion. February 1816._
]
SIEGE OF VIENNA RAISED BY JOHN SOBIESKI[BV]
FEBRUARY, 1816
Composed February 4, 1816.--Published 1816
One of the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty."--ED.
O, for a kindling touch from that pure flame
Which ministered, erewhile, to a sacrifice
Of gratitude, beneath Italian skies,
In words like these: "Up, Voice of Song! proclaim
Thy saintly rapture with celestial aim: 5
For lo! the Imperial City stands released[163]
From bondage threatened by the embattled East,
And Christendom respires;[164] from guilt and shame
Redeemed, from miserable fear set free
By one day's feat, one mighty victory. 10
--Chant the Deliverer's praise in every tongue!
The cross shall spread, the crescent hath waxed dim;
He conquering, as in joyful Heaven is sung,[165]
HE CONQUERING THROUGH GOD, AND GOD BY HIM." [BW]
VARIANTS:
[Footnote BV: 1816.
The title at first was _February 1816_.--ED.]
[Footnote 163: 1837.
... touch of that pure flame
Which taught the offering of song to rise
From thy lone bower, beneath Italian skies,
Great Filicaia!--With celestial aim
It rose,--thy saintly rapture to proclaim,
Then, when the imperial city stood released 1816.
]
[Footnote 164: 1837.
... respired; ... 1816.
]
[Footnote 165: 1837.
... --as in Earth and Heaven was sung-- 1816.
]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote BW:
Ond' è ch' Io grido e griderò: giugnesti,
Guerregiasti, e vincesti;
Si, si, vincesti, o Campion forte e pio,
_Per Dio vincesti, e per te vinse Iddio_.
See Filicaia's Canzone, addressed to (Sir) John Sobieski, king of
Poland, upon his raising the siege of Vienna. This, and his other poems
on the same occasion, are superior perhaps to any lyrical pieces that
contemporary events have ever given birth to, those of the Hebrew
Scriptures only excepted.--W. W. (1816 and 1820.)
Vienna, besieged in 1683 by Mahomet IV., was relieved by John Sobieski.
The following is Dyer's account of it in his _Modern Europe_ (vol. iii.
p. 109):--"At one time Vienna seemed beyond the reach of human aid. The
Turks sat down before it on 14th July, and such were their numbers that
their encampment is said to have contained more than 100,000 tents. It
was the middle of August before John Sobieski could leave Cracow with
25,000 men, and by the end of that month the situation of Vienna had
become extremely critical. Provisions and ammunition began to fail; the
garrison had lost 6000 men, and numbers died every day by pestilence, or
at the hands of the enemy. It was not till 9th September that Sobieski
and his Poles formed a junction on the plain of Tuln with the Austrian
forces under the Duke of Lorraine, and the other German contingents. On
11th September, the allies reached the heights of Kahlenberg, within
sight of Vienna, and announced their arrival to the beleaguered citizens
by means of rockets. On the following day the Turks were attacked, and,
after a few hours' resistance, completely routed.... The Turkish camp,
with vast treasures in money, jewels, horses, arms, and ammunition,
became the spoil of the victors."
The Italian poet Filicaia referred to by Wordsworth (Filicaja,
Vincenzo), wrote six odes on the deliverance of Vienna by Sobieski. They
were published in Florence in the following year, 1684, and established
the writer's fame. Queen Christina of Sweden was much struck by them;
and, being a generous patroness and admirer of letters, she enabled
Filicaja to devote himself to poetry exclusively as his life-work. He
wrote numerous patriotic sonnets and heroic odes, in Italian and in
Latin.--ED.]
OCCASIONED BY THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO[166]
(The last six lines intended for an Inscription.)
FEBRUARY, 1816
Composed February 4, 1816.--Published 1816
One of the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty."--ED.
Intrepid sons of Albion! not by you
Is life despised; ah no, the spacious earth
Ne'er saw a race who held, by right of birth,
So many objects to which love is due:
Ye slight not life--to God and Nature true; 5
But death, becoming death, is dearer far,
When duty bids you bleed in open war:
Hence hath your prowess quelled that impious crew.
Heroes!--for instant sacrifice prepared;
Yet filled with ardour and on triumph bent 10
'Mid direst shocks of mortal accident--
To you who fell, and you whom slaughter spared
To guard the fallen, and consummate the event,
Your Country rears this sacred Monument!
It need hardly be said that the intention of using the six last lines as
an "Inscription" was never carried into effect. The infelicity of the
second last line is fatal to its use on any "monument." The punctuation
of the Sonnet as it appeared in _The Champion_, January 2, 1814, differs
slightly from the above.--ED.
[Footnote 166: 1820.