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370 Poetry . —Sonnets Supplementary to Wordsworth ^ s to Liberty .
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Go , . weigh that dust , inquirer!—and declare Its once-possessor in earth ' s vanished sphere What !—is it equal all ?—In that vast iieap AJ 1 that remains of sages , saints and slaves ,
In one promiscuous mound all-blended , sleep ; — Thou canst not trace distinctions in their graves ! The arch of victory , —the triumphal car , The fane of peace , —the pomp , the pride of war , Lie mingled there in dark and dull
decay 5 Come , muse on nature ' s general funeral ! Nougrht left but ashes , dust and clods of clay All , all is o ' er;—' tis past , —' tis perished all ! Victors and vanquished , there confounded lie ; The prisoner finds eternal liberty , — And death ' s cold chains have bound the free ; Where are the wise—the Platos of their day ?
The beautiful , —in all their soft array ? Involved with meaner dust in common destiny ! All holy Virtue ! child of heavenly clime ' Thou liv ' st amidst the wrecks of earth and time , — Thou only—and thy influence can give Brightness to night , —and ecstacy to gloom , Can wake the dead , and bid the dyinglive , And with immortal radiance fill the tomb ! A .
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In naked majesty—and earth is strewM With temples that have frown'd from ages rude The gorgeous tomb of reason—though the plea Of sacred thoughts and deep antiquity ShouM touch thy bosom in its kindliest mood ! Those guilty towers are creatures of a span ; Are not the clouds borne freely on the breeze , The everlasting hills and roaring sea And the blue heavens' immortal majesty , And high-born beatings of the heart of man Of holier birth and older far than these ?
II . To the Spanish Patriots in Prison . Think not unconquer'd heroes ! that ye sigh In vain within your dungeons ;—not a pain That such as ye endure is sent in vain , And not a gleam of fortitude can die ! No ! these shall kindle in the peasant ' s eye A lightening such as in the times of old Shook mightiest tyrants—they shall all be
told In each sweet vale and vine-encompass'd plain ; And the young voice of cherub infancy , Trembling with new-born ecstacies , shall sing Your deeds within their fathers' hearts enroll'd , And your mild dignity of suffering ; Till the glad voice of renovated Spain , Give to your virtues glory manifold .
in . To the South American Patriots . Think not undaunted champions ! that the sea With all its waves can part us from the cause In which you struggle;—that ' neath English laws We sit in cold and mute tranquillity ,
When mififhtiest nations combat to be free . No ! we are formM of one celestial blood , The children of one Sire;—and we have stood , For freedom ' s cause in earth ' s Thermopylae ! E ' en nature mingles feelings from afar—The ocean , and the winds , and clouds are free ,
he done so , it may readily be believed , the author would have been contented to admire . But he is silent ;—and there are some feelings , which , by the power of their own enthusiasm , force those to give them utterance who are most incompetent to do them justice . Thus it . is with the writer of these Sonnets—the only apology for which must be , the strength of the emotions by which they were prompted .
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—¦ SONNETS Supplementary to Wordsworth * s Sonnets to Liberty . * I . O thou who lov ' st o ' er ancient times to brood With fondest retrospection—do not weep When freedom starts from her inglorious sleep
* Jt is almost needless to observe , that the author of these Sonnets deprecates all comparison with those of the great poet whom lie has endeavoured to imitate . Indeed , be knows of no compositions of a similar kind , in this or any other language , which , for majestic simplicity and natural grandeur , equal the Sonnets of Wordsworth . He only regrets , that this great poet has not chosen the subjects of-these effusions for the exercise of his elevated powers . Had
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1817, page 370, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2465/page/50/
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