[ { "title": "Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady", "author": "Alexander Pope", "lines": [ "What beckoning ghost, along the moonlight shade", "Invites my steps, and points to yonder glade?", "'Tis she!--but why that bleeding bosom gored,", "Why dimly gleams the visionary sword?", "Oh, ever beauteous, ever friendly! tell,", "Is it, in heaven, a crime to love too well?", "To bear too tender, or too firm a heart,", "To act a lover's or a Roman's part?", "Is there no bright reversion in the sky,", "For those who greatly think, or bravely die?", "", "Why bade ye else, ye Powers! her soul aspire", "Above the vulgar flight of low desire?", "Ambition first sprung from your blest abodes;", "The glorious fault of angels and of gods:", "Thence to their images on earth it flows,", "And in the breasts of kings and heroes glows.", "Most souls, 'tis true, but peep out once an age,", "Dull, sullen prisoners in the body's cage:", "Dim lights of life, that burn a length of years", "Useless, unseen, as lamps in sepulchres;", "Like Eastern kings a lazy state they keep,", "And, close confined to their own palace, sleep.", "", "From these perhaps (ere Nature bade her die)", "Fate snatch'd her early to the pitying sky.", "As into air the purer spirits flow,", "And separate from their kindred dregs below;", "So flew the soul to its congenial place,", "Nor left one virtue to redeem her race.", "", "But thou, false guardian of a charge too good,", "Thou, mean deserter of thy brother's blood!", "See on these ruby lips the trembling breath,", "These cheeks, now fading at the blast of death;", "Cold is that breast which warm'd the world before,", "And those love-darting eyes must roll no more.", "Thus, if Eternal Justice rules the ball,", "Thus shall your wives, and thus your children fall:", "On all the line a sudden vengeance waits,", "And frequent hearses shall besiege your gates.", "There passengers shall stand, and pointing say,", "(While the long funerals blacken all the way)", "'Lo, these were they, whose souls the Furies steel'd,", "And cursed with hearts unknowing how to yield.'", "Thus unlamented pass the proud away,", "The gaze of fools, and pageant of a day!", "So perish all, whose breast ne'er learn'd to glow", "For others' good, or melt at others' woe.", "", "What can atone (O ever-injured Shade!)", "Thy fate unpitied, and thy rites unpaid?", "No friend's complaint, no kind domestic tear", "Pleased thy pale ghost, or graced thy mournful bier,", "By foreign hands thy dying eyes were closed,", "By foreign hands thy decent limbs composed,", "By foreign hands thy humble grave adorn'd,", "By strangers honour'd, and by strangers mourn'd!", "What, though no friends in sable weeds appear,", "Grieve for an hour, perhaps, then mourn a year,", "And bear about the mockery of woe", "To midnight dances, and the public show?", "What, though no weeping loves thy ashes grace,", "Nor polish'd marble emulate thy face?", "What, though no sacred earth allow thee room,", "Nor hallow'd dirge be mutter'd o'er thy tomb?", "Yet shall thy grave with rising flowers be dress'd,", "And the green turf lie lightly on thy breast:", "There shall the morn her earliest tears bestow,", "There the first roses of the year shall blow;", "While angels with their silver wings o'ershade", "The ground, now sacred by thy relics made.", "", "So peaceful rests, without a stone, a name,", "What once had beauty, titles, wealth, and fame.", "How loved, how honour'd once, avails thee not,", "To whom related, or by whom begot;", "A heap of dust alone remains of thee,", "'Tis all thou art, and all the proud shall be!", "", "Poets themselves must fall, like those they sung,", "Deaf the praised ear, and mute the tuneful tongue.", "Even he, whose soul now melts in mournful lays,", "Shall shortly want the generous tear he pays;", "Then from his closing eyes thy form shall part,", "And the last pang shall tear thee from his heart;", "Life's idle business at one gasp be o'er,", "The Muse forgot, and thou beloved no more!" ], "linecount": "82" }, { "title": "Elegy IX: The Autumnal", "author": "John Donne", "lines": [ "No spring nor summer Beauty hath such grace", "As I have seen in one autumnall face.", "Young beauties force our love, and that's a rape,", "This doth but counsel, yet you cannot 'scape.", "If 'twere a shame to love, here 'twere no shame,", "Affection here takes Reverence's name.", "Were her first years the Golden Age; that's true,", "But now she's gold oft tried, and ever new.", "That was her torrid and inflaming time,", "This is her tolerable Tropique clime.", "Fair eyes, who asks more heat than comes from hence,", "He in a fever wishes pestilence.", "Call not these wrinkles, graves; if graves they were,", "They were Love's graves; for else he is no where.", "Yet lies not Love dead here, but here doth sit", "Vowed to this trench, like an Anachorit.", "", "And here, till hers, which must be his death, come,", "He doth not dig a grave, but build a tomb.", "Here dwells he, though he sojourn ev'ry where,", "In progress, yet his standing house is here.", "Here, where still evening is; not noon, nor night;", "Where no voluptuousness, yet all delight", "In all her words, unto all hearers fit,", "You may at revels, you at counsel, sit.", "This is Love's timber, youth his under-wood;", "There he, as wine in June enrages blood,", "Which then comes seasonabliest, when our taste", "And appetite to other things is past.", "Xerxes' strange Lydian love, the Platane tree,", "Was loved for age, none being so large as she,", "Or else because, being young, nature did bless", "Her youth with age's glory, Barrenness.", "If we love things long sought, Age is a thing", "Which we are fifty years in compassing;", "If transitory things, which soon decay,", "Age must be loveliest at the latest day.", "But name not winter-faces, whose skin's slack;", "Lank, as an unthrift's purse; but a soul's sack;", "Whose eyes seek light within, for all here's shade;", "Whose mouths are holes, rather worn out than made;", "Whose every tooth to a several place is gone,", "To vex their souls at Resurrection;", "Name not these living deaths-heads unto me,", "For these, not ancient, but antique be.", "I hate extremes; yet I had rather stay", "With tombs than cradles, to wear out a day.", "Since such love's natural lation is, may still", "My love descend, and journey down the hill,", "Not panting after growing beauties so,", "I shall ebb out with them, who homeward go." ], "linecount": "50" }, { "title": "An Elegy on the Death of Montgomery Tappen", "author": "Major Henry Livingston, Jr.", "lines": [ "An elegy on the death of MONTGOMERY TAPPEN who dies at Poughkeepsie on the 20th of Nov. 1784 in the ninth year of his age.", "", "", "The sweetest, gentlest, of the youthful train,", "Here lies his clay cold upon the sable bier!", "He scarce had started on life's varied plain,", "For dreary death arrested his career.", "", "His cheek might vie with the expanded rose,", "And Genius sparkled in his azure eyes!", "A victim so unblemish'd Heaven chose,", "And bore the beauteous lambkin to the skies.", "", "Adieu thou loveliest child! Adieu adieu!", "Our wishes fain would follow thee on high.", "What more can friendship - what more fondness do,", "But drop the unbidden tear & heave the sigh?", "", "Ye youths whose ardent bosoms virtue fires,", "Who eager wish applause and pant for fame,", "Press round MONTGOMERY'S hearse, the NAME inspires", "And lights in kindred souls its native flame.", "", "COLUMBIA grateful hails the tender sound", "And when MONTGOMERY'S nam'd still drops a tear,", "From shore to shore to earth's remotest bound", "Where LIBERTY is known that NAME is dear." ], "linecount": "21" }, { "title": "Elegy to the Memory of Werter", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "\"With female Fairies will thy tomb be haunted", "\"And worms will not come to thee.\" SHAKSPERE.", "", "", "WHEN from Day's closing eye the lucid tears", "Fall lightly on the bending lily's head;", "When o'er the blushing sky night's curtains spread,", "And the tall mountain's summit scarce appears;", "When languid Evening, sinking to repose,", "Her filmy mantle o'er the landscape throws;", "Of THEE I'll sing; and as the mournful song", "Glides in slow numbers the dark woods among;", "My wand'ring steps shall seek the lonely shade,", "Where all thy virtues, all thy griefs are laid!", "", "Yes, hopeless suff'rer, friendless and forlorn,", "Sweet victim of love's power; the silent tear", "Shall oft at twilight's close, and glimm'ring morn", "Gem the pale primrose that adorns thy bier,", "And as the balmy dew ascends to heaven,", "Thy crime shall steal away, thy frailty be forgiv'n.", "", "Oft by the moon's wan beam the love-lorn maid,", "Led by soft SYMPATHY, shall stroll along;", "Oft shall she listen in the Lime-tree's * shade,", "Her cold blood freezing at the night-owl's song:", "Or, when she hears the death-bell's solemn sound,", "Her light steps echoing o'er the hollow ground;", "Oft shall the trickling tear adorn her cheek,", "Thy pow'r, O SENSIBILITY ! in magic charms to speak!", "", "For the poor PILGRIM, doom'd afar to roam", "From the dear comforts of his native home,", "A glitt'ring star puts forth a silv'ry ray,", "Soothes his sad heart, and marks his tedious way;", "The short-liv'd radiance cheers the gloom of night,", "And decks Heaven's murky dome with transitory light.", "", "So from the mournful CHARLOTTE's dark-orb'd lids,", "The sainted tear of pitying VIRTUE flows;", "And the last boon, the \"churlish priest\" forbids,", "On thy lone grave the sacred drop bestows;", "There shall the sparkling dews of Evening shine,", "AND HEAVEN'S OWN INCENSE CONSECRATE THE SHRINE." ], "linecount": "38" }, { "title": "Elegy to the Memory of David Garrick, Esq.", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "DEAR SHADE OF HIM, who grac'd the mimick scene,", "And charm'd attention with resistless pow'r;", "Whose wond'rous art, whose fascinating mien,", "Gave glowing rapture to the short-liv'd hour!", "", "Accept the mournful verse, the ling'ring sigh,", "The tear that faithful Mem'ry stays to shed;", "The SACRED TEAR, that from Reflection's eye,", "Drops on the ashes of the sainted dead.", "", "Lov'd by the grave, and courted by the young,", "In social comforts eminently blest;", "All hearts rever'd the precepts of thy tongue,", "And Envy's self thy eloquence confess'd.", "", "Who could like thee the soul's wild tumults paint,", "Or wake the torpid ear with lenient art?", "Touch the nice sense with pity's dulcet plaint,", "Or soothe the sorrows of the breaking heart?", "", "Who can forget thy penetrating eye,", "The sweet bewitching smile, th' empassion'd look?", "The clear deep whisper, the persuasive sigh,", "The feeling tear that Nature's language spoke?", "", "Rich in each treasure bounteous Heaven could lend,", "For private worth distinguish'd and approv'd,", "The pride of WISDOM,­VIRTUE's darling friend,", "By MANSFIELD honor'd­and by CAMDEN lov'd!", "", "The courtier's cringe, the flatt'rer's abject smile,", "The subtle arts of well-dissembled praise,", "Thy soul abhorr'd;­above the gloss of guile,", "Truth lead thy steps, and Friendship crown'd thy days.", "", "Oft in thy HAMPTON's dark embow'ring shade", "The POET's hand shall sweep the trembling string;", "While the proud tribute §to thy mem'ry paid,", "The voice of GENIUS on the gale shall fling.", "", "Yes, SHERIDAN! thy soft melodious verse", "Still vibrates on a nation's polish'd ear;", "Fondly it hover'd o'er the sable hearse,", "Hush'd the loud plaint, and triumph'd in a tear.", "", "In life united by congenial minds,", "Dear to the MUSE, to sacred friendship true;", "Around her darling's urn a wreath SHE binds,", "A deathless wreath­immortaliz'd by YOU!", "", "But say, dear shade, is kindred mem'ry flown?", "Has widow'd love at length forgot to weep?", "That no kind verse, or monumental stone,", "Marks the lone spot where thy cold relics sleep!", "", "Dear to a nation, grateful to thy muse,", "That nation's tears upon thy grave shall flow,", "For who the gentle tribute can refuse,", "Which thy fine feeling gave to fancied woe?", "", "Thou who, by many an anxious toilsome hour,", "Reap'd the bright harvest of luxuriant Fame,", "Who snatch'd from dark oblivion's barb'rous pow'r", "The radiant glories of a SHAKSPERE's name!", "", "Rembrance oft shall paint the mournful scene", "Where the slow fun'ral spread its length'ning gloom,", "Where the deep murmur, and dejected mien,", "In artless sorrow linger'd round thy tomb.", "", "And tho' no laurel'd bust, or labour'd line,", "Shall bid the passing stranger stay to weep;", "Thy SHAKSPERE's hand shall point the hallow'd shrine,", "And Britain's genius with thy ashes sleep.", "", "Then rest in peace, O ever sacred shade!", "Your kindred souls exulting FAME shall join;", "And the same wreath thy hand for SHAKSPERE made,", "Gemm'd with her tears about THY GRAVE SHALL TWINE." ], "linecount": "64" }, { "title": "Elegy on the Death of Lady Middleton", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "THE knell of death, that on the twilight gale,", "Swells its deep murmur to the pensive ear;", "In awful sounds repeats a mournful tale,", "And claims the tribute of a tender tear.", "", "The dreadful hour is past ! the mandate giv'n!", "The gentle MIDDLETON shall breathe no more,", "Yet who shall blame the wise decrees of Heaven,", "Or the dark mysteries of Fate explore?", "", "No more her converse shall delight the heart;", "No more her smile benign spread pleasure round;", "No more her liberal bosom shall impart", "The balm of pity to Affliction's wound.", "", "Her soul above the pride of noble birth,", "Above the praises of an empty name,", "By graceful MEEKNESS mark'd superior worth,", "By peerless VIRTUES claim'd the fairest fame,", "", "Nor did those Virtues flaunt their innate rays,", "To court applause, or charm the vulgar throng,", "No ostentatious glare illum'd her days,", "No idle boast escap'd her tuneful tongue.", "", "When FAME, ambitious to record her praise,", "On glitt'ring pinions spread her name afar,", "Her gentle nature shunn'd the dazzling blaze,", "Mild as the lustre of the morning star!", "", "DIVINE BENEVOLENCE around her shone!", "The chastest manners spoke her spotless mind;", "That Pow'r who gave now claims her for his own,", "Pure as the cherub she has left behind.", "", "As round her couch the winged darts of death", "Reluctant flew from Fate's unerring bow,", "Immortal angels claim'd her quivering breath,", "And snatch'd her spirit from a world of woe.", "", "Calm resignation smil'd upon her cheek,", "And HOPE'S refulgent beam illum'd her eye;", "While FAITH, celestial VIRTUE'S handmaid meek,", "On wings of seraphs bore her to the sky.", "", "Ye poor, who from her gen'rous bounty fed;", "Oh! to HER mem'ry give the fame that's due;", "For oft, from pleasure's blithe meanders led,", "Her pensive bosom felt a pang for YOU.", "", "Yet, cease to mourn a sainted Spirit gone", "To seek its resting place, beyond the skies;", "Where 'midst the glories of TH' ETERNAL's throne,", "She tastes celestial bliss THAT NEVER DIES!" ], "linecount": "44" }, { "title": "Elegy to the Memory of Richard Boyle, Esq.", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "NEAR yon bleak mountain's dizzy height,", "That hangs o'er AVON's silent wave;", "By the pale Crescent's glimm'ring light,", "I sought LORENZO's lonely grave.", "", "O'er the long grass the silv'ry dew,", "Soft Twilight's tears spontaneous shone;", "And the dank bough of baneful yew", "Supply'd the place of sculptured stone.", "", "Oft, as my trembling steps drew near,", "The aëry voice of FANCY gave", "The plaint of GENIUS to mine ear,", "That, lingering, murmur'd on his grave.", "", "\"Cold is that heart, where honour glow'd,", "And Friendship's flame sublimely shone,", "And clos'd that eye where Pity flow'd,", "For ev'ry suff'ring but HIS OWN.", "", "\"That form where youth and grace conspir'd,", "To captivate admiring eyes,", "No more belov'd, no more admir'd,", "A torpid mass neglected lies.", "", "\"Mute is the music of that tongue,", "Once tuneful as the voice of love,", "When ORPHEUS, by his magic song,", "Taught trees, and flinty rocks to move.", "", "\"Oft shall the pensive MUSE be found,", "Sprinkling with flow'rs his mould'ring clay;", "While soft-eyed SORROW wand'ring round,", "Shall pluck intruding weeds away.\"", "", "Sad victim of the sordid mind,", "That doom'd THEE to an early grave;", "Ne'er shall HER breast that pity find,", "Which thy forgiveness nobly gave!", "", "Thou, who, when SORROW'S icy hand", "Forbad the healthsome pulse to flow,", "Obedient to HER stern command,", "With meek submission bow'd thee low!", "", "And when thy faded cheek proclaim'd", "The thorn that rankled in thy breast,", "Thy steady soul that pride maintain'd,", "Which marks the godlike mind distress'd!", "", "Nor was thy mental strength subdu'd,", "When HOPE's last ling'ring shadows fled,", "Unchang'd, thy dauntless spirit view'd", "The dreary confines of the dead!", "", "And when thy penetrating mind,", "Life's thorny maze presum'd to scan,", "In ev'ry path condemn'd to find", "\"The low ingratitude of man.\"", "", "Indignant would'st thou turn away,", "And smiling raise thy languid eye,", "And oft thy feeble voice would say,", "\"TO ME 'TIS HAPPINESS TO DIE.\"", "", "And tho' thy FRIEND, I with skilful art,", "To heal thy woes, each balm apply'd;", "Tho' the fine feelings of his heart,", "Nor cost nor studious care deny'd!", "", "He saw the fatal hour draw near,", "He saw THEE fading to the grave;", "He gave his last kind gift, A TEAR,", "And mourn'd the worth he could not save.", "", "Nor could the ruthless breath of FATE", "Snatch from thy grave the tender sigh;", "Nor a relentless monster's hate", "Impede thy passage to the sky.", "", "And tho' no kindred tears were shed,", "No tribute to thy memory giv'n;", "Sublime in death, thy spirit fled,", "To seek its best reward IN HEAVEN!" ], "linecount": "68" }, { "title": "An Elegy On The Death Of A Mad Dog", "author": "Oliver Goldsmith", "lines": [ "Good people all, of every sort,", "Give ear unto my song;", "And if you find it wondrous short,", "It cannot hold you long.", "", "In Islington there was a man", "Of whom the world might say,", "That still a godly race he ran—", "Whene'er he went to pray.", "", "A kind and gentle heart he had,", "To comfort friends and foes;", "The naked every day he clad—", "When he put on his clothes.", "", "And in that town a dog was found,", "As many dogs there be,", "Both mongrel, puppy, whelp, and hound,", "And curs of low degree.", "", "This dog and man at first were friends;", "But when a pique began,", "The dog, to gain some private ends,", "Went mad, and bit the man.", "", "Around from all the neighbouring streets", "The wond'ring neighbours ran,", "And swore the dog had lost its wits", "To bite so good a man.", "", "The wound it seemed both sore and sad", "To every Christian eye;", "And while they swore the dog was mad,", "They swore the man would die.", "", "But soon a wonder came to light", "That showed the rogues they lied,—", "The man recovered of the bite,", "The dog it was that died!" ], "linecount": "32" }, { "title": "Elegy", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "BEHOLD the blessings of a lucky lot!", "My play is _damned_, and Lady Noel _not_." ], "linecount": "2" }, { "title": "177. Elegy on the Death of Sir James Hunter Blair", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "THE LAMP of day, with-ill presaging glare,", " Dim, cloudy, sank beneath the western wave;", "Th’ inconstant blast howl’d thro’ the dark’ning air,", " And hollow whistled in the rocky cave.", "", "", "Lone as I wander’d by each cliff and dell,", " Once the lov’d haunts of Scotia’s royal train; 1", "Or mus’d where limpid streams, once hallow’d well, 2", " Or mould’ring ruins mark the sacred fane. 3", "", "", "Th’ increasing blast roar’d round the beetling rocks,", " The clouds swift-wing’d flew o’er the starry sky,", "The groaning trees untimely shed their locks,", " And shooting meteors caught the startled eye.", "", "", "The paly moon rose in the livid east.", " And ’mong the cliffs disclos’d a stately form", "In weeds of woe, that frantic beat her breast,", " And mix’d her wailings with the raving storm", "", "", "Wild to my heart the filial pulses glow,", " ’Twas Caledonia’s trophied shield I view’d:", "Her form majestic droop’d in pensive woe,", " The lightning of her eye in tears imbued.", "", "", "Revers’d that spear, redoubtable in war,", " Reclined that banner, erst in fields unfurl’d,", "That like a deathful meteor gleam’d afar,", " And brav’d the mighty monarchs of the world.", "", "", "“My patriot son fills an untimely grave!”", " With accents wild and lifted arms—she cried;", "“Low lies the hand oft was stretch’d to save,", " Low lies the heart that swell’d with honest pride.", "", "", "“A weeping country joins a widow’s tear;", " The helpless poor mix with the orphan’s cry;", "The drooping arts surround their patron’s bier;", " And grateful science heaves the heartfelt sigh!", "", "", "“I saw my sons resume their ancient fire;", " I saw fair Freedom’s blossoms richly blow:", "But ah! how hope is born but to expire!", " Relentless fate has laid their guardian low.", "", "", "“My patriot falls: but shall he lie unsung,", " While empty greatness saves a worthless name?", "No; every muse shall join her tuneful tongue,", " And future ages hear his growing fame.", "", "", "“And I will join a mother’s tender cares,", " Thro’ future times to make his virtues last;", "That distant years may boast of other Blairs!”—", " She said, and vanish’d with the sweeping blast.", "", "", " Note 1. The King’s Park at Holyrood House.—R. B. [back]", "Note 2. St. Anthony’s well.—R. B. [back]", "Note 3. St. Anthony’s Chapel.—R. B. [back]" ], "linecount": "47" }, { "title": "Elegy on Newstead Abbey", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " \"It is the voice of years, that are gone! they roll before me, with", " all their deeds.\"", "", " Ossian.", "", "NEWSTEAD! fast-falling, once-resplendent dome!", "Religion's shrine! repentant HENRY'S pride!", "Of Warriors, Monks, and Dames the cloister'd tomb,", " Whose pensive shades around thy ruins glide,", "", "Hail to thy pile! more honour'd in thy fall,", " Than modern mansions, in their pillar'd state;", "Proudly majestic frowns thy vaulted hall,", " Scowling defiance on the blasts of fate.", "", "No mail-clad Serfs, obedient to their Lord,", " In grim array, the crimson cross demand;", "Or gay assemble round the festive board,", " Their chief's retainers, an immortal band.", "", "Else might inspiring Fancy's magic eye", " Retrace their progress, through the lapse of time;", "Marking each ardent youth, ordain'd to die,", " A votive pilgrim, in Judea's clime.", "", "But not from thee, dark pile! departs the Chief;", " His feudal realm in other regions lay:", "In thee the wounded conscience courts relief,", " Retiring from the garish blaze of day.", "", "Yes! in thy gloomy cells and shades profound,", " The monk abjur'd a world, he ne'er could view;", "Or blood-stain'd Guilt repenting, solace found,", " Or Innocence, from stern Oppression, flew.", "", "A Monarch bade thee from that wild arise,", " Where Sherwood's outlaws, once, were wont to prowl;", "And Superstition's crimes, of various dyes,", " Sought shelter in the Priest's protecting cowl.", "", "Where, now, the grass exhales a murky dew,", " The humid pall of life-extinguish'd clay,", "In sainted fame, the sacred Fathers grew,", " Nor raised their pious voices, but to pray.", "", "Where, now, the bats their wavering wings extend,", " Soon as the gloaming spreads her waning shade", "The choir did, oft, their mingling vespers blend,", " Or matin orisons to Mary paid.", "", "Years roll on years; to ages, ages yield;", " Abbots to Abbots, in a line, succeed:", "Religion's charter, their protecting shield,", " Till royal sacrilege their doom decreed.", "", "One holy HENRY rear'd the Gothic walls,", " And bade the pious inmates rest in peace;", "Another HENRY the kind gift recalls,", " And bids devotion's hallow'd echoes cease.", "", "Vain is each threat, or supplicating prayer;", " He drives them exiles from their blest abode,", "To roam a dreary world, in deep despair--", " No friend, no home, no refuge, but their God.", "", "Hark! how the hall, resounding to the strain,", " Shakes with the martial music's novel din!", "The heralds of a warrior's haughty reign,", " High crested banners wave thy walls within.", "", "Of changing sentinels the distant hum,", " The mirth of feasts, the clang of burnish'd arms,", "The braying trumpet, and the hoarser drum,", " Unite in concert with increas'd alarms.", "", "An abbey once, a regal fortress now,", " Encircled by insulting rebel powers;", "War's dread machines o'erhang thy threat'ning brow,", " And dart destruction, in sulphureous showers.", "", "Ah! vain defence! the hostile traitor's siege,", " Though oft repuls'd, by guile o'ercomes the brave;", "His thronging foes oppress the faithful Liege,", " Rebellion's reeking standards o'er him wave.", "", "Not unaveng'd the raging Baron yields;", " The blood of traitors smears the purple plain;", "Unconquer'd still, his falchion there he wields,", " And days of glory, yet, for him remain.", "", "Still, in that hour, the warrior wish'd to strew", " Self-gather'd laurels on a self-sought grave;", "But Charles' protecting genius hither flew,", " The monarch's friend, the monarch's hope, to save.", "", "Trembling, she snatch'd him from th' unequal strife,", " In other fields the torrent to repel;", "For nobler combats, here, reserv'd his life,", " To lead the band, where godlike FALKLAND fell.", "", "From thee, poor pile! to lawless plunder given,", " While dying groans their painful requiem sound,", "Far different incense, now, ascends to Heaven,", " Such victims wallow on the gory ground.", "", "There many a pale and ruthless Robber's corse,", " Noisome and ghast, defiles thy sacred sod;", "O'er mingling man, and horse commix'd with horse,", " Corruption's heap, the savage spoilers trod.", "", "Graves, long with rank and sighing weeds o'erspread,", " Ransack'd resign, perforce, their mortal mould:", "From ruffian fangs, escape not e'en the dead,", " Racked from repose, in search for buried gold.", "", "Hush'd is the harp, unstrung the warlike lyre,", " The minstrel's palsied hand reclines in death;", "No more he strikes the quivering chords with fire,", " Or sings the glories of the martial wreath.", "", "At length the sated murderers, gorged with prey,", " Retire: the clamour of the fight is o'er;", "Silence again resumes her awful sway,", " And sable Horror guards the massy door.", "", "Here, Desolation holds her dreary court:", " What satellites declare her dismal reign!", "Shrieking their dirge, ill-omen'd birds resort,", " To flit their vigils, in the hoary fane.", "", "Soon a new Morn's restoring beams dispel", " The clouds of Anarchy from Britain's skies;", "The fierce Usurper seeks his native hell,", " And Nature triumphs, as the Tyrant dies.", "", "With storms she welcomes his expiring groans;", " Whirlwinds, responsive, greet his labouring breath;", "Earth shudders, as her caves receive his bones,", " Loathing the offering of so dark a death.", "", "The legal Ruler now resumes the helm,", " He guides through gentle seas, the prow of state;", "Hope cheers, with wonted smiles, the peaceful realm,", " And heals the bleeding wounds of wearied Hate.", "", "The gloomy tenants, Newstead! of thy cells,", " Howling, resign their violated nest;", "Again, the Master on his tenure dwells,", " Enjoy'd, from absence, with enraptured zest.", "", "Vassals, within thy hospitable pale,", " Loudly carousing, bless their Lord's return;", "Culture, again, adorns the gladdening vale,", " And matrons, once lamenting, cease to mourn.", "", "A thousand songs, on tuneful echo, float,", " Unwonted foliage mantles o'er the trees;", "And, hark! the horns proclaim a mellow note,", " The hunters' cry hangs lengthening on the breeze.", "", "Beneath their coursers' hoofs the valleys shake;", " What fears! what anxious hopes! attend the chase!", "The dying stag seeks refuge in the lake;", " Exulting shouts announce the finish'd race.", "", "Ah happy days! too happy to endure!", " Such simple sports our plain forefathers knew:", "No splendid vices glitter'd to allure;", " Their joys were many, as their cares were few.", "", "From these descending, Sons to Sires succeed;", " Time steals along, and Death uprears his dart;", "Another Chief impels the foaming steed,", " Another Crowd pursue the panting hart.", "", "Newstead! what saddening change of scene is thine!", " Thy yawning arch betokens slow decay;", "The last and youngest of a noble line,", " Now holds thy mouldering turrets in his sway.", "", "Deserted now, he scans thy gray worn towers;", " Thy vaults, where dead of feudal ages sleep;", "Thy cloisters, pervious to the wintry showers;", " These, these he views, and views them but to weep.", "", "Yet are his tears no emblem of regret:", " Cherish'd Affection only bids them flow;", "Pride, Hope, and Love, forbid him to forget,", " But warm his bosom, with impassion'd glow.", "", "Yet he prefers thee, to the gilded domes,", " Or gewgaw grottos, of the vainly great;", "Yet lingers 'mid thy damp and mossy tombs,", " Nor breathes a murmur 'gainst the will of Fate.", "", "Haply thy sun, emerging, yet, may shine,", " Thee to irradiate with meridian ray;", "Hours, splendid as the past, may still be thine,", " And bless thy future, as thy former day." ], "linecount": "159" }, { "title": "Fragment of the Elegy on the Death of Bion", "author": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "lines": [ "FROM THE GREEK OF MOSCHUS.", "", "Ye Dorian woods and waves, lament aloud,--", "Augment your tide, O streams, with fruitless tears,", "For the beloved Bion is no more.", "Let every tender herb and plant and flower,", "From each dejected bud and drooping bloom,", "Shed dews of liquid sorrow, and with breath", "Of melancholy sweetness on the wind", "Diffuse its languid love; let roses blush,", "Anemones grow paler for the loss", "Their dells have known; and thou, O hyacinth,", "Utter thy legend now--yet more, dumb flower,", "Than 'Ah! alas!'--thine is no common grief--", "Bion the is no more." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Fragment of the Elegy on the Death of Adonis", "author": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "lines": [ "PROM THE GREEK OF BION.", "", "I mourn Adonis dead--loveliest Adonis--", "Dead, dead Adonis--and the Loves lament.", "Sleep no more, Venus, wrapped in purple woof--", "Wake violet-stoled queen, and weave the crown", "Of Death,--'tis Misery calls,--for he is dead.", "", "The lovely one lies wounded in the mountains,", "His white thigh struck with the white tooth; he scarce", "Yet breathes; and Venus hangs in agony there.", "The dark blood wanders o'er his snowy limbs,", "His eyes beneath their lids are lustreless,", "The rose has fled from his wan lips, and there", "That kiss is dead, which Venus gathers yet.", "", "A deep, deep wound Adonis...", "A deeper Venus bears upon her heart.", "See, his beloved dogs are gathering round--", "The Oread nymphs are weeping--Aphrodite", "With hair unbound is wandering through the woods,", "'Wildered, ungirt, unsandalled--the thorns pierce", "Her hastening feet and drink her sacred blood.", "Bitterly screaming out, she is driven on", "Through the long vales; and her Assyrian boy,", "Her love, her husband, calls--the purple blood", "From his struck thigh stains her white navel now,", "Her bosom, and her neck before like snow.", "", "Alas for Cytherea--the Loves mourn--", "The lovely, the beloved is gone!--and now", "Her sacred beauty vanishes away.", "For Venus whilst Adonis lived was fair--", "Alas! her loveliness is dead with him.", "The oaks and mountains cry, Ai! ai! Adonis!", "The springs their waters change to tears and weep--", "The flowers are withered up with grief...", "", "Ai! ai! ... Adonis is dead", "Echo resounds ... Adonis dead.", "Who will weep not thy dreadful woe. O Venus?", "Soon as she saw and knew the mortal wound", "Of her Adonis--saw the life-blood flow", "From his fair thigh, now wasting,--wailing loud", "She clasped him, and cried ... 'Stay, Adonis!", "Stay, dearest one,...", "and mix my lips with thine--", "Wake yet a while, Adonis--oh, but once,", "That I may kiss thee now for the last time--", "But for as long as one short kiss may live--", "Oh, let thy breath flow from thy dying soul", "Even to my mouth and heart, that I may suck", "That...'" ], "linecount": "48" } ]