[109] 1845.

From all that man's performance could present,
1816.
Stoops to that closing deed magnificent,

[110] 1845.

1816.
.    .    . is satisfied.

[111] 1845.

1816.
Whate'er your means, whatever help ye claim,

[112] 1837.

1816.
.    .    . travelling faster than the shower,

[113] 1845.

.    .    . to devour;
But this appearance scattered extacy,—
1816.
And heart-sick Europe blessed the healing power.
.    .    . to devour,
In summer's loveliest hour;
But this assurance travelled fraught with glee,
1837.
And heart-sick Europe blessed its healing power.
.    .    . to devour,
But this assurance travelled fraught with glee,
1841.
And heart-sick Europe blessed its healing power.

[114] 1837.

1816.
Such glad assurance suddenly went forth—

[115] 1837.

1816.
How virtue triumphs, from her bondage freed!

[116] 1845.

1816.
.    .    . conquered .    .    .

[117] 1845.

—Yet might it well become that City now,
1816.
Into whose breast the tides of grandeur flow,

[118] 1820.

1816.
.    .    . its .    .    .

[119] 1837.

1819.
Upon .    .    .

[120] 1850.

1816.
Bright be the distant fabric, .    .    .
1845.
Bright be the peaceful Fabric, .    .    .

[121] 1827.

1816.
.    .    . and time can trust.

The next line was omitted in 1816.

[122] 1845.

1816.
.    .    . and for our errors,

[123] 1845.

But thy most dreaded instrument,
In working out a pure intent,
Is Man—arrayed for mutual slaughter,—
1816.
Yea, Carnage is thy daughter!
1837.
But thy most awful instrument

[124] 1837.

1816.
And by thy just permission .    .    .

[125] 1845.

.    .    .   to Thee—
1837.
With fervent thoughts, but in a gentler strain

[126] The above six lines were added in 1837.

[127] 1845.

.    .    .   to Thee—
1816.
On this appointed Day shall thanks ascend,
.    .    .   Humanity,
1837.
On this appointed day shall thanks ascend,

[128] 1845.

1816.
.    .    .   further .    .    .  

[129] The last four lines were added in 1845, but another version of the last two lines was written by Wordsworth in MS. on his edition of 1837—

And all the nations labouring to fulfil
Thy law shall live henceforth in peace and brotherly goodwill.

FOOTNOTES:

[BC] Compare this description of the news of Waterloo spreading over the nations with the effect of the lady's laugh in To Joanna. See "Poems on the Naming of Places" (vol. ii. p. 159).—Ed.

[BD] See note A on preceding page.—Ed.

[BE] London.—Ed.

[BF] In Westminster Abbey.—Ed.

[BG] Compare the Psalter, civ. 32.—Ed.

[BH] Compare the Psalter, passim, e.g. xlvi., lxvi., cvi., and Shakespeare, Henry V. act IV. scene i.: "If these men have defeated the law and outrun native punishment, though they can outstrip men, they have no wings to fly from God: war is his beadle, war is his vengeance."—Ed.

INVOCATION TO THE EARTH[BI]

FEBRUARY, 1816

Composed 1816.—Published 1816

[Composed immediately after the Thanksgiving Ode, to which it may be considered as a second part.—I. F.]

One of the "Epitaphs and Elegiac Pieces."—Ed.

I

"Rest, rest, perturbèd Earth![BJ]
O rest, thou doleful Mother of Mankind!"
A Spirit sang in tones more plaintive than the wind:
"From regions where no evil thing has birth
5
I come—thy stains to wash away,
Thy cherished fetters to unbind,
And open[130] thy sad eyes upon a milder day.
The Heavens are thronged with martyrs that have risen
From out thy noisome prison;
10
The penal caverns groan
With tens of thousands rent from off the tree
Of hopeful life,[BK]—by battle's whirlwind blown
Into the deserts of Eternity.
Unpitied havoc! Victims unlamented!
15
But not on high, where madness is resented,
And murder causes some sad tears to flow,
Though, from the widely-sweeping blow,
The choirs of Angels spread, triumphantly augmented.

II

"False Parent of Mankind!
20
Obdurate, proud, and blind,
I sprinkle thee with soft celestial dews,
Thy lost, maternal heart to re-infuse!
Scattering this far-fetched moisture from my wings,
Upon the act a blessing I implore,
25
Of which the rivers in their secret springs,
The rivers stained so oft with human gore,
Are conscious;—may the like return no more!
May Discord—for a Seraph's care
Shall be attended with a bolder prayer—
30
May she, who once disturbed the seats of bliss
These mortal spheres above,
Be chained for ever to the black abyss!
And thou, O rescued Earth, by peace and love,
And merciful desires, thy sanctity approve!"
35
The Spirit ended his mysterious rite,
And the pure vision closed in darkness infinite."

VARIANTS:

[130] 1837.

1816.
To open .    .    .

FOOTNOTES:

[BI] The title which this Invocation to the Earth bore when first published in the Thanksgiving Ode, with other short pieces chiefly referring to recent public events, in 1816, was "Elegiac Verses, February 1816."—Ed.

[BJ] Compare Hamlet, act I. scene V., l. 183—

Rest, rest, perturbed spirit! Ed.

[BK] "The loss of human life, on the French side alone, in the wars consequent on the Revolution, was estimated (in 1815) to have been 4,556,000." (Blair's Chronological Tables, p. 724.)—Ed.

ODE[BL]

Composed January 1816.—Published 1816

Carmina possumus
Donare, et pretium dicere muneri.
Non incisa notis marmora publicis,
Per quæ spiritus et vita redit bonis
Post mortem ducibus
clarius indicant
Laudes, quam——Pierides; neque,
Si chartæ sileant quod bene feceris,
Mercedem tuleris. Hor. Car. 8, lib. 4.[BM]

This was one of the "Poems of the Imagination," in 1820. In 1827 it was placed among the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty."—Ed.

I

When the soft hand of sleep had closed the latch
On the tired household of corporeal sense,
And Fancy, keeping unreluctant watch,
Was free her choicest favours to dispense;[131]
5
I saw, in wondrous pérspective displayed,
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]
10
And stately forest where the wild deer rove;
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.
15
Fair prospect, such as Britain only shows!
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
20
Brighter than brightest loop-hole, in a storm,
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]
25
And, ere a thought could ask on what intent
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,
30
Like a Champion, armed I come;
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;
35
Well obeyed was that command—
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]
40
Fit garlands for the brave,
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
45
Of hardy laurel and wild holly boughs—
To deck your stern Defenders' modest brows!
Such simple gifts prepare,
Though they have gained a worthier meed;
And in due time shall share
50
Those palms and amaranthine wreaths
Unto their martyred Countrymen decreed,
In realms where everlasting freshness breathes!"

II

And lo! with crimson banners proudly streaming,
And upright weapons innocently gleaming,
55
Along the surface of a spacious plain
Advance in order the redoubted Bands,
And there receive green chaplets from the hands
Of a fair female train—
Maids and Matrons, dight
60
In robes of dazzling white;[139]
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]
65
And grey-haired sires, on staffs supported,
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
70
Built of all precious substances,—so pure
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,
75
A lofty Dome, that dared to emulate
The heaven of sable night
With starry lustre; yet had power to throw
Solemn effulgence, clear as solar light,
Upon a princely company below,
80
While the vault rang with choral harmony,
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,
85
That kindled recollections
Of agonised affections;[BN]
And, though some tears the strain attended,
The mournful passion ended
In peace of spirit, and sublime content!

IV

90
But garlands wither; festal shows depart,
Like dreams themselves; and sweetest sound—
(Albeit of effect profound)
It was—and it is gone!
Victorious England! bid the silent Art
95
Reflect, in glowing hues that shall not fade,
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:
100
And be the guardian spaces
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]
105
Expressive signals[147] of a glorious strife,
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]
110
With gratulation thoroughly benign![BR]

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]
115
Dear native regions[BT] where ye wont to rove,
Chanting for patriot heroes the reward
Of never-dying song!
Now (for, though Truth descending from above
The Olympian summit hath destroyed for aye
120
Your kindred Deities, Ye live and move,[BU]
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,
125
Strike audibly the noblest of your lyres,
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,
130
And give the treasure to our British tongue!
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,
135
So shall the people gather and believe
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
140
Had power as lofty actions to achieve
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
145
The hostile purpose of wide-wasting Time—
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:

[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,
1816.
That dreams no brighter are than waking thought—
1820.
Free to exert her kindliest influence;

[132] 1827.

1816.
A landscape richer than the happiest skill

[133] 1827.

1816.
Tower, town, and city—and suburban grove,

[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,
1816.
Issued, to sudden view, a radiant Form!
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,
1827.
Issued, to sudden view, a radiant form!

[135] 1845

1816.
  .    .    .           may be;

[136] 1827

A thrilling voice was heard, that vivified
My patriotic heart;—aloud it cried,
1816.
"I, the Guardian of this Land,

[137] 1837.

1816.
"Days are come of festive beauty;
1827.
Hence bright days of festive beauty;

[138] 1820.

1816.
  .    .    .   .    .    .     will yield

[139] 1827.

1816.
  .    .    .       of purest white,—

[140] 1827.

1816.
  .    .    . burst   .    .    .

[141] 1827.

1816.
  .    .    .     told their joys,—

[142] 1827.

1816.
Looked   .    .    .  

[143] 1827.

1816.
  .    .    .   seemed   .    .    .  

[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
1816.
Of busiest exultation hung a dirge,
1827.
  .    .    .   and had power to throw

The edition of 1827 is otherwise identical with that of 1837.

[145] 1837.

1816.
These   .    .    .  

[146] 1845.

Graced with such gifts as Sculpture can bestow,
When inspiration guides her patient toil;
1816.
And let imperishable trophies grow
As nobly graced by Sculpture's patient toil;
1827.
And let imperishable structures grow

[147] 1827.

1816.
  .    .    .   records   .    .    .  

[148] 1845.

Trophies on which the morning sun may shine,
1816.
As changeful ages flow,
Records on which the morning sun may shine,
1827.
As changeful ages flow,

[149] 1816.

c.
  .    .    .  Ye muses long debarred

[150] 1816.

  .    .    .   As mythic lore
c.
For not unwise belief proclaimed of yore

[151] 1827.

1816.
  .    .    .   consecrated stream and grove,

[152] 1845.

  .    .    .     .    .    . and move,
And exercise unblamed a generous sway,)
1816.
Now,   .    .    .   .    .    .
1837.
And exercise unblamed a god-like sway)