EBLISHED BY JOHN ARIISS, GUTTER LANE, CHEAP SIDE, JUNE 11822.
"MINOR POEMS." BY R. SOUTHEY, ESQ. POET LAUREATE.
NOW on his couch reclined Darius lay,
Tired with the toilsome pleasures of the day;
Without Judæa's watchful sons await,
To guard the sleeping idol of the state.
Three youths were these of Judah's royal race,
Three youths whom nature dowered with every grace,
To each the form of symmetry she gave,
And haughty genius curs'd each favourite slave;
These fill'd the cup, around the monarch kept,
Served when he spake, and guarded while he slept.
The moon rose clear, and shrill were heard the flute,
The cornet, sackbut, dulcimer, and lute;
To Babylon's gay streets the throng resort,
Swarm through the gates, and fill the festive court.
High on his throne Darius tower'd in pride,
The fair Apame grac'd the sovereign's side;
And now she smiled, and now with mimic frown
Placed on her brow the monarch's sacred crown.
In transport o'er her faultless form he bends,
Loves every look, and every act commends.
And now Darius bids the herald call
Judæa's bards to grace the thronging hall.
Hush'd is each sound, the attending crowd are mute,
And then the Hebrew gently touch'd the lute:
VOL. I. page 11, 14, 15. Triumph of Woman.
INSCRIPTION FOR THE TOMB OF PORLIER.
ART thou a slave? Thou base of heart retire!
Go lick the dust! go hug the despot's chain!
Nor let thy steps this hallow'd earth profane,
That threats thy dastard lord with omens dire.
But dost thou thraldom spurn? toes patriot fire
Rush, with a thrilling power, through every vein?
Then pause, and, pouring forth the indignant strain,
Call on the tyrant's head celestial ire.
No common cause thy grief and wrath demands:
This tomb enshrined no common relie keeps :
Lifting to heaven her supplicating hands,
Her martyred son here pallid Freedom weeps!
And, sternly musing, Valour guardian stands,
With spotless Honour joined :-Here Porlier sleeps!
CHAIN'D Eagle! that upon yon rock alone
Dost sit, with desolate heart, and turn thy gaze
To realms where once the more than solar blaze
Of glory's orb around thy path was thrown,
For ever pent within that narrow zone,
While torturing Memory on thy bosom preys,
Shalt thou no more thy daring pinions raise
To heights sublime, by vulgar wing unknown?
Alas! Imperial Bird, had'st thou but reign'd
Monarch, not tyrant, never had this doom
Been thine, from light and liberty restrain'd,
To mourn with drooping beak and shatter'd plume, While those, whom erst thy towering pride disdain'd, Vultures, and pies, and crows, the aerial sway assume!
LOW beneath that turf there sleeps
Beauty's choicest treasure:
Love, in anguish, o'er her weeps
Vanish'd dreams of pleasure.
Scatter oft, ye maidens, there,
Buds of dewy roses :
Sweeter than those buds the fair,
Who now in death reposes.
"I will speak of the glorious honor of thy Majesty, and of thy wondrous works."
CHEER up my heart! rejoice my mind!
For when this load of life shall be
With humble farth to earth resign'd,
My soul will spring-Oh GOD!-to thee!
At thy right hand perpetual streams
Of clear and living waters run,
Gilded with glory's golden beams-
Eternity's unsetting sun!
Pavilion'd round with clouds, thy throne
Nor Change upholds, nor Space controls:-
Creation's universal zone
Beneath its boundless shadow rolls!
And while conflicting passion's seize
The wild, aspiring thoughts of man,
"Tis thine to crush his palaces,
And circumvent his proudest plan!
As well the flower whose tender stem
In sweet retirement shuns the view,
Graced with a beauteous diadem
Of pure and emerald-tinted dew,
As the huge monarch of the steep,
Rearing aloft its giant-form,
Thy fostering mercies harmless keep,
Through all the terrors of the storm!
Oh, when the tempest sweeps the sky,
And midst the roar the rack is driven
In rushing masses fearfully
Athwart the starless cope of heaven;
Thy voice is in the whirlwind's breath-
The clouds-thy chariot's flying dust-
Omnipotent o'er life and death,
Thy power is great !---thy ways are just!
When frail and feeble nature cowers
Amidst the elemental strife,
RELIGION Comes and softly pours
Through shuddering veins fresh streams of life!
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