THE BARD. The following Ode is founded on a Tradition current in Wales, that Edward I. when he completed the conquest of that country, ordered all the Bards that fell into his hands to be put to death. Ruin seize thee, ruthless King! Though fann'd by conquest's crimson wing, Nor e'en thy virtues, Tyrant, shall avail He wound with toilsome march his long array. On a rock, whose haughty brow Frowns o'er old Conway's foaming flood, Rob'd in the sable garb of woe, With haggard eyes the Poet stood: (Loose his beard, and hoary hair Stream'd, like a meteor, to the troubled air) 'Hark, how each giant oak, and desert cave, To high-born Hoel's harp, or soft Llewellyn's lay. 'Cold is Cadwallo's tongue, That hush'd the stormy main: Brave Urien sleeps upon his craggy bed: Mountains, ye mourn in vain Modred, whose magic song Made huge Plinlimmon bow his cloud-topp'd head. Gilbert de Clare, surnamed the Red, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford, son-in-law to King Edward. + Edmond de Mortimer, lord of Wigmore. On dreary Arvon's shore* they lie, Dear as the light that visits these sad eyes, On yonder cliffs, a grisly band, I see them sit, they linger yet, Avengers of their native land: With me in dreadful harmony they join, And weave with bloody hands the tissue of thy line. 'Weave the warp, and weave the woof, The winding-sheet of Edward's race; Give ample room and verge enough The characters of hell to trace. Mark the year, and mark the night, When Severn shall re-echo with affright The shrieks of death, through Berkley's roof that ring, She-wolf of France, with unrelenting fangs That tear'st the bowels of thy mangled Mate, From thee be born,§ who o'er thy country hangs The scourge of Heaven. What terrors round him wait! Amazement in his van, with flight combin'd, And Sorrow's faded form, and Solitude behind. 'Mighty Victor, mighty Lord, Low on his funeral couch he lies! No pitying heart, no eye, afford A tear to grace his obsequies. Is the sable Warrior fled ?¶ Thy son is gone. He rests among the dead The Swarm, that in thy noon-tide beam were born? * The shores of Caernarvonshire, opposite to the Isle of Anglesey. Edward II. cruelly butchered in Berkley Castle. Isabel of France, Edward II.'s adulterous queen. Triumphs of Edward III. in France. Death of that king abandoned by his children, and even robbed in his last moments by his courtiers. Edward the Black Prince died some time before his father. T Fair laughs the Morn* and soft the Zephyr blows, Youth on the prow, and Pleasure at the helm : 'Fill high the sparkling bowl,† The rich repast prepare: Reft of a crown, he yet may share the feast: Close by the regal chair Fell Thirst and Famine scowl A baleful smile upon their baffled guest. Heard ye the din of battle bray,‡ Lance to lance, and horse to horse; Long years of havock urge their destin'd course, Twin'd with her blushing foe, we spread : Wallows beneath the thorny shade. Now, brothers, bending o'er the' accursed loom, 'Edward, lo! to sudden fate (Weave we the woof. The thread is spun), Half of thy heart we consecrate.§§ (The web is wove. The work is done.") * Magnificence of Richard II.'s reign. + Richard II. was starved to death. The story of his assassination by Sir Piers of Exton is of much later date. Ruinous civil wars of York and Lancaster. Henry IV. George Duke of Clarence, Edward V. Richard Duke of York, &c. believed to be murdered secretly in the Tower of London. The oldest part of that structure is vulgarly attributed to Julius Cæsar. Margaret of Anjou, a woman of heroic spirit, who struggled hard to save her husband and her crown. ¶ Henry V. ** Henry VI. very near being canonized. The line of Lancaster had no right of inheritance to the crown. ++ The white and red Roses, devices of York and Lancaster. The silver Boar was the badge of Richard III. Eleanor of Castile died a few years after the conquest of Wales. Stay, oh stay; nor thus forlorn Leave me unbless'd, unpitied, here to mourn : But oh what solemn scenes on Snowden's height Ye unborn Ages, crowd not on my soul ! 'Girt with many a Baron bold Sublime their starry fronts they rear; And gorgeous Dames, and Statesmen old In bearded majesty appear. In the midst a Form divine! Her eye proclaims her of the Briton-line; What strings symphonious tremble in the air, 'The verse adorn again Fierce War, and faithful love, And Truth severe, by fairy Fiction dress'd. In buskin'd measures move‡ Pale Grief, and pleasing Pain, With Horror, tyrant of the throbbing breast. Gales from blooming Eden bear: And distant warblings lessen on my ear,|| It was the common belief of the Welsh nation, that King Arthur was still alive in Fairy-land, and would return again to reign over Britain. Both Merlin and Talliessin had prophesied that the Welsh should regain their sovereignty over this island; which seemed to be accomplished in the house of Tudor. + Queen Elizabeth. Shakspeare. Milton. The succession of Poets after Milton's time. Fond impious Man, think'st thou yon sanguine cloud, Rais'd by thy breath, has quench'd the orb of day? To-morrow he repairs the golden flood, And warms the nations with redoubled ray. Enough for me with joy I see The different doom our fates assign: Be thine Despair, and sceptred Care; To triumph, and to die, are mine." He spoke; and headlong from the mountain's height Deep in the roaring tide he plung'd to endless night. ODE TO ADVERSITY. Daughter of Jove, relentless power, With pangs unfelt before, unpitied and alone. When first thy sire to send on earth What sorrow was, thou bad'st her know, And from her own she learn'd to melt at others' woe. Scar'd at thy frown terrific, fly Wild Laughter, Noise, and thoughtless Joy, Light they disperse; and with them go The summer friend, the flattering foe; By vain Prosperity receiv'd, To her they vow their truth, and are again believ'd. Wisdom in sable garb array'd, Immers'd in rapturous' thought profound, And Melancholy, silent maid, With leaden eye that loves the ground, |