XIV. THANKSGIVING FOR VICTORY. [Written for Music, and composed by Shield.] GLORY to Thee in thine omnipotence, As seemeth best to thine unerring will Edging sometimes with might the sword unjust; The rightful cause, that so such seeming ill Making the wicked feel thy present power; Almighty God, by whom our strength was given ! Keswick, 1815. XV. STANZAS WRITTEN IN LADY LONSDALE'S ALBUM, AT 1. SOMETIMES in youthful years, When in some ancient ruin I have stood, A melancholy thought hath made me grieve 2. Not for themselves alone Our fathers lived; nor with a niggard hand Their piles, memorials of the mighty dead, 3. With other feelings now, Lowther! have I beheld thy stately walls, The sun those wide-spread battlements shall crest, Thy towers with sanctity. 4. But thou the while shalt bear, Fair structure! worthy the triumphant age And happiness thy dower! XVI. STANZAS ADDRESSED TO W. R. TURNER, ESQ., R.A., ON HIS VIEW OF THE LAGO MAGGIORE FROM THE TOWN OF ARONA. [Engraved for the Keepsake of 1829.] 1. TURNER, thy pencil brings to mind a day In pleasant fellowship, with wind at will; 2. Joyful,.. for all things minister'd delight,.. The lake and land, the mountains and the vales; The Alps their snowy summits rear'd in light, Tempering with gelid breath the summer gales; And verdant shores and woods refresh'd the eye That else had ached beneath that brilliant sky. 3. To that elaborate island were we bound Look where you will, you cannot choose but see 4. Far off the Borromean saint was seen Distinct though distant, o'er his native town, Where his Colossus with benignant mien Looks from its station on Arona down : To it the inland sailor lifts his eyes, From the wide lake, when perilous storms arise. 5. But no storm threaten'd on that summer-day; The whole rich scene appear'd for joyance made; With many a gliding bark the mere was gay, The fields and groves in all their wealth array'd; I could have thought the Sun beheld with smiles Those towns and palaces and populous isles. 6. From fair Arona, even on such a day, When gladness was descending like a shower, Great painter, did thy gifted eye survey The splendid scene; and, conscious of its power, Well hath thine hand inimitable given The glories of the lake, and land, and heaven. Keswick, 1828. |