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XIV.

THANKSGIVING FOR VICTORY.

[Written for Music, and composed by Shield.]

GLORY to Thee in thine omnipotence,
O Lord, who art our shield and our defence,
And dost dispense,

As seemeth best to thine unerring will
(Which passeth mortal sense),
The lot of Victory still;

Edging sometimes with might the sword unjust;
And bowing to the dust

The rightful cause, that so such seeming ill
May thine appointed purposes fulfil;
Sometimes, as in this late auspicious hour
For which our hymns we raise,

Making the wicked feel thy present power;
Glory to thee and praise,

Almighty God, by whom our strength was given !
Glory to thee, O Lord of Earth and Heaven!

Keswick, 1815.

XV.

STANZAS

WRITTEN IN LADY LONSDALE'S ALBUM, AT
LOWTHER CASTLE, OCTOBER 13. 1821.

1.

SOMETIMES in youthful years,

When in some ancient ruin I have stood,
Alone and musing, till with quiet tears
I felt my cheeks bedew'd,

A melancholy thought hath made me grieve
For this our age, and humbled me in mind,
That it should pass away and leave
No monuments behind.

2.

Not for themselves alone

Our fathers lived; nor with a niggard hand
Raised they the fabrics of enduring stone,
Which yet adorn the land;

Their piles, memorials of the mighty dead,
Survive them still, majestic in decay;
But ours are like ourselves, I said,
The creatures of a day.

3.

With other feelings now,

Lowther! have I beheld thy stately walls,
Thy pinnacles, and broad embattled brow,
And hospitable halls.

The sun those wide-spread battlements shall crest,
And silent years unharming shall go by,
Till centuries in their course invest

Thy towers with sanctity.

4.

But thou the while shalt bear,
To after-times, an old and honoured name,
And to remote posterity declare,
Thy Founder's virtuous fame.

Fair structure! worthy the triumphant age
Of glorious England's opulence and power,
Peace be thy lasting heritage,

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
When from Laveno and the Beuscer hill
I over Lake Verbanus held my way

In pleasant fellowship, with wind at will;
Smooth were the waters wide, the sky serene,
And our hearts gladden'd with the joyful scene;

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
Of yore the scene of Borromean pride,..
Folly's prodigious work; where all around,
Under its coronet and self-belied,

Look where you will, you cannot choose but see
The obtrusive motto's proud "HUMILITY!"

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.

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