[Editor: A poem by Michael Massey Robinson, published in The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 21 January 1815.]
Ode
For
The Queen’s Birth-Day, 1815.
By Mr. M. Robinson.
MONARCHS, to whom approving Heav’n
The Sceptre’s sacred Charge has giv’n,
Whose regal Glory’s brightest Rays
Concentrate in their People’s Praise;
From them descends the high Behest,
To rate the Hand that blesses, blest;
To form the social ties that bind
The dearest Interests of Mankind;
Interests which VIRTUE calls her own,
And guard, while they adorn the THRONE;
Where JUSTICE, rob’d in awful State,
Stands the firm Arbiter of Fate,
And bids her Hand-maid, Mercy, shine,
The Prototype of Pow’r divine! —
Such are the favor’d Realms that prove
A MONARCH’s WORTH, A PEOPLE’S LOVE!
And such, Oh, ALBION! from thy ALFRED’s Day,
When Freedom smil’d thro’ Science’ bright’ning Ray;
When early ISIS saw thy Sons aspire
To fan the latent Spark of classic Fire;
What Time thy native Youths went forth to brave
The untry’d Perils of the briny Wave;
From the fierce Danes their gaudy Streamers tore,
And drove their mimic Navies from thy Shore:—
To that eventful Æra, mark’d by Glory,
Thy Name, unrivall’d, stands in martial Story.
When Europe shook, convuls’d with wide Alarm,
And panting Nations sought thy shelt’ring Arm;
Saw thy fam’d Chieftains lead their chosen Bands
Thro’ dreary Desarts, and thro scorching Sands;
Bohemia’s wild stupendous Wastes explore,
Or trace the wand’ring Elbe’s uncertain shore;
Saw Conquest wave her Wreath triumph round,
And more resplendent shine — for ’twas with Glory crown’d!
Fall’n is the Despot, whose ensanguin’d Hand
Arm’d to wild Fury a distracted Land:
With savage Strides her trembling Vales defac’d,
Profan’d her Altars, and laid Cities waste.
On mad Ambition’s hydra-fronted Car,
Hung the mock Trophies of insidious War;
Rear’d his pale Ensign o’er the crimson Shield,
And Floods of human Gore o’erwhelm’d the Field;
’Till Heav’n, in Mercy to a suffering World,
From his proud Height the giddy Tyrant hurl’d:
Dislodg’d the rank Exotic from the Shore,
And gave its native Flow’r to bloom once more!
Now, rescu’d from the dark Usurper’s Sway,
Gallia’s gay Shores shall hail the bright’ning Day;
Again her mantling Vines shall cluster round,
Commerce revive, and waving Vales abound;
Her freshen’d Meads, no more suffus’d with Blood,
Shall droop, and sicken at the fetid Flood;
But Autumn’s Suns reward the Peasant’s Toil,
And Song and Dance retiring Day beguile.
Science, no false Philosophy shall rule,
To fetter Systems, prov’d in Reason’s School;
RELIGION’s radiant Form, restor’d, shall shine,
And choral Anthems swell with strains divine;
The toil-worn Exile, long condemn’d to roam,
Shall hail once more his well remember’d Home;
With fond Delight his early Haunts retrace,
Hear the glad Welcome, catch the warm Embrace;
Forget the adverse Storms of Misery past,
And bless the Haven he has reach’d at last.
Fall’n is the Despot, dim the dazzing Ray
The gleam’d illusive on his transient Day:
And, while his Annals stain th’ historic Page,
Tyrants shall learn to check Ambition’s Rage;
Shall learn, that Guilt, tho’ arm’d with Prowess bold,
No Art can simulate — no Pow’r uphold;
Remorse, relentless, haunts its dark Abode,
And warns the Wretch to tremble at his GOD!
The poison’d Chalice, the Assassin’s Blade,
That lurks for Victims in the midnight Shade,
Shall flit in frightful Visions through the Gloom,
And bid Despair accelerate his Doom.
Oh, turn ye Nations to fair Albion’s Isle!
Which, Peace approaching, hails with halcyon Smile;
There, grac’d with venerable Splendour, see
A KING, ADOR’D! A PEOPLE, GREAT AND FREE!
A QUEEN! whose Virtues, as in Youth they grew,
Shone, thro’ progressive Years, with Lustre new!
Matur’d the rich Resources of a Mind
By Nature’s loveliest Courtesies refin’d;
For whom inspir’d, on this AUSPICIOUS DAY,
Spontaneous Poeans swell the festive Lay;
And to the Earth’s remotest Verge proclaim,
THE PROUD PRE-EMINENCE OF CHARLOTTE’s NAME!
New South Wales, }
Jan. 18, 1815. }
Source:
The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (Sydney, NSW), 21 January 1815, p. 2
Leave a Reply