FullReads

63.
‘Science, Poetry, and Thought
Are thy lamps; they make the lot 255
Of the dwellers in a cot
So serene, they curse it not.

64.
‘Spirit, Patience, Gentleness,
All that can adorn and bless
Art thou–let deeds, not words, express 260
Thine exceeding loveliness.

65.
‘Let a great Assembly be
Of the fearless and the free
On some spot of English ground
Where the plains stretch wide around. 265

66.
‘Let the blue sky overhead,
The green earth on which ye tread,
All that must eternal be
Witness the solemnity.

67.
‘From the corners uttermost 270
Of the bounds of English coast;
From every hut, village, and town
Where those who live and suffer moan
For others’ misery or their own,

68.
‘From the workhouse and the prison
Where pale as corpses newly risen,
Women, children, young and old 277
Groan for pain, and weep for cold–

69.
‘From the haunts of daily life
Where is waged the daily strife 280
With common wants and common cares
Which sows the human heart with tares–

70.
‘Lastly from the palaces
Where the murmur of distress
Echoes, like the distant sound 285
Of a wind alive around

71.
‘Those prison halls of wealth and fashion,
Where some few feel such compassion
For those who groan, and toil, and wail
As must make their brethren pale–

72.
‘Ye who suffer woes untold, 291
Or to feel, or to behold
Your lost country bought and sold
With a price of blood and gold–

73.
‘Let a vast assembly be, 295
And with great solemnity
Declare with measured words that ye
Are, as God has made ye, free–

74.
‘Be your strong and simple words
Keen to wound as sharpened swords, 300
And wide as targes let them be,
With their shade to cover ye.

75.
‘Let the tyrants pour around
With a quick and startling sound,
Like the loosening of a sea, 305
Troops of armed emblazonry.

76.
‘Let the charged artillery drive
Till the dead air seems alive
With the clash of clanging wheels,
And the tramp of horses’ heels. 310

77.
‘Let the fixed bayonet
Gleam with sharp desire to wet
Its bright point in English blood
Looking keen as one for food.

78.
Let the horsemen’s scimitars 315
Wheel and flash, like sphereless stars
Thirsting to eclipse their burning
In a sea of death and mourning.

79.
‘Stand ye calm and resolute,
Like a forest close and mute, 320
With folded arms and looks which are
Weapons of unvanquished war,