From “Catiline,” Act V. Sc. 2.
SOUND all to arms! (A flourish of trumpets.)
Call in the captains,—(To an officer.)
I would speak with them!
(The officer goes.)Now, Hope! away,—and welcome gallant Death!
Welcome the clanging shield, the trumpet’s yell,—
Welcome the fever of the mounting blood,
That makes...
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Before proud Rome’s imperial throne
In mind’s unconquered mood,
As if the triumph were his own,
The dauntless captive stood.
None, to have seen his free-born air,
Had fancied him a captive there.Though, through the crowded streets of Rome,
With slow and stately tread,
Far from his own loved island home,
That day... -
From “Cato,” Act II. Sc. 1.
MY voice is still for war.
Gods! can a Roman senate long debate
Which of the two to choose, slavery or death?
No; let us rise at once, gird on our swords,
And at the head of our remaining troops
Attack the foe, break through the thick array
Of his thronged legions, and charge home upon him.
Perhaps... -
It was the wild midnight,—
A storm was on the sky;
The lightning gave its light,
And the thunder echoed by.The torrent swept the glen,
The ocean lashed the shore;
Then rose the Spartan men,
To make their bed in gore!Swift from the deluge ground
Three hundred took the shield;
Then, silent, gathered... -
[1821]
AGAIN to the battle, Achaians!
Our hearts bid the tyrants defiance;
Our land,—the first garden of Liberty’s-tree,—
Has been, and shall yet be, the land of the free;
For the cross of our faith is replanted,
The pale dying crescent is daunted,
And we march that the footprints of Mahomet’s slaves
May be washed out in... -
[At Laspi—Ancient Platæa—August 20, 1823]
AT midnight, in his guarded tent,
The Turk was dreaming of the hour
When Greece, her knee in suppliance bent,
Should tremble at his power.
In dreams, through camp and court, he bore
The trophies of a conqueror;
In dreams his song of triumph heard;
Then wore his monarch’s signet-ring... -
Now the third and fatal conflict for the Persian throne was done,
And the Moslem’s fiery valor had the crowning victory won.Harmosan, the last and boldest the invader to defy,
Captive, overborn by numbers, they were bringing forth to die.Then exclaimed that noble captive: “Lo, I perish in my thirst;
Give me but one drink of water, and let then... -
From the Spanish by John Ormsby
From “The Cid”
THEN cried my Cid—“In charity, as to the rescue—ho!”
With bucklers braced before their breasts, with lances pointing low,
With stooping crests and heads bent down above the saddle-bow,
All firm of hand and high of heart they roll upon the foe.
And he that in a good hour was born, his clarion voice... -
From the Spanish by John Gibson Lockhart
“YOUR horse is faint, my King, my Lord! your gallant horse is sick,—
His limbs are torn, his breast is gored, on his eye the film is thick;
Mount, mount on mine, O mount apace, I pray thee, mount and fly!
Or in my arms I ’ll lift your Grace,—their trampling hoofs are nigh!“My King, my King! you ’re wounded sore...
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From the Danish by Sir Frank C. Lascelles
From “Hakon Jarl”
[Olaf Trygvesön from Ireland is trying to introduce Christianity, and reclaim his father’s kingdom, in Norway, and has invaded the realm of Earl Hakon, a formidable heathen usurper, who, after defeat in battle, unsuccessfully attempts to have King Olaf assassinated by Thorer Klake, one of his adherents....