Void of all hate or terror, made them start; For, as with gentle accents he addressed His speech to them, on each unwilling heart Unusual awe did fall-a spirit-quelling dart.
""e Princes of the Earth, ye sit aghast
mid the ruin which yourselves have made; Yes, Desolation heard your trumpet's blast, And sprang from sleep!-Dark Terror has obeyed Your bidding-Oh that I, whom ye have made Your foe, could set my dearest enemy free From pain and fear! but evil casts a shade Which cannot pass so soon, and Hate must be The nurse and parent still of an ill progeny.
"Ye turn to Heaven for aid in your distress. Alas, that ye, the mighty and the wise, Who, if he dared, might not aspire to less Than ye conceive of power, should fear the lies Which thou, and thou, didst frame for mysteries
To blind your slaves :-consider your own thought, An empty and a cruel sacrifice
Ye now prepare, for a vain idol wrought
Out of the fears and hate which vain desires have brought,
"Ye seek for happiness-alas the day!
Ye find it not in luxury nor in gold,
Nor in the fame nor in the envied sway
For which, O willing slaves to Custom old,
Severe task mistress! ye your hearts have sold. Ye seek for peace, and when ye die to dream No evil dreams: all mortal things are cold And senseless then. If aught survive, I deem It must be love and joy, for they immortal seem.
"Fear not the future, weep not for the past. Oh, could I win your ears to dare be now Glorious, and great, and calm! that ye would cast Into the dust those symbols of your woe, Purple, and gold, and steel! that ye would go Proclaiming to the nations whence ye came,
That Want, and Plague, and Fear, from slavery flow, And that mankind is free, and that the shame
Of royalty and faith is lost in freedom's fame.
"If thus 'tis well-if not, I come to say
That Laon-." While the Stranger spoke, among The Council sudden tumult and affray Arose, for many of those warriors young
Had on his eloquent accents fed and hung
Like bees on mountain flowers; they knew the truth, And from their thrones in vindication sprung;
The men of faith and law then without ruth
Drew forth their secret steel, and stabbed each ardent
They stabbed them in the back and sneered.-A slave, Who stood behind the throne, those corpses drew Each to its bloody, dark, and secret grave; And one more daring raised his steel anew
To pierce the stranger: "What hast thou to do With me, poor wretch?"-Calm, solemn, and severe, That voice unstrung his sinews, and he threw His dagger on the ground, and, pale with fear, Sate silently-his voice then did the Stranger rear.
"It doth avail not that I weep for ye- Ye cannot change, since ye are old and grey, And ye have chosen your lot.-Your fame must be A book of blood, whence in a milder day
Men shall learn truth, when ye are wrapt in clay : Now ye shall triumph. I am Laon's friend, And him to you: revenge will I betray,
So ye concede one easy boon. Attend!
For now I speak of things which ye can apprehend.
"There is a People mighty in its youth, A land beyond the Oceans of the West, Where, tho' with rudest rites, Freedom and Truth Are worshipped; from a glorious Mother's breast, Who, since high Athens fell, amongst the rest Sate like the Queen of Nations, but in woe,
By inbred monsters outraged and oppressed, Turns to her chainless child for succour now,
And draws the milk of Power in Wisdom's fullest flow.
"This land is like an Eagle, whose young gaze Feeds on the noontide beam, whose golden plume Floats moveless on the storm, and in the blaze Of sun-rise gleams when Earth is wrapt in gloom. An epitaph of glory for the tomb
Of murdered Europe may thy fame be made, Great People! As the sands shalt thou become, Thy growth is swift as morn, when night must fade; The multitudinous Earth shall sleep beneath thy shade.
"Yes, in the desert then is built a home For Freedom. Genius is made strong to rear The monuments of man beneath the dome. Of a new Heaven: myriads assemble there, Whom the proud lords of man, in rage or fear, Drive from their wasted homes. The boon I pray Is this that Cythna shall be convoyed there-- Nay, start not at the name-America!
And then to you this night Laon will I betray.
"With me do what ye will. I am your foe!" The light of such a joy as makes the stare Of hungry snakes like living emeralds glow Shone in a hundred human eyes.-" Where, where Is Laon? haste! fly drag him swiftly here! We grant thy boon."-" I put no trust in ye.
Swear by the Power ye dread."-" We swear, we swear!' The Stranger threw his vest back suddenly,
And smiled in gentle pride, and said, "Lo! I am he!"
THE transport of a fierce and monstrous gladness Spread thro' the multitudinous streets, fast flying Upon the winds of fear; from his dull madness
The starveling waked, and died in joy; the dying, Among the corpses in stark agony lying,
Just heard the happy tidings, and in hope
Closed their faint eyes; from house to house replying With loud acclaim, the living shook Heaven's cope, And filled the startled Earth with echoes: morn did ope
Its pale eyes then; and lo! the long array Of guards in golden arms, and priests beside, Singing their bloody hymns, whose garbs betray The blackness of the faith it seems to hide ; And see, the Tyrant's gem-wrought chariot glide Among the gloomy cowls and glittering spears- A Shape of light is sitting by his side,
A child most beautiful. In the midst appears Laon,-exempt alone from mortal hopes and fears.
His head and feet are bare; his hands are bound Behind with heavy chains, yet none do wreak Their scoffs on him, tho' myriads throng around. There are no sneers upon his lip which speak That scorn or hate has made him bold; his cheek Resolve has not turned pale; his eyes are mild And calm, and, like the morn about to break, Smile on mankind; his heart seems reconciled To all things and itself, like a reposing child.
Tumult was in the soul of all, beside Ill joy, or doubt, or fear; but those, who saw Their tranquil victim pass, felt wonder glide Into their brain, and became calm with awe.- See, the slow pageant near the pile doth draw, A thousand torches in the spacious square, Borne by the ready slaves of ruthless law, Await the signal round: the morning fair Is changed to a dim night by that unnatural glare.
And see! beneath a sun-bright canopy, Upon a platform level with the pile, The anxious Tyrant sit, enthroned on high, Girt by the chieftains of the host. All smile n expectation, but one child: the while
I, Laon, led by mutes, ascend my bier Of fire, and look around. Each distant isle
Is dark in the bright dawn; towers far and near Pierce like reposing flames the tremulous atmosphere.
There was such silence through the host, as when An earthquake, trampling on some populous town, Has crushed ten thousand with one tread, and men Expect the second. All were mute but one, That fairest child, who, bold with love, alone Stood up before the King, without avail, Pleading for Laon's life. Her stifled groan Was heard-she trembled like an aspin pale Among the gloomy pines of a Norwegian vale.
What were his thoughts linked in the morning sun Among those reptiles, stingless with delay, Even like a tyrant's wrath?-The signal gun Roared-hark, again! In that dread pause he lay As in a quiet dream-the slaves obey-
A thousand torches drop,-and hark, the last Bursts on that awful silence. Far away Millions, with hearts that beat both loud and fast, Watch for the springing flame expectant and aghast. *
They fly-the torches fall-a cry of fear Has startled the triumphant !—they recede! For, ere the cannon's roar has died, they hear The tramp of hoofs like earthquake, and a steed, Dark and gigantic, with the tempest's speed, Bursts through their ranks: a woman sits thereon, Fairer it seems than aught that earth can breed, Calm, radiant, like the phantom of the dawn, A spirit from the caves of day-light wandering gone.
All thought it was God's Angel come to sweep The lingering guilty to their fiery grave; The tyrant from his throne in dread did leap,- Her innocence his child from fear did save. Scared by the faith they feigned, each priestly slave Knelt for his mercy whom they served with blood
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