Ode from the French
- 1We do not curse thee, Waterloo!
- 2Though Freedom's blood thy plain bedew;
- 3There 'twas shed, but is not sunk--
- 4Rising from each gory trunk,
- 5Like the water-spout from ocean,
- 6With a strong and growing motion--
- 7It soars, and mingles in the air,
- 8With that of lost La Bédoyère--
- 9With that of him whose honoured grave
- 10Contains the "bravest of the brave."
- 11A crimson cloud it spreads and glows,
- 12But shall return to whence it rose;
- 13When 'tis full 'twill burst asunder--
- 14Never yet was heard such thunder
- 15As then shall shake the world with wonder--
- 16Never yet was seen such lightning
- 17As o'er heaven shall then be bright'ning!
- 18Like the Wormwood Star foretold
- 19By the sainted Seer of old,
- 20Show'ring down a fiery flood,
- 21Turning rivers into blood.
- 22The Chief has fallen, but not by you,
- 23Vanquishers of Waterloo!
- 24When the soldier citizen
- 25Swayed not o'er his fellow-men--
- 26Save in deeds that led them on
- 27Where Glory smiled on Freedom's son--
- 28Who, of all the despots banded,
- 29With that youthful chief competed?
- 30Who could boast o'er France defeated,
- 31Till lone Tyranny commanded?
- 32Till, goaded by Ambition's sting,
- 33The Hero sunk into the King?
- 34Then he fell:--so perish all,
- 35Who would men by man enthral!
- 36And thou, too, of the snow-white plume!
- 37Whose realm refused thee ev'n a tomb;
- 38Better hadst thou still been leading
- 39France o'er hosts of hirelings bleeding,
- 40Than sold thyself to death and shame
- 41For a meanly royal name;
- 42Such as he of Naples wears,
- 43Who thy blood-bought title bears.
- 44Little didst thou deem, when dashing
- 45On thy war-horse through the ranks.
- 46Like a stream which burst its banks,
- 47While helmets cleft, and sabres clashing,
- 48Shone and shivered fast around thee--
- 49Of the fate at last which found thee:
- 50Was that haughty plume laid low
- 51By a slave's dishonest blow?
- 52Once--as the Moon sways o'er the tide,
- 53It rolled in air, the warrior's guide;
- 54Through the smoke-created night
- 55Of the black and sulphurous fight,
- 56The soldier raised his seeking eye
- 57To catch that crest's ascendancy,--
- 58And, as it onward rolling rose,
- 59So moved his heart upon our foes.
- 60There, where death's brief pang was quickest,
- 61And the battle's wreck lay thickest,
- 62Strewed beneath the advancing banner
- 63Of the eagle's burning crest--
- 64(There with thunder-clouds to fan her,
- 65Who could then her wing arrest--
- 66Victory beaming from her breast?)
- 67While the broken line enlarging
- 68Fell, or fled along the plain;
- 69There be sure was Murat charging!
- 70There he ne'er shall charge again!
- 71O'er glories gone the invaders march,
- 72Weeps Triumph o'er each levelled arch--
- 73But let Freedom rejoice,
- 74With her heart in her voice;
- 75But, her hand on her sword,
- 76Doubly shall she be adored;
- 77France hath twice too well been taught
- 78The "moral lesson" dearly bought--
- 79Her safety sits not on a throne,
- 80With Capet or Napoleon!
- 81But in equal rights and laws,
- 82Hearts and hands in one great cause--
- 83Freedom, such as God hath given
- 84Unto all beneath his heaven,
- 85With their breath, and from their birth,
- 86Though guilt would sweep it from the earth;
- 87With a fierce and lavish hand
- 88Scattering nations' wealth like sand;
- 89Pouring nations' blood like water,
- 90In imperial seas of slaughter!
- 91But the heart and the mind,
- 92And the voice of mankind,
- 93Shall arise in communion--
- 94And who shall resist that proud union?
- 95The time is past when swords subdued--
- 96Man may die--the soul's renewed:
- 97Even in this low world of care
- 98Freedom ne'er shall want an heir;
- 99Millions breathe but to inherit
- 100Her for ever bounding spirit--
- 101When once more her hosts assemble,
- 102Tyrants shall believe and tremble--
- 103Smile they at this idle threat?
- 104Crimson tears will follow yet.