Wove the wild thicket, pour'd the pathless flood Through marshes, deep with congregated rills! My ardent warriors pierce the desperate lair,

Where prowls the savage panther for his prey; Now o'er the mounds, and lessening into air, The daring wand'rers scale th' adventurous way; Toil, famine, danger, bar their course in vain To proud Quebec's high walls, and Abraham's hapless plain.

VIII.

Ye plains, renown'd by many a hero's tomb,
Whence Wolf's immortal spirit took its flight,

A soul as brave, with like relentless doom,
Speeds to the attack and tempts the embattled
height!

Ah, stay, Montgomery! In the frowning wall [spare Grim Death lies ambush'd! Stay thy course and That sacred life, too valued yet to fall;

Enough thy sword has lighten'd in the war, When famed St. John's* beheld thy banners rise, Wave o'er his subject vales and wanton in the skies.

* A British fortress in Canada, north of Lake Champlain.

IX.

Boast not, proud Albion! awed by no dismay,
My warriors crowd the fierce conflicting scene.
What dreadless chieftains lead their long array,
Death-daring Putnam and unconquer'd Greene.
And is my Washington unknown to thee,

Whose early footsteps traced the paths of fame, Shielded, from fate, thy routed bands to flee,

And screen'd thy Gage,* to future deeds of shame! Heav'n calls his sword t' assert my injured cause, Avenger of my wrongs and guardian of my laws.

X.

Oh, born thy country and her rights to save,
Arise! the thunders of the war to wield;

And through the night and ocean's awful wave,
Guide the frail bark and teach the storm to yield.
When terror through each coward breast shall roll,
And half my boasting champions woo despair,

* At the battle of Monongahela, where General Braddock was defeated and slain. Washington, then a Colonel, had the principal merit of conducting the retreat and saving the remains of the British army.

Thy daring genius and unvanquish'd soul
Sustain my triumphs and inspire the war;
Thy single sword, like Moses' lifted hand,

Sheds conquest on my cause and guards the sinking land.

XI.

And lo, where Victory* spreads her eagle wings,
O'er Trenton's stream and Princeton's classic plain;
With warlike shouts th' aerial concave rings,
O'er legions captived and the piles of slain !
Through varying dangers, with unequal force,
The godlike hero guides the dubious day,
Foils the proud Howe, and checks his haughty course,
With Fabian art, victorious by delay.

O'er loss, o'er fortune and th' insulting foes,

His innate virtue shines, his conq'ring courage glows.

XII.

Lo,t from the north, what countless myriads roll,
Nations of war and legions of the brave,

*

Capture of the Hessians at Trenton, and of a detachment of the

British at Princeton.

Capture of General Burgoyne and his army.

158352

With all the sable tribes of savage soul,

From frozen climes and Huron's wintry wave! The fierce Burgoyne drives on th' infuriate train, Sounds the dire death-song* through the frowning wood.

Vain threat! my gath'ring sons thy pomp disdain,
Thy tongue of thunder and thy hands of blood;
Of small avail, when doom'd in arms t' engage
My Gates's caution calm, my Lincoln's noble rage.

XIII.

Dig deep in earth (nor fated yet to fall)
Stretch thy huge ramparts in opposing line:
My daring bands with heav'n-born ardor join,
Dive the low trench and climb the baffled wall.
Thy troops in wild confusion through the field,
Sustain no more the victor's angry face;
Nor force nor art avail. They fall, they yield,
Or wing with coward flight the hasty race.
On every side my hardy yeomen rise, [prize.
And lead thy captive host, vain Albion's pride, their

* See Burgoyne's proclamation at the commencement of his northern invasion-a compound of sanguinary threats and ostentatious bombast.

XIV.

Hark, from th' embattled South what new alarms!*
What streaming ensigns paint the troubled air!
On Monmouth plains the boasting Clinton arms,
And leads to fate the whole collected war.
Hast thou forgot how once thy warriors fled,
Thine early shame on Charleston's fatal wave,†
When terror bade thy shatter'd ships recede,
And call the winds to waft thee from the grave?
Beat not thy pulses with accustom'd fear, [there.
And dread'st thou not thy foe? for Washington is

XV.

The deep artillery, with tremendous roar,

The sky's blue vault in deathful prelude rend. What clouds of smoke involve the darken'd shore ! Through the stunn'd air what flaky flames ascend! Conflicting thousands shake the shuddering ground, Keen vollies echoing rock the mountains wide, Afar the startled Del'ware hears the sound, And Hudson trembles with recoiling tide.

* Battle of Monmouth.

† Defeat of the British under General Clinton, and repulse of their fleet under Admiral Parker, in their attempt on Charleston in South Carolina, in 1776.