XV. But in Man's dwellings he became a thing Restless and worn, and stern and wearisome, Droop'd as a wild-born falcon with clipt wing, To whom the boundless air alone were home : Then came his fit again, which to o'ercome, As eagerly the barr'd-up bird will beat His breast and beak against his wiry dome Till the blood tinge his plumage, so the heat Of his impeded soul would through his bosom eat. XVI. Self-exiled Harold wanders forth again, With nought of hope left, but with less of gloom; That all was over on this side the tomb, Became un Surrounded bui Which, though 'twere wild, -as on the plunder'd wreck With draughts intemperate on the sinking deck, XVII. Stop! For thy tread is on an Empire's dust! An Earthquake's spoil is sepulchred below!" Is the spot mark'd with no colossal bust? Nor column trophied for triumphal show? None; but the moral's truth tells simpler so, As the ground was before, thus let it be ; How that red rain hath made the harvest grow! And is this all the world has gain'd by thee, Thou first and last of fields! king-making Victory XVIII. And Harold stands upon this place of skulls, In "pride of place" (1) here last the eagle flew, flight. See Macbeth, &c. - deportedly leaves againx at waterloo-desclatir where evite qer (1) "PRIDE of place" is a term of falconry, and means the highest pitch of Then tore with bloody talon the rent plain, Pierced by the shaft of banded nations through He wears the shatter'd links of the world's broken chain. XIX. Fit retribution! Gaul may champ the bit what did Taccomplish? And servile knees to thrones? No; prove before ye praise! XX. If not, o'er one fallen despot boast no more! XXI. There was a sound of revelry by night, The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men ; Music arose with its voluptuous swell, Soft eyes look'd love to eyes which spake again, And all went merry as a marriage-bell; (2) But hush! hark! a deep sound strikes like a rising knell ! (1) See the famous song on Harmodius and Aristogiton. The best English translation is in Bland's Anthology, by Mr. Denman. "With myrtle my sword will I wreathe," &c. (2) On the night previous to the action, it is said that a ball was given at Brussels. XXII. not hear it? No; 'twas but the wind, Or the car rattling o'er the stony street; Did ye On with the dance! let joy be unconfined; that heavy sound breaks in once more, As if the clouds its echo would repeat; But, hark! And nearer, clearer, deadlier than before! Arm! Arm it is - it is the cannon's opening roar ! XXIII. chief heard fest - Killeb Within a window'd niche of that high hall XXIV. end of revelry Ah! then and there was hurrying to and fro, XXV. And there was mounting in hot haste: the steed, And near, the beat of the alarming drum all leave bare Or whispering, with white lips "The foe! They come ! they come!" wing even Jāno Senauh dead XXVI. And wild and high the " Cameron's gathering" rose! And (1) Evan's, (2) Donald's fame rings in each clansman's ears! XXVII. And Ardennes (3) waves above them her green leaves, Which now beneath them, but above shall grow Of living valour, rolling on the foe And burning with high hope, shall moulder cold and low XXVIII. 1 Last noon beheld them full of lusty life, The thunder-clouds close o'er it, which when rent Which her own clay shall cover, heap'd and pent, in one red burial blent! (1,2) Sir Evan Cameron, and his descendant Donald, the "gentle Lochiel " of the é (3) The wood of Soignies is supposed to be a remnant of the "forest of Arden- 128 XXIX. Their praise is hymn'd by loftier harps than mine, Yet one I would select from that proud throng, Partly because they blend me with his line, And partly that I did his sire some wrong, And partly that bright names will hallow song; And his was of the bravest, and when shower'd The death-bolts deadliest the thinn'd files along, Even where the thickest of war's tempest lower'd, They reach'd no_nobler breast than thine, young, gallant Howard"! XXX. There have been tears and breaking hearts for thee, With fruits and fertile promise, and the Spring With all her reckless birds upon the wing, I turn'd from all she brought to those she could not bring. (1) XXXI. I turn'd to thee, to thousands, of whom each In his own kind and kindred, whom to teach The Archangel's trump, not Glory's, must awake (1) My guide from Mont St. Jean over the field seemed intelligent and accurate. The place where Major Howard fell was not far from two tall and solitary trees (there was a third cut down, or shivered in the battle) which stand a few yards from each other at a pathway's side.. Beneath these he died and was buried. The body has since been removed to England. A small hollow for the present marks where it lay, but will probably soon be effaced; the plough has been upon it, and the grain is. After pointing out the different spots where Picton and other gallant men had perished, the guide said, " Here Major Howard lay: I was near him when wounded." I told him my relationship, and he seemed then still more anxious to point out the particular spot and circumstances. The place is one of the most marked in the field from the peculiarity of the two trees above mentioned. I went on horseback twice over the field, comparing it with my recollection of similar scenes. As a plain, Waterloo seems marked out for the scene of some great action, though this may be mere imagination: I have viewed with attention those of Platea, Troy, Mantinea, Leuctra, Chæronea, and Marathon; and the field around Mont St. Jean and Hougoumont appears to want little but a better cause, and that undefinable but impressive halo which the lapse of ages throws around a celebrated spot, to vie in interest which any or all of these, except perhaps the last mentioned. |