THE

Where each old poetic mountain

Nor the pride, nor ample pinion, Inspiration breath'd around:

That the Theban eagle 21 bear Every shade and hallow'd fountain

Sailing with supreme dominion Murmur'd deep a solemn sound :

Through the azure deep of air: Till the sad Nine, in Greece's evil hour,

Yet oft before his infant eyes would run Left their Parnassus, for the Latian plains. Such forms as glitter in the Muse's ray Alike they scorn the pomp of tyrant-power, With orient hues, unborrow'd of the Sun:

And coward Vice, that revels in her chains. Yet shall he mount, and keep his distant way When Latium had her lofty spirit lost,

Beyond the limits of a vulgar fate,
They sought, oh Albion! next thy sea encircled coast. Beneath the good how far-but far above the great.

III.
Far from the Sun and summer-gale,
In thy green lap was Nature's darling 12 laid,
What time, where lucid Avon stray'd,
To him the mighty mother did unveil

BARD.
Her awful face: the dauntless child

A PINDARIC ODE.
Stretch'd forth his little arms, and smild.
“This pencil tale,” she said, “whose colours clear
Richly paint the vernal year:
Thine too these golden keys, immortal boy!

ADVERTISEMENT.
This can unlock the gates of Joy;

Tue following Ode is founded on a tradition current Of Horrour that, and thrilling fears,

in Wales, that Edward the First, when he comOr ope the sacred source of sympathetic téars.

pleated the conquest of that country, ordered all

the Bards, that fell into his hands, to be put to Nor second he '3, that rode sublime

death. Upon the seraph-wings of Ecstasy,

The secrets of th' abyss to spy.
He passid the flaming bounds of place and time 14:

1.
The living throne, the sapphire-blaze 's,
Where angels tremble, while they gaze,

“ Ruin seize thee, ruthless king! He saw ; but, blasted with excess of light, Confusion on thy banners wait, Clos'd his eyes in endless night 16.

Though, fann'd by Conquest's crimson wing,
Behold, where Dryden's less presumptuous car, They mock the air with idle state !
Wide o'er the fields of Glory bear

Helm, nor hauberk's? twisted mail,
Two courses of ethereal race 17,

Nor e'en thy virtues, tyrant, shall avail With necks in thunder cloth'd 18, and long-re- To save thy secret soul from nightly fears, sounding pace.

From Cambria's curse, from Cambria's tears !"

Such were the sounds, that o'er the 3 crested pride Hark, his hands the lyre explore !

Of the first Edward scatter'd wild dismay, Bright-ey'd Fancy hovering o'er

As down the steep of Snowdon's 4 shaggy side Scatters from her pictur'd urn

He wound with toilsome march his long array. Thoughts, that breathe, and words, that burn 19. But ah! 'tis heard no more 20

Cecilia's day: for Cowley (who had his merit) yet Oh! lyre divine, what daring spirit

wanted judgment, style, and harmony, for such a Wakes thee now? though he inherit

task. That of Pope is not worthy of so great a

man. Mr. Mason, indeed, of late days, has touched 12 Shakspeare.

the true chords, and with a masterly hand, in some 13 Milton.

of his choruses-above all, in the last of Carac

tacus. 14 ... flammantia mænia mundi. Lucretius.

Hark! heard ye not yon footstep dread? &c. Is For the spirit of the living creature was in the

21 Aids apops õpriya Dilov. Olymp. 2. Pindar comwheels-And above the firmament, that was over pares himself to that bird, and his enemies to ratheir heads, was the likeness of a throne, as the

vens that croak and clamour in vain below, while appearance of a sapphire-stone.-- This was the ap- it pursues its flight, regardless of their noise. pearance of the glory of the Lord. Ezekiel i. 20, 26, 28.

1 Mocking the air with colours idly spread.

Shakspeare's King John. 16 Οφθαλμων μεν άμερσε δίλα δ' ηδείαν λοιδην.

Hom. Odys.

2 The hauberk was a texture of steel ringlets, or 17 Meant to express the stately march and close to the body, and adapted itself to every mo

rings interworen, forming a coat of mail, that sat sounding energy of Dryden's rhymes.

tion. 18 Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? 3 --The crested adder's pride. Job.

Dryden's Indian Queen. 19 Words, that weep, and tears, that speake

4 Snowdon was a name given by the Saxons to Cowley.

that mountainous tract, which the Welsh them. 20 We have had, in our language, no other odes selves call Craigian-eryri: it included all the highof the sublime kind, than that of Dryden on St. lands of Caernarvonshire and Merionethshire, as

a

Stout Glo'sters stood aghast in speechless trance: No more I weep. They do not sleep. To arms! cried Mortimer', and couch'd his qui- On yonder cliffs, a griesly band, vering lance.

I see them sit, they linger yet,

Avengers of their native land :
On a rock, whose haughty brow

With me in dreadful harmony they join,
Frowns o'er old Conway's foaming flood,

And weave with bloody hands the tissue of thy
Rob'd in the sable garb of woe,

line 12 With haggard eyes the poet stood;

II. (Loose his beard 7, and hoary hair

Stream'd, like a meteor, to the troubled air 8) “Weave the warp, and weave the woof,
And with a master's hand, and prophet's fire, The winding-sheet of Edward's race.
Struck the deep sorrows of his lyre.

Give ample room, and verge enough
· Hark, how each giant-oak, and desert cave, The characters of Hell to trace.
Sighs to the torrent's awful voice beneath!

Mark the year, and mark the night,
O'er thee, oh king! their hundred arms they weave, When Severn shall re-echo with affright
Revenge on thee in hoarser murmurs breathe; The shrieks of death, through Berkley's roofs that
Vocal no more, since Cambria's fatal day,

Shrieks of an agonizing king;

{ring 13; To high-born Hoel's harp, or soft Llewellyn's lay. She-wolf of France', with unrelenting fangs,

That tears the bowels of thy mangled mate, u Cold is Cadwallo's tongue,

From thee be born, who o'er thy country hangs That hush'd the stormy main ;

The scourge of Heaven's. What terrours round him Brave Urien sleeps upon his craggy bed :

wait! Mountains, ye mourn in vain

Amazement in his van, with Flight combin'd;
Modred, whose magic song

And Sorrow's faded form, and Solitude behind.
Made huge Plinlimmon bow his cloud-top'd head.
On dreary Arvon's shore 9 they lie,

“« Mighty Victor, mighty Lord,
Smear'd with gore, and ghastly pale:

Low on his funeral couch he lies 16!
Far, far aloof th' affrighted ravens sail :

No pitying heart, no eye, afford
The famish'd eagle 10 screams, and passes by. A tear to grace his obsequies.
Dear lost companions of my tuneful art,

Is the sable warrior 17 fied ?
Dear, as the light that visits these sad eyes,

Thy son is gone. He rests among the dead.
Dear, as the ruddy drops that warm my heart", The swarm, that in the noon-tide beam were born;
Ye died amidst your dying country's cries- Gone to salute the rising Morn.

Fair laughs the Morn 18, and soft the Zephyr blows,
far east as the river Conway. R. Hygden, speak- While proudly riding o'er the azure realm
ing of the castle of Conway, built by king Edward | In gallant trim the gilded vessel goes ;
the First, says, “ Ad ortum amnis Conway ad cli-Youth on the prow, and Pleasure at the helm;
vum montis Erery;" and Matthew of Westminster, Regardless of the sweeping Whirlwind's sway,
(ad ann. 1283,) Apud Aberconway ad pedes That, hush'd in grim repose, expects bis evening-
montis Snowdoniæ fecit erigi castrum forte.”

prey.
5 Gilbert de Clare, surnamed the Red, earl of
Gloucester and Hertford, son-in-law to king Ed-

« « Fill high the sparkling bowl,
Fard.

The rich repast prepare: 6 Edmond de Mortimer, lord of Wigmore.

Reft of a crown, he yet may share the feast 19: They both were lords-marchers, whose lands lay Close by the regal chair on the borders of Wales, and probably accom

Fell Thirst and Famine scowl
panied the king in his expedition.

A baleful smile upon their based guest.
1 The image was taken from the well-known
picture of Raphael, representing the Supreme Being

12 See the Norwegian Ode, that follows.
in the vision of Ezekiel: there are two of these 13 Edward the Second, cruelly butchered in
paintings, (both believed original) one at Florence, Berkley castle.
the other at Paris.

14 Isabel of France, Edward the Second's adulShone, like a meteor, streaming to the wind.

terous queen. Milton's Paradise Lost. 9 The shores of Caernarvonshire opposite to the 15 Triumphs of Edward the Third in France. işle of Anglesey.

16 Death of that king, abandoned by his chil10 Camden and others observe, that eagles used dren, and even robbed in his last moments by his annually to build their aerie among the rocks of courtiers and his mistress. Snowdon, which from thence (as some think) were named by the Welsh Craigian-eryri, or the crags of before his father.

17 Edward the Black Prince, dead sometime the eagles. At this day (I am told) the highest point of Snowdon is called The Eagle's Nest. That 18 Magnificence of Richard the Second's reign, bird is certainly no stranger to this island, as the See Froissard, and other contemporary writers. Scots, and the people of Cumberland, Westmore- 19 Richard the Second (as we are told by archland, &c. can testify: it even bas built its nest in bishop Scroop and the confederate lords in their the Peak of Derbyshire. See Willoughby's Orni- manifesto, by Thomas of Walsingham, and all the thol. Published by Ray.

older writers) was starved to death. The story of 11 As dear to me as are the ruddy drops, his assassination by Sir Piers of Exon, is of much

That visit my sad heart, Shaksp. Jul. Cæs. I later date.

8

a

Heard ye the din of battle bray 20,

In the midst a form divine ! Lance to lance, and horse to horse!

Her eye proclaims her of the Briton-line; Long years of havoc urge their destin'd course, Her lion-port 30, her awe-commanding face, And through the kindred squadrons mow their way. Attemper'd sweet to virgin-grace. Ye towers of Julius 2', London's lasting shame, What strings symphonious tremble in the air, With many a foul and midnight murther fed, What strains of vocal transport round her play; Revere his consort's a faith, his father's 23 faine, Hear from the grave, great Taliessin 3!, hear; And spare the meek usurper's 24 holy head. They breathe a soul to animate thy clay, Above, below, the rose 25 of snow,

Bright rapture calls, and soaring, as she sings, Twin'd with her blushing foe we spread :

Waves in the eye of Heaven her many-colour'd The bristled boar 26 in infant gore

wings.
Wallows beneath the thorny shade.
Now, brothers, bending o'er th'accursed loom, “ The verse adorn again
Stamp we our vengeance deep, and ratify his doom. Fierce War, and faithful Love 3,

And Truth severe, by fairy Fiction drest.
III.

In buskin'd measures 33 move “Edward, lo! to sudden fate

Pale Grief, and pleasing Pain, (Weave we the woof. The thread is spun.) With Horroir, tyrant of the throbbing breast Half of thy heart we consecrate 27.

A voice 34, as of the cherub-choir, (The web is wove. The work is done.)'

Gales from blooming Eden bear; Stay, oh stay! nor thus forlorn

And distant warblings 35 lessen on my ear, Leave me unbless'd, unpitied, here to mourn: That lost in long futurity expire.

(cloud, In yon bright track, that fires the western skies, Fond impious man, think'st thou, yon sanguine They melt, they vanish from my eyes.

Rais'd by thy breath, has quench'd the orb of day? But oh! what solemn scenes on Snowdon's height To morrow he repairs the golden flood, Descending slow their glittering skirts unroll? And warins the nations with redoubled ray. Visions of glory, spare my aching sight

Enough for me: with joy I see Ye unborn ages, crowd not on my soul !

The different doom our Fates assign. No more our long-lost Arthur 28 we bewail.

Be thine Despair, and scepter'd Care: All-hail, ye genuine kings 29; Britannia's issue, hail! To triumph, and to die, are mine."

He spoke, and headlong from the mountain's height Girt with many a baron bold

Deep in the roaring tide he plung'd to endless nights Sublime their starry fronts they rear; And gorgeous dames and statesmen old, In bearded majesty, appear. 20 Ruinous civil wars of York and Lancaster.

FATAL SISTERS, 2' Henry the Sixth, George duke of Clarence,

AN ode'. Edward the Fifth, Richard duke of York, &c. believed to be murdered secretly in the tower of

(FROM THE NORSE-Tongue.] London. The oldest part of that structure is vul- IN THE ORCADES OF THORMODUS TORFÆUS HAPNIÆ, 1697 garly attributed to Julius Cæsar.

FOLIO; AND ALSO IN BARTHOLINUS. 22 Margaret of Anjou, a woman of heroic spirit,

Vitt er oprit fyrir valfalli, &c. who struggled bard to save her husband and her crown.

23 Henry the Fifth. 24 Henry the Sixth, very near being canonized. In the eleventh century, Sigurd, earl of the Orke The line of Lancaster had no right of inheritance ney-islands, went with a fleet of ships and a conto the crown.

siderable body of troops into Ireland, to the assist, 25 The white and red roses, devices of York and Lancaster.

30 Speed, relating an audience given by queen 26 The silver-boar was the badge of Richard the Elizabeth to Paul Dzialinski, ambassador of PoThird; whence he was usually known in his own land, says, “ And thus she, lion-like rising, daunted time by the name of The Boar.

the malapert orator no less with ber stately port 27 Eleanor of Castile died a few years after the and majestical deporture, than with the tartnesse conquest of Wales. The heroic proof she gave of of her princelie chekes. her atfection for her lord is well known. The mo

31 Taliessin, chief of the bards, flourished in the numents of his regret, and sorrow for the loss of his memory held in high veneration among bis

sixth century. His works are still preserved, and her, are still to be seen at Northampton, Geddingtun, Waltham, and other places.

conntrymen.

32 Fierce wars and faithful loves shall moralize 28 It was the common belief of the Welsh na

my song. tion, that king Arthur was still alive in Fairy-land,

Spenser's Proëme to the Fairy Queen and should return again to reign over Britain, 33 Shakspeare. 29 Both Merlin and Taliessin had prophesied,

34 Milton. that the Welsh should regain their sovereignty

35 The succession of poets after Milton's time. over this island; which seemed to be accomplished " The author once bad thoughts (in concert with in the house of Tudor.,

a friend) of giving, The History of English Poetry:

THE

PREFACE.

ance of Sietryg with the Silken Beard, who was Mista black, terrific maid,
then making war on his father-in-law Brian, king Sangride, and Hilda see,
of Dublin: the earl and all his forces were cut to Join the wayward work to aid:
pieces; and Sictryg was in danger of a total de- 'Tis the woof of victory.
feat; but the enemy had a greater loss, by the
death of Brian, their king, who fell in the action. Ere the ruddy Sun be set,
On Christmas-day, (the day of the battle) a native

Pikes must shiver, javelins sing, of Caithness, in Scotland, saw at a distance, a num

Blade with clattering buckler meet,

Hauberk crash, and helmet ring. ber of persons on horseback, riding full speed towards a hill, and seeming to enter into it. Curi- (Weave the crimson web of war) osity led him to follow them, till, looking through

Let us go, and let us fly, an opening in the rocks, he saw twelve gigantic Where our friends the conflict share, figures, resembling women: they were all em- Where they triumph, where they die. ployed about a loom; and as they wove, they sung the following dreadful song; which when As the paths of Fate we tread, they had finished, they tore the web into twelve Wading through th' ensanguin'd field : pieces, and (each taking her portion) galloped six Gondula, and Geira, spread to the north, and as many to the south.

O'er the youthful king your shield.
We the reins to Slaughter give,

Ours to kill, and ours to spare :
THE FATAL SISTERS,

Spite of danger he shall live.
AN ODE.

(Weave the crimson web of war) Now the storm begins to lour,

They, whom once the desert-beach (Haste, the loom of Hell prepare,)

Pent within its bleak domain, Iron-sleet 3 of arrowy shower

Soon their ample sway shall stretch Hurtles + in the darken'd air.

O'er the plenty of the plain.

Low the dauntless earl is laid,
Glittering lances are the loom,
Where the dusky warp we strain,

Gor'd with many a gaping wound :

Fate demands a nobler head; Weaving many a soldier's doom,

Svon a king shall bite the ground. Orkney's woe, and Randver's bane.

Long his loss shall Eirin weep, See the griesly texture grow,

Ne'er again his likeness see ; ('Tis of human entrails made)

Long her strains in sorrow steep, And the weights that play below,

Strains of immortality ! Each a gasping warrior's head.

Horrour covers all the heath, Shafts for sbattles, dipt in gore,

Clouds of carnage blot the Sun. Shoot the trembling cords along;

Sisters, weave the web of death; Sword, that once a monarch bore,

Sisters, cease, the work is done. Keep the tissue close and strong.

Hail the task, and hail the hands!

Songs of joy and triumph sing ! In the introluction to it he meant to have produced Joy to the victorious bands : some specimens of the style that reigned in ancient Triumph to the younger king. times among the neighbouring nations, or those who had subdued the greater part of this island, Mortal, thou that hear'st the tale,

Learn the tenour of our song. and were our progenitors; the following three imitations made a part of them. He has long since Scotland, through each winding vale dropped his design, especially after he had heard

Far and wide the notes prolong. that it was already in the hands of a person well Sisters, hence, with spurs of speed: qualified to do it justice, both by his taste, and his Each her thundering falchion wield; researches into antiquity.

Each bestride her sable steed. * The Valkyriur were female divinities, servants Hurry, hurry to the field, of Odin (or Woden) in the Gothic mythology. Their name signifies choosers of the slain. They were mounted on swift horses, with drawn swords in their hands; and in the throng of battle selated such as were destined to slaughter, and con

THE DESCENT OF ODIN. ducted them to Valkalla, the hall of Odin, or pa

AN ODE. radise of the brave; where they attended the banquist, and served the departed heroes with horns of

(FROM THE NORSE-TONGUE.] Dread and ale. How quick they wheeld; and Aying, behind IN BARTHOLINUS, DE CAUSIS CONTEMNENDÆ MORTIS; them shot

HAFNIÆ, 1689, QUARTO. Sharp sleet of artawy shower

Upreis Odinn allda gauir, &c. Milton's Paradise Regained. * The noise of battle hurtled in the air. Uprose the King of Men with speed,

Shakspeare's Julius Cæsar. And saddled straight his coal-black steed;

a

2

Down the yawning steep he rode,

Nor wash his visage in the stream, That leads to Hela's' drear abode,

Nor see the Sun's departing beam : Him the Dog of Darkness spied,

Till he on Hoder's corse shall smile His shaggy throat he open'd wide,

Flaming on the funeral pile. While from his jaws, with carnage fillid,

Now my weary lips I close : Foam and human gore distillid;

Leave me, leave me, to repose. Hoarse he bays with hideous din,

0. Yet a while my call obey, Eyes that glow, and fangs that grin;

Prophetess, awake, and say, And long pursues, with fruitless yell,

What virgins these, in speechless woe, The father of the powerful spell.

That bend to earth their solemn brow, Onward still his way he takes,

That their flaxen tresses tear, (The groaning Earth beneath him shakes)

And snowy veils, that float in air. Till full before his fearless eyes

Tell me whence their sorrows rose : The portals nine of Hell arise.

Then I leave thee to repose. Right against the eastern gate,

Pr. Ha! no traveller art thou By the moss-grown pile he sate;

King of Men, I know thee now, Where long o`yore to sleep was laid

Mightiest of a mighty lineThe dust of the prophetic maid.

0. No boding maid of skill divine Facing to the northern clime,

Art thou, nor prophetess of good; Thrice he trac'd the Runic rhyme ;

But mother of the giant-brood! Thrice pronounc'd, in accents dread,

PR. Hie thee hence, and boast at home, The thrilling verse that wakes the dead;

That never shall inquirer come Till from out the hollow ground

To break my iron-sleep again;
Slowly breath'd a sullen sound.

Till Lok 2 has burst his tenfold chain.
Pr. What call unknown, what charms presume Never, till substantial Night
To break the quiet of the tomb;

Has reassum'd her ancient right;
Who thus afflicts my troubled sprite,

Till wrap'd in flames, in ruin hurlid,
And drags me from the realms of night?

Sinks the fabric of the world.
Long on these mouldering bones have beat
'The winter's snow, the summer's heat,
The drenching dews, and driving rain!
Let me, let me sleep again.
Who is he, with voice unblest,

THE TRIUMPHS OF OWEN.
That calls me from the bed of rest?

A FRAGMENT.
O. A traveller, to thee unknown,
Is he that calls, a warrior's son.

FROM MR. EVANS'S SPECIMENS OF THE WELSH POETRY; Thou the deeds of light shalt know;

LONDON, 1764, QUARTO.
Tell me what is done below,
For whom yon glittering board is spread,

Owen's praise demands my song,
Drest for whom yon golden bed.

Owen swift and Owen strong ; Pr. Mantling in the goblet, see

Fairest flower of Roderic's stem, The pure beverage of the bee,

Gwyneth's 4 shield, and Britain's gem. O'er hangs the shield of gold;

He nor heaps his brooded stores, 'Tis the drink of Balder bold:

Nor all profusely pours; Balder's head to death is given,

Lord of every regal art, Pain can reach the sons of Heaven !

Liberal hand, and open heart. Unwilling I my lips unclose :

Big with hosts of mighty name, Leave me, leave me to repose.

Squadrons three against him came; 0. Once again my call obey,

This the force of Eirin hiding, Prophetess, arise, and say,

Side by side as proudly riding, What dangers Odin's child await,

On her shadow long and gay Who the author of his fate?

Lochlins ploughs the watery way: Pr. In Hoder's hand the hero's doom:

There the Norman sails afar
His brother sends him to the tomb,

Catch the winds, and join the war;
Now my weary lips I close :
Leave me, leave me, to repose.

Lok is the evil being, who continues in chains 0. Prophetess, my spell obey,

till the twilight of the gods approaches, when he Once again arise, and say,

shall break his bonds; the human race, the stars, Who th' avenger of his guilt,

and Sun, shall disappear; the earth sink in the By whom shall Hoder's blood be spilt,

seas, and fire consume the skies: even Odin himPr. In the caverns of the west,

self and his kindred deities shall perish. For a By Odin's fierce embrace comprest,

further explanation of this mythology, see Mallet's A wondrous boy shall Rinda bear,

Introduction to the History of Denmark, 1755, Who ne'er shall comb his raven-hair,

quarto.

3 Owen succeeded his father Griffin in the prin1 Nifheimr, the Hell of the Gothic nations, con- cipality of North Wales, A. D. 112. This battle sisted of nine worlds, to which were devoted all

was fought near forty years afterwards. such as died of sickness, old age, or by any other

4 North Wales. means than in battle: over it presided Hela, the goddess of death.