544 P O E T R Y. 



For Hiirly, and with hostile aim profest, 

 The Moor had rear'd his haughty creSt ; 

 An open, honourable foe ; 

 Blit as a friend tlie treacherous Frenchman came, 

 And Spain receiv'd him as a guest. 

 Tliink what your fathers were ! she cried ; 

 Thiniv wiiat ye are, in sufterings tried, 

 And think of what your eons must be — 

 Even as ye make tliem — slaves or free ! 



X. 



Strains such as these from Spain's three seas, 

 And from the farthest Pyrenees, 

 Rung thro' the region. Vengeance was the word : 

 One impulse to all hearts at once was given ; 



From every voice the sacred cry was heard, 

 And borne abroad by all the winds of Heaven. 

 Heaven, too, to whom the Spaniards look'd for aid, 

 A spirit equal to the hour bestow'd ; 

 And gloriously the debt they paid. 

 Which to their valiant ancestors they ow'd, 

 And gloriously against the power of France, 

 Maintain'd their children's proud inheritance. 

 Their steady purpose no defeat could move, 

 No horrors could abate their constant mind : 

 Hope had its source and resting-place above, 

 And they, to loss of all on earth resign'd, 

 Suffer'd, to save their country and mankind. 

 What strain Iieroic might suffice to tell. 

 How Zaragoza stood, and how she fell? 

 Ne'er since yon sun began his daily round. 

 Was higher valour, holier virtue found, 

 Than on that consecrated ground. 



C3' 



XI. 



Alone the noble nation stood, 

 When from Corunna, in the main, 

 The star of England set in blood. 



Ere long, on Talavera's plain. 

 That star resplendent rose again ; 

 And tho' that day was doom'd to be 

 A day of frustrate victory, 

 Not vainly bled the brave! 

 For French and Spaniard there might see 

 That England's arm was strong to save; 



Fair promise there the Wellesley gave. 

 And well in sight of Earth and Heaven, 

 Redeem'd the pledge which there was given. 



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