ODE ON GREECE. 1G5 



here and there a vigorous note breaks through, echoed 

 from Byron. The poet has no mercy on the doctrine of 

 non-intervention, and addresses his own country in tones 

 of haughty rebuke. 



1 Alas for Greece ! but not alone 



For wretched Greece the tears shall flow ; 



Adorned b}' glory's brightest zone, 

 Her fame shall soothe her woe. 



But thou, proud home of wealth, for thee 



Heavy the patriot's heart must be. 



Say, dark of spirit, hast thou sold 



The souls of men for sordid gold ? 



And plied each art of niggard trade, 



When hapless patriots toiled and bled ? 



And filled thy coffers o'er the dead ?' 



He exhorts Greece to bestir herself, and is very angry 

 with the Turks. 



' Rouse thee, Greece ! a fearful sign 



Is pictured on the awful sky ; 

 Ruin awaits the Moslem line, 



Mahomet's faith shall die ! 

 The falchion cleaves the turbaned head, 



The Koran's darkened page is torn, 

 And Turkey's streams are rolling red 



With blood of the unborn. 



* * * * # 



Alas for hapless Greece ! again 



The dark clouds gather round her head ; 

 Her Byron's lyre was swept in vain, 



In vain her children bled. 

 But vengeance loads the coining gale, 



And ere the tyrant grasps the rod, 

 His soul shall shrink, his strength shall fail, 



Beneath the brand of God ! ' 



How this trumpet-blast might have influenced the 

 Greeks we cannot tell. The editor of the Scotsman 

 proved a Trojan on the occasion, and Miller's Ode was 

 returned upon his hands. 



Not long after, Hugh refers to the subject in a letter 

 to Ross, and bravely decides that the piece might not 



