ORATIONS AND IMPASSIONED PIECES. llf 



He shook the gleamy terrors of his brand, 



Glanc'd proudly on th* embattled host below, 



And raock'd the menace of a conquering foe 



And long had mock'd,* but Heaven untimely frown'd, 



And pluck'd the fairest flow'r on Scottish ground. 



It was no falchion rais'd in mortal strife, 



That snatch'd thee, Wallace, from the light of life; 



No arrow glided on the wings of death 



To drink thy blood, and steal away thy breath ; 



There were no honors of a glorious grave, 



The patriot's boast, the birth-right of the brave ; 



Far other fate thy generous zeal repaid, 



Torn from thy country, by thy friend betray'd. 



Methinksf I see thee led in sullen state, 



High in thy fall, and e'en in fetters great ; 



And view thee, dragg'd in all the pomp of woe, 



A sport of impotence, a public show. 



Still* conscious virtue cheers thy latest hour, 



Nor sinks thy spirit in the grasp of power. 



Still, in the pangs of death, thy closing eyes 



Speak the proud thoughts that in thy bosom rise 1 



And the last sigh, that gave the soul release, 



Breath'd to thy Scotland LIBERTY and PEACE. 



O Wallace ! if my voice can pierce the gloom, 

 And rouse the silent slumbers of the tomb, 

 O'er thy cold dust the Muse shall pour her strain, 

 To tell thee, that thou didst not fall in vain 

 Yes, honour' d Shade ! though brief was thy career, 

 And not a stone records thy lowly bier ; 

 E'en yet, thy native woods and wilds among, 

 Thy wreaths are verdant, and thy deeds are sung : 

 There, haply, as some minstrel tells thy tale 

 To many a mountain chief, and listening Gael, 

 Their kindling bosoms catch the patriot flame, 

 And learn the path to FREEDOM and to FAME. 



SMIRKE. Cambridge Prize Poem. 



* Here is a transition to solemnity of manner, requiring much pathos, 

 t Increased solemnity. 



j The tone of voice becomes somewhat less plaintive, and the man- 

 ner rather more elated, 



^ Most solemn and impressive manner, with a slow rate of utterance. 



