Some Poems by Sir Walter Scott
page 33 of 72 (45%)
page 33 of 72 (45%)
|
And see Busaco's crest with lightning blaze:-
But shall fond fable mix with heroes' praise? Hath Fiction's stage for Truth's long triumphs room? And dare her wild flowers mingle with the bays That claim a long eternity to bloom Around the warrior's crest, and o'er the warrior's tomb! LXII. Or may I give adventurous Fancy scope, And stretch a bold hand to the awful veil That hides futurity from anxious hope, Bidding beyond it scenes of glory hail, And painting Europe rousing at the tale Of Spain's invaders from her confines hurled, While kindling nations buckle on their mail, And Fame, with clarion-blast and wings unfurled, To Freedom and Revenge awakes an injured World! LXIII. O vain, though anxious, is the glance I cast, Since Fate has marked futurity her own: Yet Fate resigns to worth the glorious past, The deeds recorded, and the laurels won. Then, though the Vault of Destiny be gone, King, Prelate, all the phantasms of my brain, Melted away like mist-wreaths in the sun, Yet grant for faith, for valour, and for Spain, One note of pride and fire, a Patriot's parting strain! |
|