XI. Ruffians, pitiless as proud, Heav'n awards the vengeance due; Empire is on us bestow'd, Shame and ruin wait for you. HEROIS M. THERE was a time when Ætna's silent fire Slept unperceiv'd, the mountain yet entire; When on a day, like that of the last doom, A conflagration lab'ring in her womb, She teem'd and heav'd with an infernal birth, That shook the circling seas and solid earth. And hang their horrors in the neighb'ring skies, Havoc and devastation in the van, It marches o'er the prostrate works of man- And all the charms of a Sicilian year. Revolving seasons, fruitless as they pass, See it an uninform'd and idle mass; Without a soil t' invite the tiller's care, Or blade that might redeem it from despair. Oh, bliss precarious, and unsafe retreats, Oh charming paradise of short-liv'd sweets! The self-same gale that wafts the fragrance round Again the mountain feels th' imprison'd foe, Ten thousand swains the wasted scene deplore, Ye monarchs, whom the lure of honour draws, Who write in blood the merits of your cause, Who strike the blow, then plead your own de fence Glory your aim, but justice your pretence; The mischiefs your ambitious pride inspires! Fast by the stream that bounds your just domain, And tells you where ye have a right to reign, A nation dwells, not envious of your throne, Studious of peace, their neighbours', and their own. Ill-fated race! how deeply must they rue The trumpet sounds, your legions swarm abroad, Famine, and pestilence, her first-born son, A calm succeeds-but plenty, with her train Yet man, laborious man, by slow degrees, Gleans up the refuse of the gen'ral spoil, Rebuilds the tow'rs that smok'd upon the plain, And the sun gilds the shining spires again. Increasing commerce and reviving art Renew the quarrel on the conq'rors' part; What are ye, monarchs, laurel'd heroes, say— Oh, place me in some heav'n-protected isle, Where peace, and equity, and freedom smile; Where no volcano pours his fiery flood, No crested warrior dips his plume in blood; A land that distant tyrants hate in vain, |