And wield the thundering army's might,

And rule the tempest of the fight.

And the thought is far and fast,

Ardent memory of the past,

Of the Grecian wars of old,

To eternal Glory told

Theban tale and Trojan, hurl'd

Like lightning through the dazzled world From Æschylus, from Homer's spirit,

Which the stars of heaven inherit.

On my soul the scene advances-
Thundering chariots, lightning lances,
Hades trembling 26, Gods descending
'Gainst Achilles all-contending;

27

On my soul that Grecian war
Warr'd through every age afar,
In Thucydides for ever

Actual as his vast endeavour.

And the Roman rises o'er me: Eagled legions rush before me. -Marcellus!-Scipio !-There thou art !—

(26) Ἔδδεισεν δ' ὑπένερθεν ἄναξ ἐνέρων ̓Αϊδωνεὺς, Δείσας

(27) Ἔρχεσθ', ὄφρ ̓ ἂν ἵκησθε μετὰ Τρῶας καὶ ̓Αχαιούς ̓Αμφοτέροισι δ' ἀρήγεθ', ὅπη νέος ἐστὶν ἑκάστου. Εἰ γὰρ ̓Αχιλλεὺς οἷος ἐπὶ Τρώεσσι μαχεῖται, etc.

Sylla of the burning heart-
Ever mightiest Cæsar, he

Whose name is with eternity;

Who o'er the world was all alone;

Nor such nor second was there one,

Till the slow sixty ages more
One other, one Napoleon bore,

For France and Lodi, and to know
A Wellington for Waterloo.

-Waterloo!-where thou didst shine,
Thou my father's sword and mine!
Where by Wellington he fell,
Like his fathers falling well,
Like their son who in their pride
At Towton and at Naseby died.

All that once was fiery strife

In my wild spirit's morning life

Now rekindles as I gaze,

Thou sword! thou light of other days!

When I stand at evening hymn
In the cathedral deep and dim,

Where my warlike fathers lie,
With their well-won blazonry,

(28) "The Roman, when his burning heart," etc. Byron.

Borne through many a deadly fight
Whose fates they wielded with their might,

They that there lie low at last,

Waiting one more trumpet-blast,

And the loud anthem's choral strain
Rolls through the long-resounding fane,
Even as they chaunt that ne'er should cease
Christ that came to die for peace,

I but ardour it to hear

Rising, rushing, thundering there,

Into all I hear afar,

Into all the storm of war;

And to the window's gloried hue,

Where sunset streams like rapture through, I flash my spirit in my gaze,

As 't were on the battle's blaze.

So I ardour; so there seem

Sounds and shapes of many a dream
In this life of mine, which I
So little know, though still I try
And think for ever till I die-

This that, whatsoe'er it be

Wild and strong that strives in me,
Has sure so much of fire all rife-
That element of act and life,

The all-aspiring, unconfin'd,

That most is mind's29, that most is mind29;
And where in glory, where in light

The Magus thought the Living might29.

(29) "The magi likewise said of God, that he had light for his body and truth for his soul. And in the Chaldaic oracles, all things are supposed to be governed by a πuρ voɛpòv, or intellectual fire. And in the same oracles the creative mind is said to be clothed with fire: έooaμévoç TUоup, which oriental reduplication of the word fire seems to imply the extreme purity and force thereof. Thus also in the Psalms, Thou art clothed with light as with a garment.' Where the word rendered light might have been rendered fire. That other Scripture sentence is remarkable: 'who maketh his ministers a flaming fire:' which might, perhaps, be rendered more agreeably to the context, as well as consistently with the Hebrew, after this manner: 'who maketh flaming fire his ministers: "-Berkeley, Siris, § 179. And see § 149, 157-88.

See Doederlein, Scholia in Libros V. T. Poeticos, Ps. civ, 4, p. 125; Halle, 1779.

Exod. iii, 2; xiii, 21; xix, 18; (Isaiah lx, 19) Ezek. i, 27; viii, 2; xliii, 2; (Hab. iii, 4) Ps. (xviii, 8, 12; xcvii, 3) civ, 2, 4; Dan. vii, 9, 10; x, 6; Matth. xvii, 2; Mark, ix, 3; Luke ix, 29; Acts ii, 3; ix, 3, 17; (1 Tim. vi, 16) Heb. i. 7; (2 Pet. i, 17) Rev. i, 14-16; iv, 5; xxi, 23; xxii, 5.*

Hom. 'Iλ. K', 547. Od. T', (34-40) 43; and Clarke's note. Plaut. Amphit. V, 1, 44.

Schleusner, Lexicon, s. v. Põç; vol. II, p. 1319, 20; Leipz.

1819.

* It is to be observed that these passages refer to the Presence, only: many others might be cited in allusion to Inspiration. But 2 Cor. iv, 4, 6, might be particularly remarked upon.

So I ardour, whatsoe'er

The human spirit that I bear;

So I muse on act and power

In kindling memory's magic hour,

Where the thought speeds swift and strong,

Fast and far, as borne along

The ocean-streams of Homer's song;

Living over once again

Many a thought that oft had been,

Many a thought of vivid life,

Deed and daring, scene and strife.

I breathe the poet's fiery thought.

-Dante on Campaldino fought.

Again an Austerlitz I view.
I muse another Waterloo.

-My bark is on the bounding wave.
The sea is for the free and brave.
Roll dark the waters! flash the spray
Speed all the winds of heaven away !
The glorious elements career

In all their joyance: mine is here.

-The midnight moon shines deeply down