HERE pause: the poet claims at least this praise, That virtuous Liberty hath been the scope Of his pure song, which did not shrink from hope In the worst moment of these evil days; From hope, the paramount 'duty' that Heaven lays, For its own honour, on man's suffering heart. Never may from our souls one truth depart -- That an accursed thing it is to gaze On prosperous tyrants with a dazzled eye; Nor -- touched with due abhorrence of 'their' guilt For whose dire ends tears flow, and blood is spilt, And justice labours in extremity -- Forget thy weakness, upon which is built, O wretched man, the throne of tyranny! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE SONG OF THE MAD WOMAN'S SON by KAREN SWENSON THE JOY OF WRITING by WISLAWA SZYMBORSKA A WAR SONG TO ENGLISHMEN by WILLIAM BLAKE NO LONGER COULD I DOUBT HIM TRUE by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR A SPINNING SONG by JOHN FRANCIS O'DONNELL |