When British Freedom for a happier land Spread her broad wings, that fluttered with affright, Erskine! thy voice she heard, and paused her flight -- Sublime of hope, where fearless thou didst stand, Thy censer glowing with the hallowed flame, An hireless Priest before her injured shrine, And at her altar pour'dst the stream divine Of matchless eloquence! Therefore thy name Her sons shall venerate, and cheer thy breast With heaven-breathed blessings; and, when late the doom Of Nature bids thee die, beyond the tomb Thy light shall shine, as sunk beneath the west, Though the great sun not meets our wistful gaze, Still glows wide Heaven with his distended blaze! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONNET TO GUIDO CAVALCANTI by DANTE ALIGHIERI GOD by GABRIEL ROMANOVITCH DERZHAVIN THE WASTE PLACES by JAMES STEPHENS |