One of the latter (here
referred
to as Fa)
is corrected in Shelley's autograph.
is corrected in Shelley's autograph.
Shelley
H.
Buxton
Forman, C. B. , by whom it is dated 1817. ]
Mighty eagle! thou that soarest
O'er the misty mountain forest,
And amid the light of morning
Like a cloud of glory hiest,
And when night descends defiest _5
The embattled tempests' warning!
***
TO THE LORD CHANCELLOR.
[Published in part (5-9, 14) by Mrs. Shelley, "Poetical Works", 1839,
1st edition (without title); in full 2nd edition (with title). Four
transcripts in Mrs. Shelley's hand are extant: two--Leigh Hunt's and
Ch. Cowden Clarke's--described by Forman, and two belonging to Mr. C. W.
Frederickson of Brooklyn, described by Woodberry ["Poetical Works",
Centenary Edition, 3 193-6].
One of the latter (here referred to as Fa)
is corrected in Shelley's autograph. A much-corrected draft in
Shelley's hand is in the Harvard manuscript book. ]
1.
Thy country's curse is on thee, darkest crest
Of that foul, knotted, many-headed worm
Which rends our Mother's bosom--Priestly Pest!
Masked Resurrection of a buried Form!
2.
Thy country's curse is on thee! Justice sold, _5
Truth trampled, Nature's landmarks overthrown,
And heaps of fraud-accumulated gold,
Plead, loud as thunder, at Destruction's throne.
3.
And whilst that sure slow Angel which aye stands
Watching the beck of Mutability _10
Delays to execute her high commands,
And, though a nation weeps, spares thine and thee,
4.
Oh, let a father's curse be on thy soul,
And let a daughter's hope be on thy tomb;
Be both, on thy gray head, a leaden cowl _15
To weigh thee down to thine approaching doom.
5.
I curse thee by a parent's outraged love,
By hopes long cherished and too lately lost,
By gentle feelings thou couldst never prove,
By griefs which thy stern nature never crossed; _20
6.
By those infantine smiles of happy light,
Which were a fire within a stranger's hearth,
Quenched even when kindled, in untimely night
Hiding the promise of a lovely birth:
7.
By those unpractised accents of young speech, _25
Which he who is a father thought to frame
To gentlest lore, such as the wisest teach--
THOU strike the lyre of mind! --oh, grief and shame!
Forman, C. B. , by whom it is dated 1817. ]
Mighty eagle! thou that soarest
O'er the misty mountain forest,
And amid the light of morning
Like a cloud of glory hiest,
And when night descends defiest _5
The embattled tempests' warning!
***
TO THE LORD CHANCELLOR.
[Published in part (5-9, 14) by Mrs. Shelley, "Poetical Works", 1839,
1st edition (without title); in full 2nd edition (with title). Four
transcripts in Mrs. Shelley's hand are extant: two--Leigh Hunt's and
Ch. Cowden Clarke's--described by Forman, and two belonging to Mr. C. W.
Frederickson of Brooklyn, described by Woodberry ["Poetical Works",
Centenary Edition, 3 193-6].
One of the latter (here referred to as Fa)
is corrected in Shelley's autograph. A much-corrected draft in
Shelley's hand is in the Harvard manuscript book. ]
1.
Thy country's curse is on thee, darkest crest
Of that foul, knotted, many-headed worm
Which rends our Mother's bosom--Priestly Pest!
Masked Resurrection of a buried Form!
2.
Thy country's curse is on thee! Justice sold, _5
Truth trampled, Nature's landmarks overthrown,
And heaps of fraud-accumulated gold,
Plead, loud as thunder, at Destruction's throne.
3.
And whilst that sure slow Angel which aye stands
Watching the beck of Mutability _10
Delays to execute her high commands,
And, though a nation weeps, spares thine and thee,
4.
Oh, let a father's curse be on thy soul,
And let a daughter's hope be on thy tomb;
Be both, on thy gray head, a leaden cowl _15
To weigh thee down to thine approaching doom.
5.
I curse thee by a parent's outraged love,
By hopes long cherished and too lately lost,
By gentle feelings thou couldst never prove,
By griefs which thy stern nature never crossed; _20
6.
By those infantine smiles of happy light,
Which were a fire within a stranger's hearth,
Quenched even when kindled, in untimely night
Hiding the promise of a lovely birth:
7.
By those unpractised accents of young speech, _25
Which he who is a father thought to frame
To gentlest lore, such as the wisest teach--
THOU strike the lyre of mind! --oh, grief and shame!
