At midnight once the
storming
Army came,
Yet do I see the miserable sight,
The Bayonet, the Soldier, and the Flame
That followed us and faced us in our flight:
When Rape and Murder by the ghastly light
Seized their joint prey, the Mother and the Child!
Wordsworth - 1
My heart was hushed within me, ... 1815.
As quiet all within me, ... 1827.]
[Variant 39:
1800.
Where looks inhuman dwelt on festering heaps! 1798.]
[Variant 40: The following stanza appeared only in the editions
1798-1805:
Yet does that burst of woe congeal my frame,
When the dark streets appeared to heave and gape,
While like a sea the storming army came,
And Fire from Hell reared his gigantic shape,
And Murder, by the ghastly gleam, and Rape
Seized their joint prey, the mother and the child!
But from these crazing thoughts my brain, escape!
--For weeks the balmy air breathed soft and mild,
And on the gliding vessel Heaven and Ocean smiled. 1798.
At midnight once the
storming
Army came,
Yet do I see the miserable sight,
The Bayonet, the Soldier, and the Flame
That followed us and faced us in our flight:
When Rape and Murder by the ghastly light
Seized their joint prey, the Mother and the Child!
But I must leave these thoughts.--From night to night,
From day to day, the air breathed soft and mild;
And on the gliding vessel Heaven and Ocean smiled. 1802-5.]
[Variant 41:
1802.
And oft, robb'd of my perfect mind, I thought
At last my feet a resting-place had found:
Here will I weep in peace, (so fancy wrought,) 1798.]
[Variant 42:
1842.
Here watch, of every human friend disowned,
All day, my ready tomb the ocean-flood-- 1798.
Here will I live:--of every friend disown'd,
Here will I roam about the ocean flood.-- 1802.
And end my days upon the ocean flood."-- 1815.]
[Variant 43:
1842.
By grief enfeebled was I turned adrift,
Helpless as sailor cast on desart rock; 1798.
