"No pitying heart, no eye, afford "A tear to grace his obsequies. "Is the sable Warrior fled x? "Thy son is gone. He rests among the Dead. "The Swarm, that in thy noon-tide beam were born? "Gone to salute the rising Morn. "Fair laughs the Morn y, and soft the Zephyr 66 blows, [17] "While proudly riding o'er the azure realm "In gallant trim the gilded Vessel goes: "Youth on the prow, and Pleasure at the helm ; (6 Regardless of the sweeping Whirlwind's sway, "That, hush'd in grim repose, expects his evening"prey. x Is the sable warrior fled? Edward the Black Prince, dead some time before his father. y Fair laughs the Morn, &c. Magnificence of Richard the Second's reign. See Froissard and other contemporary writers.. [17] This, and the five lines that follow, convey, perhaps, the most beautiful piece of imagery in the whole Poem. II. 3. "Fill high the sparkling bowl z, "The rich repast prepare, "Reft of a crown, he yet may share the feast: "Close by the regal chair "Fell Thirst and Famine scowl "A baleful smile upon their baffled Guest. "Heard ye the din of battle bray a, "Lance to lance, and horse to horse? "Long years of havock urge their destin'd course, "And thro'the kindred squadrons mow their way.[18] z Fill high the sparkling bowl. Richard the Second, as we are told by Archbishop Scroop and the confederate Lords in their manifesto, by Thomas of Walsingham, and all the older writers, was starved to death. The story of his assassination, by Sir Piers of Exton, is of much later date. a Heard ye the din of battle bray ? Ruinous civil wars of York and Lancaster. [18] This Stanza (as an anonymous writer remarks) has exceeding merit. It breathes in a lesser compass what the Ode breathes at large, the high spirit of Lyric Enthusiasm. The Transitions are sudden and impetuous; the Language full of fire and force; and the Imagery carried, without impropriety, to the most daring height. The manner of Richard's death, by Famine, exhibits such beauties of Personification, as only the richest and most vivid Imagination could "Ye Tow'rs of Julius 6, London's lasting shame, "With many a foul and midnight murder fed, "Revere his Consort's faith e, his father's fame d, "And spare the meek Usurper's holy head e. supply. From thence we are hurried, with the wildest rapidity, into the midst of Battle; and the epithet kindred, places at once before our eyes all the peculiar horrors of Civil War. Immediately, by a transition most striking and unexpected, the Poet falls into a tender and pathetic Address; which, from the sentiments, and also from the numbers, has all the melancholy flow, and breathes all the plaintive softness, of Elegy. Again the Scene changes; again the Bard rises into an allegorical description of Carnage, to which the metre is admirably adapted: and the concluding Sentence of personal punishment on Edward is denounced with a solemnity that chills and terrifies. b Ye tow'rs of Julius. Henry the Sixth, George Duke of Clarence, Edward the Fifth, Richard Duke of York, &c. believed to be murdered secretly in the Tower of London. The oldest part of that structure is vulgarly attributed to Julius Cæsar. c Revere his consort's faith Margaret of Anjou, a woman of heroic spirit, who struggled hard to save her husband and her crown. —his father's fame. d Henry the Fifth. e And spare the meek usurper's holy head. Henry the Sixth, very near being canonized. The line of Lancaster had no right of inheritance to the crown. "Above, below, the rose of snow ƒ,` "Twin'd with her blushing foe, we spread: "The bristled Boar g in infant-gore "Wallows beneath the thorny shade. "Now, Brothers, bending o'er th' accursed loom, "Stamp we our vengeance deep, and ratify his doom. III. 1. "Edward, lo! to sudden fate (( (Weave we the woof. The thread is spun.) "Leave me unbless'd, unpitied, here to mourn : -the rose of snow, &c. The white and red roses, devices of York and Lan caster. g The bristled boar The silver boar was the badge of Richard th Third; whence he was usually known in his own tim by the name of the Boar. h Half of thy heart we consecrate. Eleanor of Castile died a few years after the con quest of Wales. The heroic proof she gave of her a fection for her lord is well known. The monument of his regret and sorrow for the loss of her, are sti to be seen at Northampton, Gaddington, Waltham and other places. "In yon bright track, that fires the western skies, “They melt, they vanish from my eyes. "But oh! what solemn scenes on Snowdon's height "Descending slow their glittering skirts unroll? "Visions of glory, spare my aching sight! "Ye unborn Ages, crowd not on my soul! "No more our long lost Arthur we bewail i. "All-hail ye genuine Kings, Britannia's Issue, hail k. III. 2. "Girt with many a Baron bold "Sublime their starry fronts they rear ; "And gorgeous Dames, and Statesmen old, "In bearded majesty appear. "In the midst a Form divine! "Her eye proclaims her of the Briton-Line; i No more our long-lost Arthur we bewail. It was the common belief of the Welsh nation, that King Arthur was still alive in Fairyland, and would return again to reign over Britain. k All-hail, ye genuine Kings, Britannia's issue, hail! Both Merlin and Talliessin had prophesied, that the Welsh should regain their sovereignty over this island; which seemed to be accomplished in the house of Tudor |