| 8 | THE AWAKENING. |
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THEN I beheld the King. From a cloud which cover’d the pavement
His reverend form uprose: heavenward his face was directed,
Heavenward his eyes were raised, and heavenward his arms were extended.
Lord, it is past! he cried; the mist, and the weight, and the darkness; ..
That long and weary night, that long drear dream of desertion.
Father, to Thee I come! My days have been many and evil;
Heavy my burthen of care, and grievous hath been my affliction.
Thou hast releas’d me at length. O Lord, in Thee have I trusted;
Thou art my hope and my strength! ... And then in profound adoration,
Crossing his arms on his breast, he bent and worshipp’d in silence.
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Presently one approach’d to greet him with joyful obeisance;
He of whom in an hour of woe, the assassin bereav’d us
When his counsels most, and his resolute virtue were needed.
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| THE AWAKENING. | 9 |
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Thou, said the Monarch, here? Thou, Perceval,
summon’d before me? ...
Then as his waken’d mind to the weal of his country reverted,
What of his son, he ask’d, what course by the Prince had been follow’d.
Right in his Father’s steps hath the Regent trod,
was the answer:
Firm hath he proved and wise, at a time when weakness or error
Would have sunk us in shame, and to ruin have hurried us headlong.
True to himself hath he been, and Heaven has rewarded his counsels.
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Peace is obtain’d then at last, with safety and honour! the Monarch
Cried, and he clasp’d his hands; ... I thank Thee, O merciful Father!
Now is my heart’s desire fulfill’d.
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With honour surpassing
All that in elder time had adorn’d the annals of England,
Peace hath been won by the sword, the faithful minister answer’d.
Paris hath seen once more the banners of England in triumph
Wave within her walls, and the ancient line is establish’d.
While that man of blood, the tyrant, faithless and
godless,
Render’d at length the sport, as long the minion of Fortune,
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| 10 | THE AWAKENING. |
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Far away, confined in a rocky isle of the ocean,
Fights his battles again, and pleased to win in the chamber
What he lost in the field, in fancy conquers his conqueror.
There he reviles his foes, and there the ungrateful accuses
For his own defaults the men who too faithfully served him;
Frets and complains and intrigues, and abuses the mercy that spared him.
Oh that my King could have known these things! could have witness’d how England
Check’d in its full career the force of her enemy’s empire,
Singly defied his arms and his arts, and baffled them singly,
Roused from their lethal sleep with the stirring example the nations,
And the refluent tide swept him and his fortune before it.
Oh that my King, ere he died, might have seen the fruit of his counsels!
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Nay, it is better thus, the Monarch piously answer’d;
Here I can bear the joy; it comes as an earnest of Heaven.
Righteous art Thou, O Lord! long-suffering, but sure are thy judgements.
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| THE AWAKENING. | 11 |
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Then having paused awhile, like one in devotion abstracted,
Earthward his thoughts recurr’d, so deeply the care of his country
Lay in that royal soul reposed: and he said, Is the spirit
Quell’d which hath troubled the land? and the multitude freed from delusion,
Know they their blessings at last, and are they contented and thankful?
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Still is that fierce and restless spirit at work, was the answer;
Still it deceiveth the weak, and inflameth the rash and the desperate.
Even now, I ween, some dreadful deed is preparing;
For the Souls of the Wicked are loose, and the Powers of Evil
Move on the wing alert. Some nascent horror they look for,
Be sure! some accursed conception of filth and of darkness
Ripe for its monstrous birth. Whether France or Britain be threaten’d,
Soon will the issue show; or if both at once are endanger’d,
They whom Venner led, who rising in frantic
rebellion
Made the Redeemer’s name their cry of slaughter and treason.
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