* Mr. Murray had
requested of him to make some additions to the Ode, so as to save the Stamp Duty imposed upon
publications not exceeding a single sheet, and the lines he sent him for this
purpose were, I believe, those beginning “We do not curse thee,
Waterloo.” To the Ode itself, he afterwards added, in successive
editions, five or six stanzas, the original number being but eleven. There were
also three more stanzas which he never printed, but which, for the just tribute
they contain to Washington, are worthy of
being preserved. 17. “There was a day—there was an hour, While earth was Gaul’s—Gaul thine— When that immeasurable power Unsated to resign Had been an act of purer fame Than gathers round Marengo’s name And gilded thy decline, Through the long twilight of all time, Despite some passing clouds of crime. |
![]() 18. “But thou forsooth must be a king And don the purple vest, As if that foolish robe could wring Remembrance from thy breast. Where is that faded garment? where The gewgaws thou wert fond to wear, The star—the string—the crest? Vain froward child of empire! say Are all thy playthings snatch’d away? |
![]() 19. “Where may the wearied eye repose When gazing on the great; Where neither guilty glory glows, Nor despicable state? Yes—one—the first—the last—the best— Whom envy dared not hate, To make man blush there was but One!” |
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