Their native soil no more they trod; They rest beneath no hallow'd sod; Throughout the living world, This sole memorial of their lot Remains, they were, and they are not. The Spirit of the Cape * pursued Their long and toilsome way; Havoc the shipwreck-demon cried, Loosed all his tempests on the tide, Gave all his lightnings play : The abyss recoil'd before the blast, Firm stood the seaman till the last. *The Cape of Good Hope, formerly called the Cape of Storms.See CAMOENS' Lusiad, book V. Like shooting stars, athwart the gloom Yet oft, before its midnight doom, They mark'd the high mast head Of that devoted vessel, tost By winds and floods, now seen, now lost; While every gun-fire spread A dimmer flash, a fainter roar ; -At length they saw, they heard no more. There are to whom that ship was dear, For love and kindred's sake; When these the voice of Rumour hear, Their inmost heart shall quake, Shall doubt, and fear, and wish, and grieve, Believe, and long to unbelieve, But never cease to ache; Still doom'd, in sad suspense, to bear The Hope that keeps alive Despair. THE SEQUEL. He sought his Sire from shore to shore, HE He sought him day by day; The prow he track'd was seen no more, Breasting the ocean-spray; Yet, as the winds his voyage sped, He sail'd above his father's head, Unconscious where it lay, Deep, deep beneath the rolling main: -He sought his Sire; he sought in vain. Son of the brave! no longer weep; Still with affection true, Along the wild disastrous deep, Thy father's course pursue; Full in his wake of glory steer, His compass guides thee through; So, while thy thunders awe the sea, Britain shall find thy Sire in thee. M. S. TO THE MEMORY OF A Female whom Sickness had reconciled to the "Notes of Sorrow, Who corresponded with the Author under this signature, on the first publication of his Poems, in 1806, but died soon after; when her real name and merits were disclosed to him by one of her surviving friends. My Song of Sorrow reach'd her ear; What is the Poet's highest aim, His richest heritage of fame ? |