XVII. THE MISSION OF THE BARD.
Reading edition
He is a seer. He wears the wedding-ring Of Art and Nature; and his voice is bold. He should be quicker than the birds to sing, And fill'd with frenzy like the men of old Who sang their songs for country and for king. Nothing should daunt him, though the news were told By fiends from Hell! He should be swift to hold And swift to part with truth, as from a spring. He should discourse of war and war's alarm, And deeds of peace, and garlands to be sought, And love, and lore, and death, and beauty's charm, And warlike men subdued by tender thought, And grief dismiss'd, and hatred set at nought, And Freedom shielded by his strong right arm!
