Book 2 — ODE TO THE DEPARTING YEAR[160:1]
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ODE TO THE DEPARTING YEAR[160:1]
Ἰοὺ ἰού, ὢ ὢ κακά. Ὑπ' αὖ με δεινὸς ὀρθομαντείας πόνος Στροβεῖ, ταράσσων φροιμίοις δυσφροιμίοις. * * * * * Τὸ μέλλον ἥξει. Καὶ σύ μ' τάχει παρὼν Ἄγαν ἀληθόμαντιν οἰκτείρας ἐρεῖς.
Aeschyl. Agam. 1173-75; 1199-1200.
ARGUMENT
The Ode[160:2] commences with an address to the Divine Providence that regulates into one vast harmony all the events of time, however calamitous some of them may appear to mortals. The second Strophe calls on men to suspend their private joys and sorrows, and devote them for a while to the cause of human nature in general. The first Epode speaks of the Empress of Russia, who died of an apoplexy on the 17th of November 1796; having just concluded a subsidiary treaty with the Kings combined against France. The first and second Antistrophe describe the Image of the Departing Year, etc., as in a vision. The second Epode prophesies, in anguish of spirit, the downfall of this country.
I Spirit who sweepest the wild Harp of Time! It is most hard, with an untroubled ear Thy dark inwoven harmonies to hear! Yet, mine eye fix'd on Heaven's unchanging clime Long had I listen'd, free from mortal fear, 5 With inward stillness, and a bowéd mind; When lo! its folds far waving on the wind, [161]I saw the train of the Departing Year! Starting from my silent sadness Then with no unholy madness, 10 Ere yet the enter'd cloud foreclos'd my sight, I rais'd the impetuous song, and solemnis'd his flight. II[161:1] Hither, from the recent tomb, From the prison's direr gloom, From Distemper's midnight anguish; 15 And thence, where Poverty doth waste and languish; Or where, his two bright torches blending, Love illumines Manhood's maze; Or where o'er cradled infants bending, Hope has fix'd her wishful gaze; 20 Hither, in perplexéd dance, Ye Woes! ye young-eyed Joys! advance! By Time's wild harp, and by the hand Whose indefatigable sweep Raises its fateful strings from sleep, 25 I bid you haste, a mix'd tumultuous band! From every private bower, And each domestic hearth, Haste for one solemn hour; And with a loud and yet a louder voice, 30 O'er Nature struggling in portentous birth, Weep and rejoice! Still echoes the dread Name that o'er the earth[161:2] [162]Let slip the storm, and woke the brood of Hell: And now advance in saintly Jubilee 35 Justice and Truth! They too have heard thy spell, They too obey thy name, divinest Liberty! III[162:1] I mark'd Ambition in his war-array! I heard the mailéd Monarch's troublous cry— 'Ah! wherefore does the Northern Conqueress stay![162:2] 40 Groans not her chariot on its onward way?' Fly, mailéd Monarch, fly! Stunn'd by Death's twice mortal mace, No more on Murder's lurid face The insatiate Hag shall gloat with drunken eye! 45 Manes of the unnumber'd slain! Ye that gasp'd on Warsaw's plain! Ye that erst at Ismail's tower, When human ruin choked the streams, Fell in Conquest's glutted hour, 50 Mid women's shrieks and infants' screams! Spirits of the uncoffin'd slain, [163]Sudden blasts of triumph swelling, Oft, at night, in misty train, Rush around her narrow dwelling! 55 The exterminating Fiend is fled— (Foul her life, and dark her doom) Mighty armies of the dead Dance, like death-fires, round her tomb! Then with prophetic song relate, 60 Each some Tyrant-Murderer's fate! [164] IV[164:1] Departing Year! 'twas on no earthly shore My soul beheld thy Vision![164:2] Where alone, Voiceless and stern, before the cloudy throne, Aye Memory sits: thy robe inscrib'd with gore, 65 With many an unimaginable groan Thou storied'st thy sad hours! Silence ensued, Deep silence o'er the ethereal multitude, Whose locks with wreaths, whose wreaths with glories shone. Then, his eye wild ardours glancing, 70 From the choiréd gods advancing, The Spirit of the Earth made reverence meet, And stood up, beautiful, before the cloudy seat. V Throughout the blissful throng, Hush'd were harp and song: 75 Till wheeling round the throne the Lampads seven, (The mystic Words of Heaven) Permissive signal make: The fervent Spirit bow'd, then spread his wings and spake! [165]'Thou in stormy blackness throning 80 Love and uncreated Light, By the Earth's unsolaced groaning, Seize thy terrors, Arm of might! By Peace with proffer'd insult scared, Masked Hate and envying Scorn! 85 By years of Havoc yet unborn! And Hunger's bosom to the frost-winds bared! But chief by Afric's wrongs, Strange, horrible, and foul! By what deep guilt belongs 90 To the deaf Synod, 'full of gifts and lies!'[165:1] By Wealth's insensate laugh! by Torture's howl! Avenger, rise! For ever shall the thankless Island scowl, Her quiver full, and with unbroken bow? 95 Speak! from thy storm-black Heaven O speak aloud! And on the darkling foe Open thine eye of fire from some uncertain cloud! O dart the flash! O rise and deal the blow! The Past to thee, to thee the Future cries! 100 Hark! how wide Nature joins her groans below! Rise, God of Nature! rise.' [166] VI[166:1] The voice had ceas'd, the Vision fled; Yet still I gasp'd and reel'd with dread. And ever, when the dream of night 105 Renews the phantom to my sight, Cold sweat-drops gather on my limbs; My ears throb hot; my eye-balls start; My brain with horrid tumult swims; Wild is the tempest of my heart; 110 And my thick and struggling breath Imitates the toil of death! No stranger agony confounds The Soldier on the war-field spread, When all foredone with toil and wounds, 115 Death-like he dozes among heaps of dead! (The strife is o'er, the day-light fled, And the night-wind clamours hoarse! See! the starting wretch's head Lies pillow'd on a brother's corse!) 120 VII Not yet enslaved, not wholly vile, O Albion! O my mother Isle! Thy valleys, fair as Eden's bowers, Glitter green with sunny showers; Thy grassy uplands' gentle swells 125 Echo to the bleat of flocks; (Those grassy hills, those glittering dells Proudly ramparted with rocks) And Ocean mid his uproar wild [167]Speaks safety to his Island-child! 130 Hence for many a fearless age Has social Quiet lov'd thy shore; Nor ever proud Invader's rage Or sack'd thy towers, or stain'd thy fields with gore. VIII Abandon'd of Heaven![167:1] mad Avarice thy guide, 135 At cowardly distance, yet kindling with pride— Mid thy herds and thy corn-fields secure thou hast stood, And join'd the wild yelling of Famine and Blood! The nations curse thee! They with eager wondering [168]Shall hear Destruction, like a vulture, scream! 140 Strange-eyed Destruction! who with many a dream Of central fires through nether seas up-thundering Soothes her fierce solitude; yet as she lies By livid fount, or red volcanic stream, If ever to her lidless dragon-eyes, 145 O Albion! thy predestin'd ruins rise, The fiend-hag on her perilous couch doth leap, Muttering distemper'd triumph in her charméd sleep. IX Away, my soul, away! In vain, in vain the Birds of warning sing— 150 And hark! I hear the famish'd brood of prey Flap their lank pennons on the groaning wind! Away, my soul, away! I unpartaking of the evil thing, With daily prayer and daily toil 155 Soliciting for food my scanty soil, Have wail'd my country with a loud Lament. Now I recentre my immortal mind In the deep Sabbath of meek self-content; Cleans'd from the vaporous passions that bedim 160 God's Image, sister of the Seraphim.[168:1]
1796.
FOOTNOTES:
LINENOTES:
Title] Ode for the last day of the Year 1796, C. I.: Ode on the Departing Year 4o, 1797, 1803, S. L., 1817, 1828, 1829.
Motto] 3-5 All editions (4o to 1834) read ἐφημίοις for δυσφροιμίοις, and Ἄγαν γ' for Ἄγαν; and all before 1834 μην for μ' ἐν.
I] Strophe I C. I., 4o, 1797, 1803.
[
1
]
Spirit] Being 1803.
[
4
]
unchanging] unchanged 4o.
[
5
]
free] freed 4o.
[
6
]
and a bowéd] and submitted 1803, S. L., 1817, 1828, 1829.
[
7
]
When lo! far onwards waving on the wind I saw the skirts of the Departing Year.
C. I., 4o, 1797, 1803.
[
11
]
Ere yet he pierc'd the cloud and mock'd my sight C. I. foreclos'd] forebade 4o, 1797, 1803.
II] Strophe II C. I., 4o, 1797, 1803.
[
15-16
]
From Poverty's heart-wasting languish From Distemper's midnight anguish
C. I., 4o, 1797, 1803.
[
22
]
Ye Sorrows, and ye Joys advance C. I. ye] and 4o, 1797, 1803.
[
25
]
Forbids its fateful strings to sleep C. I., 4o, 1797, 1803.
[
31
]
O'er the sore travail of the common Earth C. I., 4o.
[
33-7
]
Seiz'd in sore travail and portentous birth (Her eyeballs flashing a pernicious glare) Sick Nature struggles! Hark! her pangs increase! Her groans are horrible! but O! most fair The promis'd Twins she bears—Equality and Peace!
C. I., 4o.
[
36
]
thy] the 1797, 1803.
III] Epode C. I., 4o, 1797, 1803.
[
40
]
Ah! whither C. I., 4o.
[
41
]
on] o'er C. I., 4o, 1797, 1803.
[
43
]
'twice mortal' mace C. I., 4o, 1797, 1803.
[
45
]
The insatiate] That tyrant C. I.] drunken] frenzied C. I.
Between 51 and 52
Whose shrieks, whose screams were vain to stir Loud-laughing, red-eyed Massacre
C. I., 4o, 1797, 1803.
[
58
]
armies] Army C. I., 4o, 1797, 1803.
[
61
]
Tyrant-Murderer's] scepter'd Murderer's C. I., 4o, 1797, 1803.
After 61
When shall sceptred Slaughter cease? A while he crouch'd, O Victor France! Beneath the lightning of thy lance; With treacherous dalliance courting Peace—[163:A] But soon upstarting from his coward trance The boastful bloody Son of Pride betray'd His ancient hatred of the dove-eyed Maid. A cloud, O Freedom! cross'd thy orb of Light, And sure he deem'd that orb was set in night: For still does Madness roam on Guilt's bleak dizzy height!
C. I.
When shall sceptred, &c.
* * * * *
With treacherous dalliance wooing Peace. But soon up-springing from his dastard trance The boastful bloody Son of Pride betray'd His hatred of the blest and blessing Maid. One cloud, O Freedom! cross'd thy orb of Light, And sure he deem'd that orb was quench'd in night: For still, &c.
4o.
Θρασύνει γὰρ αἰσχρόμητις Τάλαινα ΠΑΡΑΚΟΠΑ πρωτοπήμων—Aeschyl., Ag. 222-4.
The friends of Freedom in this country are idle. Some are timid; some are selfish; and many the torpedo torch of hopelessness has numbed into inactivity. We would fain hope that (if the above account be accurate—it is only the French account) this dreadful instance of infatuation in our Ministry will rouse them to one effort more; and that at one and the same time in our different great towns the people will be called on to think solemnly, and declare their thoughts fearlessly by every method which the remnant of the Constitution allows. 4o.
IV] Antistrophe I. C. I., 4o, 1797, 1803.
[
62
]
no earthly] an awful C. I.
[
65
]
thy . . . gore] there garmented with gore C. I., 4o, 1797.
[
65-7
]
Aye Memory sits: thy vest profan'd with gore. Thou with an unimaginable groan Gav'st reck'ning of thy Hours!
1803.
[
68
]
ethereal] choired C. I.
[
69
]
Whose purple locks with snow-white glories shone C. I., 4o: Whose wreathed locks with snow-white glories shone 1797, 1803.
[
70
]
wild] strange C. I.
V] Antistrophe II. C. I., 4o, 1797, 1803.
[
74-9
]
On every Harp on every Tongue While the mute Enchantment hung: Like Midnight from a thunder-cloud Spake the sudden Spirit loud.
C. I., 4o, 1797, 1803.
The sudden Spirit cried aloud.
C. I.
Like Thunder from a Midnight Cloud Spake the sudden Spirit loud
1803.
[
83
]
Arm] God C. I.
Between 83 and 84
By Belgium's corse-impeded flood,[165:A] By Vendee steaming [streaming C. I.] Brother's blood.
C. I., 4o, 1797, 1803.
[
85
]
And mask'd Hate C. I.
[
87
]
By Hunger's bosom to the bleak winds bar'd C. I.
[
89
]
Strange] Most C. I.
[
90
]
By] And C. I.
[
91
]
Synod] Senate 1797, 1803.
[
94-102
]
For ever shall the bloody island scowl? For ever shall her vast and iron bow Shoot Famine's evil arrows o'er the world,[165:B] Hark! how wide Nature joins her groans below; Rise, God of Mercy, rise! why sleep thy bolts unhurl'd?
C. I.
For ever shall the bloody Island scowl? For aye, unbroken shall her cruel Bow Shoot Famine's arrows o'er thy ravaged World? Hark! how wide Nature joins her groans below— Rise, God of Nature, rise, why sleep thy Bolts unhurl'd?
4o, 1797, 1803.
Rise God of Nature, rise! ah! why those bolts unhurl'd?
1797, 1803.
[
102
]
Here the Ode ends C. I.
VI] Epode II. 4o, 1797, 1803.
[
103
]
Vision] Phantoms 4o, 1797, 1803.
[
106
]
phantom] vision 4o, 1797, 1803.
[
107
]
sweat-drops] sweat-damps 4o, 1797, 1803.
[
113
]
stranger] uglier 4o.
[
119
]
starting] startful 4o, 1797, 1803.
[
121
]
O doom'd to fall, enslav'd and vile 4o, 1797, 1803.
[
133
]
proud Invader's] sworded Foeman's 4o, 1797: sworded Warrior's 1803.
[
135-9
]
Disclaim'd of Heaven! mad Avarice at thy side
4o, 1797.
At coward distance, yet with kindling pride— Safe 'mid thy herds and cornfields thou hast stood, And join'd the yell of Famine and of Blood. All nations curse thee: and with eager wond'ring
4o, 1797.
[
135
]
O abandon'd 1803.
[
137-8
]
Mid thy Corn-fields and Herds thou in plenty hast stood And join'd the loud yellings of Famine and Blood.
1803.
[
139
]
They] and 1797, 1803, S. L. 1817.
[
142
]
fires] flames 4o.
[
144
]
Stretch'd on the marge of some fire-flashing fount In the black Chamber of a sulphur'd mount.
4o.
[
144
]
By livid fount, or roar of blazing stream 1797.
[
146
]
Visions of thy predestin'd ruins rise 1803.
[
151
]
famish'd] famin'd 4o.
[
156
]
Soliciting my scant and blameless soil 4o.
[
159-60
]
In the long sabbath of high self-content. Cleans'd from the fleshly passions that bedim
4o.
In the deep sabbath of blest self-content Cleans'd from the fears and anguish that bedim
1797.
In the blest sabbath of high self-content Cleans'd from bedimming Fear, and Anguish weak and blind.
1803.
[
161
]
om. 1803.