. Another year!--another deadly blow!
Another mighty Empire overthrown!
And We are left, or shall be left, alone;
The last that dare to struggle with the Foe.
'Tis well! from this day forward we shall know
That in ourselves our safety must be sought;
That by our own right hands it must be wrought;
That we must stand unpropped, or be laid low.
O dastard whom such foretaste doth not cheer!
We shall exult, if they who rule the land
Be men who hold its many blessings dear,
Wise, upright, valiant; not a servile band,
Who are to judge of danger which they fear,
And honour which they do not understand.
More verses by William Wordsworth
- Elegiac Stanzas Suggested By A Picture Of Peele Castle
- England V
- Among All Lovely Things My Love Had Been
- Inscriptions Written With A Slate Pencil Upon A Stone
- Lines Written As A School Exercise At Hawkshead, Anno Aetatis