INDEPENDENCE: AN ODE.

[Price Sixpence.]

INDEPENDENCE: AN ODE.

By the Late T. SMOLLET, M. D.

LONDON: Printed for J. MURRAY, at No. 32, Fleet-Street. MDCCLXXIV.

ADVERTISEMENT.

THAT this Poem is authentic we have the best Authority: That it has high Merit no one will doubt, who has the smallest Pretension to Taste. It has all the Enthusiasm and poetic Colouring which suit the Ode; and it breathes a Spirit of Liberty that would not have disgraced a Citizen of Sparta, or of Rome.

AN INSCRIPTION To the Memory of the late Dr. TOBIAS SMOLLET.

This Inscription was communicated to the Editor by a Gentleman, who transcribed it from the Monument which it adorns near Leghorn. It is written by Dr. ARMSTRONG, the Author of the beautiful Poem on HEALTH.
Hic ossa conduntur
Tobiae Smollet, Scoti;
Qui, prosapia generosa et antiqua natus,
Priscae virtutis exemplar emicuit;
Aspectu ingenuo,
Corpore valido,
Pectore animoso,
Indole apprime benigna,
Et fere supra facultates munifica,
Insignis.
Ingenio feraci, faceto, versatili,
Omnigenae fere doctrinae mire capaci,
Varia fabularum dulcedine
Vitam moresque hominum,
Ubertate summa ludens, depinxit.
Adverso, interim, nefas! tali tantoque alumno,
Nisi quo satyrae opipare supplebat,
Seculo impio, ignavo, fatuo,
Quo musae vix nisi nothae
Mecaenatulis Britannicis
Fovebantur.
In memoriam
Optimi et amabilis omnino viri,
Permultis amicis desiderati,
Hocce marmor,
Dilectissima simul et amantissima conjux
L. M.
Sacravit.

INDEPENDENCE: AN ODE.

STROPHE.
THY Spirit, INDEPENDENCE, let me share!
Lord of the Lion-Heart and Eagle-Eye,
Thy Steps I follow with my Bosom bare,
Nor heed the Storm that howls along the Sky.
Deep in the frozen Regions of the North,
A Goddess violated brought thee forth,
[Page 8] Immortal LIBERTY, whose look sublime
Hath blanch'd the Tyrant's Cheek in every varying Clime.
What Time the iron-hearted Gaul
With frantic Superstition for his Guide,
Armed with the Dagger and the Pall,
The Sons of Woden to the Field defy'd:
The ruthless Hag, by Weser's flood,
In Heaven's Name urg'd the infernal Blow;
And red the Stream began to flow:
The vanquish'd were baptiz'd with Blood!
ANTISTROPHE.
The Saxon Prince in Horror fled
From Altars stain'd with human Gore;
And Liberty his routed Legions led
In Safety to the bleak Norwegian Shore.
There in a Cave asleep she lay,
Lull'd by the hoarse-resounding Main;
When a bold Savage past that Way,
Impell'd by Destiny, his Name Disdain.
Of ample Front the portly Chief appear'd:
The hunted Bear supplied a shaggy Vest;
The drifted Snow hung on his yellow Beard;
And his broad Shoulders brav'd the furious Blast.
[Page 10] He stopt; he gazed; his Bosom glow'd,
And deeply felt th' Impression of her Charms:
He seiz'd the Advantage Fate allow'd;
And straight compress'd her in his vigorous Arms.
STROPHE.
The Curlieu screamed; the Tritons blew
Their Shells to celebrate the ravish'd Rite;
Old Time exulted as he flew:
And INDEPENDENCE saw the Light.
The Light he saw in Albion's happy Plains,
Where under Cover of a flowering Thorn,
While Philomel renew'd her warbled Strains,
Th' auspicious Fruit of stol'n Embrace was born.
[Page 11] The Mountain Dryads seiz'd with Joy,
The smiling Infant to their Charge consign'd;
The Doric Muse caress'd the favourite Boy;
The Hermit Wisdom stor'd his opening Mind.
As rolling Years matur'd his Age,
He flourish'd bold and sinewy as his Sire;
While the mild Passions in his Breast assuage
The fiercer Flames of his maternal Fire.
ANTISTROPHE.
Accomplish'd thus, he wing'd his Way,
And zealous rov'd from Pole to Pole,
The Rolls of Right eternal to display,
And warm with Patriot Thoughts the aspiring Soul.
[Page 12] On desart Isles* 'twas he that rais'd
Those Spires that gild the Adriatic Wave,
Where Tyranny beheld amaz'd
Fair Freedom's Temple, where he mark'd her Grave.
He steel'd the blunt Batavian's Arms
To burst the Iberian's double Chain;
And Cities rear'd, and planted Farms,
Won from the Skirts of Neptune's wide Domain.
[Page 13] He, with the generous Rustics, sate
On Uri's Rocks in close Divan*;
And wing'd that Arrow sure as Fate,
Which ascertain'd the sacred Rights of Man.
STROPHE.
Arabia's scorching Sands he crost,
Where blasted Nature pants supine,
Conductor of her Tribes adust,
To Freedom's adamantine Shrine;
[Page 14] And many a Tartar Hord forlorn, aghast*,
He snatch'd from under fell Oppression's Wing;
And taught, amidst the dreary Waste,
Th' all-chearing Hymns of Liberty to sing.
He Virtue finds, like precious Ore,
Diffus'd through every baser Mould;
Even now he stands on Calvi's rocky Shore,
And turns the Dross of Corsica to Gold.
[Page 15] He, Guardian Genius, taught my Youth
Pomp's tinsel Livery to despise:
My Lips, by him chastis'd to Truth,
Ne'er paid that Homage which the Heart denies.
ANTISTROPHE.
Those sculptur'd Halls my Feet shall never tread,
Where varnish'd Vice and Vanity combin'd,
To dazzle and seduce, their Banners spread,
And forge vile Shackles for the free-born Mind.
Where Insolence his wrinkled Front uprears;
And all the Flowers of spurious Fancy blow;
And Title his ill-woven Chaplet wears,
Full often wreath'd around the Miscreant's Brow:
[Page 16] Wherever dimpling Falshood, pert and vain,
Presents her Cup of stale Profession's Froth;
And pale Disease, with all his bloated Train,
Torments the Sons of Gluttony and Sloth.
STROPHE.
In Fortune's Car behold that Minion ride,
With either India's glittering Spoils opprest:
So moves the Sumpter-Mule, in harness'd Pride,
That bears the Treasure which he cannot taste.
For him let venal Bards disgrace the Bay;
And hireling Minstrels wake the tinkling String;
Her sensual Snares let faithless Pleasure lay;
And all her gingling Bells fantastic Folly ring:
[Page 17] Disquiet, Doubt, and Dread shall intervene;
And Nature, still to all her Feelings just,
In Vengeance hang a damp on every Scene,
Shook from the baleful Pinions of Disgust.
ANTISTROPHE.
Nature I'll court in her sequester'd Haunts,
By Mountain, Meadow, Streamlet, Grove, or Cell,
Where the pois'd Lark his Evening Ditty chaunts,
And Health, and Peace, and Contemplation dwell.
There, Study shall with Solitude recline;
And Friendship pledge me to his Fellow-Swains;
And Toil and Temperance sedately twine
The slender chord that fluttering Life sustains:
[Page 18] And fearless Poverty shall guard the Door;
And Taste unspoil'd the frugal Table spread;
And Industry supply the humble Store;
And Sleep unbrib'd his Dews refreshing shed:
White-mantl'd Innocence, etherial Spright,
Shall chace far off the Goblins of the Night:
And INDEPENDENCE o'er the Day preside;
Propitious Power! my Patron and my Pride.
FINIS.

BOOKS printed for J. MURRAY, No. 32, FLEET-STREET, LONDON.

  • 1. ARMINE and ELVIRA; a Legendary Tale, in Two Parts. By Mr. CARTWRIGHT. Fifth Edition. Price 2s.
  • 2. ORIGINAL POEMS, from a Manuscript written in the Time of Oliver Cromwell. Price 1s. 6d.
  • 3. The EPIGONIAD: A Poem in Nine Books. To which is added a Dream in the Manner of Spencer. By WILLIAM WILKIE, D. D. 12mo. Price 3s. bound.
  • 4. A DISCOURSE upon Public Oeconomy and Commerce. By the celebrated Marquis Caesan Baccaria, Author of the Treatise on Crimes and Punishments. Price 1s. 6d.
  • 5. The TOILET of FLORA: Or, A Collection of the most simple and approved Methods of preparing Baths, Essences, Pomatums, Powders, sweet-scented Waters, and Opiates, for preserving and whitening the Teeth, &c. for the Use of the Ladies. Price 3s. bound.
  • [Page] 6. A SKETCH of the Secret History of Europe, since the Peace of Paris; with Observations on the present critical State of Great Britain. Price 1s.
  • 7. An ESSAY on the Advantages of a polite Education, joined with a learned one. Price 1s. 6d.
  • 8. The NUNNERY for COQUETS: A Novel. Price 3s. 6d.
  • 9. The CASTLE of OTRANTO: A Gothic Story. By Mr. H. Walpole. 8vo. Price 3s. 6d.
  • 10. A DISSERTATION on the Rise, Union, and Power, the Progressions, Separations, and Corruptions of Poetry and Music. To which is prefixed, The Cure of Saul, a sacred Ode, written by Dr. Browne. The Second Edition, in Quarto. Price 8s. in Boards.

This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal. The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.