Classic Poem

I i 28 57

LEONTIUS

The Sons of Greece ,
Ill-fated Race! So oft besieg'd in vain,
With false Security beheld Invasion.
Why should they fear? — That Power that kindly spreads
The Clouds, a Signal of impending Show'rs,
To warn the wand'ring Linnet to the Shade,
Beheld without Concern, expiring Greece ,
And not one Prodigy foretold our Fate.

DEMETRIUS
A thousand horrid Prodigies foretold it.
A feeble Government, eluded Laws,
A factious Populace, luxurious Nobles,
And all the Maladies of sinking States.
When publick Villainy, too strong for Justice,
Shows his bold Front, the Harbinger of Ruin,
Can brave Leontius call for airy Wonders,
Which Cheats interpret, and which Fools regard?
When some neglected Fabrick nods beneath
The Weight of Years, and totters to the Tempest,
Must Heaven dispatch the Messengers of Light,
Or wake the Dead to warn us of its Fall?

LEONTIUS
Well might the Weakness of our Empire sink
Before such Foes of more than human Force;
Some Pow'r invisible, from Heav'n or Hell,
Conducts their Armies and asserts their Cause.

DEMETRIUS
And yet, my Friend, what Miracles were wrought
Beyond the Power of Constancy and Courage;
Did unresisted Lightning aid their Cannon,
Did roaring Whirlwinds sweep us from the Ramparts:
'Twas Vice that shook our Nerves, 'twas Vice, Leontius,
That froze our Veins, and wither'd all our Powers.