Classic Poem

O THOU ! dread foe of honour, wealth, and fame,
Whose touch can quell the strong, the fierce can tame;
Relentless Fear! ah! why did fate ordain
My trembling heart to own thy iron reign?
There are, thrice happy, who disdain thy sway
The merchant wandering o'er the watry way;
The chief serene before the' assaulted wall;
The climbing statesman, thoughtless of his fall;
All whom the love of wealth or power inspires,
And all who burn with proud ambition's fires:
But peaceful bards thy constant presence know,
O thou! of every glorious deed the foe!
Of thee the silent studious race complains,
And learning groans, a captive in thy chains.
The secret wish when some fair object moves,
And cautious reason what we wish approves,
Thy Gergon-from forbids to grasp the prize,
And seas are spread between, and mountains rise!
Thy magic arts a thousand phantoms raise,
And fancied deaths and dangers fill our ways;
With smiling hope you wage eternal strife,
And envious snatch the cup of joy from life.
O leave, tremendous power! the blameless breast,
Of guilt alone the tyrant and the guest.
Go, and thy train of sable horrors spread.
Where Murder meditates the future dead;
Where Rapine watches for the gloom of night,
And lawless passion pants for other's right;
Go to the bad — but from the good recede,
No more the foe of every glorious deed!