The Goddess
ON A PERSON WHOM THE AUTHOR HAD SEEN PLAYING THE PART OF LIBERTY IN ONE OF THE FÊTES OF THE REVOLUTION
La Deesse.
What! is it thou, thou whom I saw so fair in other days,
When a whole people round thy car in rapture thronged to gaze?
They bade thee, whilst saluting thee, the name immortal bear
Of her whose standard thou thyself wert brandishing in air
Our shouts of joy, the deep respect with which to thee we bowed,
Thy glory and thy matchless charms, combined to make thee proud:
Yes, yes, a goddess thou didst move majestic through the crowd.
Goddess of Liberty!
O'er ruins of a Gothic age thy course triumphant lay;
Our brave defenders round thee pressed to greet thee on thy way:
Then wreaths of flowers were rained in showers, and virgins chaste and fair
Mingled their own harmonious strains with many a martial air
I, who, a hapless child, was doomed, as one of orphan race,
To drain the bitter draughts that chance before my lips might place,
I cried, " Ah! let me find in thee a mother's fond embrace,
Goddess of Liberty! "
With names of infamous renown that epoch hath been fraught;
But then, in youth's unconscious age, I could not judge of aught:
In spelling, with my childish tongue, our country — tender word —
The thought of foreigners and foes my soul with horror stirred
All was in agitation then; all armed them for defence;
All, all were proud, but Poverty to pride made most pretence
Ah, give me back! ah, give me back my childhood's joyous sense,
Goddess of Liberty!
As some volcano quenched beneath its ashes, heap on heap,
This people, after twenty years, was lulled again to sleep:
'Twas then the alien brought with him his balance in his hold,
And twice could say to them, " O Gauls! come, weigh us out your gold! "
When in our drunkenness we paid our homage to the skies,
And bowing down to Beauty, bade for her an altar rise,
Thou wert but of some happy dream the image in our eyes,
Goddess of Liberty!
I see thee once again, and now hath Time's too rapid flight
Made dull those eyes, where once the Loves were laughing in their light:
I see thee once again, and Time hath wrinkled so thy brow
That, as I speak, for thy young days, methinks 'tis blushing now.
Be re-assured; the car, the flowers, the altar as of yore,
Youth, glory, virtue, grandeur, hope, and pride, are now no more
All, all have perished; thou art not a goddess as before,
Goddess of Liberty!
La Deesse.
What! is it thou, thou whom I saw so fair in other days,
When a whole people round thy car in rapture thronged to gaze?
They bade thee, whilst saluting thee, the name immortal bear
Of her whose standard thou thyself wert brandishing in air
Our shouts of joy, the deep respect with which to thee we bowed,
Thy glory and thy matchless charms, combined to make thee proud:
Yes, yes, a goddess thou didst move majestic through the crowd.
Goddess of Liberty!
O'er ruins of a Gothic age thy course triumphant lay;
Our brave defenders round thee pressed to greet thee on thy way:
Then wreaths of flowers were rained in showers, and virgins chaste and fair
Mingled their own harmonious strains with many a martial air
I, who, a hapless child, was doomed, as one of orphan race,
To drain the bitter draughts that chance before my lips might place,
I cried, " Ah! let me find in thee a mother's fond embrace,
Goddess of Liberty! "
With names of infamous renown that epoch hath been fraught;
But then, in youth's unconscious age, I could not judge of aught:
In spelling, with my childish tongue, our country — tender word —
The thought of foreigners and foes my soul with horror stirred
All was in agitation then; all armed them for defence;
All, all were proud, but Poverty to pride made most pretence
Ah, give me back! ah, give me back my childhood's joyous sense,
Goddess of Liberty!
As some volcano quenched beneath its ashes, heap on heap,
This people, after twenty years, was lulled again to sleep:
'Twas then the alien brought with him his balance in his hold,
And twice could say to them, " O Gauls! come, weigh us out your gold! "
When in our drunkenness we paid our homage to the skies,
And bowing down to Beauty, bade for her an altar rise,
Thou wert but of some happy dream the image in our eyes,
Goddess of Liberty!
I see thee once again, and now hath Time's too rapid flight
Made dull those eyes, where once the Loves were laughing in their light:
I see thee once again, and Time hath wrinkled so thy brow
That, as I speak, for thy young days, methinks 'tis blushing now.
Be re-assured; the car, the flowers, the altar as of yore,
Youth, glory, virtue, grandeur, hope, and pride, are now no more
All, all have perished; thou art not a goddess as before,
Goddess of Liberty!
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