The Poems of Philip Freneau Volume II Part 19

"To combat with the waves who first essayed, "Had these gay groves his lightsome heart beguiled, "His heart, attracted by the charming shade, "Had changed the deep sea for the woody wild; "And slighted all the gain that Neptune yields "For Damon's cottage, or Palemon's fields.

"His barque, the bearer of a feeble crew, "How could he trust when none had been to prove her; "Courage might sink when lands and sh.o.r.es withdrew, "And feeble hearts a thousand deaths discover: "But Fort.i.tude, tho' woes and death await, "Still views bright skies, and leaves the dark to fate.

"From monkey climes where limes and lemons grow, "And the sweet orange swells her fruit so fair, "To wintry worlds, with heavy heart, I go "To face the cold glance of the northern bear, "Where lonely waves, far distant from the sun, "And gulphs, of mighty strength, their circuits run.

"But how disheartening is the wanderer's fate!

"When conquered by the loud tempestuous main, "On him, no mourners in procession wait, "Nor do the sisters of the harp complain.-- "On coral beds and deluged sands they sleep, "Who sink in storms, and mingle with the deep.

"'Tis folly all--and who can truly tell "What storms disturb the bosom of that main, "What ravenous fish in those dark climates dwell "That feast on men--then stay, my gentle swain!

"Bred in yon' happy shades, be happy there, "And let these quiet groves claim all your care."

So spoke poor Ralph, and with a smooth sea gale Fled from the magic of the enchanting sh.o.r.e, But whether winds or waters did prevail, I saw the black ship ne'er returning more, Though long I walked the margin of the main, And long have looked--and still must look in vain!

[141] From the edition of 1809. In 1788 this was ent.i.tled "The Lost Sailor;" in 1795, "Argonauta."

THE POLITICAL BALANCE[142]

Or, The Fates of Britain and America Compared

A Tale

_Deciding Fates, in Homer's stile, we shew, And bring contending G.o.ds once more to view._

As Jove the Olympian (who both I and you know, Was brother to Neptune, and husband to Juno) Was lately reviewing his papers of state, He happened to light on the records of Fate:

In Alphabet order this volume was written-- So he opened at B, for the article Britain-- She struggles so well, said the G.o.d, I will see What the sisters in Pluto's dominions decree.

And first, on the top of a column he read "Of a king with a mighty soft place in his head, "Who should join in his temper the a.s.s and the mule, "The third of his name, and by far the worst fool:

"His reign shall be famous for multiplication, "The sire and the king of a whelp generation: "But such is the will and the purpose of fate, "For each child he begets he shall forfeit a State:

"In the course of events, he shall find to his cost "That he cannot regain what he foolishly lost; "Of the nations around he shall be the derision, "And know by experience the rule of Division."

So Jupiter read--a G.o.d of first rank-- And still had read on--but he came to a blank: For the Fates had neglected the rest to reveal-- They either forgot it, or chose to conceal:

When a leaf is torn out, or a blot on a page That pleases our fancy, we fly in a rage-- So, curious to know what the Fates would say next, No wonder if Jove, disappointed, was vext.

But still as true genius not frequently fails, He glanced at the Virgin, and thought of the Scales; And said, "To determine the will of the Fates, "One scale shall weigh Britain, the other the States."

Then turning to Vulcan, his maker of thunder, Said he, "My dear Vulcan, I pray you look yonder, "Those creatures are tearing each other to pieces, "And, instead of abating, the carnage increases.

"Now, as you are a blacksmith, and l.u.s.ty stout ham-eater, "You must make me a globe of a shorter diameter; "The world in abridgment, and just as it stands "With all its proportions of waters and lands;

"But its various divisions must so be designed, "That I can unhinge it whene'er I've a mind-- "How else should I know what the portions will weigh, "Or which of the combatants carry the day?"

Old Vulcan complied, (we've no reason to doubt it) So he put on his ap.r.o.n and strait went about it-- Made center, and circles as round as a pancake, And here the Pacific, and there the Atlantic.

An axis he hammered, whose ends were the poles, (On which the whole body perpetually rolls) A brazen meridian he added to these, Where four times repeated were[143] ninety degrees.

I am sure you had laughed to have seen his droll att.i.tude, When he bent round the surface the circles of lat.i.tude, The zones and the tropics, meridians, equator, And other fine things that are drawn on salt water.

Away to the southward (instructed by Pallas) He placed in the ocean the Terra Australis, New Holland, New Guinea, and so of the rest-- America lay by herself in the west:

From the regions where winter eternally reigns, To the climes of Peru he extended her plains; Dark groves, and the zones did her bosom adorn, And the Crosiers,[A] new burnished, he hung at Cape Horn.

[A] Stars, in the form of a cross, which mark the South Pole in Southern lat.i.tudes.--_Freneau's note._

The weight of two oceans she bore on her sides, With all their convulsions of tempests and tides; Vast lakes on her surface did fearfully roll, And the ice from her rivers surrounded the pole.

Then Europe and Asia he northward extended, Where under the Arctic with Zembla they ended; (The length of these regions he took with his garters, Including Siberia, the land of the Tartars.)

In the African clime (where the cocoa-nut tree grows) He laid down the desarts, and even the negroes, The sh.o.r.es by the waves of four oceans embraced, And elephants strolling about in the waste.

In forming East India, he had a wide scope, Beginning his work at the cape of Good Hope; Then eastward of that he continued his plan, 'Till he came to the empire and isles of j.a.pan.

Adjacent to Europe he struck up an island, (One part of it low, but the other was high land) With many a comical creature upon it, And one wore a hat, and another a bonnet.

Like emmits or ants in a fine summer's day, They ever were marching in battle array, Or skipping about on the face of the brine, Like witches in egg-sh.e.l.ls (their ships of the line).

These poor little creatures were all in a flame, To the lands of America urging their claim, Still biting, or stinging, or spreading their sails; (For Vulcan had formed them with stings in their tails).

So poor and so lean, you might count all their ribs,[B]

Yet were so enraptured with crackers and squibs, That Vulcan with laughter almost split asunder, "Because they imagined their crackers were thunder."

[B] Their national debt being now above _l._ 200,000,000 sterling.--_Freneau's note._

Due westward from these, with a channel between, A servant to slaves, Hibernia was seen, Once crowded with monarchs, and high in renown, But all she retained was the Harp and the Crown!

Insulted forever by n.o.bles and priests,[144]

And managed by bullies, and governed by beasts, She looked!--to describe her I hardly know how-- Such an image of death in the scowl on her brow.

For scaffolds and halters were full in her view, And the fiends of perdition their cutla.s.ses drew: And axes and gibbets around her were placed, And the demons of murder her honours defaced.

With the blood of the worthy her mantle was stained, And hardly a trace of her beauty remained.

Her genius, a female, reclined in the shade, And, sick of oppression,[145] so mournfully played, That Jove was uneasy to hear her complain, And ordered his blacksmith to loosen her chain:

Then tipt her a wink, saying, "Now is your time, "(To rebel is the sin, to revolt is no crime) "When your fetters are off, if you dare not be free "Be a slave and be d.a.m.ned,[146] but complain not to me."

But finding her timid, he cried in a rage-- "Though the doors are flung open, she stays in the cage!

"Subservient to Britain then let her remain, "And her freedom shall be, but the choice[147] of her chain,"

At length, to discourage all stupid pretensions, Jove looked at the globe, and approved its dimensions, And cried in a transport--"Why what have we here!

"Friend Vulcan, it is a most beautiful sphere!