Otomèca shares thy spoils, 'Cease your boast, O stranger band, Ceased the voice with dreadful sounds, Their course the' Iberians downward bore; And wide their ensigns fluttering in the gale. SCOTT. *The Otomies were a fierce, savage nation, never thoroughly subdued by the Mexicans. Tlascala was a powerful neighbouring republic, the rival of Mexico. Alluding to the dissensions which ensued among the Spaniards after the conquest of America. A MELOLOGUE*, (STRAIN OF MUSIC.) THERE breathes the language known and felt That language of the soul is felt and known. From those meridian plains Where oft, of old, on some high tower, The soft Peruvian pour'd his midnight strains, And call'd his distant love with such sweet power That when she heard the well known lay, Where the youth of Lapland's sky Bids his rapid reindeer fly, And sings along the darkling waste of snow Of vernal Phoebus burn'd upon his brow; Is still resistless, still the same; And faithful as the mighty sea To the pole star that o'er its realm presides, The spell-bound tides Of human passion rise and fall from thee. (GREEK AIR.) List! 'tis a Grecian maid that sings Recited by the author, at the Kilkenny Theatre, in 1810. The performers were gentlemen of the neighbouring country; and the profits were given to the charitable institutions of Kilkenny. She draws the cool lymph in her graceful urn, While, by her side, in Music's charm dissolving, Some patriot youth the glorious past revolving, Dreams of bright days that never can return; When Athens nursed her olive bough With hands by tyrant power unchain'd, And braided for the Muse's brow A wreath by tyrant touch unstain'd; When heroes trod each classic field, Where coward feet now faintly falter, And every arm was Freedom's shield, And every heart was Freedom's altar. (GREEK AIR INTERRUPTED BY A TRUMPET.) Hark! 'tis the sound that charms The war-steed's wakening ears Oh! many a mother folds her arms [hears; Round her boy-soldier when that sound she Is proud to see his young pulse bound With valour's fever at the sound.- See from his native hills afar The rude Helvetian flies to war, A conqueror oft, a hero never; Yet lavish of his lifeblood still As if 'twere like his mountain rill, And gush'd for ever! (RANZ DES VACHES.) Oh Music! here, even here Thy soul-felt charm asserts its wondrous power. There is an air, which oft among the rocks Of his own loved land at evening hour Is heard, when shepherds homeward pipe their flocks ; Oh! every note of it would thrill his mind With tenderest thoughts, and bring about his knees The rosy children whom he left behind; And fill each little angel eye With speaking tears, that ask him why He wander'd from his hut to scenes like these? Vain, vain is then the trumpet's brazen roar, Sweet notes of home, of love are all he hears, And the stern eyes that look'd for blood before, Now, melting mournful, lose themselves in tears! (RANZ DES VACHES INTERRUPTED BY A TRUMPET.) But wake the Trumpet's blast again, And rouse the ranks of warrior men! Oh War! when Truth thy arm employs, And Freedom's spirit guides the labouring storm, Thy vengeance takes a hallow'd form, And, like Heaven's lightning, sacredly destroys. Than the bless'd sound of fetters breaking, From Slavery's slumber, breathes to Liberty. (SPANISH PATRIOT'S SONG.) Hark! from Spain, indignant Spain, By Saragossa's ruin'd streets, By brave Gerona's deathful story, That while one Spaniard's lifeblood beats, That blood shall stain a conqueror's glory! (SPANISH AIR CONCLUDED.) But ah! if vain the patriot Spaniard's zeal, Of broken pride, of prospects shaded, Of ardour quench'd, and honour faded? (MELANCHOLY IRISH AIR, SUCCEEDED BY A Bless'd notes of mirth! ye spring from sorrow's lay, Like the sweet vesper of the bird that sings.. In the bright sunset of an April day, While the cold shower yet hangs upon his wings. Long may the Irish heart repeat An echo to those lively strains; Oh! he will feel his heart expand With grateful warmth, and, sighing, say— Thus speaks the music of the land Where welcome ever lights the stranger's way; VOL. III. G |