In the edition of 1836, Wordsworth added the following note:-" In this, and a succeeding sonnet on the same subject, let me be understood as a Poet availing himself of the situation which the King of Sweden occupied, and of the principles avowed in his manifestos; as laying hold of these advantages for the purpose of embodying moral truths. This remark might, perhaps, as well have been suppressed; for to those who may be in sympathy with the course of these Poems, it will be superfluous; and will, I fear, be thrown away upon that other class, whose besotted admiration of the intoxicated despot, hereafter placed in contrast with him, is the most melancholy evidence of degradation in British feeling and intellect which the times have furnished."—ED. Look now on that Adventurer who hath paid And, if old judgments keep their sacred course, By violent and ignominious death. The "Adventurer" who "paid his vows to Fortune," in contrast to the royal Swede "who never did to Fortune bend the knee," was of course Napoleon Bonaparte.-ED. Is there a power that can sustain and cheer The captive chieftain, by a tyrant's doom, Forced to descend into his destined tomb-1 A dungeon dark! where he must waste the year, This may refer to Palafox, alluded to in a preceding sonnet (p. 221), and in the one next in order; although, from the latter sonnet, it would seem that Wordsworth did not know that Palafox was, in 1810, a prisoner at Vincennes.-ED. 1810. As already indicated, the poems belonging to the year 1810, like those of 1809, were mainly Sonnets, suggested by the events occurring on the Continent of Europe, and the patriotic efforts of the Spaniards to resist Napoleon. I have assigned the two sonnets referring to Flaminius, entitled "On a Celebrated Event in Ancient History," to the same year. They were first published in 1815, and seem to have been due to the same impulse which led Wordsworth to write the Sonnets dedicated to Liberty and Order."-ED. AH! where is Palafox? Nor tongue nor pen 1 1836. Forced to descend alive into his tomb. 1815. Of pitying human nature? Once again Methinks that we shall hail thee, Champion brave, And through all Europe cheer desponding men 1 IN due observance of an ancient rite, In choral song; and, while the uplifted cross 2 The Mother then mourns, as she needs must mourn; 1836. 2 1843. This done, a festal company unite 1815. Uncovered to his grave :-Her piteous loss The lonesome Mother cannot choose but mourn; 1815. 3 C. and 1843. And joy attends upon her fortitude. Or joy returns to brighten fortitude. 1815. 1836. 228 A ROMAN MASTER STANDS ON GRECIAN GROUND. FEELINGS OF A NOBLE BISCAYAN AT ONE OF THOSE FUNERALS. Comp. 1810. Pub. 1815. YET, yet, Biscayans! we must meet our Foes Our ancient freedom; else 'twere worse than vain ON A CELEBRATED EVENT IN ANCIENT HISTORY. Comp. 1810. Pub. 1815. 1 A ROMAN Master stands on Grecian ground, 1836. And to the Concourse of the Isthmian Games 1815. Dropped to the earth, astonished at the sound! By all the blended powers of Earth and Heaven. This "Roman Master" 66 on Grecian ground was T. Quintius Flaminius, one of the ablest and noblest of the Roman generals, (230-174 B.C.) He was successful against Philip of Macedon, overran Thessaly in 198, and conquered the Macedonian army in 197, defeating Philip at Cynoscephala. He concluded a peace with the vanquished. "In the spring of 196, the Roman commission arrived in Greece to arrange, conjointly with Flaminius, the affairs of the country: they also brought with them the terms on which a definite peace was to be concluded with Philip... The Etolians exerted themselves to excite suspicions among the Greeks as to the sincerity of the Romans in their dealings with them. Flaminius, however, insisted upon immediate compliance with the terms of the peace. In this summer, the Isthmian games were celebrated at Corinth, and thousands from all parts of Greece flocked thither. Flaminius, accompanied by the ten commissioners, entered the assembly, and, at his command, a herald, in name of the Roman Senate, proclaimed the freedom and independence of Greece. The joy and enthusiasm at this unexpected declaration was beyond all description: the throngs of people that crowded around Flaminius to catch a sight of their liberator or touch his garment were so enormous, that even his life was endangered." (Smith's Dic. of Greek and Roman Biography: Art. Flaminius.)-ED. WHEN, far and wide, swift as the beams of morn 1 1836. -A melancholy Echo of that voice Doth sometimes hang on musing Fancy's ear: 1815. |