To my poor mother, babe and wife, repair;
When I am gone, ah! comfort them," he said,
And then to heav'n, ('twas all he could) he pray'd:
"My poor, dear sire defend, (he pray'd with woe,
And as he pray'd the tears spontaneous flow,)
Oh! be his guard thy providential care,
Protect his son and string his arm to war;
Press'd by his single force let LECLERC See
His fame in arms; not owing all to me.
Preserve my wife and babe, the social train,
And safe return him to their arms again;
Preserve them from the foe, and peace restore,
Preserve them, and LOUVERTURE asks no more."
Then in his own his brother's hand he took,
And dying, thus the filial hero spoke :
"This instant from the town the foe repel,
Dear brother, now a long, a last farewel;
My sire defend"....he said, and strove to say,
But death with heav'nly smiles stop'd up the way :
And lo! the prince expires with mighty pain,
And sunk all languid on the purple plain.
So sinks a tow'r that long assaults had stood
Of force and fire, its walls besmear'd with blood.
In thick short sobs the vital spirit flies,
His head declin'd, and drooping as he dies.
He whose all conscious eyes the worlds behold, The Sire of cherubims, sat thron'd in gold, High in the third heav'ns, while a rolling cloud Involv'd his mount, the thunders roar'd aloud; And earth the footstool of his throne he makes, While wide beneath him, lo! all æther shakes: He views the prince with his ail-seeing eye, The vanquish'd triumph, and the victor die; And lo! th' Eternal, he whose nod controls
The universe, and shakes the steady poles,
Vail'd in a mist of fragrancies profound,
With clouds of gold and purple circled round,
His GABRIEL call'd; heav'n trembled at the sound;
Th' affrighted orbs from their foundations nod,
And blaze beneath the lightnings of the God;
The sons of light with mute attention stand,
And hear their gracious Maker's kind command.
Thus his harmonious voice Jehovah rais'd,
Thus at his glory angels are amaz'd ;
Duteous and big with love, with awe they look,
All heav'n attentive, listen'd as he spoke
Thus sweet to GABRIEL: "Thou, whose constant cares
Still succour mortals, and attend their pray❜rs,
Behold an object to thy charge consign'd,
If ever pity touch'd thee for mankind,
Go guard yon chief, the tempting foe prevent,
And safe conduct him thro' each element,
With guardian angels up to our abode,
To see, to love, to praise, t' enjoy his God;
For him let sympathetic pity flow,
For him who ever felt another's woe!
Thus guard the spirit to your charge consign'd,
And bear the virtues of the dead in mind;
How skill'd he was in each obliging art,
The mildest manners, and the kindest heart;
He was a gen'rous mortal to the end,
In life a patriot, as in death a friend.
Haste, bid him come, be this our will, and bear
With speed, our mandate thro' the fields of air."
He added not, and GABRIEL from the skies,
Swift as a whirlwind, on his message flies;
Swift as the words were spoke, thro' heav'n descends,
And mounts incumbent on the wings of winds;
Fledg'd with majestic wings, thro' dazzling light
And fragrance sweet, precipitates his flight;
Flies thro' the midst of heav'n; th' angelic lay
On each hand parting, to his speed gave way.
He pass'd bright cherubs utt'ring joy; heav'n rung
With jubilee, and saints hosannahs sung:
Then lowly reverend, with awe profound,
Tow'rds heav'n's bright throne they bow, and to the ground;
With raptures cast, refulgent to behold,
Their crowns, inwove with amarynth and gold;
The ground that like a sea of jasper shone,
Bright as the glancing glories of the sun,
Impurpled with ambrosia, dazzling bright,
Sprinkled with gold, intolerable light.
Now crown'd again, again their harps they take,
Harps ever tun'd, and heav'nly fruit partake,
Pluck'd from the tree of life, that ever glows
With fruit divine, and sun for ever grows,
Shading the fount of life, where nectar flows.
The sea of glass darts forth a golden gleam,
Rolls o'er elysian fields her amber stream.
The sacred song and thrilling symphony,
Now re-assum'd, fills heav'n with harmony;
No harp, no voice exempt, for all can join
Melodious sonnets, and sweet songs divine.
Thus they, while GABRIEL Swift as lightning flies,
Precipitate thro' heav'n, and down the skies;
Round his bright brows, all glorious to behold,
Of beaming sunny rays, a tier of gold
Circled his head; his glossy locks behind,
Lay waving on his shoulders, in the wind;
His loins girt with a starry zone, and round
His garments flow'd, in golden waves profound,
Whiter than new fall'n snow, by rude winds driv❜n, And fring'd around with colors dip'd in heav'n, Majestically grand; and lo! behind,
His robes magnificent, flap in the wind.
Two wings he wore, more white than winter snow, All tip'd with colors like Jehovah's bow;
He shook his plumes that heav'nly fragrance fill'd,
The circuit wide, and the etherial field;
A palm of vict'ry in one hand he bore,
Celestial sandals on his feet he wore ;
One knee was bare. Thus clad, august he flies,
And rends his glitt'ring passage thro' the skies;
The chequer'd darkness pierc'd by heav'nly rays,
At once reflects a shadow and a blaze;
Gilds the ærial fields with glancing beams,
Darts thro' the op'ning clouds with golden gleams;
Thro' sable clouds all fring'd with gold he flies,
Pass'd suns, pass'd stars in billions, thro' the skies,
When near the solar system he arrives,
He darts around his all consid'ring eyes;
Then in a moment to th' embattled plain
He flew, and saw the prince just newly slain.
Swift as he pass'd, the lofty mountains nod,
The forests shook, earth trembled as he trod,
And rev'renc'd the grand messenger of God.
And lo! his guardian angels on the shore,
Stood round the prince, all welt'ring in his gore.
Then GABRIEL spoke in brief: "Oh chief, receive
The great reward your gracious God can give ;
With these bright angels come to our abode,
To see, to love, to praise, t' enjoy your God;
Haste, come, for this Jehovah's will; I bear
With speed, his mandate thro' the fields of air."
He ceas'd; his voice melodious fill'd the plain,
While angels sung the sweet ambrosial strain.
The prince dissolv'd in love, no word he spoke,
But told his raptures with a heav'nly look.
"Haste, sister spirit, come, (the angels say)
Haste, sister spirit, haste, and come away,"
When lo! the soul broke from its house of clay.
With GABRIEL now he royally ascends,
And mounts upon the wings of mighty winds;
Swift from the earth they all instinctive fly,
Flame thro' the vast of air, and reach the sky ;
From orb to orb all gloriously they flew,
And left ten thousand thousand worlds below;
Thus to the heav'n of heav'ns LOUVERTURE flies,
Between the spacious earth and starry skies :
As swift as light, resistless as the wind,
He flew, and flying, left his foes behind.
Swift as the comet's momentary flight,
Swift as a fleeting vision of the night,
Swift and more swift the heav'nly convoy go,
As swift as lightning, and as white as snow.
Around the prince a radiant mantle flow'd,
That, rich with living colors, dazzling glow'd,
More white than snow, transparent to behold,
Tip'd with bright stars, and sprinkled o'er with gold.
Of heav'n's undrossy gold, the chief's array
Refulgent flash'd intolerable day;
His robe in waves floats in the wind, and round
A starry girdle to his bosom bound ;
His beauteous heavenly bosom, now more white
Than new fall'n snow, and dazzling as the light;
And now his hair in shining ringlets roll'd,
O'er his bright shoulders wav'd like melted gold.
He passes stars....his eyes are fix'd above,
And blazing suns....his eyes disdain to move;
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