Page:Stanzas on George III.pdf/5

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OF THE LATE KING.

7

His was the spirit, o'er the isles which threw
    The mantle of its fortitude; and wrought
In every bosom, powerful to renew
    Each dying spark of pure and generous thought;
The star of tempests! beaming on the mast*^[1],
The seaman's torch of Hope, 'midst perils deepening fast.

Then from th' unslumbering influence of his worth,
    Strength, as of inspiration, fill'd the land;
A young, but quenchless, flame went brightly forth,
    Kindled by him—who saw it not expand!
Such was the will of Heaven,—the gifted seer,
    Who with his God had communed, face to face,
And from the house of bondage, and of fear,
    In faith victorious, led the chosen race;
He, thro' the desert and the waste their guide,
Saw dimly from afar, the promis'd land—and died.

↑ *The glittering meteor, like a star, which often appears about a ship during tempests, if seen upon the main-mast, is considered by the sailors as an omen of good weather.—See Dampier's Voyages.

[1] *The glittering meteor, like a star, which often appears about a ship during tempests, if seen upon the main-mast, is considered by the sailors as an omen of good weather.—See Dampier's Voyages.

[1]