Page:The West Indies, and Other Poems.djvu/151
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139
'Tis Alfred:—In the rolls of Fame,
And on a midnight page,
Blazes his broad refulgent name,
The watch-light of his age.
And on a midnight page,
Blazes his broad refulgent name,
The watch-light of his age.
A Danish winter, from the north,
Howl'd o'er the British wild,
But Alfred, like the spring, brake forth,
And all the desert smiled.
Howl'd o'er the British wild,
But Alfred, like the spring, brake forth,
And all the desert smiled.
Back to the deep he roll'd the waves,
By mad invasion hurl'd;
His voice was liberty to slaves,
Defiance to the world.
By mad invasion hurl'd;
His voice was liberty to slaves,
Defiance to the world.
And still that voice o'er land and sea
Shall Albion's foes appal;
The race of Alfred will be free;
Hear it, and tremble, Gaul!
Shall Albion's foes appal;
The race of Alfred will be free;
Hear it, and tremble, Gaul!