III.

But where is he, the modern, mightier far,
Who, born no king, made monarchs draw his car;
The new Sesostris, whose unharnessed kings,[260]
Freed from the bit, believe themselves with wings,
And spurn the dust o'er which they crawled of late,
Chained to the chariot of the Chieftain's state?
Yes! where is he, "the champion and the child"[261]
Of all that's great or little--wise or wild; 50
Whose game was Empire, and whose stakes were thrones;
Whose table Earth--whose dice were human bones?
Behold the grand result in yon lone Isle,
And, as thy nature urges--weep or smile.
Sigh to behold the Eagle's lofty rage
Reduced to nibble at his narrow cage;
Smile to survey the queller of the nations
Now daily squabbling o'er disputed rations;[dx][262]
Weep to perceive him mourning, as he dines,
O'er curtailed dishes and o'er stinted wines; 60
O'er petty quarrels upon petty things.
Is this the Man who scourged or feasted kings?
Behold the scales in which his fortune hangs,
A surgeon's[263] statement, and an earl's[264] harangues!
A bust delayed,[265]--a book[266] refused, can shake
The sleep of Him who kept the world awake.
Is this indeed the tamer of the Great,[dy]
Now slave of all could tease or irritate--
The paltry gaoler[267] and the prying spy,
The staring stranger with his note-book nigh?[268] 70
Plunged in a dungeon, he had still been great;
How low, how little was this middle state,
Between a prison and a palace, where
How few could feel for what he had to bear!
Vain his complaint,--My Lord presents his bill,
His food and wine were doled out duly still;
Vain was his sickness, never was a clime
So free from homicide--to doubt's crime;
And the stiff surgeon,[269] who maintained his cause,
Hath lost his place, and gained the world's applause. 80
But smile--though all the pangs of brain and heart
Disdain, defy, the tardy aid of art;
Though, save the few fond friends and imaged face
Of that fair boy his Sire shall ne'er embrace,
None stand by his low bed--though even the mind
Be wavering, which long awed and awes mankind:
Smile--for the fettered Eagle breaks his chain,
And higher Worlds than this are his again.[270]