f this Tyrolean group were placed among the "Sonnets
dedicated to Liberty."--ED.

Of mortal parents is the Hero born
By whom the undaunted Tyrolese are led?
Or is it Tell's great Spirit, from the dead
Returned to animate an age forlorn?
He comes like Phoebus through the gates of morn 5
When dreary darkness is discomfited,
Yet mark his modest[1] state! upon his head,
That simple crest, a heron's plume, is worn.[2]
O Liberty! they stagger at the shock
From van to rear--and with one mind would flee, 10
But half their host is buried:[3]--rock on rock
Descends:--beneath this godlike Warrior, see!
Hills, torrents, woods, embodied to bemock
The Tyrant, and confound his cruelty.

The expectation that the Germans would rise against the French in 1807
was realised only in the Tyrol. Andreas Hofer, an innkeeper in the
Passeierthal, was the chief of the Tyrolese leaders. More than once he
called his countrymen to arms, and was successful for a time. The
Bavarians, however, defeated him, in October 1809. He was tried by
court-martial, and shot in 1810.--ED.

VARIANTS:

[1] 1815.

... simple ... 1809.

[2] 1815.

A Heron's feather for a crest is worn. 1809.

[3] 1837.

... at the shock;
The Murderers are aghast; they strive to flee
And half their Host is buried:-- ... 1809.

FOOTNOTES:

[A] In _The Friend_, October 26.--ED.

II

"ADVANCE--COME FORTH FROM THY TYROLEAN GROUND"

Composed 1809.--Published 1809[A]

Advance--come forth from thy Tyrolean ground,
Dear Liberty! stern Nymph of soul untamed;
Sweet Nymph, O rightly of the mountains named!
Through the long chain of Alps from mound to mound
And o'er the eternal snows, like Echo, bound; 5
Like Echo, when the hunter train at dawn
Have roused her from her sleep: and forest-lawn,
Cliffs, woods and caves, her viewless steps resound
And babble of her pastime!--On, dread Power!
With such invisible motion speed thy flight, 10
Through hanging clouds, from craggy height to height,
Through the green vales and through the herdsman's bower--
That all the Alps may gladden in thy might,
Here, there, and in all places at one hour.

FOOTNOTES:

[A] In _The Friend_, October