Page:Hemans in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine 12 1823.pdf/8

And the mighty rocks came bounding down
    Their startled foes among,
With a joyous whirl from the summit thrown—
    Oh! the herdsman's arm is strong!
        They came, like Lauwine*^[1] hurl’d,
        From Alp to Alp in play,
When the echoes shout through the snowy world,
        And the pines are borne away.

The larch-woods crash'd on the mountain side,
    And the Switzers rush'd from high
With a sudden charge, on the flower and pride
    Of the Austrian chivalry:
        Like hunters of the deer,
        They storm'd the narrow dell,
And first in the shock, with Uri's spear,
        Was the arm of William Tell†^[2]!

There was tumult in the crowded strait,
    And a cry of wild dismay,
And many a warrior met his fate
    From a peasant's hand that day!
        And the Empire's banners there,
        From its place of waving free,
Went down before the shepherd men,
        The men of the Forest Sea‡^[3].

1. * Lauwine—the Swiss name for the Avalanche.
2. † William Tell's name is particularly mentioned amongst the, confederates at Morgarten.
3. ‡ Forest Sea—the Lake of the Four Cantons.