Page:Passions 2.pdf/372

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360
ETHWALD:


Sec. Ch. Shall we not now the slumb'ring Mercians rouse,
And tell our countrymen that they are free
From the oppressor's yoke?

Her. Yes, thou say'st well: thro' all the vexed land
Let ev'ry heart bound at the joyful tidings!
Thus from his frowning height the tyrant falls,
Like a dark mountain, whose interior fires,
Raging in ceaseless tumult, have devour'd
Its own foundations. Sunk in sudden ruin
To the tremendous gulph, in the vast void
No friendly rock rears its opposing head
To stay the dreadful crash.
The joyful hinds, with grave and chasten'd joy,
Point to the traveller the hollow vale
Where once it stood, and the now sunned cots,
Where, near its base, they and their little ones
Dwelt trembling in its deep and fearful shade.
(Exeunt.