372 CONSOLATIONS OF SOLITUDE
Men shall forget their feuds and cruelty !
Truth from the earth hath purged the darker crimes
Caused by thy wild caprice in former times.
The age of feudal servitude is past ;
No guiltless wretches to the flames are cast ;
Wizard and witch with thy false lights have vanished ;
And, when her patron, Ignorance, shall be banished,
Shall Superstition from her throne be hurled,
Thy bastard child who long hath ruled the world —
She, of thy base-born progeny the last.
And coward Fear shall fly, and Error's reign be past.
Ah, when those baleful sprites are fled, And, like one risen from the dead. Love without rod shall rule mankind. And all in brotherhood shall bind ; When ancient evil is forgot, And guilt and grief remembered not, And godlike Reason peoples earth With beings of diviner birth ; Why, then, sweet Fancy, come once more ! Not crowned a monarch, as of yore. Do thou on Wisdom's steps attend Rather as servant than as friend. Contented at his feet to sit. And with thy brethren. Mirth and Wit, Sometimes to drown with jest and tale The growling storm or whistling gale !
Then once more to thine ancient fanes retire, Thine altars bright with no unhallowed fire. The Virtues by thy side ; and at the feast Stand thou a courteous host, no more high-priest, And, dressed in robes of purest white That cast a lustre on the night,
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