The Poetical Works of the Right Hon. George Granville, Lord Lansdowne/82

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The Poetical Works of the Right Hon. George Granville, Lord Lansdowne
by George Granville
3192701The Poetical Works of the Right Hon. George Granville, Lord LansdowneGeorge Granville

TO MY DEAR KINSMAN
CHARLES LORD LANSDOWNE,
Upon the bombardment of the town of Granville in Normandy by the Engliſh fleet.

Tho’ built by gods, conſum’d by hoſtile flame
Troy bury’d lies, yet lives the Trojan name;
And ſo ſhall thine, tho’ with theſe walls were loſt
All the records our anceſtors could boaſt.
For Latium conquer’d, and for Turnus ſlain,5
Æneas lives, tho’ not one ſtone remain
Where he aroſe. Nor art thou leſs renown’d
For thy loud triumphs on Hungarian ground.
Those arms[1] which, for nine centuries, had brav’d
The wrath of Time, on antique ſtone engrav’d,10
Now torn by mortars, ſtand yet undefac’d
On nobler trophies, by thy valour rais’d:
Safe on thy Eagle’s[2] wings, they ſoar above
The rage of war or thunder to remove,
Borne by the bird of Cæſar and of Jove.15

  1. The Granville arms, ſtill remaining at that time on one of the gates of the town.
  2. He was created a Count of the Empire, the family arms to be borne for ever upon the breaſt of the Imperial Spread Eagle.