--
III.
Ye visions that before me roll,
That freeze my blood, that shake my soul!
Are ye the phantoms of a dream?
Pale spectres! are ye what ye seem?
They glide more near--
Their forms unfold!
Fix'd are their eyes, on me they bend--
Their glaring look is cold!
And hark!--I hear
Sounds that the throbbing pulse of life suspend.
IV.
"No wild illusion cheats thy sight
"With shapes that only live in night--
"Mark the native glories spread
"Around my bleeding brow!
"The crown of Albion wreath'd my head,
"And Gallia's lilies[A] twin'd below--
"When my father shook his spear,
"When his banner sought the skies,
"Her baffled host recoil'd with fear,
"Nor turn'd their shrinking eyes:--
"Soon as the daring eagle springs
"To bask in heav'n's empyreal light,
"The vultures ply their baleful wings,
"A cloud of deep'ning colour marks their flight,
"Staining the golden day:--
"But see! amid the rav'nous brood
"A bird of fiercer aspect soar--
"The spirits of a rival race[B],
"Hang on the noxious blast, and trace,
"With gloomy joy his destin'd prey;
"Inflame th' ambitious with that thirsts for blood,
"And plunge his talons deep in kindred gore.
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