Xii

About thy sheltered cradle, in the green Untroubled groves of Sussex, brooded forms That to the mother’s eye remained unseen,-- Terrors and ardours, passionate hopes, and storms Of fierce retributive fury, such as jarred Ancient and sceptred creeds, and cast down kings, And oft the holy cause of Freedom marred With lust of meaner things, With guiltless blood, and many a frenzied crime Dared in the face of unforgetful Time.