Answer

"Stranger, 'tis no act of courage Which aloft thou dost discern; No bold bird gone forth to forage 'Mid the tempest stern; But such mockery as the nations See, when public perturbations Lift men from their native stations, Like yon TUFT OF FERN;

"Such it is; the aspiring creature Soaring on undaunted wing, (So you fancied) is by nature A dull helpless thing, Dry and withered, light and yellow;-- That to be the tempest's fellow! Wait--and you shall see how hollow Its endeavouring!"

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