February, 1816

Composed February 4, 1816.--Published 1816

One of the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty."--ED.

Intrepid sons of Albion! not by you Is life despised; ah no, the spacious earth Ne'er saw a race who held, by right of birth, So many objects to which love is due: Ye slight not life--to God and Nature true; But death, becoming death, is dearer far, When duty bids you bleed in open war: Hence hath your prowess quelled that impious crew. Heroes!--for instant sacrifice prepared; Yet filled with ardour and on triumph bent 'Mid direst shocks of mortal accident-- To you who fell, and you whom slaughter spared To guard the fallen, and consummate the event, Your Country rears this sacred Monument!

It need hardly be said that the intention of using the six last lines as an "Inscription" was never carried into effect. The infelicity of the second last line is fatal to its use on any "monument." The punctuation of the Sonnet as it appeared in The Champion, January 2, 1814, differs slightly from the above.--ED.