Page:Poems - Southey (1799) volume 1.djvu/148

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132

INSCRIPTION V.

For a MONUMENT in the NEW FOREST.

This is the place where William's kingly powerDid from their poor and peaceful homes expel,Unfriended, desolate, and shelterless,The habitants of all the fertile trackFar as these wilds extend. He levell'd downTheir little cottages, he bade their fieldsLie barren, so that o'er the forest wasteHe might most royally pursue his sports!If that thine heart be human, Passenger!Sure it will swell within thee, and thy lipsWill mutter curses on him. Think thou thenWhat cities flame, what hosts unsepulchredPollute the passing wind, when raging PowerDrives on his blood-hounds to the chase of Man;And as thy thoughts anticipate that dayWhen God shall judge aright, in charityPray for the wicked rulers of mankind.
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