3

These constitute a state;

And sovereign Law, that state's collected will,
O'er thrones and globes elate

Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill.
Smit by her sacred frown,

The fiend Dissension like a vapor sinks;
And e'en the all-dazzling crown

Hides his faint rays, and at her bidding shrinks.

4

Such was this heaven-loved isle;

Than Lesbos fairer, and the Cretan shore!
No more shall Freedom smile?

Shall Britons languish and be men no more?
Since all must life resign,

Those sweet rewards which decorate the brave
"Tis folly to decline,

And steal inglorious to the silent grave.

HELPS TO STUDY.

Biographical and Historical: Sir William Jones, 1746-1794, was an English author who was born at Westminster. He was a noted linguist and the son of the mathematician William Jones. He was knighted in 1783 and went to Calcutta as judge of the high court, where he died.

Crete, an island in the Mediterranean Sea, south of Greece, famed in the legends of Zeus and Minos and celebrated in antiquity for its laws. Lesbos, an island in the Aegean Sea, was celebrated as the seat of music and learning.

Notes and Questions.

What things does the poet say

do not constitute a state? What does the poet say constitutes a state?

Explain line four, stanza one.

What comparison is made in lines
two to four, stanza two?
What tyrant is mentioned in line
eight, stanza two?

10

And Irish Nora's eyes are dim
For the singer dumb and gory;
And English Mary mourns for him
Who sang of "Annie Laurie."

11

Sleep, soldiers! still in honored rest,
Your truth and valor wearing;
The bravest are the tenderest-
The loving are the daring.

HELPS TO STUDY.

Biographical and Historical: Bayard Taylor, 1825-1878, an American poet of high rank, was a Pennsylvania Quaker, who formed the central figure in the group of authors who gathered in New York City. He traveled extensively in Europe, making his first trip at eighteen years of age. During a stay of two years he "traveled on foot" more than three thousand miles in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and France, and upon his return gave an account of his travels in "Views Afoot." He and Richard Henry Stoddard were warm personal friends. In 1854 the Peninsula of Crimea was the scene of a war waged by England, France and Turkey against Russia. The incident related in this poem doubtless occurred during the siege of Sebastopol, which continued from October, 1854, to September, 1855, when the important fortresses known as the Malakoff and the Redan were stormed by the French and English and the Russians evacuated the city. Peace was proclaimed in April, 1856. It was in this war that the Light Brigade made their famous charge at Balaklava.