Poetry.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XI, Issue 643, 5 January 1859, Page 3

Poetry.

I „\TII OF TIIE r DUKE, OF WELLINGTON. P „ BY H. W. LONGFELLOW, [From 'the tier volume—" Miles Standish and j, . ' -other Poems."] A mist was Jriyijjsr.down the British Channel, The.foj. was just bjagtin, And through tho window-panes, on floor and panel, Streamed> 9 red autumn sua, 1. „i«iDcrfon flowing flag nnd.ripphng pennon, _l' And the. white aails of ships j ol ■' B • - An"J t T fr? 1 m Iti'1ti' fri**»t»g rampart; the black cannon, H , Haded it with feverish lips. M :" ;.v;£ndwich and Jomncy, Hastings, Hythe, and Dover W, , Were all alert that day, E#' ? 0 see the French war-steamers speeding over, 9 when the fog;cleared away. &1 $uik« a»d silent, 'and' like couc'hant lions, ■fcj l'Lcw cannon through the night, m - soi.iing t heir oreath, had watched in grim defiance |H Tho sea-coast opposite. |;| And now they roared at drum-beat from their stations JH On erery citadel; M &»ch answering each, with morning salutations. H That all was well. Ijl. An 3 down tho coast, all taking up the burden, 111 Replied the distant forts, 111 •^ if t0 sutnm(>n fro,n his, sleep the Warden IH And Lord of the Cinque Ports. [f| Him shall no sunshine from the fields of aizure, ■f No drum-beat from the wall, ■j No morning gun from the black fort's embrasure, Awaken with its call] No more, surveying with an eye impartial The long line of the coast, ' Shall the gaunt figure oftlie old Field Marshal Be seen upon his post! Por intluuright, unseen, a single warrior, ; In sombre harness mailed, Dreaded of man, and surnamed the Destroyer, The rampart wall had scaled. He pissed into the chamber of the sleeper, ' The dark and silent room, And, as he entered, darker grew, and deeper, Tne silence and the gloom. He did not pause to parley or dissemble, But smote the Warden hoar; Ah, what a blow! that made all-England tremble And groan from shore to shore. Meanwhile, without, the surly cannon waited, The sun rose bright o'erhead; (Nothing in Nature's aspect intimated • That a great man was dead.