MEMORIALS OF A TOUR ON THE CONTINENT, 1820
IV. AFTER VISITING THE FIELD OF WATERLOO
MEMORIALS OF A TOUR ON THE CONTINENT, 1820
A WINGED Goddess–clothed in vesture wrought Of rainbow colours; One whose port was bold, Whose overburthened hand could scarcely hold The glittering crowns and garlands which it brought– Hovered in air above the far-famed Spot. She vanished; leaving prospect blank and cold Of wind-swept corn that wide around us rolled In dreary billows; wood, and meagre cot, And monuments that soon must disappear: Yet a dread local recompence we found; 10 While glory seemed betrayed, while patriot-zeal Sank in our hearts, we felt as men ‘should’ feel With such vast hoards of hidden carnage near, And horror breathing from the silent ground!