"But when by various wrongs your bosom's steel'd, / Your groaning country calling to the field, / And 'twixt the foe and you the uncertain scale / Of fight must shew whose fortune shall prevail"
— Pye, Henry James (1745-1813)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for John Stockdale
Date
1787
Metaphor
"But when by various wrongs your bosom's steel'd, / Your groaning country calling to the field, / And 'twixt the foe and you the uncertain scale / Of fight must shew whose fortune shall prevail"
Metaphor in Context
No! with parental care your army lead,
Behold with grief the meanest soldier bleed,
They love their leaders, but their tyrants hate,
We owe their lives and welfare to the state.
When Mars permits be each attention shewn,
And spare their blood though lavish of your own.
But when by various wrongs your bosom's steel'd,
Your groaning country calling to the field,
And 'twixt the foe and you the uncertain scale
Of fight must shew whose fortune shall prevail,
Eager for War, and prodigal of blood,
Loose all their ardor like a rushing flood,
Then shall they shew that valor courts applause,
Nor fears to perish in a glorious cause.
Behold with grief the meanest soldier bleed,
They love their leaders, but their tyrants hate,
We owe their lives and welfare to the state.
When Mars permits be each attention shewn,
And spare their blood though lavish of your own.
But when by various wrongs your bosom's steel'd,
Your groaning country calling to the field,
And 'twixt the foe and you the uncertain scale
Of fight must shew whose fortune shall prevail,
Eager for War, and prodigal of blood,
Loose all their ardor like a rushing flood,
Then shall they shew that valor courts applause,
Nor fears to perish in a glorious cause.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "bosom" and "steel" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Only 1 entry in the ESTC (1787).
See Poems on Various Subjects. By Henry James Pye, 2 vols. (London: John Stockdale, 1787). <Link to ECCO> <Link to vol. ii in Google Books>
See Poems on Various Subjects. By Henry James Pye, 2 vols. (London: John Stockdale, 1787). <Link to ECCO> <Link to vol. ii in Google Books>
Date of Entry
06/13/2005
