THE
BASTILLE
,
A
VISION
.
I.
"
DREAR
cell
!
along
whose
lonely
bounds
,
Unvisited
by
light
,
Chill
silence
dwells
with
night
,
Save
where
the
clanging
fetter
sounds
!
Abyss
,
where
mercy
never
came
,
Nor
hope
the
wretch
can
find
;
Where
long
inaction
wastes
the
frame
,
And
half
annihilates
the
mind
!
II
.
"
Stretch'd
helpless
in
this
living
tomb
,
O
haste
,
congenial
death
!
Seize
,
seize
this
ling'ring
breath
,
And
shroud
me
in
unconscious
gloom
.
BRITAIN
!
thy
exil'd
son
no
more
Thy
blissful
vales
shall
see
—
Why
did
I
leave
thy
hallow'd
shore
,
Ah
,
land
ador'd
,
where
all
are
free
?
"
III
.
BASTILLE
!
within
thy
hideous
pile
,
Which
stains
of
blood
defile
,
Thus
rose
the
captive's
sighs
,
Till
slumber
seal'd
his
weeping
eyes
.
Terrific
visions
hover
near
!
He
sees
an
awful
form
appear
!
Who
drags
his
step
to
deeper
cells
,
Where
stranger
,
wilder
horror
dwells
!
IV
.
"
O
!
tear
me
from
these
haunted
walls
,
Or
these
fierce
shapes
controul
!
Lest
madness
seize
my
soul
!
That
pond'rous
mask
of
iron
Alluding
to
the
prisoner
who
has
excited
so
many
conjectures
in
Europe
.
falls
,
I
see
—
"
"
Rash
mortal
,
ha
!
beware
,
Nor
breathe
that
hidden
name
!
Should
those
dire
accents
wound
the
air
,
Know
death
shall
lock
thy
stiff'ning
frame
.
V.
"
Hark
!
that
loud
bell
which
sullen
tolls
!
It
wakes
a
shriek
of
woe
From
yawning
depths
below
;
Shrill
through
this
hollow
vault
it
rolls
!
A
deed
was
done
in
this
black
cell
Unfit
for
mortal
ear
—
A
deed
was
done
when
toll'd
that
knell
,
No
human
heart
could
live
and
hear
!
VI
.
"
Arouse
thee
from
thy
numbing
glance
,
Near
yon
thick
gloom
,
advance
;
The
solid
cloud
has
shook
;
Arm
all
thy
soul
with
strength
to
look
—
Enough
!
—
thy
starting
locks
have
rose
—
Thy
limbs
have
fail'd
—
thy
blood
has
froze
!
—
On
scenes
so
foul
,
with
mad
affright
,
I
fix
no
more
thy
fasten'd
sight
.
VII
.
"
Those
troubled
phantoms
melt
away
!
I
lose
the
sense
of
care
—
I
feel
the
vital
air
—
I
see
—
I
see
the
light
of
day
!
Visions
of
bliss
!
—
eternal
powers
!
What
force
has
shook
those
hated
walls
?
What
arm
has
rent
those
threat'ning
towers
?
It
falls
—
the
guilty
fabric
falls
!
"
VIII
.
"
Now
,
favour'd
mortal
,
now
behold
!
To
soothe
thy
captive
state
I
ope
the
book
of
fate
;
Mark
what
its
registers
unfold
:
Where
this
dark
pile
in
chaos
lies
,
With
nature's
execrations
hurl'd
,
Shall
Freedom's
sacred
temple
rise
,
And
charm
an
emulating
world
!
IX
.
"
'Tis
her
awak'ning
voice
commands
Those
firm
,
those
patriot
bands
;
Arm'd
to
avenge
her
cause
,
And
guard
her
violated
laws
!
—
Did
ever
earth
a
scene
display
More
glorious
to
the
eye
of
day
,
Than
millions
with
according
mind
,
Who
claim
the
rights
of
human
kind
?
X
.
"
Does
the
fam'd
Roman
page
sublime
An
hour
more
bright
unroll
,
To
animate
the
soul
,
Than
this
lov'd
theme
of
future
time
?
—
Posterity
,
with
rapture
meet
,
The
consecrated
act
shall
hear
;
Age
shall
the
glowing
tale
repeat
,
And
youth
shall
drop
the
burning
tear
!
XI
.
"
The
peasant
,
while
he
fondly
sees
His
infants
round
the
hearth
Pursue
their
simple
mirth
,
Or
emulously
climb
his
knees
,
No
more
bewails
their
future
lot
,
By
tyranny's
stern
rod
opprest
;
While
freedom
cheers
his
straw-roof'd
cot
,
And
tells
him
all
his
toils
are
blest
!
XII
.
"
Philosophy
!
O
,
share
the
meed
Of
freedom's
noblest
deed
!
'Tis
thine
each
truth
to
scan
,
And
dignify
the
rank
of
man
!
'Tis
thine
all
human
wrongs
to
heal
,
'Tis
thine
to
love
all
nature's
weal
;
To
give
our
frail
existence
worth
,
And
shed
a
ray
from
heaven
on
earth
.
"