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"Thus my country's life retired,

Slowly driven from part to part; Underwalden last expired,

Underwalden was the heart.*

"In the valley of their birth,

Where our guardian mountains stand;

In the eye of heaven and earth,

Met the warriors of our land.

"Like their sires in olden time, Arm'd they met in stern debate; While in every breast sublime

Glow'd the spirit of the state. "Gallia's menace fired their blood: With one heart and voice they rose; Hand in hand the heroes stood,

And defied their faithless foes. "Then to heaven, in calm despair,

As they turn'd the tearless eye, By their country's wrongs they sware With their country's rights to die. "Albert from the council came

(My poor daughter was his wife; All the valley loved his name;

Albert was my staff of life.)
"From the council field he came :
All his noble visage burn'd;
At his look I caught the flame;

At his voice my youth return'd.
"Fire from heaven my heart renew'd,
Vigour beat through every vein;
All the powers, that age had hew'd,

Started into strength again. "Sudden from my couch I sprang,

Every limb to life restored; With the bound my cottage rang,

As I snatch'd my fathers' sword. "This the weapon they did wield

On Morgarthen's dreadful day; And through Sempach'st iron field

This the ploughshare of their way. "Then, my spouse! in vain thy fears Strove my fury to restrain;

O my daughter! all thy tears,

All thy children's, were in vain.

purport; but no sooner had they disarmed, on the faith of this engagement, than the enemy came suddenly upon them with an immense force; and with threats of extermination compelled them to take the civic oath to the new constitution, imposed upon all Switzerland.

* The inhabitants of the lower valley of Underwalden alone resisted the French message, which required sub- The mission to the new constitution, and the immediate surrender, alive or dead, of nine of their leaders. When the demand, accompanied by a menace of destruction, was read in the assembly of the district, all the men of the valley, fifteen hundred in number, took up arms, and devoted themselves to perish in the ruins of their country.

† At the battle of Sempach, the Austrians presented so impenetrable a front with their projected spears, that the Swiss were repeatedly compelled to retire from the attack, till a native of Underwalden,named Arnold de Winkelried, commending his family to his countrymen, sprung upon the enemy, and burying as many of their spears as he could grasp in his body, made a breach in their line; the Swiss rushed in, and routed the Austrians with a terrible slaughter.

"Quickly from our hastening foes, Albert's active care removed, Far amidst th' eternal snows,

Those who loved us,-those beloved.*

"Then our cottage we forsook;

Yet as down the steeps we pass'd, Many an agonizing look

Homeward o'er the hills we cast. "Now we reach'd the nether glen, Where in arms our brethren lay; Thrice five hundred fearless men, Men of adamant were they! "Nature's bulwarks, built by time, 'Gainst eternity to stand, Mountains, terribly sublime, Girt the camp on either hand. "Dim behind, the valley brake

Into rocks that fled from view; Fair in front the gleaming lake

Roll'd its waters bright and blue. "Midst the hamlets of the dale,

Stantz, with simple grandeur crown'd, Seem'd the mother of the vale, With her children scatter'd round. "Midst the ruins of the dale

Now she bows her hoary head,
Like the widow of the vale
Weeping o'er her children dead.
"Happier then had been her fate,

Ere she fell by such a foe,
Had an earthquake sunk her state,
Or the lightning laid her low!"

SHEPHERD.

"By the lightning's deadly flash Would her foes had been consumed! Or amidst the earthquake's crash Suddenly, alive, entomb'd!

"Why did justice not prevail ?"

WANDERER, "Ah! it was not thus to be !"

SHEPHERD.

"Man of grief! pursue thy tale To the death of liberty."

PART III.

Wanderer continues his narrative, and describes the battle and massacre of Underwalden.

WANDERER.

"FROM the valley we descried,

As the Gauls approach'd our shores, Keels that darken'd all the tide,

Tempesting the lake with oars.

* Many of the Underwalders, on the approach of the French army, removed their families and cattle among the higher Alps; and themselves returned to join their brethren, who had encamped in their native valley, on the borders of the lake, and awaited the attack of the enemy. + The capital of Underwalden.

"Then the mountain echoes rang With the clangour of alarms : Shrill the signal trumpet sang;

All our warriors leapt to arms.

"On the margin of the flood,

While the frantic foe drew nigh, Grim as watching wolves we stood, Prompt as eagles stretch'd to fly.

"In a deluge upon land

Burst their overwhelming might; Back we hurl'd them from the strand,

Oft returning to the fight.

"Fierce and long the combat heldTill the waves were warm with blood,

Till the booming waters swell'd

As they sank beneath the flood.*

"For on that triumphant day

Underwalden's arms once more Broke oppression's black array,

Dash'd invasion from her shore.

"Gaul's surviving barks retired, Muttering vengeance as they fled; Hope in us, by conquest fired,

Raised our spirits from the dead.

"From the dead our spirits rose,

To the dead they soon return'd; Bright, on its eternal close,

Underwalden's glory burn'd.

"Star of Switzerland! whose rays Shed such sweet expiring light, Ere the Gallic comet's blaze

Swept thy beauty into night :

"Star of Switzerland! thy fame

No recording bard hath sung;
Yet be thine immortal name
Inspiration to my tongue !+

"While the lingering moon delay'd
In the wilderness of night,
Ere the morn awoke the shade
Into loveliness and light:-

"Gallia's tigers, wild for blood,

Darted on our sleeping fold: Down the mountains, o'er the flood, Dark as thunder clouds they roll'd.

"By the trumpet's voice alarm'd, All the valley burst awake; All were in a moment arm'd,

From the barriers to the lake.

*The French made their first attack on the valley of Underwalden from the lake: but, after a desperate conflict, they were victoriously repelled, and two of their vessels, containing five hundred men, perished in the engagement.

+ In the last and decisive battle, the Underwalders were overpowered by two French armies, which rushed upon them from the opposite mountains, and surrounded their camp, while an assault, at the same time, was made upon them from the lake.

"In that valley, on that shore,

When the graves give up their dead, At the trumpet's voice once more

Shall those slumberers quit their bed.

"For the glen that gave them birth Hides their ashes in its womb: O! 'tis venerable earth,

Freedom's cradle, freedom's tomb. "Then on every side begun

That unutterable fight; Never rose th' astonish'd sun

On so horrible a sight.

"Once an eagle of the rock

('Twas an omen of our fate) Stoop'd, and from my scatter'd flock Bore a lambkin to his mate.

"While the parents fed their young,
Lo! a cloud of vultures lean,
By voracious famine stung,

Wildly screaming, rush'd between. "Fiercely fought the eagle-twain,

Though by multitudes opprest, Till their little ones were slain, Till they perish'd on their nest.

'More unequal was the fray

Which our band of brethren waged;
More insatiate o'er their prey
Gaul's remorseless vultures raged.
"In innumerable waves,

Swoln with fury, grim with blood,
Headlong roll'd the hordes of slaves,
And ingulf'd us with a flood.

"In the whirlpool of that flood,

Firm in fortitude divine,
Like th' eternal rocks we stood,

In the cataract of the Rhine.* "Till by tenfold force assail'd, In a hurricane of fire,

When at length our phalanx fail'd,
Then our courage blazed the higher.

"Broken into feeble bands,

Fighting in dissever'd parts,
Weak and weaker grew our hands,
Strong and stronger still our hearts.

"Fierce amid the loud alarms,
Shouting in the foremost fray,
Children raised their little arms
In their country's evil day.
"On their country's dying bed,

Wives and husbands pour'd their breath;
Many a youth and maiden bled,
Married at thine altar, Death.†

*At Schaffhausen.-See Coxe's Travels.

In this miserable conflict, many of the women and children of the Underwalders fought in the ranks by their husbands, and fathers, and friends, and fell gloriously for their country.

"Wildly scatter'd o'er the plain,

Bloodier still the battle grew ;O ye spirits of the slain,

Slain on those your prowess slew:

"Who shall now your deeds relate? Ye that fell unwept, unknown; Mourning for your country's fate, But rejoicing in your own.

"Virtue, valour, naught avail'd

With so merciless a foe; When the nerves of heroes fail'd,

Cowards then could strike a blow.

"Cold and keen th' assassin's blade

Smote the father to the ground; Through the infant's breast convey'd To the mother's heart a wound.*

"Underwalden thus expired; But at her expiring flame, With fraternal feeling fired,

Lo, a band of Switzers came.†

"From the steeps beyond the lake,
Like a winter's weight of snow,
When the huge lavanges break,
Devastating all below.‡

"Down they rush'd with headlong might, Swifter than the panting wind;

All before them fear and flight,
Death and silence all behind.

"How the forest of the foe

Bow'd before the thunder strokes, When they laid the cedars low,

When they overwhelm'd the oaks. "Thus they hew'd their dreadful way; Till, by numbers forced to yield, Terrible in death they lay,

The AVENGERS OF THE FIELD."

PART IV.

The Wanderer relates the circumstances attending the death of Albert.

SHEPHERD.

"PLEDGE the memory of the brave,

And the spirits of the dead; Pledge the venerable grave,

Valour's consecrated bed.

"Wanderer, cheer thy drooping soul, This inspiring goblet take; Drain the deep delicious bowl,

For thy martyr'd brethren's sake.

* An indiscriminate massacre followed the battle. + Two hundred self-devoted heroes from the canton of Switz arrived, at the close of the battle, to the aid of their brethren of Underwalden; and perished to a man, after having slain thrice their number.

The lavanges are tremendous torrents of melting snow that tumble from the tops of the Alps, and deluge all the country before them.

WANDERER.

"Hail!-all hail! the patriot's grave,

Valour's venerable bed :

Hail the memory of the brave,

Hail the spirits of the dead.

"Time their triumphs shall proclaim, And their rich reward be this,Immortality of fame,

Immortality of bliss."

SHEPHERD.

"On that melancholy plain,
In that conflict of despair,
How was noble Albert slain?
How didst thou, old warrior, fare?"

WANDERER.

"In the agony of strife,

Where the heart of battle bled, Where his country lost her life,

Glorious Albert bow'd his head.

"When our phalanx broke away,

And our stoutest soldiers fell, Where the dark rocks dimm'd the day, Scowling o'er the deepest dell;

"There, like lions old in blood,

Lions rallying round their den, Albert and his warriors stood;

We were few, but we were men. "Breast to breast we fought the ground, Arm to arm repell'd the foe; Every motion was a wound,

And a death was every blow.

"Thus the clouds of sunset beam Warmer with expiring light; Thus autumnal meteors stream Redder through the darkening night. "Miracles our champions wroughtWho their dying deeds shall tell! O how gloriously they fought!

How triumphantly they fell!

"One by one gave up the ghost,

Slain, not conquer'd,-they died free. Albert stood,-himself a host:

Last of all the Swiss was he.

"So, when night with rising shade Climbs the Alps from steep to steep,

Till, in hoary gloom array'd,

All the giant mountains sleep;

"High in heaven their monarch* stands, Bright and beauteous from afar,

Shining unto distant lands

Like a new-created star.

* Mont Blanc; which is so much higher than the surrounding Alps, that it catches and retains the beams of the sun twenty minutes earlier and later than they, and, crowned with eternal ice, may be seen from an immense distance purpling with his eastern light, or crimsoned with his setting glory while mist and obscurity rest on the mountains below.

"While I struggled through the fight, Albert was my sword and shield; Till strange horror quench'd my sight, And I fainted on the field. "Slow awakening from that trance, When my soul return'd to day, Vanish'd were the fiends of France,

But in Albert's blood I lay.

"Slain for me, his dearest breath

On my lips he did resign; Slain for me, he snatch'd his death From the blow that menaced mine.

"He had raised his dying head,

And was gazing on my face;

As I woke, the spirit fled,

But I felt his last embrace."

SHEPHERD.

"Man of suffering! such a tale

Would bring tears from marble eyes!"

WANDERER.

"Ha! my daughter's cheek grows pale!" WANDERER'S WIFE.

"Help! O help! my daughter dies!"

WANDERER.

"Calm thy transports, O my wife!

Peace! for these dear orphans' sake!”

WANDERER'S WIFE.

"O my joy, my hope, my life,

O my child, my child, awake!"

WANDERER.

"God! O God, whose goodness gives;

God! whose wisdom takes awaySpare my child."

SHEPHERD.

"She lives, she lives!"

WANDERER.

"Lives?-my daughter, didst thou say?

"God Almighty, on my knees,

In the dust will I adore

Thine unsearchable decrees;

-She was dead:-she lives once more."

WANDERER'S DAUGHTER.

"When poor Albert died, no prayer

Call'd him back to hated life:

O that I had perish'd there,
Not his widow, but his wife!"

WANDERER.

"Dare my daughter thus repine?
Albert, answer from above;
Tell me, are these infants thine,
Whom their mother does not love?"

WANDERER'S DAUGHTER.
"Does not love!-my father, hear;
Hear me, or my heart will break;
Dear is life, but only dear

For my parents', children's sake.

"Bow'd to Heaven's mysterious will,

I am worthy yet of you;

Yes!--I am a mother still,

Though I feel a widow, too."

WANDERER.

"Mother, widow, mourner, all,

All kind names in one,-my child; On thy faithful neck I fall; Kiss me, are we reconciled ?"

WANDERER'S DAUGHTER. "Yes, to Albert I appeal: Albert, answer from above, That my father's breast may feel All his daughter's heart of love."

SHEPHERD'S WIFE.

"Faint and wayworn as they be With the day's long journey, sire, Let thy pilgrim family

Now with me to rest retire."

WANDERER.

"Yes, the hour invites to sleep; Till the morrow we must part:Nay, my daughter, do not weep, Do not weep and break my heart. "Sorrow-soothing sweet repose

On your peaceful pillows light; Angel hands your eyelids closeDream of Paradise to-night."

PART V.

The Wanderer, being left alone with the shepherd, relates his adventures after the battle of Underwalden.

SHEPHERD.

"WHEN the good man yields his breath,

(For the good man never dies,) Bright, beyond the gulf of death, Lo! the land of promise lies.

"Peace to Albert's awful shade,

In that land where sorrows cease; And to Albert's ashes, laid

In the earth's cold bosom, peace."

WANDERER.

"On the fatal field I lay,

Till the hour when twilight pale, Like the ghost of dying day, Wander'd down the darkening vale.

"Then in agony I rose,

And with horror look'd around, Where, embracing friends and foes, Dead and dying, strew'd the ground.

"Many a widow fix'd her eye,

Weeping, where her husband bled, Heedless, though her babe was by, Prattling to his father dead.

"Many a mother, in despair,

Turning up the ghastly slain, Sought her son, her hero there,

Whom she long'd to seek in vain.

"Dark the evening shadows roll'd

On the eye that gleam'd in death; And the evening dews fell cold

On the lip that gasp'd for breath.

"As I gazed, an ancient dame, -She was childless by her look,With refreshing cordials came; Of her bounty I partook. "Then, with desperation bold,

Albert's precious corpse I bore On these shoulders weak and old,

Bow'd with misery before.

"Albert's angel gave me strength, As I stagger'd down the glen; And I hid my charge at length

In its wildest, deepest den.

"Then, returning through the shade

To the battle scene, I sought, "Mongst the slain, an axe and spade;

With such weapons FREEMEN fought.

"Scythes for swords our youth did wield, In that execrable strife: Ploughshares in that horrid field

Bled with slaughter, breathed with life.

"In a dark and lonely cave,

While the glimmering moon arose, Thus I dug my Albert's grave;

There his hallow'd limbs repose.

"Tears then, tears too long represt, Gush'd:-they fell like healing balm, Till the whirlwind in my breast

Died into a dreary calm.

"On the fresh earth's humid bed, Where my martyr lay enshrined, This forlorn, unhappy head,

Crazed with anguish, I reclined.

"But while o'er my weary eyes Soothing slumbers seem'd to creep. Forth I sprang, with strange surprise, From the clasping arms of sleep. "For the bones of Albert dead

Heaved the turf with horrid throes, And his grave beneath my head, Burst asunder ;-Albert rose!

"Ha! my son-my son,' I cried,

6 Wherefore hast thou left thy grave?" Fly, my father,' he replied;

'Save my wife-my children save.'

"In the passing of a breath

This tremendous scene was o'er: Darkness shut the gates of death, Silence seal'd them as before.

"One pale moment fix'd I stood

In astonishment severe; Horror petrified my blood,

I was wither'd up with fear.

"Then a sudden trembling came O'er my limbs; I felt on fire, Burning, quivering like a flame In the instant to expire."

SHEPHERD.

"Rather like the mountain oak, Tempest-shaken, rooted fast, Grasping strength from every stroke, While it wrestles with the blast."

WANDERER.

"Ay!-my heart, unwont to yield, Quickly quell'd the strange affright, And undaunted o'er the field

began my lonely flight.

"Loud the gusty night-wind blew,

Many an awful pause between, Fits of light and darkness flew,

Wild and sudden o'er the scene.

"For the moon's resplendent eye

Gleams of transient glory shed; And the clouds, athwart the sky

Like a routed army, fled.

"Sounds and voices fill'd the vale,

Heard alternate loud and low; Shouts of victory swell'd the gale, But the breezes murmur'd wo.

"As I climb'd the mountain's side, Where the lake and valley meet, All my country's power and pride Lay in ruins at my feet.

"On that grim and ghastly plain

Underwalden's heart-strings broke, When she saw her heroes slain,

And her rocks receive the yoke.

"On that plain, in childhood's hours, From their mother's arms set free, Oft those heroes gather'd flowers,

Often chased the wandering bee.

"On that plain, in rosy youth,

They had fed their father's flocks, Told their love, and pledged their truth, In the shadow of those rocks.

"There, with shepherd's pipe and song,
In the merry mingling dance,
Once they led their brides along,
Now!-Perdition seize thee, France!"

SHEPHERD.

"Heard not Heaven th' accusing cries Of the blood that smoked around,

While the life-warm sacrifice

Palpitated on the ground?"

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