Impel your host, thy guilt upbraided soul Eternal mildew on the ruthless head! Less cruel far than thou, on Ilium's plain But no intreaty wakes the soft remorse Oh murder'd Andrè! for thy sacred corse; Vain were an army's, vain its leader's sighs!— What tho' the tyrants, with malignant pride, To thy pale corse each decent rite deny'd! Thy graceful limbs in no kind covert laid, Nor with the Christian requiem sooth'd thy shade! Yet on thy grass-green bier soft April-show'rs Shall earliest wake the sweet spontaneous flow'rs! [there Bid the blue hare-bell, and the snow-drop Hang their cold cup, and drop the pearly tear! And oft, at pensive eve's ambiguous gloom, Imperial honour, bending o'er thy tomb, *Tappan. The place where Major Andrè was executed. With solemn strains shall lull thy deep repose, And with his deathless laurels shade thy brows! Lamented youth! while with inverted spear The British legions pour th' indignant tear! Round the dropt arm the *funeral-scarf entwine, And in their hearts' deep core thy worth enshrine; While my weak muse, in fond attempt and vain, But feebly pours a perishable strain, Oh! ye distinguish'd few! whose glowing lays Bright Phoebus kindles with his purest rays, Snatch from its radiant source the living fire, And light with Vestal flame your ANDRE'S HALLOW'D PYRE! - Funeral-scarf. Our whole army in America went into mourning for Major Andrè, a distinguished tribute to his merit. Vesta! flame.-The vestal fire was kept perpetually burning, and originally kindled from the rays of the Sun. LETTERS Addressed to the Author of the foregoing Poem, by Major Andrè, when he was a youth of Eighteen. Clapton, October 3, 1769. FROM their agreeable excursion to Shrewsbury, my dearest friends are by this time return'd to their thrice beloved Lichfield.-Once again have they beheld those fortunate spires, the constant witnesses of all their pains and pleasures. I can well conceive the emotions of joy which their first appearance, from the neighbouring hills, excites after absence ;-they seem to welcome you home, and invite you to reiterate those hours of happiness, of which they are a species of monument. I shall have an eternal love and reverence for them.Never shall I forget the joy that danced in Honora's eyes, when she first shewed them to me from Needwood Forest, on our return with you from Buxton to Lichfield. I remember she called them the Ladies of the Valley-their lightness and elegance deserve the title. Oh! how I loved them from that instant! My enthusiasm concerning them is carried farther even than yours and Honora's, for every object that has a pyramidal form, recalls them to my recollection, with a sensation, that brings the tears of pleasure into my eyes. How happy must you have been at Shrewsbury !only that you tell me, alas! that dear Honora was not so well as you wished during your stay their. I always hope the best. My impatient spirit rejects every obtruding idea, which I have not fortitude enough to support.-Doctor Darwin's skill, and your tender care will remove that sad pain in her side, which makes writing troublesome and injurious to her; which robs her poor * Cher Jean of those precious pages, with * A name of kindness, by which Mr. Andrè was often called by his mother and sisters, and generally adopted by the persons mentioned in these letters. |