MILITARY FAME.
O thou that sigh’st to join the scenes of war,
And gain the glories of the martial train;
Reflect what woes surround the trophied car,
What crimson tints the wish’d-for circlet stain.
If tender sympathy be not unknown,
If heaven-born mercy in thy bosom glow,
Reject the impurpl’d wreath, the laurel crown
Can flourish only in the scenes of woe.
Wert thou the noblest bravest son of Mars,
Did fear precede thee, conquest still attend;
All the long glories of successive wars
On fickle Fortune’s favouring smile depend.
Ev’n godlike Paoli’s confest her sway,
By her they flourish and by her they fade;
The adverse fortune of one hapless day
Condemns thee to oblivion’s dreary shade.
Such is a brittle bubble blown in air,
Such the bright lustre of the morning skies;
So some tall tree may vernal honours bear,
And bloomy verdure charm the wondering eyes:
But, ah! how fleeting the illusive glare
When the clouds gather, and the storms arise!
MATILDA.
New-York.