[846] 1837.
Of Power, whose ministering Spirits ... 1835.
XV
ON ENTERING DOUGLAS BAY, ISLE OF MAN
"Dignum laude virum Musa vetat mori."[847]
The feudal Keep, the bastions of Cohorn,[848]
Even when they rose to check or to repel
Tides of aggressive war, oft served as well
Greedy ambition, armed to treat with scorn
Just limits; but yon Tower, whose smiles adorn 5
This perilous bay, stands clear of all offence;
Blest work it is of love and innocence,
A Tower of refuge built for the else forlorn.[849]
Spare it, ye waves, and lift the mariner,
Struggling for life, into its saving arms! 10
Spare, too, the human helpers! Do they stir
'Mid your fierce shock like men afraid to die?
No; their dread service nerves the heart it warms,
And they are led by noble Hillary.[850]
FOOTNOTES:
[847] See Horace, Odes, book iv. ode viii. l. 28.—Ed.
[848] Baron Menno van Cohorn (or Cœhoorn) was a Dutch military engineer of genius (1641-1704). His fame rests on discoveries connected with the effect of projectiles on fortifications. His practical successes against the French, under Vauban, were great; and the fortifications he designed and constructed, of which that of Bergen-op-Zoom was the chief, give him a place in the history of military science, greater than that derived from his writings. He devised a kind of small mortar or howitzer, for use in siege operations, which is named after him a Cohorn.—Ed.
[849] 1845.