I. A Baccanalian Ode Poem by Charles Tompson

I. A Baccanalian Ode



Strophe I.
Strike, strike the bold convivial lyre!
Let lofty paeans wake the soul!
Let ivy'd bands each heart entwine,
In one harmonious whole!
Fill, fill the goblet high!
The full libation pour!
Why should decrepid Care intrude,
When Bacchus rules the hour?
E'en Age resigns his cynic rod,
And, smiling, owns the potent god
With dropping clusters crowned;
The jovial hours their pinions hide,
And, unregarded, swiftly glide
When bumpers flow around!

Antistrophe I.
Once more old Time rolls round the day,
When Philips, with his roving band,
Chased the wild genius of our shore,
And hailed the wond'ring strand:
Then infant Science, in the wild,
Raised her approving form and smiled,
A maid before unknown,
And fixed, amid encircling hills,
The basis of her throne.

Strophe II.
Oppression's adamantine hand,
His wreath of lashes long has twined,
And Flattery's fawning language driven
Each gen'rous feeling from the mind:
But hark! the joyful shout,
By happy thousands given:
“Grim Slav'ry flies affrighted from his throne,
“And LIBERTY (bless'd maid) descends from heaven!”

Antistrophe II.
No longer droops the mournful brow,
The sad—the weeping eye,
But Joy, an inmate long estranged,
Smiles from yon western sky!
Hope, 'neath the veil of future years,
Sees proud AUSTRALIA to an empire rise;
While, led by honor o'er the waves,
Unrivalled Commerce flies,
And congregated nations pour
The wealth of worlds from every shore!

Strophe III.
United, in this social pray'r,
Let every patriot bosom glow!
“O, may the joys, now budding fair,
“Like fruitful blossoms, to perfection grow!
May every boon that heav'n can show'r
“Our grateful anxious wishes crown,
“Till the loud trump of Truth proclaim
“Content, peace, freedom—all our own.”
Then, hand in hand,
Ye jovial friends,
To patriot lips the goblet join;
Let night the rosy draught prolong,
Nor quit the banquet and the song,
Till morn's bright summons through the casements shine!

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