And shed a courage over all the rest,
That burst in thunder on his towering crest.
A sudden thought within his mind arose,-
A stratagem, by which to reach his foes,
Flash'd on his soul, as if by magic spell,
Whose mighty charm succeeded but too well;
It brought a hope so stirring and intense,
That it drove sleep from every thrilling sense:
In deep suspense upon his couch he lay,
Or rising, look'd abroad, and wish'd for day;
With mind o'erwrought, and burning to begin
The toil, by which he hop'd the prize to win,—
A giant labour, but too soon complete!
No less than from the sea to raise a fleet,
Impel their sliding keels o'er leagues of land,
(A task that seem'd to mock a mortal hand,)-
To launch them in the harbour, past the chain,
That then might spread its guarding links in vain ;
Thence unexpected burst upon the foe,
And strew his ships in ruin at a blow.
The dawn scarce topp'd the eastern mountain's crest, The sea was dark, and earth seem'd still at rest; Silence was in the air, above, around,
And night's last shades yet linger'd on the ground.
The wearied troops were slumb'ring on their arms,
Oft starting as they dream'd of new alarms.
The monarch rous'd his captains from their sleep,
To them explain'd his purpose, vast and deep:
They heard obedient, and, with wonder fir'd,
Declar'd their prophet had the thought inspir'd;
Pronounc'd the plan beyond the reach of fear,
And pour'd their flattery on the monarch's ear:
Then o'er the camp dispers'd, to rouse the host,
And place each legion at its destin'd post.
Then for one day the sword was laid aside,
And the resounding axe its place supplied;
The saw, the hammer, echoed on the air,
As war had changed to peaceful labour there :
Some shaped vast planks to form a sloping plain,
On which to drag their vessels from the main;
While others levell'd the uneven ground,
Cut thro' the hills, and fill'd the hollows round;
And form'd a road from where the ocean roars,
Straight to the harbour's still triumphant shores :
Behind fair Pera's lovely bowers it ran,
O'er fields once bounteous to the hand of man;
Aided by numbers, and with ardour fraught,
O'er many a weary mile of land they wrought;
And ere the destined night her mantle spread,
From shore to shore the cradled platform led.
And they who paced the city's wall or tower,
Dream'd not what spell was wrought at that dark hour;
They little thought what almost magic band
Guided those hundred vessels o'er the land:
At times, some distant murmurs caught their ear,-
They deem'd, they hoped-'twas the retreat of fear.
The guns were silent-and they thought the foe
Might be retreating from that scene of woe;
Dismay'd to see his numbers daily fall,
And hopeless to surmount that barrier wall.
But ah! far other thoughts had they, who saw
Those ships, as if opposing Nature's law,
Impell'd by engines of resistless might,
And countless hands that toiled that fatal night;
Move on the waveless plain with giant pride;
And o'er the slippery planks in safety glide :
As is some midnight demons laboured there,
To bear those vessels through the murky air;
Which did not rest their bosoms on the main,
But moved, like things of life, across the plain-
As if the ocean had o'er-leap'd its bed,
A deluge o'er the neighbouring lands to spread ;
And with its torrent bore those barks along,
The late green fields, and flowery vales among.
All night they glided on, with sullen sound;
No hindrance in their weight, or bulk, was found:
Ship after ship past on, a moving line,
By means the distant eye could ne'er divine ;
Nor stopp'd till they had reached the distant flood,
Their power was soon to tinge with Christian blood.
But who can tell what consternation rose,
When they within the city saw their foes
In countless vessels safely anchor'd there!
What mingled cries of wonder and despair,
Burst from their fleet, when first the morning gave,
Its golden beam to gild the rolling wave;
And show'd those hostile vessels ranged along,
Fearless in conscious might, in numbers strong!
Swift to the deck rush'd each astonish'd crew,
That magic and appalling scene to view;
And lost in wild amazement and despair,
Could scarce believe that man had brought them there;
But almost thought that earth, and heaven, and sea,
Had join'd to work that deed of witchery.
To them, the scene they gazed on, well might seem
The picture of some wonder-working dream:
They scarce could deem it but a spectral sight,
That flash'd upon their eyes such wild affright.
But gazing was in vain, for they were there-
And must be met in courage or despair.
One thought-one certainty-was shared by all—
That they must conquer-or attempting, fall.
Must win that harbour once again-or die!
'Twas neither in their power, nor will, to fly.
The fearfullest of all the tribes that rove
The desert wilderness, th' unpeopled grove;
If prest beyond retreat, will turn and show
Some latent courage, and assail the foe;
And dearly sell, in conflict o'er their grave,
That life that instinct bade them fly to save-
The strongest, fiercest beast, that rules the wood;
Foremost in battle-prodigal of blood-
By sudden onset scared, will sometimes flee
Before a meaner, feebler enemy-
What wonder then that man should sometimes fear,
When unexpected-mighty foes appear?
And if the Christians felt its withering power,
In that appalling, unexampled hour-
It past but o'er their features like a cloud,
That, for an instant, ev'n the sun may shroud.
Few human spirits long can yield to shame-
Its torture forces them to strive for fame!
Despair may nerve his arm-his bosom fire,
Whom hope, with all her charms, could ne'er inspire-
The veriest coward, when escape denied,
May breathe his last in battle and in pride.
If such were there-their fears were in their breast-
Unseen and unsuspected by the rest.
All seem'd inspired the Christian fame to save,
And guard their laurels, though they deck'd a grave.
The sudden sounds of preparation rang
From each unanchoring ship-the jarring clang
Of arms, and of loud voices, pierced afar;
And the air echoed with the notes of war.
And friends and kindred shouted from the wall,
For those on board to conquer or to fall-
A needless charge-where other choice was none-
Where all must perish-or the fight be won.
They met the opening thunders roar'd around!
And the walls shook as they flung back the sound-
And side by side the grappling vessels drew;
While death, on the red wings of lightning flew ;
Dense clouds of rolling smoke the ships obscured,
And dead and dying in its pall immured;
Through whose deep shades the cannons' flashes shone,
Like Etna flaming from her darkened cone.
VOL. II. PART I.
Ah! how could those few ships the onset bear,
Of all that number which assail'd them there?
Each seem'd to meet the thunders of a fleet,
Cut off from help, and sever'd from retreat:
With masts, sails, rudders, dash'd away, they stood
A mark for slaughter, and were drench'd in blood.
So close they came, their sides were almost crushed,
As if two falling rocks together rush'd.
Here might be seen some vessel breathing fire
From side, and prow, and stern, in ceaseless ire;
As if a submarine volcano sent
Its flashes through the watery element:
While those around with tenfold wrath repaid,
The slaughter and the wreck her thunders made:
Environ'd by a mass of flame she lay,
Of fire, or flood, a sure devoted prey;
Till half-way out the waves, she seem'd to reel,
And daylight almost flash'd upon her keel.
Another scarcely rode-a floating wreck,
With few alive to tread her crimson'd deck;
With colours, sails, and masts-all struck away-
Too shatter'd-worthless-even for a prey!
Abandon'd by the very foe in scorn;
And filling from the holes the shots had torn;
Her lessening hull was slowly seen to sink
Less-less it grew-and then upon the brink-
Across her deck the meeting waters gush'd,
And downward with a gurgling sound she rush'd!
While one dread cry, from those who yet had life,
With horror struck their partners in the strife!
And some were boarded in the heat of fight,
Compelled on their own decks the foe to smite;
But who, before they gain'd a footing there,
Beheld their comrades grasping in despair
The spear that in their breasts their vitals tore,
And hurl'd them to the deep to rise no more.
Many who strove to climb, were dash'd away,
And sank for ever from the light of day:
While others grappled o'er the yawning waves,
And grasping, struggling -plung'd into their graves.
Each deck appear'd a separate field of strife,
Where shot and steel made fearful waste of life.
Like men who battled for their homes, each crew
In vain the foes that closed around them slew;
Increasing numbers fill'd each victim's place,
And hosts were crowded in that narrow space;
Till those who fought to save their barks, the foo
Hurl'd from their decks into the waves below;
And many sought within the kinder sea,
Escape from their enfuriate enemy:
And many a splash was heard, from forms that sank;
While some, in life's last hope, had grasp❜d a plank,
That scarce afforded breath above the waves,
And only held them lingering o'er their graves;
Until the lifeless fingers dropt their hold,
And o'er their eyes the closing surges roll'd.
And some beheld the flames their vessel seize,
And spread resistless in the fanning breeze;
And saw both friend and foe in fear retire,
Resigning them to the devouring fire;
That swift o'er deck, and mast, and rigging spread,
Nor left a spot the seaman's foot might tread;
To shun the scorching flames, compell'd to leap
Desperate into the bosom of the deep!
One mass of flame appear'd the burning bark,
Until it reach'd the flood-and all was dark-
Or with one dread explosion, rent the air!
When scatter'd on a fiery whirlwind there,
One hideous crash was beard-and then 'twas still despair -
When nought but fragments floated on the tide ;
Sole wreck of all the vessel's pomp and pride:
When valiant hearts, and forms in manly bloom,
Were buried deep in one wide watery tomb.
But storms will pass away-and wrath must cease;
The raging elements will sink to peace:
The fiery mountain labours to repose-
And man's wild war of passion finds its close.
That strife, so deadly and so fierce, was done-
The Christian fleet, so late victorious-gone!
Sunk, taken, and destroy'd, in all its pride;
Nor ev'n one banner left above the tide.
To save their ships, the seamen did their best-
Fought to the last-and now were in their rest.
Blest by applauding friends, at life's last close;
Tomb'd in the deep with thousands of their foes!
While the besieged look'd out in blank despair,
And wept the aiding fleet no longer there;
And saw the hostile ships beneath the wall,
And deem'd that heaven had now decreed their fall.
The harbour soon a different scene display'd,
When o'er its waves a mighty bridge was made;
A labour scarcely less than that which bore
Those ships o'er land, and launch'd them from its shore.
O'er many a fathom, wide and deep, its length
Chain'd down the waters with gigantic strength;
As if by magic power, with rapid stride,
It stretch'd along, and reach'd from side to side.
Mocking the heaving of the waves it stood;
And sever'd with resistless weight the flood.
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