Classic Poem

Thee to Solitude retir'd,
Still rever'd and still admir'd;
Thee, a votary of thine,
Independence , could enshrine —
Gave to thee on hallow'd ground
Meditation's thought profound;
Gave an intellect as bright
As the gem that courts the light;
And the gift, by Learning grac'd,
Upon Freedom's altar plac'd.
Thine shall be the living dust
Of the eloquent and just,
Whom a despot, weak and blind,
For the common earth design'd,
Pearl of ******** 's manly tear,
In the elevated sphere
Which his conscious worth could find
In a self-erected mind,
Far above the Tyrant's nod,
Or Oppression's goading rod.
When, from baffled insult free,
Honour lifted him to thee,
Wrapt in Life's unenvy'd shade,
But with spirit undismay'd,
There he found a second birth,
Bless'd in science, chear'd in worth,
On a mountain which the gale
Had not courage to assail.