Poems (Van Rensselaer)/The Builders of Renown
THE BUILDERS OF RENOWN
ICome, Fortune, put a rival to the test: Rear thrones, carve sceptres, spread imperial lands, And give them, lavish, into powerful hands,Elizabeth's or Catherine's. Arrest
The flying storms to fight for her at sea, Buffeting 'neath her footstool the blown power Of broken-hearted Spain; to the topmost hourOf England wed her name, and bid it be
Badge of the muse's lordliest avatar Since vocal Hellas drowsed and slept. Or where Great Peter set his frosty dais, thereSet hers, the blood-besprinkled, in the far,
Savage, and passionate North, and plant so much, With woman's daring worst, in her bold breast Of manhood's kingly and sagacious bestThat, Paphian, yet she stands, valiant, with such
As strove to serve great nations. Thou canst so Build sovereign figures farthest time shall not Crowd from the living world to worlds forgot,Nor from their crownèd eminence overthrow.
IIBut turn thee now his handiwork to see Who is thy rival, though no god to frame Souls or fair forms as he would have them, nameRulers to realms, or mark their destiny:
Only a mortal, dowered but with a voice, Who wanders up and down our daily ways Looking on what he loves and speaking praise,Choosing from chance the best, and of his choice
Dreaming aloud in rhyme, yet sure and strong As Fortune to raise pedestals of fame. Let him but love, the letters of the nameIllumined by the radiance of his song
Shine fairer (as the star auroral is More fair than bravest beacon lit by hands) Than titles of the guardians of proud lands,Illustrious queens, resplendent empresses.
Elizabeths and Catherines—they may lie Untouched of our desire while, thralled, we turn Pages that tell how Laura smiled, and learnHow Beatrice bent her head in passing by.