Poems (Wordsworth, 1815)/Volume 2/Indignation of a high-minded Spaniard

by William Wordsworth

XXV.

INDIGNATION OF A HIGH-MINDED SPANIARD.

1810.

 

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We can endure that He should waste our lands,
Despoil our temples,—and by sword and flame
Return us to the dust from which we came;
Such food a Tyrant's appetite demands:
And we can brook the thought that by his hands
Spain may be overpowered, and he possess,
For his delight, a solemn wilderness,
Where all the Brave lie dead. But when of bands,
Which he will break for us, he dares to speak,—
Of benefits, and of a future day
When our enlightened minds shall bless his sway,
Then, the strained heart of fortitude proves weak:
Our groans, our blushes, our pale cheeks declare
That he has power to inflict what we lack strength to bear.