Poems on Various Subjects (Coleridge)/Effusion 5, to Erskine

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search

To Erskine or To the Hon Mr Erskine was written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in November 1794 and first published in the 1 December 1794 Morning Chronicle as part of the Sonnets on Eminent Characters series. The subject of the poem is Thomas Erskine, a lawyer and member of the Whig party, who successfully served in the defence of three political radicals during the 1794 Treason Trials. Coleridge admired Erskine's defence and praised his refusal to accept money for his service.

3271233Poems on Various Subjects (Coleridge) — Effusion 5, to ErskineSamuel Taylor Coleridge

EFFUSION V.

WHEN British Freedom for an happier land
Spread her broad wings, that flutter'd with affright,
Erskine! thy voice she heard, and paus'd her flight
Sublime of hope! For dreadless thou didst stand
(Thy censer glowing with the hallow'd flame)
An hireless Priest before th' insulted shrine,
And at her altar pourd'st the stream divine
Of unmatch'd eloquence. Therefore thy name
Her sons shall venerate, and cheer thy breast
With blessings heaven-ward breath'd. And when the doom
Of Nature bids thee die, beyond the tomb
Thy light shall shine: as sunk beneath the West
Tho' the great Summer Sun eludes our gaze,
Still burns wide Heaven with his distended blaze.

align=center