Eighteen Hundred and Eleven

Excerpt

Still the loud death drum, thundering from afar,
O’er the vext nations pours the storm of war: 
To the stern call still Britain bends her ear,
Feeds the fierce strife, the alternate hope and fear;
Bravely, though vainly, dares to strive with Fate,
And seeks by turns to prop each sinking state. 
Colossal Power with overwhelming force [2]
Bears down each fort of Freedom in its course;
Prostrate she lies beneath the Despot’s sway,
While the hushed nations curse him—­and obey,