Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/428

402 Did, in the time of their necessity,

Urge it in vain; and, therefore, like a prayer

That from the humblest floor ascends to heaven,

It mounts, to reach the State's parental ear;

Who, if indeed she own a Mother's heart,

And be not most unfeelingly devoid

Of gratitude to Providence, will grant

The unquestionable good; which, England, safe

From interference of external force,

May grant at leisure; without risk incurred

That what in wisdom for herself she doth,

Others shall e'er be able to undo.

Look! and behold, from Calpe's sunburnt cliffs

To the flat margin of the Baltic sea,

Long-reverenced Titles cast away as weeds;

Laws overturned,—and Territory split;

Like fields of ice rent by the polar wind

And forced to join in less obnoxious shapes,

Which, ere they gain consistence, by a gust

Of the same breath are shattered and destroyed.

Meantime, the Sovereignty of these fair Isles

Remains entire and indivisible;