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(First published in the volume "Poems" in 1791)
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TRANSCENDENT VALOUR! godlike Pow'r! Lord of the dauntless breast, and stedfast mien! Who, rob'd in majesty sublime, Sat in thy eagle-wafted car, And led the hardy sons of war, With head erect, and eye serene, Amidst the arrowy show'r; When unsubdued, from clime to clime, YOUNG AMMON taught exulting Fame O'er earth's vast space to sound the glories of thy name. ILLUSTRIOUS VALOUR! from whose glance, Each recreant passion shrinks dismay'd; To whom benignant Heaven consign'd, All that can elevate the mind; 'Tis THINE, in radiant worth array'd, To rear thy glitt'ring helmet high, And with intrepid front, defy Stern FATE's uplifted arm, and desolating lance, When, from the CHAOS of primeval Night, This wond'rous ORB first sprung to light; And pois'd amid the sphery clime By strong Attraction's pow'r sublime, Its whirling course began; With sacred spells encompass'd round, Each element observ'd its bound, Earth's solid base, huge promontories bore; Curb'd OCEAN roar'd, clasp'd by the rocky shore; And midst metallic fires, translucent rivers ran. All nature own'd th' OMNIPOTENT's command! Luxuriant blessings deck'd the vast domain; HE bade the budding branch expand; And from the teeming ground call'd forth the cherish'd grain; Salubrious springs from flinty caverns drew; Enamell'd verdure o'er the landscape threw; HE taught the scaly host to glide Sportive, amidst the limpid tide; HIS breath sustain'd the EAGLE's wing; With vocal sounds bade hills and valleys ring; Then, with his Word supreme, awoke to birth THE HUMAN FORM SUBLIME! THE SOV'REIGN LORD OF EARTH! VALOUR! thy pure and sacred flame Diffus'd its radiance o'er his mind; From THEE he learnt the fiery STEED to tame; And with a flow'ry band, the speckled PARD to bind; Guarded by Heaven's eternal shield, He taught each living thing to yield; Wond'ring, yet undismay'd he stood, To mark the SUN's fierce fires decay; Fearless, he saw the TYGER play; While at his stedfast gaze, the LION crouch'd subdued! From age to age on FAME's bright roll, Thy glorious attributes have shone! Thy influence soothes the soldier's pain, Whether beneath the freezing pole, Or basking in the torrid zone, Upon the barren thirsty plain. Led by thy firm and daring hand, O'er wastes of snow, o'er burning sand, INTREPID TARLETON chas'd the foe, And smil'd in DEATH's grim face, and brav'd his with'ring blow! When late on CALPE's rock, stern VICT'RY stood, Hurling swift vengeance o'er the bounding flood; Each winged bolt illum'd a flame, IBERIA's vaunting sons to tame; While o'er the dark unfathom'd deep, The blasts of desolation blew, Fierce lightnings hov'ring round the frowning steep, 'Midst the wild waves their fatal arrows threw; Loud roar'd the cannon's voice with ceaseless ire, While the vast BULWARK glow'd,a PYRAMID OF FIRE! Then in each BRITON's gallant breast, Benignant VIRTUE shone confest! When Death spread wide his direful reign, And shrieks of horror echoed o'er the main; Eager they flew, their wretched foes to save From the dread precincts of a whelming grave; THEN, VALOUR was thy proudest hour! THEN, didst thou, like a radiant GOD, Check the keen rigours of th' avenging rod, And with soft MERCY's hand subdue the scourge of POW'R!! When fading, in the grasp of Death, ILLUSTRIOUS WOLFE on earth's cold bosom lay; His anxious soldiers thronging round, Bath'd with their tears each gushing wound; As on his pallid lip the fleeting breath, In faint, and broken accents, stole away, Loud shouts of TRIUMPH fill'd the skies! To Heaven he rais'd his gratelul eyes; "'TIS VIC'TRY'S VOICE," the Hero cried! "I THANK THEE, BOUNTEOUS HEAVEN," then smiling, DIED! TARLETON, thy mind, above the POET's praise Asks not the labour'd task of flatt'ring lays! As the rare GEM with innate lustre glows, As round the OAK the gadding Ivy grows, So shall THY WORTH, in native radiance live! So shall the MUSE spontaneous incense give! Th' HISTORIC page shall prove a lasting shrine, Where Truth and Valour shall THY laurels twine; Where,with thy name, recording FAME shall blend The ZEALOUS PATRIOT, and the FAITHFUL FRIEND! |
"Ode to Valour" was first published in Mary's 1791 collection of poems (which the Tarleton family bought by the box-full).
However, in the 1806 collection:The Poetical Works of the Late Mrs Mary Robinson, it's quite noticeable that "Ode to Valour" is no longer "inscribed to Col Banastre Tarleton," and the two verses which mention him by name are chopped out.
The editor of the 1806 edition did not like Ban. Here's what he or she said in the introductory biographical bit:
"In the spring of 1783 our poet was attacked with a violent and dangerous fever, occasioned by travelling all night in a damp post-chaise, to do an office of PECUNIARY FRIENDSHIP, for ONE who has since repaid her with NEGLECT AND INGRATITUDE."
I don't know who the editor and/or biographer of the 1806 edition was. Judith Pascoe, her modern editor, says "It is impossible to know which of the alterations to poems that took place in the 1806 Poetical Works can be attributed to Robinson and which were initiated by her daughter, another editor, or a typesetter." (I don't think the typesetter was responsible for those changes, though.)1
At a guess, I'd say that the writer of that 1806 introductory bio was not her daughter, because it includes this item: "Her father, Mr Darby, was nephew of the celebrated American, Dr Franklin, by the marriage of Miss Hester Franklin with the grandfather of Mrs Robinson." The existence of a sister Hester would have been news to Franklin. Where does this bit of false genealogy come from? I dunno, but I'd have thought that her daughter would have known it was wrong.
Another reason for thinking that the 1806 editor wasn't Maria Elizabeth is a letter from her to the publisher in 1804, saying that she'd prefer to put her mother's work in someone else's hands (quoted in Pascoe's Introduction).
1 Judith Pascoe, Mary Robinson: Selected Poems (Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press, 2000). [ back ]
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