DUNCAN, AN ODE. Helen Maria Williams Alexander Huber Editor Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Broad Street Oxford OX1 3BG UK
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive
Taylor Institution Library St Giles' Oxford OX1 3NA UK info@eighteenthcenturypoetry.org https://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/
Oxford This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Williams, Helen Maria, 1759-1827. Poems on various subjects: with introductory remarks on the present state of science and literature in France. London G. and W. B. Whittaker 1823 pp. [101]-106.

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DUNCAN , AN ODE . I. ABASH'D the rebel squadrons yield — MACBETH , the victor of the field , Exulting , past the blasted wild ; And where his dark o'erhanging towers Frown on the heath , with pleasures mild Now DUNCAN hastes to wing the hours — Sweet are the rosy beams that chase The angry tempest from the sky ; When winds have shook the mountain's base , Sweet is the zephyr's balmy sigh ; But sweeter to the breast the social charms Whose grateful rapture sooths the toil of arms . II . 'Twas not the season when the storm Of winter wears its savage form ; Black'ning all , the frozen North Wildly spreads its awful wings , From yon bare summit rushes forth , And on that barren desart , flings All the rapid torrents might , When with turbulence they sweep , Mingling , with the winds of might , Sounds majestically deep — When nature form'd the hideous waste , she frown'd , And gave to horror its deserted bound . III . 'Twas not the hour when magic spells Rock the heath's untrodden cells ; When slow the wither'd forms arise From caves , which night with lasting sway , Ever shrouds from mortal eyes , Nor divides one hour with day — Sounds unmeet for mortal ear Chill with dread the human frame , Then unreal shapes appear By the blue unhallow'd flame — Discordance strange disturbs the gentle air , And pois'nous taints the thick'ning breezes bear . IV . The western sun's departing ray Bright on the lofty turrets lay , That threw the shadow's length'ning line At solemn distance far below ; And where the gather'd clouds recline On yon dark cliff's terrific brow , There stood a venerable seer , Whose prophetic soul could trace Distant ages hast'ning near , And all that fill'd the unborn space — The prophet gaz'd , with sudden frenzy fir'd , Saw deeds undone , and spoke with lips inspir'd : V. " Hail , Scotia's Monarch ! greatly brave , Skill'd to conquer , charm'd to save ! Whose pitying hand inverts the lance , And meekly drops the slacken'd bow ; Whose gracious eye with mercy's glance Has ever gaz'd on human woe ! — MACBETH , the castle gate unbar , MACBETH , prepare the social board — Haste , from rugged toils of war , Haste , and hail thy sov'reign lord ! With music be the genial banquet crown'd , And bid thy vaulted roofs with joy rebound . VI . " Ha ! — dread visions hang in air ! — I see a bloody dagger glare ! — Deeds that ask the gloom of night Are imag'd in yon troubl'd sky — Now a gleam of fatal light Flashes on my aching eye ! DUNCAN , shun that conscious tower — Fiends the social banquet pile ! — Murder waits the midnight hour , Murder lurks in beauty's smile ! Vain my prophetic voice ! — he hies away Where , scowling o'er the couch , death calls his prey . VII . " Sacred victim ! bath'd in gore , Haunt the hideous scene no more — Rest , unquiet spirit , rest ! Great revenge the heavens prepare ; View thy murd'rer's tortur'd breast , And pity all that labours there ! See the look , and hear the groan , Mark a bleeding soul in pain ! Reason trembles on her throne , Furies seize the burning brain — Unpitied , and accurst shall be his doom , While rising honours flourish round thy tomb . VIII . " Thy mem'ry shall for ever last , And fame , untir'd , repeat the past — Deep in the mystic clouds of time I see a poet call'd to birth — I hear a lyre , whose source sublime With wonder thrills the list'ning earth ! The mighty bard , with ' potent art , ' Shall nature's perfect semblance give , Unlock the springs that move the heart , And bid the human passions live — Still in his heav'n-taught page shall DUNCAN bleed , And future ages tremble as they read ! "