The Bard. A Pindaric Ode Thomas Gray 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. Gray, Thomas, 1716-1771. Thomas Gray: English poems. Web. Oxford Thomas Gray Archive 2002 pp. []-[]. http://www.thomasgray.org/texts/poems.shtml

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The Bard . A Pindaric Ode
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The following Ode is founded on a Tradition current in Wales , that EDWARD the First , when he compleated the conquest of that country , ordered all the Bards , that fell into his hands , to be put to death .

I. 1. ' Ruin seize thee , ruthless king ! ' Confusion on thy banners wait , ' Though fanned by Conquest's crimson wing Mocking the air with colours idly spread . Shakespear's King John . [ V. i. 72 ] ' They mock the air with idle state . ' Helm nor hauberk's The Hauberk was a texture of steel ringlets , or rings interwoven , forming a coat of mail , that sate close to the body , and adapted itself to every motion . twisted mail , ' Nor even thy virtues , tyrant , shall avail ' To save thy secret soul from nightly fears , ' From Cambria's curse , from Cambria's tears ! ' Such were the sounds , that o'er the crested pride — [ By ] The crested adder's pride . Dryden's Indian Queen . [ III . i. 84 ] Of the first Edward scattered wild dismay , As down the steep of Snowdon's Snowdon was a name given by the Saxons to that mountainous tract , which the Welch themselves call Craigian-eryri : it included all the highlands of Caernarvonshire and Merionethshire , as far east as the river Conway . R. Hygden [ , ] speaking of the castle of Conway built by King Edward the first , says , ' ' Ad ortum amnis Conway ad clivum montis Erery [ At the source of the River Conway on the slope of Mt. Erery ] ; ' ' and Matthew of Westminster , ( ad ann. 1283 , ) ' ' Apud Aberconway ad pedes montis Snowdoniae fecit erigi castrum forte [ Near ( or at ) Aberconway at the foot of Mt. Snowdon , he caused a fortified camp to be constructed . ] . ' ' shaggy side He wound with toilsome march his long array . Stout Gloucester Gilbert de Clare , surnamed the Red , Earl of Gloucester and Hertford , son-in-law to King Edward . stood aghast in speechless trance : ' To arms ! ' cried Mortimer , Edmond de Mortimer , Lord of Wigmore . They both were Lords-Marchers , whose lands lay on the borders of Wales , and probably accompanied the King in this expedition . and couched his quivering lance . I. 2. On a rock , whose haughty brow Frowns o'er old Conway's foaming flood , Robed in the sable garb of woe , With haggard [ ' ... haggard , wch conveys to you the the Idea of a Witch , is indeed only a metaphor taken from an unreclaim'd Hawk , wch is called a Haggard , & looks wild & farouche & jealous of its liberty . ' Letter to Wharton , 21 Aug. 1755 , T & W no . 205. ] eyes the poet stood ; ( Loose his beard , and hoary hair The image was taken from a well-known picture of Raphael , representing the Supreme Being in the vision of Ezekiel : there are two of these paintings ( both believed original ) , one at Florence , the other at Paris . Streamed , like a meteor , to the troubled air ) Shone , like a meteor , streaming to the wind . Milton's Paradise Lost . [ i. 537 ] And with a master's hand , and prophet's fire , Struck the deep sorrows of his lyre . ' Hark , how each giant-oak , and desert cave , ' Sighs to the torrent's awful voice beneath ! ' O'er thee , oh king ! their hundred arms they wave , ' Revenge on thee in hoarser murmurs breathe ; ' Vocal no more , since Cambria's fatal day , ' To high-born Hoel's harp , or soft Llewellyn's lay . I. 3. ' Cold is Cadwallo's tongue , ' That hushed the stormy main : ' Brave Urien sleeps upon his craggy bed : ' Mountains , ye mourn in vain ' Modred , whose magic song ' Made huge Plinlimmon bow his cloud-topped head . ' On dreary Arvon's shore The shores of Caernarvonshire opposite to the isle of Anglesey . they lie , ' Smeared with gore , and ghastly pale : ' Far , far aloof the affrighted ravens sail ; ' The famished eagle Cambden and others observe , that eagles used annually to build their aerie among the rocks of Snowdon , which from thence ( as some think ) were named by the Welch Craigian-eryri , or the crags of the eagles . At this day ( I am told ) the highest point of Snowdon is called the eagle's nest . That bird is certainly no stranger to this island , as the Scots , and the people of Cumberland , Westmoreland , &c. can testify : it even has built its nest in the Peak of Derbyshire . [ See Willoughby's Ornithol . published by Ray . ] [ John Ray ( 1627-1705 ) published ( 1676 ) and translated ( London , 1678 ) the Ornithologia of his patron Francis Willughby ( 1635-72 ) . ] screams , and passes by . ' Dear lost companions of my tuneful art , ' Dear , as the light that visits these sad eyes , As dear to me as are the ruddy drops , That visit my sad heart — Shakesp . Jul. Caesar . [ II . i. 289-90 ] ' Dear , as the ruddy drops that warm my heart , ' Ye died amidst your dying country's cries — ' No more I weep . They do not sleep . ' On yonder cliffs , a grisly band , ' I see them sit , they linger yet , ' Avengers of their native land : ' With me in dreadful harmony they join , See the Norwegian Ode , that follows . [ Fatal Sisters ] ' And weave with bloody hands the tissue of thy line . ' II . 1. " Weave the warp , and weave the woof , " The winding-sheet of Edward's race . " Give ample room , and verge enough " The characters of hell to trace . " Mark the year and mark the night , " When Severn shall re-echo with affright Edward the Second , cruelly butchered in Berkley-Castle [ in 1327 near the Severn River in western England ] . " The shrieks of death , through Berkeley's roofs that ring , " Shrieks of an agonizing King ! " She-wolf of France , Isabel of France , Edward the Second's adulterous Queen . with unrelenting fangs , " That tear'st the bowels of thy mangled mate , " From thee be born , who o'er thy country hangs Triumphs of Edward the Third in France . " The scourge of heaven . What terrors round him wait ! " Amazement in his van , with Flight combined , " And Sorrow's faded form , and Solitude behind . II . 2. " Mighty victor , mighty lord , " Low on his funeral couch he lies ! Death of that King , abandoned by his Children , and even robbed in his last moments by his Courtiers and his Mistress [ Alice Perrers , in 1377 ] . " No pitying heart , no eye , afford " A tear to grace his obsequies . " Is the sable warrior fled ? Edward , the Black Prince , dead some time before his Father [ in 1376 ] . " Thy son is gone . He rests among the dead . " The swarm that in thy noon-tide beam were born ? " Gone to salute the rising morn . Magnificence of Richard the Second's reign . See Froissard , and other contemporary Writers . " Fair laughs the morn , and soft the zephyr blows , " While proudly riding o'er the azure realm " In gallant trim the gilded vessel goes ; " Youth on the prow , and Pleasure at the helm ; " Regardless of the sweeping whirlwind's sway , " That , hushed in grim repose , expects his evening-prey . II . 3. " Fill high the sparkling bowl , Richard the Second , ( as we are told by Archbishop Scroop and the confederate Lords in their manifesto , by Thomas of Walsingham , and all the older Writers ) [ , ] was starved to death [ in 1400 ] . The story of his assassination by Sir Piers of Exon , is of much later date . " The rich repast prepare , " Reft of a crown , he yet may share the feast : " Close by the regal chair " Fell Thirst and Famine scowl " A baleful smile upon their baffled guest . " Heard ye the din of battle bray , Ruinous civil wars of York and Lancaster . " Lance to lance , and horse to horse ? " Long years of havoc urge their destined course , " And through the kindred squadrons mow their way . " Ye towers of Julius , Henry the Sixth , George Duke of Clarence , Edward the Fifth , Richard Duke of York , &c. believed to be murthered secretly in the Tower of London . The oldest part of that structure is vulgarly attributed to Julius Caesar . London's lasting shame , " With many a foul and midnight murther fed , " Revere his consort's faith , his father's fame , [ Consort ] Margaret of Anjou , a woman of heroic spirit , who struggled hard to save her Husband and her Crown . [ Father ] Henry the Fifth . " And spare the meek usurper's holy head . Henry the Sixth very near being canonized . The line of Lancaster had no right of inheritance to the Crown . " Above , below , the rose of snow , The white and red roses , devices of York and Lancaster [ presumably woven above and below on the loom ] . " Twined with her blushing foe , we spread : " The bristled Boar The silver Boar was the badge of Richard the Third ; whence he was usually known in his own time by the name of the Boar . in infant-gore " Wallows beneath the thorny shade . " Now , brothers , bending o'er the accursed loom , " Stamp we our vengeance deep , and ratify his doom . III . 1. " Edward , lo ! to sudden fate " ( Weave we the woof . The thread is spun ) " Half of thy heart we consecrate . Eleanor of Castile died a few years after the conquest of Wales . The heroic proof she gave of her affection for her Lord [ she is supposed to have sucked the poison from a wound Edward I received ] is well known . The monuments of his regret , and sorrow for the loss of her , are still to be seen at Northampton , Geddington , Waltham , and other places . " ( The web is wove . The work is done . ) " ' Stay , oh stay ! nor thus forlorn ' Leave me unblessed , unpitied , here to mourn : ' In yon bright track , that fires the western skies , ' They melt , they vanish from my eyes . ' But oh ! what solemn scenes on Snowdon's height ' Descending slow their glittering skirts unroll ? ' Visions of glory , spare my aching sight , ' Ye unborn ages , crowd not on my soul ! ' No more our long-lost Arthur It was the common belief of the Welch nation , that King Arthur was still alive in Fairy-Land , and should return again to reign over Britain . we bewail . ' All-hail , ye genuine kings , Britannia's issue , hail ! Both Merlin [ Myrddin ] and Taliessin had prophesied , that the Welch should regain their sovereignty over this island ; which seemed to be accomplished in the House of Tudor [ 1768 ] . Accession of the House of Tudor [ 1757 ] . III . 2. ' Girt with many a baron bold ' Sublime their starry fronts they rear ; ' And gorgeous dames , and statesmen old ' In bearded majesty , appear . ' In the midst a form divine ! ' Her eye proclaims her of the Briton-line ; ' Her lion-port , her awe-commanding face , Speed relating an audience given by Queen Elizabeth to Paul Dzialinski , Ambassadour of Poland , says , ' And thus she , lion-like rising , daunted the malapert Orator no less with her stately port and majestical deporture , than with the tartnesse of her princelie checkes . ' [ John Speed ( 1552-1629 ) published his History of Great Britaine ... to ... King James in 1611. ] ' Attempered sweet to virgin-grace . ' What strings symphonious tremble in the air , ' What strains of vocal transport round her play ! ' Hear from the grave , great Taliessin , Taliessin , Chief of the Bards , flourished in the VIth Century . His works are still preserved , and his memory held in high veneration among his Countrymen . [ His Book exists in only a thirteenth-century version and many of the poems in it may not be by Taliessin . ] hear ; ' They breathe a soul to animate thy clay . ' Bright Rapture calls , and soaring , as she sings , ' Waves in the eye of heaven her many-coloured wings . III . 3. ' The verse adorn again ' Fierce war and faithful love , Fierce wars and faithful loves shall moralize my song . Spenser's Proëme to the Fairy Queen [ l. 9 ] ' And truth severe , by fairy fiction dressed . ' In buskined measures move Shakespear . ' Pale Grief , and pleasing Pain , ' With Horror , tyrant of the throbbing breast . ' A voice , as of the cherub-choir , Milton . ' Gales from blooming Eden bear ; ' And distant warblings lessen on my ear , The succession of Poets after Milton's time . ' That lost in long futurity expire . ' Fond impious man , think'st thou , yon sanguine cloud , ' Raised by thy breath , has quenched the orb of day ? ' Tomorrow he repairs the golden flood , ' And warms the nations with redoubled ray . ' Enough for me : with joy I see ' The different doom our fates assign . ' Be thine despair and sceptered care ; ' To triumph , and to die , are mine . ' He spoke , and headlong from the mountain's height Deep in the roaring tide he plunged to endless night .