Ode for the New Year

Ode for the New Year

Original Text
The Loyal Verses of Joseph Stansbury and Doctor Jonathan Odell, ed. Winthrop Sargent (Albany: J. Munsell, 1860): 59-60. Internet Archive
1When rival Nations first descried,
2Emerging from the boundless Main
3This Land by Tyrants yet untried,
4On high was sung this lofty strain:
5Rise Britannia beaming far!
6Rise bright Freedom's morning star!
7To distant Regions unexplor'd
8Extend the blessings of thy sway;
9To yon benighted World afford
10The light of thy all-chearing ray;
11Rise Britannia, rise bright star!
12Spread thy radiance wide and far!
13The shoots of Science rich and fair,
14Transplanted from thy fostering Isle
15And by thy Genius nurtur'd there,
16Shall teach the Wilderness to smile.
17Shine, Britannia, rise and shine!
18To bless Mankind the talk be thine!
19Nor shall the Muses now disdain
20To find a new Asylum there:
21And ripe for harvest see the plain,
22Where lately rov'd the prowling Bear!
23Plume, Britannia, plume thy wing!
24Teach the savage Wild to sing!
25From thee descended, there the Swain
26Shall arm the Port and spread the Sail,
27And speed his traffick o'er the Main
28With skill to brave the sweeping Gale;
29Skill, Britannia, taught by thee,
30Unrivall'd Empress of the Sea!
31This high and holy strain how true
32Had now from age to age been shown;
33And to the World's admiring view
34Rose Freedom's transatlantic throne:
35Here, Britannia, here thy fame
36Long did we with joy proclaim.
37But ah! what frenzy breaks a band
38Of love and union held so dear!
39Rebellion madly shakes the land,
40And love is turn'd to hate and fear.
41Here, Britannia, here at last
42We feel Contagion's deadly blast.
43Thus blind, alas! when all is well,
44Thus blind are Mortals here below:
45As when apostate Angels fell,
46Ambition turns our bliss to woe.
47Now, Britannia, now beware:
48For other conflicts now prepare!
49By thee controul'd for ages past,
50See now half Europe in array:
51For wild Ambition hopes at last
52To fix her long projected sway.
53Rise, Britannia, rise again
54The scourge of haughty France and Spain!
55The howling tempest fiercely blows,
56And Ocean races in the storm:
57'Tis then the Fearless Pilot shows
58What British courage can perform.
59Rule, Britannia, rule the waves
60And ruin all intruding slaves!
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2011
Rhyme
Form