stavus
IV. He abdicated in 1809, and came to London at the close of the year
1810. Compare the earlier sonnet on the same King of Sweden (vol. ii. p.
338), beginning--

The Voice of song from distant lands shall call.

In the edition of 1827, Wordsworth added the following note:--"In this
and a former Sonnet, in honour of the same Sovereign, let me be
understood as a Poet availing himself of the situation which the King of
Sweden occupied, and of the principles avowed in his manifestos; as
laying hold of these advantages for the purpose of embodying moral
truths. This remark might, perhaps, as well have been suppressed; for to
those who may be in sympathy with the course of these Poems, it will be
superfluous; and will, I fear, be thrown away upon that other class,
whose besotted admiration of the intoxicated despot here placed in
contrast with him, is the most melancholy evidence of degradation in
British feeling and intellect which the times have furnished."--ED.

"LOOK NOW ON THAT ADVENTURER WHO HATH PAID"

Composed 1809.--Published 1815

Look now on that Adventurer who hath paid
His vows to Fortune; who, in cruel slight
Of virtuous hope, of liberty, and right,
Hath followed wheresoe'er a way was made
By the blind Goddess,--ruthless, undismayed; 5
And so hath gained at length a prosperous height,
Round which the elements of worldly might
Beneath his haughty feet, like clouds, are laid.
O joyless power that stands by lawless force!
Curses are _his_ dire portion, scorn, and hate, 10
Internal darkness and unquiet breath;
And, if old judgments keep their sacred course,
Him from that height shall Heaven precipitate
By violent and ignominious death.

The "Adventurer" who "paid his vows to Fortune," in contrast to the
royal Swede "who never did to Fortune bend the knee," was of course
Napoleon Buonaparte.--ED.

"IS THERE A POWER THAT CAN SUSTAIN AND CHEER"

Composed 1809.--Published 1815

Is there a power that can sustain and cheer
The captive chieftain, by a tyrant's doom,
Forced to descend into his destined tomb--[1]
A dungeon dark! where he must waste the year,
And lie cut off from all his heart holds dear; 5
What time his injured country is a stage
Whereon deliberate Valour and the rage
Of righteous Vengeance side by side appear,
Filling from morn