fection. Left to itself the boldest and most
enterprising of its members rose to command, and the mode of warfare
best adapted to their force and habits was pursued. Each province
boasted of a hero, in command of a formidable band--Old Castile, Don
Julian Sanches; Aragon, Longa; Navarre, Esprez y Mina, ... with
innumerable others, whose deeds spread a lustre over every part of the
kingdom.... Mina and Longa headed armies of 6000 or 8000 men with
distinguished ability, and displayed manoeuvres oftentimes for months
together, in baffling the pursuit of more numerous bodies of French,
which would reflect credit on the most celebrated commanders." Mina had
been trained for clerical life. (See _Account of the War in Spain and
Portugal, and in the south of France, from 1808 to 1814 inclusive_, by
Lieut.-Colonel John T. Jones. London, 1818.)--ED.

[D] Sertorius.--W. W. 1827. See note to _The Prelude_ book i. vol. iii.
p. 138.--ED.

"THE POWER OF ARMIES IS A VISIBLE THING"

Composed 1811.--Published 1815

One of the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty."

The power of Armies is a visible thing,[A]
Formal, and circumscribed in time and space;[1]
But who the limits of that power shall trace[2]
Which a brave People into light can bring
Or hide, at will,--for freedom combating 5
By just revenge inflamed? No foot may chase,[3]
No eye can follow, to a fatal[4] place
That power, that spirit, whether on the wing
Like the strong wind, or sleeping like the wind
Within its awful caves.--From year to year 10
Springs this indigenous produce far and near;
No craft this subtle element can bind,
Rising like water from the soil, to find
In every nook a lip that it may cheer.

VARIANTS:

[1] 1827.

... and place; 1815.

[2] 1827.

... can trace 1815.

[3] 1827.

... can chase, 1815.

[4] The word "fatal" was _italicised_ in the editions of 1815-43.

FOOTNOTES:

[A] Compare Aubrey de Vere's _Picturesque Sketches of Greece and
Turkey_, vol. i. chap. viii. p. 204.--ED.

"HERE PAUSE: THE POET CLAIMS AT LEAST THIS PRAISE"

Composed 1811.--Published 1815

Included among the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty." In 1815 it was called
_Conclusion_, as ending this series of poems in that edition. In all