"Ask not my name--lest rising wrath prevent
My hurried speech, and hinder Heaven's intent.--
Confined by Christiern's doom, I saw, with dread,
The axe hang glaring o'er my fated head:
Escaped, thro' nightly seas I held my way,
'Till starry midnight verged on purple day;
When instant at my prow a form appear'd,
Array'd in splendours, and the darkness cheer'd.
Genius of Sweden (such his sacred name)
From heaven's high arch the lucid herald came.
He bade me instant cross the watery road, }
And seek Gustavus in his dark abode, }
Where swift Dal-Elbe thro' rocky mountains flow'd. }
Then thus: "To him, Ernestus! is decreed
To govern nations by his valour freed,
Oppression's fiercest efforts to subdue,
And at his feet contending factions view.
Indignant Denmark mourns her laws o'erthrown,
And spurns her monarch from his iron throne.
Soon as Gustavus blows the loud alarms,
Each town, each province will arise to arms;
With Wermeland's tribes Westmania's shall unite,
And Gothland's answering shouts provoke the fight.
Bid him, who now in sluggish languor lies,
Nor knows the favour of the indulgent skies,
Rise and avenge! for him Heaven's laws ordain }
The lengthen'd blessings of a peaceful reign, }
And sons succeeding sons, his glory to maintain." }
He spoke, and swifter than the falcon's flight
The ship shot instant thro' the seas of night.
The vision vanish'd from my earnest view,
And o'er me sleep his drowsy mantle threw:
'Till, roused by morning's beam, my bark I steer'd
Where full in sight your mountain-land appear'd,
Cut thro' the bordering groves my rapid way,
And reach'd your rural dome by close of day,
Propitious Heaven my guide." While yet he spoke,
In Vasa's breast the storm of fury woke:
Each phrase accustomed, each familiar tone,
Proclaim'd the wretch for daring treasons known.
With giant grasp he seiz'd the youth, whose mind
Nor hoped, nor sought to shun the death design'd;
"And comest thou then, young veteran in deceit,
To make thy work of perfidy complete,
To earn by Vasa's death one title more,
And revel in another patriot's gore?--
And think'st thou still to flatter and deceive,
By fables madness only can believe?--
Thy wealth is useless now--this ruined state
Has long