21. 'It doth avail not that I weep for ye-- _4405 Ye cannot change, since ye are old and gray, And ye have chosen your lot--your fame must be A book of blood, whence in a milder day Men shall learn truth, when ye are wrapped in clay: Now ye shall triumph. I am Laon's friend, _4410 And him to your revenge will I betray, So ye concede one easy boon. Attend! For now I speak of things which ye can apprehend. 22. 'There is a People mighty in its youth, A land beyond the Oceans of the West, _4415 Where, though with rudest rites, Freedom and Truth Are worshipped; from a glorious Mother's breast, Who, since high Athens fell, among the rest Sate like the Queen of Nations, but in woe, By inbred monsters outraged and oppressed, _4420 Turns to her chainless child for succour now, It draws the milk of Power in Wisdom's fullest flow. 23. 'That land is like an Eagle, whose young gaze Feeds on the noontide beam, whose golden plume Floats moveless on the storm, and in the blaze _4425 Of sunrise gleams when Earth is wrapped in gloom; An epitaph of glory for the tomb Of murdered Europe may thy fame be made, Great People! as the sands shalt thou become; Thy growth is swift as morn, when night must fade; _4430 The multitudinous Earth shall sleep beneath thy shade. 24. 'Yes, in the desert there is built a home For Freedom. Genius is made strong to rear The monuments of man beneath the dome Of a new Heaven; myriads assemble there, _4435 Whom the proud lords of man, in rage or fear, Drive from their wasted homes: the boon I pray Is this--that Cythna shall be convoyed there-- Nay, start not at the name--America! And then to you this night Laon will I betray. _4440 25. 'With me do what ye will. I am your foe!' The light of such a joy as makes the stare Of hungry snakes like living emeralds glow, Shone in a hundred human eyes--'Where, where Is Laon? Haste! fly! drag him swiftly here! _4445 We grant thy boon.'--'I put no trust in ye, Swear by the Power ye dread.'--'We swear, we swear!' The Stranger threw his vest back suddenly, And smiled in gentle pride, and said, 'Lo! I am he!' NOTES: _4321 wreathed]writhed. "Poetical Works" 1839. 1st edition. _4361 the mighty]tho' mighty edition 1818. _4362 ye]he edition 1818. _4432 there]then edition 1818. CANTO 12.