Prophetic power was believed to reside within the grove which surrounded the temple of Jupiter near Dodona, in Epirus, and oracles were given forth from the boughs of the sacred oak.--ED. INDIGNATION OF A HIGH-MINDED SPANIARD, 1810 Composed 1810.--Published 1815 We can endure that He should waste our lands, Despoil our temples, and by sword and flame Return us to the dust from which we came; Such food a Tyrant's appetite demands: And we can brook the thought that by his hands 5 Spain may be overpowered, and he possess, For his delight, a solemn wilderness Where all the brave lie dead. But, when of bands Which he will break for us he dares to speak, Of benefits, and of a future day 10 When our enlightened minds shall bless his sway; _Then_, the strained heart of fortitude proves weak; Our groans, our blushes, our pale cheeks declare That he has power to inflict what we lack strength to bear. Compare the two sonnets _On a Celebrated Event in Ancient History_ (pp. 242-44). The following note to the last line of this sonnet occurs in Professor Reed's American edition of the Poems:--"The student of English poetry will call to mind Cowley's impassioned expression of the indignation of a Briton under the depression of disasters somewhat similar. Let rather Roman come again, Or Saxon, Norman, or the Dane: In all the bonds we ever bore, We grieved, we sighed, we wept, _we never blushed before_." See Cowley's _Discourse on the Government of Oliver Cromwell_.--ED. "AVAUNT ALL SPECIOUS PLIANCY OF MIND" Composed 1810.--Published 1815 Avaunt all specious pliancy of mind In men of low degree, all smooth pretence! I better like a blunt indifference, And self-respecting slowness, disinclined To win me at first sight: and be there joined 5 Patience and temperance with this high reserve, Honour that knows the path and will not swerve; Affections, which, if put to proof, are kind; And piety towards God. Such men of old Were England's native growth; and, throughout Spain, (Thanks to high God) forests of such remain:[1] 11 Then for that Country let our hopes be bold; For matched with these shall policy prove vain, Her arts, her strength, her iron, and her gold. VARIANTS: [1] 1837. Forests of such do at this day remain; 1815. "O'ERWEENING STATESMEN HAVE FULL LONG RELIED" Composed 1810.--Published 1815 In all the editions this poem has for its title the date _1810_.--ED.