And lo! with crimson banners proudly streaming, And upright weapons innocently gleaming, Along the surface of a spacious plain 55 Advance in order the redoubted Bands, And there receive green chaplets from the hands Of a fair female train-- Maids and Matrons, dight In robes of dazzling white;[139] 60 While from the crowd bursts[140] forth a rapturous noise By the cloud-capt hills retorted; And a throng of rosy boys In loose fashion tell their joys;[141] And grey-haired sires, on staffs supported, 65 Look[142] round, and by their smiling seem[143] to say, Thus strives a grateful Country to display The mighty debt which nothing can repay! III Anon before my sight a palace rose Built of all precious substances,--so pure 70 And exquisite, that sleep alone bestows Ability like splendour to endure: Entered, with streaming thousands, through the gate, I saw the banquet spread beneath a Dome of state, A lofty Dome, that dared to emulate 75 The heaven of sable night With starry lustre; yet had power to throw Solemn effulgence, clear as solar light, Upon a princely company below, While the vault rang with choral harmony, 80 Like some Nymph-haunted grot beneath the roaring sea, --No sooner ceased that peal, than on the verge Of exultation hung a dirge[144] Breathed from a soft and lonely instrument, That kindled recollections 85 Of agonised affections;[BN] And, though some tears the strain attended, The mournful passion ended In peace of spirit, and sublime content! IV But garlands wither; festal shows depart, 90 Like dreams themselves; and sweetest sound-- (Albeit of effect profound) It was--and it is gone! Victorious England! bid the silent Art Reflect, in glowing hues that shall not fade, 95 Those[145] high achievements;[BO] even as she arrayed With second life the deed of Marathon Upon Athenian walls;[BP] So may she labour for thy civic halls: And be the guardian spaces 100 Of consecrated places, As nobly graced by Sculpture's patient toil; And let imperishable Columns rise[146] Fixed in the depths of this courageous soil;[BQ] Expressive signals[147] of a glorious strife, 105 And competent to shed a spark divine Into the torpid breast of daily life;-- Records on which, for pleasure of all eyes, The morning sun may shine[148] With gratulation thoroughly benign![BR] 110 V