So did she daunt the Earth, and God defy! 30 And, wheresoe'er she spread her sovereignty, Pollution tainted all that was most pure. --Have we not known--and live we not to tell-- That Justice seemed to hear her final knell? Faith buried deeper in her own deep breast 35 Her stores, and sighed to find them insecure! And Hope was maddened by the drops that fell From shades, her chosen place of short-lived rest.[158] Shame followed shame, and woe supplanted woe-- Is this the only change that time can show? 40 How long shall vengeance sleep? Ye patient Heavens, how long? --Infirm ejaculation! from the tongue Of Nations wanting virtue to be strong Up to the measure of accorded might, And daring not to feel the majesty of right! 45 IV Weak Spirits are there--who would ask, Upon the pressure of a painful thing, The lion's sinews, or the eagle's wing; Or let their wishes loose, in forest-glade, Among the lurking powers 50 Of herbs and lowly flowers, Or seek, from saints above, miraculous aid-- That Man may be accomplished for a task Which his own nature hath enjoined;--and why? If, when that interference hath relieved him, 55 He must sink down to languish In worse than former helplessness--and lie Till the caves roar,--and, imbecility Again engendering anguish, The same weak wish returns, that had before deceived him. 60 V But Thou, supreme Disposer! may'st[159] not speed The course of things, and change the creed Which hath been held aloft before men's sight Since the first framing of societies, Whether, as bards have told in ancient song, 65 Built up by soft seducing harmonies; Or prest together by the appetite, And by the power, of wrong. The date of the composition of this Ode is uncertain. Wordsworth himself gives no clue: but it seems to refer to the rise of the French Republic, with its illusive promises of Liberty: the freedom of the many being sacrificed to the despotism of one. The Republic passed "through many a change of form." It became both tyrannous and aggressive. The "Principalities" of Europe "melted" before it. It stood forth "an armèd creature," and "a terror to the Earth." It in turn put down "Justice," "Faith," and "Hope" throughout Europe; and the writer of the Ode says, How long shall vengeance sleep? Ye patient Heavens, how long? The allusions in stanza iv. suggest that this Ode was written before Waterloo, and the final overthrow of the power of Napoleon, but it is difficult, if not impossible, to determine the point with exactness from internal evidence.