"People! your chains are severing link by link; Soon shall the Rich be levelled down--the Poor Meet them half-way." Vain boast! for These, the more They thus would rise, must low and lower sink Till, by repentance stung, they fear to think; 5 While all lie prostrate, save the tyrant few Bent in quick turns each other to undo, And mix the poison they themselves must drink. Mistrust thyself, vain Country! cease to cry, "Knowledge will save me from the threatened woe." For, if than other rash ones more thou know, 11 Yet on presumptuous wing as far would fly Above thy knowledge as they dared to go, Thou wilt provoke a heavier penalty. FOOTNOTES: [702] This Sonnet ought to have followed No. vii. in the series of 1831, but was omitted by mistake.--W. W. 1835. As the above note indicates Wordsworth's own wish as to where this sonnet should be placed, and approximately gives the date of composition, it is placed as No. VIII. in the sonnets of 1831. In later editions, Wordsworth placed it as the first in the series of "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty and Order." The original title was _Sonnet, composed after reading a Newspaper of the Day_.--ED. IX COMPOSED IN THE GLEN OF LOCH ETIVE ["That make the Patriot spirit." It was mortifying to have frequent occasions to observe the bitter hatred of the lower orders of the Highlanders to their superiors; love of country seemed to have passed into its opposite. Emigration was the only relief looked to with hope.[703]--I. F.] "This Land of Rainbows spanning glens whose walls, Rock-built, are hung with rainbow-coloured mists-- Of far-stretched Meres whose salt flood never rests-- Of tuneful Caves and playful Waterfalls-- Of Mountains varying momently their crests-- 5 Proud be this Land! whose poorest huts are halls Where Fancy entertains becoming guests; While native song the heroic Past recals." Thus, in the net of her own wishes caught, The Muse exclaimed; but Story now must hide 10 Her trophies, Fancy crouch; the course of pride Has been diverted, other lessons taught, That make the Patriot-spirit bow her head Where the all-conquering Roman feared to tread. FOOTNOTES: [703] This Fenwick note is significant. These things repeat themselves, and are as true in 1896, as they were in 1831.--ED. X EAGLES COMPOSED AT DUNOLLIE CASTLE IN THE BAY OF OBAN