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MONODY,
ON THE DEATH OF GENERAL MACQUARIE,
LATE GOVERNOR OF NEW SOUTH WALES.
'Mid Scotia's Islets of the West, *
Washed by the rude Atlantic wave,
A Veteran's modest trophies rest, —
A Chieftain slumbers in the grave.
No column rears its lofty head
Perchance, to mark that hallowed spot;
Yet deem not thus the honour'd dead,
— His day once o'er, — entombed, — forgot,
— Ah ! no — his cherish'd memory
'Shall want no letter'd eulogy.
Heard ye those sounds of wail and woe,
The southern Thule sweeping ?
His dirge is chaunted — solemn and slow: —
Australia's Sons are weeping !
Death knows not flattery, yet no eye
Among that mournful group is dry.
The Man of God recounts his worth, —
His years of toil, — his pious zeal
To check profaneness in its birth, —
His ardour for the orphan's weal : —
Early and late, — by day, by night,
To serve mankind was his delight: —
Kind Ruler, Husband, Father, Friend, —
What more can human nature blend?
— Hark! hark! the trumpet sounds, — the grave
Yields up its tenants. He ascends
To realms, where never-fading laurels wave
To deck the Chieftain's brow; and music lends
Its aid celestial, from the choir of heaven,
To greet the Good, the Virtuous, that is risen!
* In the Island of Mull, one of the Hebrides, or Western Isles, General Macquarie was born and interred.
Source:
Sydney Gazette 18 November 1824 p.4a.
Anonymous.
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