He stands alone on a desolate rock,
With the watery waste around him;
For the slaves of Fate and the hounds of Hate,
To this lonely rock have bound him.
No sail appears on the watery way,
He sees but the sea-mew flying;
He hears but the wave, as it moans round this grave,
And hope in his heart is dying.
He has folded his arms upon his breast,
His eye's on the sun descending,
With dark clouds o'ercast, it is sinking at last,
Like his glory in darkness ending.
And he thinks of the Sun of Austerlitz,
That rose, and that set in glory;
And there gleams out a brief lonely joy 'mid his grief,
For his name shall live in story.
And over that brow that was so serene,
Tho' the death shower was descending,
A dark cloud has past, for like that sun at last,
His glory is gloomily ending.
The sword of Marengo must rust in its sheath,
And that soul of ambition unbounded
Must fret itself here, on this peak lone and drear:
This rock with the ocean surrounded.
And he mutters, "Of kingdoms and crowns,
A terrible fate has bereft me;
They have vanished like smoke, and to rule on this rock,
Not even that boon has been left me.
"Ah! where are the voices that shouted so loud,
In the day of mine exaltation;
I hear but the moan of old ocean alone,
Round the rock of my desolation.
"And where are the legions that leaped at my word?
In joy, 'mid the lightning and thunder,
While thrones shook with dread, at the sound of my tread,
And nations stood dumb in their wonder.
"Ah, Ney! is it thou, and Lannes and Desaix,
With your legions, ye gather round me?
Ye have come o'er the waves from your lone bloody graves,
To this rock where the sea-gods have bound me.
"Let the bugles ring out! let the eagles advance!
There shall be no rock, and no main;
Leap into the saddle! great hearts, ye are able
To bear me to glory again!
"See, Murat has broken the red gleaming ranks,
And Junot is swooping down after;
Ah, fool! all my hosts turn to legions of ghosts,
And fade amid fiendish laughter.
"I founded my kingdom on force and fraud;
I built on a sandy foundation ;
O! the love-founded throne, that of Jesus alone,
Shall smile at the waves of mutation."