Napoleon At St Helena

Julia Stockton Dinsmore

Imperial eagle, caged on this lone rock,
King-maker, kingdom-breaker, at whose beck
Armies and navies challenged rout or wreck ;
Thy standard shattered now by battle shock;
Thy legions scattered like a harried flock;
Thy compass narrowed to a sea-girt speck,
Thou whom no bonds could hold, no scruples check —
The Furies follow thee, the Fates do mock!
The petty tyranny, the venomed spite
Of a small sou) in a small sphere supreme,
Thou dost endure as helpless captives must;
The effacing ocean bounds thy longing sight,
Days drag, and nights with sleepless vengeance seem
To flaunt the star that did betray thy trust.