Penny Dreadfuls, 1812 · page 230 of 258
Psyche, and other poems — page 230: what you’re looking at
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# Page 212: Verse Narrative This is a text page of running poetry in verse form, numbered 212. The passage depicts a dramatic domestic tragedy: a woman named Ellen trembles as men advocate striking at an enemy "even through the breast of innocence." The narrator describes Ellen's distress over her missing infant child and her brother's protective response. When hearing warfare approaching ("the first savage blast"), the brother flees back to what was their "home of peace," now destroyed. The passage concludes with the narrator's anguished wish that he had died beneath his sister's roof rather than witness the family's catastrophic loss.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
21g ““ What, shall we feel the ceward blow, And tamely wait a late defence ? No; let us strike the secret foe, Even through the breast of innocence ! “* Poor Ellen trembled as they raved ;. Her pallid cheek forgot its tears ; While from the hand of fury saved, | Her infant darling scarce appears. «7 saw her earnest searching eye, in that dark moment of alarm, Ask, in impatient agony, A brother’s dear, protecting arm. ‘¢ Woe! bitter woe, to me aml mine! Too well his brave, his feeling heart Already could her fears divine, And more than bear a brother’s part. *° | “When the first savage blast he knew Would bid each deadly bugle roar, Back to our home of peace he flew : Ah, home of peace and love no more! ‘* Oh! would to Gud that I had died Beneath my wretched sister’s roof! Thus heaven in mercy had denied To my worst fears their utmost proof. Comichbooksseom