Feelings Of A Republican On The Fall Of Bonaparte

Percy Bysshe Shelley

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I hated thee, fallen tyrant! I did groan
To think that a most unambitious slave,
Like thou, shouldst dance and revel on the grave
Of Liberty. Thou mightst have built thy throne
Where it had stood even now: thou didst prefer
A frail and bloody pomp which Time has swept
In fragments towards Oblivion. Massacre,
For this I prayed, would on thy sleep have crept,
Treason and Slavery, Rapine, Fear, and Lust,
And stifled thee, their minister. I know
Too late, since thou and France are in the dust,
That Virtue owns a more eternal foe
Than Force or Fraud: old Custom, legal Crime,
And bloody Faith the foulest birth of Time.

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Comments1
  • EmmettLaurens

    Read this one back in school and its powerful message still resonates with me. Got one nagging question though, who was the targeted tyrant? Was it someone specific or just tyranny in general? That's been bugging me for while now.