Richard Henry Wilde (1789–1847)

BYRON! ’t is thine alone, on eagles’ pinions,

In solitary strength and grandeur soaring,

To dazzle and delight all eyes; outpouring

The electric blaze on tyrants and their minions;

Earth, sea, and air, and powers and dominions,

Nature, man, time, the universe exploring;

And from the wreck of worlds, thrones, creeds, opinions,

Thought, beauty, eloquence, and wisdom storing:

O, how I love and envy thee thy glory,

To every age and clime alike belonging;

Linked by all tongues with every nation’s glory.

Thou TACITUS of song! whose echoes, thronging

O’er the Atlantic, fill the mountains hoary

And forests with the name my verse is wronging.