Excerpt from Caius Gracchus: A Tragedy, in Five Acts Where is the man, who, as his thoughts survey The days of Roman grandeur past away, Whose memory loves in reverence to dwell O'er minds that held the world within their spell; Calls up the mighty shadows from the tomb, Whose names give immortality to Rome - But feels his mind in Virtue's scale ascend, Improved as patriot, husband, father, friend? Sound but the name of ever-lasting Rome, What glorious visions o'er the fancy come! At their high deeds, to gain a deathless name, The dullest heart will wake and pant for fame; Their sacrifice of self, in Virtue's cause, From sternest eyes the tears of manhood draws, And Rome has formed, in many an after age, The Hero, Poet, Orator, and Sage! O'er ancient Rome, the Muse once more this night Plumes her wild pinions for a daring flight! Depicts the self-devotion - noble strife - By which her Sons maintained their Country's life: And shows how beautiful the holy zeal That hearts which beat for Freedom only feel. The Bard, who drew with such success of late, Virginius maddening o'er a daughter's fate, To soothe his terrors, here has bid me come, The delegate of Gracchus and of Rome; That if, with hands made feeble by his fear, He strikes the chords that Freemen love to hear, Humbly to ask, What modern Bard may hope With strength commensurate with such theme to cope? - Then o'er his efforts let no coldness lower, And with your kindness help his want of power. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.