Samuel Taylor Coleridge — To Lord Stanhope

Stanhope! I hail, with ardent Hymn, thy name!        &nbspThou shalt be bless'd and lov'd, when in the dust        &nbspThy corse shall moulder—Patriot pure and just! And o'er thy tomb the grateful hand of Fame Shall grave:—'Here sleeps the Friend of Humankind!'        &nbspFor thou, untainted by Corruption's bowl,        &nbspOr foul Ambition, with undaunted soul Hast spoke the language of a Free-born mind Pleading the cause of Nature! Still pursue        &nbspThy path of Honour!—To thy Country true,        &nbspStill watch th' expiring flame of Liberty! O Patriot! still pursue thy virtuous way, As holds his course the splendid Orb of Day, Or thro' the stormy or the tranquil sky!