Soaring far up amid the azure heaven,
Ye will note one who leads them in their flight,
As Chief his army to the embattled fight,
And, oft he shouts far back to them to cheer
Their fainting hearts, and flagging pinions on,
To trace the long, long course to far off lands.
If ye will note the noblest of a flock,
Ye will observe the weaker follow him.
And thus if ye will wisely look on men,
Ye will perceive the wisest lead them on
To every work; for this is nature's law,
And whoso breaks it, breaks it to his hurt.
Fair France once drooped beneath the feeble rule,
A blighting reign, of many a Bourbon fool,
Until Napoleon rose, her natural king,
And crushed the Bourbon, as an abscess thing.
Great Heaven decrees, that Greater still must reign,
Or else the weaker must exist in vain.
Fair France seemed conscious of this grand design,
And hailed Napoleon as a man divine--
Bedecked his path for many a flowery mile,
And claimed her monarch with a beaming smile.
Thus came Napoleon--and, on every hand,
Fair Joys prepared to hover o'er the land.
Then, France! thy glorious age was nigh begun,
When rose upon thee such a glorious sun;
Soon had thy bliss and praises been complete,
And Earth had, falling, worshipped at thy feet.
Beneath this monarch's rule--who loved the best--
Thy meanest subject had been very blest.