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1799.10
Written After Seeing Opie's Picture of the
Tired Soldier in the Late Exhibition [1]
“E. C. G.”
The Gentleman's Magazine, LXIX (August 1799), p. 696
Behold the soldier, on his journey home,
Halting to slake his thirst, and satisfy
The wants tir'd nature eagerly doth crave;
That, ere the evening clouds obscure the day,
He may, refreshen'd, still pursue his route,
And reach, at length, the haven of his hopes;
Tho', after years of absence from his home,
And all those comforts which that home did yield,
A thousand ills his anxious mind forebodes;
He dreads to meet the complicated woes,
His fears already do anticipate,
And which, alas! his presence might have stay'd:
The faithful partner of his early life
Perhaps long since hath paid great Nature's debt;
His children too, 'reft of a father's care,
Consign'd t' an early grave—dreadful the thought!
That, after having 'scap'd the fate of war,
The dangers of disease in distant climes,
Acquir'd a soldier's not unglorious name,
A little pittance for his future wants,
To lose at last that home, he fondly hop'd,
Would chear the ev'ning of his days, and make
His past misfortunes e'en a source of joy!