When loud Invasion with infuriate roar,
With boastful threatening shakes Britannia's shore;
Should Alfred turn his sainted eyes to earth,
And view the hallow'd seats that gave him birth,
How would he praise the patriot worth that calls
Her manly sons from Vinitagia's walls!
Though far from billowy ocean's blue domains,
No hostile power can waste their inland plains,
When Gallia arms and injur'd Albion bleeds,
Wherever glory points and valour leads,
Zealous from each domestic bliss they go
To meet on distant fields their country's foe,
Feeling their monarch's sacred rights their own,
Their swords his bulwark, and their heart his throne.