204 MACAULAY
At once on all her stately gates arose the answering
fires; At once the wild alarum clashed from all her reeling
spires; From all the batteries of the Tower pealed loud the
voice of fear; And all the thousand masts of Thames sent back a
louder cheer; And from the furthest wards was heard the rush of
hurrying feet, And the broad streams of pikes and flags rushed
down each roaring street ; And broader still became the blaze, and louder still
the din, As fast from every village round the horse came
spurring in. And eastward straight from wild Blackheath the
warlike errand went, And roused in many an ancient hall the gallant
squires of Kent. Southward from Surrey's pleasant hills flew those
bright couriers forth ; High on bleak Hampstead's swarthy moor they
started for the north ; And on, and on, without a pause, untired they
bounded still : All night from tower to tower they sprang; they
sprang from hill to hill : Till the proud Peak unfurled the flag o'er Darwin's
rocky dales, Till like volcanoes flared to heaven the stormy hills
of Wales,
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