"" OF THE' * ((UNIVERSITY *J OF Feb. 1, 1828. WORKS PUBLISHED BY J. HATCHARD AND SON, 187, PICCADILLY. i. PRACTICAL ESSAYS on the MORNING and EVENING SERVICES, and on the Collects, in the Liturgy of the Church of England. By the Rev. THOMAS T. BIDDULPH, M. A. Minister of St. James's, Bristol ; and late of Queen's College, Oxford. Third Edition. 3 vols. 8vo. II. 7s. boards. II. IRELAND in TIMES PAST; an Historical Retro- spect, Ecclesiastical and Civil, with Illustrative Notes. 2 vols. 8vo. II. 4*. boards. HI. SERMONS Illustrative of some of the leading Doc- trines of the Gospel in connexion with Christian Temper and Experience. By the Rev. G. HODSON, M.A. Minister of Christ Church, Birmingham, and Chaplain to the Lord Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry. Second Edition. 12 mo. 6*. boards. IV. HEBER'S BAMPTON LECTURES. The PERSONALITY and OFFICE of the CHRIS- TIAN COMFORTER asserted and explained, in a Course of Sermons on John xvi. 7. 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HATCH ARD AND SON, 187, PICCADILLY. MDCCCXXVI1I. /3 ,,1 LONDON : IBOTSON AND PALMER, PRINTEKS, SAVOY STREET, STRAND. PREFACE. THE reader is not thus detained because I would hope, either to prevent criticism by a Preface, or to propitiate it. Such attempts rarely succeed, and never long. But some justification may appear necessary, both of the metre which I have chosen, and of the title for reasons directly opposite the first, because it is new and the last because it is not new. No other subject in the whole range of history, whe- ther true or false, sacred or profane seems more likely to captivate an ardent and ambitious imagination than Belshazzar's Feast the magnificence of Babylon, the mysterious grandeur of its empire, the accomplishment of divine wrath, and above all, the sudden and terrific iv PREFACE. nature of that catastrophe which has been recorded by Daniel. Truth can proceed no farther ; and fiction has never yet advanced so far. But judgments better disci- plined would be discouraged by those very qualities which most urgently recommend its adoption to sanguine or immature ones. Works of imagination, broadly founded upon the more conspicuous events recorded in history, are subject to many obvious disadvantages. If they closely correspond with the facts by which they have been suggested, they are little better than shadows moving as their more substantial causes move before them than tales redoubled on a wearied audience than echos less loud and less distinct in every repetition. No superioritv of manner can compensate for that offence which the mind always feels whenever second impressions disturb and confuse the first. If, on the contrary, they depart more widely and boldly from their originals, we are shocked by their violation of truth, by something more offensive than mere poetical improbability, by the undisguised outrage offered both to our memories and our understandings. Let me repeat that I here speak of subjects broadly founded on the more conspicuous events recorded in PREFACE. V history; not of those which, deriving their principal interest elsewhere from imaginary creations, or obscure incidents attach themselves to well-known truths. We have, at the present day, many splendid examples of this fertile and fortunate union between fiction and fact in which we are compelled to admire the former for its grace, while we respect the latter for its integrity. The Greek poets generally looked to those heroic ages which left their imaginations sufficiently unrestricted. Virgil and Lucan among the Latin will best illustrate what I mean they are examples of fiction supported by history, and of history corrupted by fiction. The Italian poets, and, with one exception, the greatest of our own, employed historical truth only when it was indistinct and mysterious in itself, or had been clouded by time and softened through distance. In all the greatest of his dramas, Shakspeare is hardly to be considered as such an exception and we may fairly doubt whether those plays, which are essentially and immediately derived from English or Roman history, apply as strongly against my case as they, at first sight, appear to do. With nine readers out of ten, they do not follow but precede : they have gained the start, and told their tale first like the ancient pedant in Katharine \1 PREFACE. and Petruchio, they establish themselves comfortably above, and then reprove their more honest but tardy competitor for his attempted intrusion. But far more dangerous is any proposal to build upon the broad foundations of Sacred Scripture. Here our former alternative continues with greatly augmented embarrassment in the choice. If we scrupulously ab- stain from innovation, and reverentially refuse either to add or to diminish, we can only do that a second time which has been much better done already ; we erect a similar building with worse materials ; we discover much presumption and little skill. Supposing, however, that we boldly venture on novelty, and interweave our own imaginations with divine truth divine truth fully and distinctly revealed every judicious reader is disgusted by the mixture, and every pious one offended at the profanation. In the first case, there is sure to be a feeble copy of a well-known original -in the second, a palpable departure from reality, and an indecent disre- gard of holiness. Every one has knowledge enough to detect the fraud to distinguish between such impure metal and the fine gold for which it has been sub- stituted. PREFACE. Vll These observations apply principally to the historical parts of Sacred Scripture : but I may, perhaps, be per- mitted to add, what is indeed less immediately con- nected with my purpose, that they will extend much farther. Our great critic has attributed the almost uni- versal poverty of sacred lyrical poetry by modern writers to the unapproachable majesty of its subject. He might have recollected that such reasoning, if it were just, would reach to all sacred compositions of this kind whatever, ancient as well as modern, the originals as well as the copies. Perhaps we may more easily ac- count for the fact, as far as it is correct, by a recurrence to what I have already advanced. There is no good passion or affection incidental to human nature, in which religion may not have some share : it connects itself with the strongest as well as the more amiable hope, fear, love, gratitude, sorrow, repentance : all our tenderer feelings as well as all our noblest aspirations are immediately concerned. Surely then religion only a subject for poetry but it is poetry, simple holiness despises ornament, and eschews innova- tion. Every Christian has the sacred models always before him he is familiar with the inspired melodies of holy writ and by them he necessarily judges what j. ligion is not / y. Yet its J vm PREFACE, may be offered for the same purpose. A copy can have, at best, only the merit of a copy while an attempt at novelty in matter, has the appearance of profanation in manner, of levity. Rhyme itself seems to detract from its solemnity : and there is something incongruous in metre which, however beautiful, reminds us at once of other subjects. The hymns of Paradise Lost prove that devotion may be admirably harmonized in English poetry : and some by Bishop Heber, recently published, demonstrate how far genius and piety can conquer what is objectionable in rhyme. This principle might, perhaps, be extended to other of the fine arts, were there leisure for its consideration ; and explain why it is that painting derives fewer sub- jects from poetry than from prose ; and rarely succeeds so well with those which have been largely and minutely described by either, however admirable they may be, as with scenes which are more obscure, or less elaborately detailed. From Homer, Virgil, Dante, Ariosto, Tasso, Shakspeare, Spencer, and Milton, there are few pic- tures of universal celebrity because these poets have already perfected their own ideas ; because their creations are so distinct, so forcible, and so well known, that the PREFACE. IX sister art would offend if she presumed to alter, and give but inferior pleasure if she only attempted to imitate." If the pictures derived from them were ex- actly accordant with our own previous conception, they would appear little better than duplicates if different, we should dislike their originality as affectation, or reject it as falsehood. Belshazzar's Feast, or the Destruction of Babylon, however captivating to inexperience, is in itself or rather by itself a most hopeless undertaking; and therefore I do not undertake it. The catastrophe, if varied, could not be improved : no fresh impressions on the mind could equal those which have been produced by Sacred Scripture : and poetry never succeeds in retracing such perfect and vivid images as are imprinted there already. But, as we have seen above, historical truths, which are altogether unfit for the primary sub- jects of a poem, may be well calculated to support imaginary incidents, or incidents derived from sources less apparent. Should the scrupulous reader exclaim against any such intermixture, and insist upon more than a distinction upon a separation between truth and fancy, in all cases, and especially where the subject X PREFACE. is sacred we shall very reverentially appreciate such remonstrances; but at the same time he must be re- minded that his objection applies to the greatest works of human genius, to those mighty poets whom I have enumerated, and most expressly to Paradise Lost Paradise Regained and Sampson Agonistes. Milton has ventured much farther beyond the confines of sacred things than any other man not excepting even Dante himself. Well may he exclaim " Into the Heaven of Heavens I have presumed !" Familiar as we are from childhood with his works, we hardly perceive how large a part of them is fictitious ; we seldom consider that the whole structure of Paradise Lost rests upon six or seven verses in Genesis; and that the Sacred Scriptures elsewhere have supplied little more than texts on which he so gloriously expatiates. Nay, it may even be questioned whether we, at all times, sufficiently distinguish between the source and the stream : certainly many images which we consider as authentic are not in the Bible. But among the wonders which he has effected, one of the greatest is his inoffensive familiarity with sacred things. PREFACE. xi For other poets it is enough if they can attach their own thoughts to revealed truth : they may connect but not confound: what is sacred they should leave, as such, not only unaltered but untouched. The pri- vileges of fancy should have this limitation she may imagine certain probable events as concurrent with those real ones which Scripture records ; as happening at the same time ; as implicated in their movements, and deter- mined by their progress. They are reeds carried along a torrent on which they have no influence, and which would run just as fast whether they were there or not. They are branches which the tempest scatters, but of which it takes no cognizance. And yet it is to these, at last, that our attention will be principally directed they are most within our reach they constitute the novelty, and excite the interest. Many more years have elapsed than I am willing to remember, since a subject something like my present one, was chosen by me at college. With presumption childish and extravagant, but innocent enough if it had manifested itself only in this manner, I seized upon the loftiest as the most desirable. The title was, The Destruction of Babylon, and the form, a sacred tragedy. xn PREFACE. Nor did I sicken of a task to which I was so deplorably unequal, till its completion. By that time I had disco- vered how much labour was thrown away, and how much more profitably my diligence might have been occupied. Unlike my present poem, that drama was broadly founded upon the fifth chapter of Daniel. Characters and incidents which are now the principal ones, were altogether secondary. It was afterwards cast aside, with many other abortive projects of the same nature, which I had at last learnt to value as they de- served, and which were soon forgotten among more important pursuits. With greater leisure I have since expanded and re- modelled my old design have changed the dramatic into a narrative form and have attempted to remove those objections which were before so fatal, by separating the fictitious parts from the true. Whatever power may be exercised upon the feelings, is now purely do- r mestic. The incidents are such as we may suppose to have occurred during the three last days of Babylon for my story includes no more. A distinguished con- temporary has chosen, if not the same subject, a subject with nearly the same title, during that long interval of PREFACE. xill which I have spoken. There would have appeared nothing surprising if twenty minds, instead of two, had been made captive by a catastrophe so tremendous. Mr. Milman, with his usual good judgment, has con- trived to deduce the interest of his drama from a private and an imaginary source. There will, I believe, be found but one point of resemblance between his plan and mine ; nor is this solitary coincidence of much im- portance. It was suggested to both by the same page in Ancient History ; and will be discovered in my fourth book. On his action it operates durably and essentially on mine, casually and only for a moment. With this exception, it is hardly possible that any two works founded on a subject apparently the same, should be more dissimilar. My seventh book also contains some few lines which may remind the reader, not less to my disadvantage, of Sardanapalus. In both instances, these passages were written and read long before the publications appeared which they, so far, resemble in both instances, they might have been removed or dis- guised, with very little inconvenience, if I had conde- scended. Had my original plan of a drama been retained in its primitive condition, some coincidences would have, indeed, appeared much too suspicious either xiv PREFACE. for innocence or hardihood. As it is, I would rather, of the two, be thought a borrower from authors so affluent, than hazard an imputation far more dis- graceful. It remains that I should say something in apology of the metre. Narrative poetry of a graver kind has so generally been written either in what is called the heroic couplet, the stanza of Spenser, the eight syllable line, or blank verse that no other choice seems to remain. The heroic couplet, however beautiful in shorter com- positions, is now generally exploded as too monotonous for more extensive ones. The stanza of Spenser is best adapted to romance, love, adventure, chivalry or, at least, has been so long retained by them in their ser- vice, that, beside its other objections, this one where the poem is quite of another character seems enough. Of the same kind, but much more obvious and forcible, is that to eight syllable lines, whether in couplets or stanzas. We are thus reduced to blank verse. I wish that I knew how to speak of it honestly and yet without offence. The two greatest of all poets have adopted and perfected it. Miserably as its character PREFACE. xv has been depraved since, there can be no doubt but that it is alone suited to dramatic poetry. Milton has also proved its excellence in narrative an excellence which, even if it were attainable, would be undesirable for any other purpose than such poems as his. The in- volved, the elaborate and learned construction of his sentences, has often been imitated, but always ineffec- tually. That majesty which is so becoming, because so natural in him, appears absurd when assumed by others. They pant and sweat half smothered under the burden of a garment which he wears easily as his ordinary clothing, notwithstanding its magnificence. Not only the language of Paradise Lost, but the metre, originated spontaneously from a mind so wonderful; and may be traced in all his other works, whether verse or prose. " He fed on thoughts that voluntary moved Harmonious numbers.'' And was visited by a muse who inspired " Easy his unpremeditated verse." It is, I believe, scarcely possible, in a poem founded on sacred scripture, at all times to avoid the appearance of imitation. The same great storehouse of holy images XVI PREFACE. and Asiatic phraseology is open to both scriptural lan- guage must frequently be employed, and in proportion as it is appropriate, will it suggest a resemblance. We should not, however, presume to quote his example as an authority for what we ourselves may do. To say that Milton ever either stole or borrowed were false : the sovereign poet took openly what he pleased from his contemporaries, as their tribute ; and from the an- cients, as his inheritance. For my own part, I have always walked the most easily, as well as the most safely, when alone. Narrative blank verse, when unsupported by such awful stateliness as is becoming only in him, incurs the danger of pompous and plethoric monotony, on the one hand or of feeble, disjointed, prosaic inefficiency, on the other. Nay, even that which has been much more suc- cessfully employed in moral and descriptive poetry, is seldom simple as well as strong. I shall not be supposed to depreciate genius so exalted as the genius of Young, Thomson, or Akenside, when I acknowledge how much less pleasing to me is their metre than their descriptions how impatient I have sometimes become under that suf- focating snow-shower of great soft words which, while PREFACE. xvil they obscure the objects described, have no other ap- parent purpose but to fill up crevices in the metre. i This grandiloquous phraseology, swelling into sentences of the same tone, has descended, as a common inheritance, among their posterity. There are not many readers, perhaps, who dare to acknowledge that they have ever felt satiated by the Seasons ; but surely there never yet was one reader who ended the Castle of Indolence with- out regret, or could rest till he had ended it. With so many great authorities before him, not only the ordinary lover of poetry, but the critic himself, hesitates to acknowledge that blank verse has lost much of its charm. Two living poets, whose genius has the same salutary influence on our literature, that their cha- racters have upon our morals, do every thing possible for its revival. They demonstrate its capabilities, and using it as the eloquent medium of Christian Philosophy and Christian Heroism, assert its claims to our regard by descriptions the most powerful, and meditations the most profound. But we may doubt whether either the Excursion or Don Roderick is indebted for its high estimation by all competent and unprejudiced readers, so much to the versification, as to many other less disputable excellences. xvill PREFACE. At all events, whatever may have been the success of others in this most difficult metre, I soon became dis- satisfied with my own. The possibility of extracting much which is desirable both from rhyme and blank verse of preserving their better qualities, and refusing those that are incompatible or otherwise objectionable remains perhaps to be ascertained at some future time. In hands more skilful than mine, it is, I am persuaded, by no means impracticable. This attempt will at least serve to exemplify what I mean. The principal recom- mendation of blank verse is its variety. Lines may be extended into sentences or as Milton expresses himself, the sense may be " variously drawn out from one verse into another," with almost as many variations of sound as in prose itself. Much of this excellence is not incon- sistent with rhymes when judiciously interspersed at proper distances : and that rhymes in a language like ours, if unnecessary, are graceful and useful to sustain metre loose by itself, to distinguish more broadly between verse and prose, and to satisfy ears which miss them when wanting and expect them through habit, seems generally allowed. But this recurrence of similar sounds at suitable intervals, should vary according to the sub- ject. It may be occasionally so close and so frequent as to resemble a stanza ; or it mav be rendered so lax as to PREFACE. XIX have all the freedom of blank verse. Every line is of the same length, and should have a corresponding one either nearer or more remote. The greatest difficulty is thus to vary and adapt, to tighten or loosen the chain of harmony ; still preserving a general accordance, and rendering the transition easy as well as inoffensive. Rhymes may occur as often as the repetition continues to be agreeable ; but they become useless, and indeed are no longer rhymes when their corresponding sounds are lost in an interval too far protracted. Several short lyrical poems have been written with metre thus far resembling mine, that their final words rhyme irregularly, and appear to fall by accident, though in their proper places. Such is Lord Byron's Ode to Venice. But I am not aware that any attempt at variety in different parts of the same poem, has been made by suiting them to the passages described col- lecting or dispersing them at pleasure employing a more formal structure, almost the stanza or couplet, where it is expedient united with such freedom of inflection and cadence as we expect no where else excepting in blank verse. Two or three specimens of a lyrical kind are given in the Chaldaean Hymns. ' xx PREFACE. Their composition is on principles extremely dissimilar to the narrative part, where I have often attempted not only simplicity but austerity, rejecting all superfluous ornament in language, metre, imagery, or illustration. But even if thus much should be accomplished in the versification at the expense of congruity if the transitions should be so abrupt as to mark their change before it is complete, and the different passages should not only vary among themselves, but disagree my labour has been thrown away. Let the reader, how- ever, remember that such metre was not preferred because it is abstractedly the best but the best for my purpose, the best in my power, the best which I could produce. The alteration of my plan in one respect is almost certain to please those who care little about its other changes. I had extracted from ancient and modern authorities whatever particulars related to the history of Babylon ; had expanded quotations into notes, and notes into dissertations on its wars, customs, arts, morals, policy, philosophy, religion, and origin the wonders of its architecture, the fertility of its climate, PREFACE. . xxl the extent and duration of its empire. From all this, they are entirely unencumbered : they will find not one word of prose beyond the Preface. Of its history I need only observe that erroneous distinctions seem to have been made between the Chal- daean and the Assyrian kingdoms. During many gene- rations, they were two unequal branches of the same empire. Babylon, if founded first, did not arrive at its supremacy till after the extinction of Nineveh. In all ages an especial gratification was manifested by Asiatic conquerors in creating and destroying. The more habit- able parts of that mighty continent have been almost covered by cities built and ruined in succession. Every victorious sovereign wasted the capitals of his prede- cessors that he might erect new ones to his own glory with their materials, and people them with their inhabit- ants. In the time of Nebuchadnezzar, the elder sister gained, or regained, an ascendancy ; and after having utterly destroyed her rival and relative, established a new dynasty, transferring riches, sovereignty, people, every thing, to Babylon. This ambition to be con- sidered as the founder of a city or empire, occasions much confusion. Nimrod, Belus, Semiramis, and Nebu- xxii PREFACE. chadnezzar were all called founders. There is much reason to suppose that the two first names belonged to the same individual : besides a general renovation, many works of almost incredible magnificence are attributed to the two last. Poetry has no room here in which to amplify and exaggerate. Walls of solid masonry sixty miles in extent, more than a hundred yards high, and thirty broad, with, towers and gates proportionable to them Palaces each occupying as much ground as a respectable metropolitan city elsewhere Gardens with hills and valleys supported by arches in the air a Bridge of sur- passing magnitude above the Euphrates, and a passage under it are some only among the better authenticated wonders of history. But when we read of a Tower far higher than the highest Alps or of an artificial Lake one hundred and sixty miles in circumference the Muse, who hates arithmetic, and never uses other than round numbers has little chance. Her wisest plan is to de- cline a race against the extravagances of graver fiction, and to start only within the confines of possibility. Cyrus, prophetically named long before in sacred PREFACE xxni scripture, continued to besiege Babylon without having produced the slightest impression on her strength, when that period was arrived which God's wisdom had ap- pointed for her destruction and for the deliverance of his captive people. The book of Daniel describes an idolatrous festival, but informs us only in continuation, that Belshazzar was slain and his kingdom conquered on the same night. Profane history adds to these facts the means by which they were accomplished. The waters of the Euphrates were turned into a new channel, and the city was surprised through that from which they had been diverted. Nitocris, the mother of Bel- shazzar, and celebrated for her wisdom, is supposed by some writers to have been that queen who entered his banqueting-hall, and named Daniel as a prophet of " an excellent Spirit." Her reign appears to have been conjointly with her son after his arrival at manhood, and for some years in unrestricted supremacy before. She is sometimes confounded with Semiramis, the same mighty works being ascribed to both. A story about her tomb above one of the city gates is however quite irreconcileable with our supposition. She who entered the banqueting-hall could have had little subsequent leisure for such contrivances and inscriptions. xxiv PREFACE. Warburton supposes that the Chaldaean hymns were mere depositories of popular fables, and that the divine unity was taught to the initiated. It is much more certain that every part of their religion which could be understood by the people was licentious in the extreme. Some opinions of a more refined nature were, no doubt, common both to the Chaldaean and the Per- sian sages. Fire, and the sun as its source or centre, was the chief visible object of adoration to both. The heavenly bodies were intelligent beings, or the habita- tions of intelligent beings. Every star had some con- nexion with humanity propitious or malignant, and shining with clearer and larger radiance through the serenity of their beautiful skies, was supposed by those who studied, and perhaps by those who did not study its changes, to be watchful for their safety, or envious of their happiness. The elements were all deified, or at least were under the separate government of their appro- priate deities. As such superstitions descended to the vulgar they became proportionably gross. There is as much confusion and uncertainty about the Chaldaean idols as those of Egypt or India. Much might be advanced on the supposition that both of these nations, and consequently all other nations whatever, borrowed . PREFACE. XXV their idolatries from Mesopotamia, as their common centre and original cradle. A resemblance so remark- able between the Chaldsean Gods, and those of Greece, could not have been accidental. The Persians must have tolerated, at least, that grosser idolatry among their confederates and the armies of Cyrus compre- hended many nations. Besides those Deities of higher and more extensive dominion, there were innumerable local ones guardian Gods of kingdoms, provinces, or cities beyond which they had no authority till carried away captive, when they transferred their affections to their conquerors. The Greeks and Romans were only imitators in this sort of sacrilegious rape. In another particular also they copied the Asiatics they deified their more heroic so- vereigns after death and sometimes, if this honour appeared to the powerful candidate either as too tardy or too doubtful, before. Such, perhaps, was the origin of those Chaldaean Gods who afterwards became most eminent, Bel, Nebo, Benoth, and several others. No just objection to this probability arises from their astro- nomical character. Even as late as Julius Caesar a star was found to assist at the apotheosis of a hero. xxvi PREFACE. But amidst all this extravagance of superstition which so thickly peopled the universe with subjects for adora- tion; and not content with such airy deities as filled their groves, frequented their fountains, and presided at their festivals placed altars and images in every house : there was undoubtedly a deep and general belief that some far more holy and powerful nature claimed their service, abhorred their pollutions, and threatened their apostacy. Every nation had its " unknown God" -and we read that in the highest story of their temple the Babylonians placed a table or altar where there was neither priest nor image. It was not possible that the terrors of Jehovah should have been either forgotten, or carelessly remembered, by those nations which had so frequently suffered from them. This hardness of heart, this obduracy in rebellion, this addiction to obscene rites and licentious sacrifices rather than to a pure but awful service, constituted their guilt. There is much reason to suppose that image worship, and worship of the celestial luminaries, originated in the same way. Human weakness needed some mediation between its own impurities and that holy Creator some less terrible protectors to propitiate and intercede. PREFACE. xxvil Nations, cities, families, and individuals, placed them- selves under the friendly guardianship each of its own appropriate intercessor, whose honour was engaged in their protection. The nobler patrons obtained many clients : and other advocates who had less employment might be supposed to exercise greater zeal and diligence where they were trusted. All history has agreed in attributing to Chaldaea the earliest inventions in astronomy and her spurious sister astrology. Much might be adduced to demonstrate that in those arts and sciences of which Egypt is so generally considered as the parent, Chaldaea was at least equally early. With the vanities of necromancy, witchcraft, augury, and such like they must have united far more substantial knowledge. They excelled in casting metals ; they understood something of statuary and even of painting ; they were skilled in " all kinds of music ;" we read much of their embroidered garments and sump- tuous tapestry and surpassing every other people in architecture and astronomy, they must unquestionably have had some knowledge of mathematics. That almost universal distaste to poetry at least to xxvili PREFACE. poetry unrecommended by much previous success which distinguishes us at present, might discourage an author far more sanguine than myself from publica- tion. But he who hopes little will suffer little through disappointment and I can hardly yet believe that an art is finally and irretrievably perishing, which during three thousand years, has been considered in every civilized country, as the highest and the wisest. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK I. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK I. THE Eastern Shepherds mixed their tales with truth, And wisdom breathed the melodies of song : " Hear us," they cried, " ye happy ! let the strong " Distrust their might, their boastfulness the proud " Power leads its captives midst the tears of ruth, " And glory's halo circles but a cloud ; " Grief tracks the feet of love, and death stands near to youth!" Who drinks in faith with us shall never thirst ! From wells less pure and more remote, they drew : B 2 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK I. And yet alike those living streams at first Rose on the hill where heaven's perennial dew Descended holiest but the devious flood Came down polluted, and its course went forth Abundant, though defiled. Their thoughts were good ; And still from Him the moral of the tale In whom good ends, begins, and has its worth Who showered the pleasant soil, and blessed the air With health and fruitfulness : or while the gale Breathed oVr their twilight fields, reclining there By old Euphrates, on his farthest side, In that Chaldaean plain where Babel stood ; They told her impious strength, and blasted pride, And why those towers were desolate. For me A harder task to join with holier names More doubtful fables : but the spirit is free Which neither asks nor dreads men's thanks nor blames., And means no wrong spreading its venturous wings Irresolute, indeed, yet not afraid. BOOK I. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 5 And joyful in its own just liberty Above the level of recorded things, Though few shall mark its flight, and most of those upbraid. To you the mournful tale for ye are blest Whose hearts are prone to pity ! Feigned or true, It speaks the terrors of presumptuous power ; How soon the strong may stoop, how frail the best ; Apostate innocence, with late remorse Hopeless and unassuaged ; afflictions new. And all the thunders of that impious hour, While tears repentant fell to quench the curse Such tears will not be lost, ye merciful, with you ! Still in her native glory, unsubdued, And indestructible by force or time, That first of mightiest cities, mistress, queen, Even as of old, earth^s boast and marvel stood ; Imperious, inaccessible, sublime: If changed, she might be all that she had been ; No conscious doubts abased her regal eye, 6 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK I. Rest had not made it weak but more serene Those who repell'd her power, revered her majesty. Full, at her feet, wealth's largest fountain streamed, Dominion crowned her head ; on either side Were sceptre'd terror and armed strength she seemed Above mischance imperishably high : Though half the nations of mankind defied, They raged but could not harm her fierce disdain Beheld the rebel kingdoms storm in vain What were their threats to her, Bel's daughter and his pride ! Once more, and high as ever, her triumphs swell ? The tumult rises in her streets a cry Of rash and dissolute multitudes their sound Overrules the trumpet, and the maddening shell Seems hoarse midst those shrill blasts of victory : The encumbered chariots groan, the war-steeds bound Unheard by those who guide them " Bel ! great Bel f " Descends to bruise the kings that hate his reign " O'er Media's shame lift we his ensigns high ! BOOK I. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. " Belshazzar rides a conqueror from the plain " He shall subdue the earth, and Bel possess the sky T While such their song, as chorus to the strain Ambiguous truth, though ill-distinguished there, Renews untired the two-faced prophecy, " Chaldaea ends the last of all her wars." From lip to lip it floats upon the air, But not one heart interprets or discerns. Night gems the glowing infinite with stars, And westward, where they tend, the moon returns With slenderest horns first visible yet clear : The purple firmament around her burns, While all its worshipped hosts like gods appear, Not dimly, as to us in this chill clime, But brighter orVd, unsullied, large, and near : Even from the fount of light their radiant urns Are filled, and less, but quenchless lustre given, Which still they carry through the abyss of time, Each scarce a spark to all, yet all at large in Heaven. No leisure now for wisdom he who tried 8 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK I. Whether his arts were turned toward good or ill To learn, that he might serve, or thwart their will, And from some lonely pinnacle espied Their nightly wanderings o'er his head, descends, Leaving his task imperfect. From the roof Too high, and jutting cupola obscure, While by her lamp the diligent matron bends, Shadowing Chaldaean flowers o'er Sidon's woof From Astoreth's latticed balconies impure, Whose lust has altars from the domes of pride, The hall and chamber, old and young come down. Now questions lost ere answered, haste, surprise, Ignorant belief, much told and little known ; The sounding streets are full, though fair and wide They bear aloft their structures to the skies, Interminable, numberless, direct ; Built as by mightier hands than those of man They seem, by more than human architect, For giant habitants designed the plan Of one who mocks decay and never dies. BOOK I. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. Yet is the porch filled full, the broad-paved way Thronged and oppressed throughout : processions roar, Struggling from god to god. In long array Priests robed, or virgin choirs, with lamps before And sacred fires, go forth. Their bright heads wear The wreaths of triumph : in their hands they bear Gifts meet for victory. " Almighty king !" They cry, " immutable in love, in wrath " Implacable, now manifest in both, " Receive the gifts thy thankful children bring, " Almighty Bel !" From Bel begins the strain, Their first and holiest ; Nebo follows next ; And then Adrammalech, and Sheshach old, With captive Rimmon here adored again ; And Benoth, mother of the gods perplext The fable which her dreaming priests uphold, Yet still believed, where nothing seems impure, And nothing false but innocence and truth : Worshipped as Bel's great parent and his queen With jarring attributes and rites obscure, 10 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK I. In spring begins her renovated youth, Which fades ere ends the year unchaste, obscene, Of twofold sex and double nature she. These were Chaldsea's boast, to such as these The Babylonian virgins bowed their knee Long-served or late-adopted deities ! Egypt had taught her faith, and lent her worms Nile's snake was sculptured with its brazen coils, And Tyre's scaled serpent : Asmadai upreared His star-topped sceptre : every kingdom's spoils Furnished an idol whom the conqueror feared. And some had human, some had bestial forms, Fowl, fish, or reptile all had worshippers ! In crimson ephod rich with pearls and gold, And blazing midst the light of sacrifice, The priest, profuse of incense, leads their prayers. Diviners, dreamers, prophets, false yet bold, Watching escapes from fraud ; astrologers Themselves perplexed by their own subtilties Ascribing skill to chance ; soothsayers that tell BOOK I. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 11 What demons teach them, lend their lips to lies, Yet feared as true Chaldaea learns too well Such dubious wisdom by worse means; and here Mingling their claims with hers as for their sake, And through their arts, her triumph they partake Of glory with the idols. Such appear The fanes of sleepless Babylon without, Even worse and wilder still ! Belshazzar ! Bel ! Each has his priests and praises ; but their strain Toils to exalt its equal gods in vain Nor marked, nor heard above the enduring shout Of infinite tongues agreed alone to tell What none regards. Shame tarries there no more ; Awe, scared, flies fast away ; irreverend sport Turns straight to malice ; what was mirth before, Unbridled, now seems violence ; reproof, retort, Burn on contentious spirits like sparks ; the jest Is echoed back by louder scorn again : Mixed with the frolic laugh that stuns their feast, Shouts of fierce strife arise, defiance, pain, And outrage done or suffered. 12 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK I. One indeed, Of holier aspect, more sedate, appeared Unsocial midst the crowd, and bent on speed So to escape it : but his gait was weak, Threading those dangerous labyrinths alone ; Age had made white like wool the abundant beard That spread between his girdle and his cheek And grief, which takes time's form, yet ever keeps its own ; Both left their tokens marked upon his head. Alien he seemed, like Israel in the street Of envious Egypt, when his house came down Where famine first had sent his sons for bread From Canaan and its fruitless fields, to meet The lost, the long-deplored, and most beloved. Like him, and of his seed, the Elder moved With angry haste in spiritual bitterness ; As if pollution reached from what he saw, Poisoning both eyes and heart, though disapproved. His soul abhorred, lax wisdom's feigned distress Worn down to ill conformity the thaw Of zeal once fixed tired honoiVs last excuse BOOK J. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 13 While righteous scorn dissolves from less to less, Through custom's might or nature's feebleness Fixed in the observant love of that dread law Which spake so loud from Sinai, daily use A daily goad applied, and forced to draw Fresh hate of sins so foul from their excess. He could remember Salem ere she fell ; His feet in childhood o'er her pavement strayed Sorrow and time will ever paint too well The lost when hopeless, all things loved in vain . Fair as she was indeed, by these portray'd More fair appeared her image ! She would reign Beyond the reach of enmity and Bel Her children seek her, laden with the spoil, And holier courts a purer offering see Here in the high place of pride, lust's citadel, Where round his wrists had burnt the accursed chain, And coward threats pursued him to his toil, His home still is, his sepulchre must be ! Thus midst a faithless world to grieve and gaze 14 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK I. Walked Noah ere it perished. Askance he viewed Their gaudy idols borne plebeian gods Of wondrous forms and attributes, pursued With vulgar welcome through the clamorous ways. Each had his emblems fishes, doves, or rods Unhoused and vagrant deities at most : Phoenician Derce, Adad, Nergal, Rach And Merodach, the brutal Suburbs praise : Both these, and more, whose names themselves are lost, Pass on with bellowing thousands at their back ; Familiar deities, oft the undreaded joke Of their own ministers, now a popular show, Marks set for wantonness their fame is heard, Their altars crowd the streets, their priests provoke Lascivious worship in the frantic herd, Blaspheming and adoring as they go. The offended Elder casts his eyes below, And feels the abomination, nor abstains From wishes muttered through his teeth hard closed, Some instant curse, or old prophetic woe BOOK I. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 15 " Would Ekron's boils were here, with Egypt's blains !" It seems uncleanness to be near their lusts, Foul sin, to have seen such sins, and not opposed. Old, and in peril both, amidst the gusts Of wrath or sport unheeded, he went by ; If any saw, they harmed him not even there Awful he passed in age and sanctity : And thence to safer darkness, from the glare Of fires and torches, toward his home he turns ; But first looks back, as one constrained to fly By those he deeply hates, and fain would dare ; Reluctant shame with fiercer anguish burns ; Pride waxes prouder in its misery. Wisdom with better thoughts prevailed ; aloof From streets where madness walked 'twixt mirth and dread, Though but a little space, his dwelling stood, Lonely, obscure, and silent. O'er its roof, And round its walls, the giant cedar spread, Ilex and cypress mixed with palms a wood 16 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK I. Of myrtle undergrowth : for shadowy grove, Cool glade, and thicket wild had room enough, With many a sylvan maze, and verdant solitude, Enclosed within that mighty city's bound ; Where undisturbed the consecrated dove Labours his hoarse endearments all day long. And all the night yet louder strains resound More sweetly thrills the hereditary wrong : That lonely bird, whose notes are grief and love, With iterated plaints deplores her young, Listening the cadence as it died around, Strives to surpass herself, and still resumes the song. Time seemed himself a willing captive there ; The many-figured zone which girt him round Was marked with suns and stars for weeks and hours ; A host of gods deformed his calendar : All nature claimed a place, and welcome found All climes paid tribute of their best with flowers The garden bloomed, the vineyard and the mead Were thickly strewn mi'dst palaces and towers : BOOK I. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 17 In groves the gods were worshipped, in the shade Of ancient trees their bellowing victims bled, And such they sanctified : but oft beneath Those gloomy boughs was wrought some work of dread, Or omen feigned by fraud upon its knees, Which made them cursed and impious violent death, Of what before was hallowed, strife, a sound From unknown oracles, the lightning's scath, Self-slaughter, incest, these, and such as these Untrodden left the desecrated ground : The wisest passed it with suspended breath, Marked by malignant gods, a place ordained for wrath. So where this old man dwelt the loftiest trees Had once been scorched from Heaven, and all who feared Adrammalech or Bel fled thence : but he Loved most what most they hated. Enough for him That in those shades no idol face appeared, No altar's smoke, no suppliant's gift could be Amidst its tufted shrubs and pathways dim, From branch to branch no fluttering garlands hung, 18 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK I. Nor ever had the cymbal's sound been heard With dance or hymn, while laughing voices sung Lascivious praise to some foul deity. Old as its palms, yet scarcely half so high, The abode was like the site, obscure and grave : One narrow entrance pierced the outward wall, Whose granite shafts and ponderous architrave Were all its ornaments. The court within Sufficed for light and air, though dim and small ; A mossy cistern crowned above the brim With large leaved water-blossoms, and a well Circled by seats of stone. At morn the din From bees and early birds uprose, the smell Of flowers and spice shrubs filled the dewy air Sacred he thought the place ; it was to him A shelter safe from pride, a temple pure from sin. Whatever in this world seemed holiest, all He honoured as most just, most wise, most rare, The princes of his tribe, the approved of God, Priests, Nobles, Elders, Chiefs, assembled there. BOOK I. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 19 Two Prophets blessed the solitary hall, An aged and contrite king its threshold trode; Love turned the easy gate to need and care, And mercy made its court her chief abode. Ill feet kept wide thus superstition reigned And did through fear the offices of love, Sheltering its enemies. That blasted grove -"' Had such a light to cheer its shades, as feigned Of gems in caverns, where the sorcerer needs Nor lamp nor fire, but walks his confines drear, Perfects strange works, and mystic wisdom reads, Lit by no ray beside. From envious eyes, Like meaner wealth kept secretly, was here Of Earth, indeed, yet spotless, if below Were any pure and human by the tear That proves us holy in our sympathies With meek endurance marked upon her brow, Of all his race the last his brother's child One out of many left to help him now ; In this unsocial world an orphan guest, 20 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK I. From death to life an offering undefiled ; Escaped the pitiless hour which ends in rest, The boughs are torn but this fair blossom thrives ; A single lamb is rescued from the wild, His present hope, his solace, pride, and trust : It is for her he cares, through her he lives, Still cherished as the last and loved the best By whose young mirth the impatient heart beguiled Endures its tedious absence from the dust : Captivity grew easier when she smiled, Whatever she did seemed good, where'er she dwelt was blest The palm-branch murmurs overhead, the gale Flutters a moment as it passes bv Midst leaves more fragrant bathed in dew ; while pale With panting heart, and large dilated eye, Breathless, half-raised, she deems his footsteps near Then lapsing on the languid couch again, Resolves to grieve no longer, with a sigh ; And feels, through lonely thoughts repelled in vain, BOOK I. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. That hope will sometimes sicken into pain, And men may listen till they dread to hear. At last it is his voice, the incredulous ear So oft deceived scarce trusts it yet her grasp Rests trembling on the bdlt undrawn. Again, In louder tones he calls her from the door With rattling links on earth devolves the chain, The oaken bar is lifted from its hasp ; His steps are guided o'er the unequal sill : Both safe within, the thankful Elder says " Distrust like this is wisdom in the poor ; " Such wariness shall thrive the perilous ways " Are filled with idols; BeFs intemperate crowd " Go forth to violent deeds." The virgin still Surveyed the brightness of those glorious skies Whose soft breeze languished round her glossy hair And idly toiled to lift it from her eyes Beneath the else stainless azure, one small cloud Lay lightly floating through the midnight air, A sail becalmed between that world and this : 22 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK I. " Night hears them not" she said " they reach not there ! " They cannot vex her silence with their cries : " Regardless nature slumbers still in bliss " Those stars shine clear despite their blasphemies . " Like isles they seem, indeed, as some believe, " Where happier kinds, in everlasting rest " Observe their sabbaths undisturbed, and live " With God, remote from sin : these sure are blest ! " All things appear in peace but where man is. " I trespass now, yet Sabra do the wise, " Alone, at such an hour, look out for injuries?" She ended here, the gracious Elder smiled, Replaced both bar and chain, then following went Within, sat down, and spake " Alas ! my child, " We need not wander far to find offence : " Such household thrift, as if the oil were spent " In useless vigils while I tarried hence, " With gentle rule, becomes the housewife mild. 66 I would approach thee now, and strive to tell BOOK I. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 23 " How sights of slaughter kept me where I strayed " How triumphs the oppressor yet, and hell " Prevails for Babylon !" The wondering maid Looked as prepared to speak, but ere desire Found words, or thought could frame its questions well, Like one that prays in grief, the Elder said " Spare us, Lord God ! forsake us not ! Our cry "Is here, as in the wilderness, unjust " Abstain as thou didst then ! To thee so high, " Lord ! what is man ? the hills appear as dust " The everlasting stars are sparks of fire " Which thou canst quench, who kindled : near thee stand " Spirits whose glory it is to worship there, " And bliss to do thy will his thoughts are lust, " His flesh corruption kneaded from the mire ; " His life itself but breath and breath but air " Air soon dispersed ; his presence on the land " An unimpressive shade of grief and care " Which leaves no track ! O child, let us confess 24 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK I. " Thus far be this our scant ascription still ! " Gladly remembering what we are, and what " Unasked he grants though recompensed with ill, " Nor tires in doing good. He hath inclined " Some who despised us once to help and bless, " And tongues which did blaspheme, at length do not : " This too is much we wander where we will, " Unharmed since night I passed the mad and blind." " Thou spakest of slaughter, Sabra and the sight " Of triumph to the oppressor, 11 thus replied, When space was given, the maid : " by fears beguiled "Our thoughts aim wrong, and here was none to guide " Bel's feast begins to-morrow with the light; " In chase of shades my erring doubts ran wild. " Methought the days were changed, if counted right, " And that the first was come.' 1 " A dream a lie " They serve, 11 he says : "to sinfulness and pride " They make continual sacrifices, child ! " Nor ever ends the feast of vanity. " Some special triumph now their hearts contrive, BOOK K THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 25 " And how to mingle glory with delight : " But mark thou what I saw since eve, then strive " To keep back doubts. Our Elders have a place, " Since daily custom now hath made it ours, " And he, whose charge it is, God's proselyte " In this, and all things, gracious toward our race " For cooler breathing when the sultry hours " Oppress, 'twixt noon and eve : perchance as high " Above the city walls its dizzy height, " As they above the earth. Hard toil to climb, " But well repaid ! the unobstructed sight " Extends its vision from that post sublime " O'er all this world's delight and potency " From tower to tower as large, and gate to gate, " Each like a city, such as happier days " Admiring saw in Israel, and misdeemed " Till lost, impregnable. 'Twas thus we sat " While the sun tarried with its level rays " Dazzling the dewy pastures. All things seemed " Coloured with ruddier beauty in the glow 26 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK I. " O'er all suffused, and in that crimson haze " Which smoked as incense toward the temperate eve " From off the earth's green altar. Thick below " The strength and pride of many nations trode " Where Median tents lay scattered infinite, " Like flocks new washed for shearing, when they leave " Vales less secure to congregate at night " Or sheaves in harvest o'er the autumnal fields : " Ensigns emblazoned as the stars of God, " Robes stiff with woven gold, resplendent shields, " Pavilions, steeds the turbulent stir and heat " Of armies disarrayed, with all the cries " Of all those restless multitudes behind, " Where swarmed the city's millions at our feet, " On crowded roofs, and gilded balconies, " Along the walls and gates from every street, " Or court or grove we heard the tumult rise, " And seemed to count the remnant of mankind " A part more numerous than the whole combined " To raise Bel's tower accursed above the skies, HOOK I. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 27 " So soon confounded and the tongues they spoke " Were scarce less loud or dissonant. " The wind " Pressed on Euphrates lightly, and awoke " With strength to bend the sacrificial steam " From verdant altars built along his side ; " To struggle faintly round the fluttering tent " Beyond unfixed or swell above the stream " Sails ill-sustained and feebly amplified. " War forced to rest, seems willing to relent " The populace keep their leisure as a feast, " And every pause affords its holiday : " We saw the sacrifice, the loose-robed priest, " The dance impure, the games of venturous youth, " Armed as they were in many-tinctured mail " And ill-restrained contention. Swerved away " From God through ignorance alien to his truth " All nature's mysteries furnish but a tale ' Obscure, and loosely credited at most. " Not idol shapes alone they serve the gale 28 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK I. " Which cools the fire which warms Love Hate Life Death " Things seen, unseen, imagined, are their boast : " Even unsubstantial ill, as what they fear, " And casual good their benefactor here " Are worshipped gods ! " Along the river's bank " High midst its osiers climbed they and beneath " Their naked sports were dangerous in its reeds : " Part swam from shore to shore with resolute breath " To sound its depth, the headlong diver sank : " Others far off in studious ease reclined " These chiefly seemed the old on grassy meads " Where grew the herbage thickest : peaceful they " And more retired, their mighty schemes designed " Of laws and empires. From the palm-trees shade, " To rouse their lazy votaries whence they lay, " Loud sackbuts piped, or noisier timbrels brayed, " Provoking merriment. Let loose by care, " So near were these, strewn lightly o'er the green, BOOK I. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 29 " Through daily custom long abused, or wine " Whence mirth will oft grow mad the flowers were seen " That cooled their bowls, or crowned with wreaths their hair. " Traced far away, till narrowed to a line, " The royal river rolls its ample tide " In smoother channels, sparkling as they glide, " 'Twixt fields refreshed, he sends his progeny " Diffused like tangled branches from the vine. " With clamorous throat outstretched, unheard so high, " The bittern flies afar, yet finds no rest " Nor where to stoop a tent is o^er the place " In which she built her solitary nest " But God will render all she lost, again K " Deep pools and sedgy fens her home shall be % " More sheltered room to multiply her race, " A larger choice of silence on-the plain, " Range wide enough from human injury ! " Within these walls the island beast shall dwell, 30 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK I. " Owls cry, satyrs dance, all evil things increase, " All doleful creatures roam the house of Bel, " And dragons fill their pleasant palaces !"* As one self-tired with early haste, stands still, Or turns to look behind him, and survey By so much distance since he paused overcome, How far as yet his progress up the hill Whose summit once attained is rest and home Leans on his staff awhile, with aching knee, Then breathed, takes heart, and straight pursues his way Thus stopped, but soon with lighter spirit he. " 'Twixt earth and sky, as resting on the line " Which seems a limit to them both, descends " The ill- worshipped sun when first God's sovereign ray " Touched the fresh orb with fire, and made it shine, " Our greater light no more though great it be " Set to divide the hours, not snare mankind * Isaiah, ch. viii. BOOK I. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 31 " At once, behold ! that mighty concourse bends, " All hushed, those noisy myriads turn and pray ! " O skilled to render doubts and prophecies ! " Priests sages seers ! far-sighted midst the blind ! " Soothsayers that teach men prescience great are ye ! " Behold, your trust is present to your eyes ! " Before you, where ye kneel, Bel's chariot shines, " The summit of his temple smokes behind ! " Look back what means that cloud? ye read less signs ! " This most behoves to know interpret this " Awake stand up ! who turns or tarries dies ! " Ten thousand arrows fly, and none can miss " Now swiftly speed your wheels ! from every gate " Chaldaea^s princes urge their steeds with cries, i " Ah, what avail their oracles ! the shield "Is lost, or cast aside, or found too late ! " Belshazzar's ensigns glitter in the field " Their craft ends here who fastest flees is wise ! " Rash boasts erewhile ! vain menaces ! by fear THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK I. " The herald's summons dwindles to a scream ; " And prayer breaks off, till safer hours delayed " No more to soft and amorous songs we hear " The lute or viol sounding by the stream, " With distant murmurings in the large-leaved shade : " Their vessels and their flowery crowns half-twined, " Are all deserted ; on the ground they lie " With scattered robes stained red in wine and blood. " The champion casts his challenge on the wind, " And turns his chariot wheels in haste to fly ; " The wrestler leaves his garland where he stood " The priest forsakes his God the victim springs " From off the altar trappings, standards, beds " Are mixed and overthrown ! O now for wings ! " Now for the griffin's scales the swallow's speed " So to escape above the infinite heads " Of tardier multitudes confused ! The steed, " Wild with their cries, bursts through Belshazzar spreads " His slaughters thick behind him, till the star BOOK I. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 33 u Is brightening where the blue light fades abroad, *' By many an inroad deep, we trace his car " Driving their flocks in heaps. The Median sword " Can scarce at last, with all its subject kings, " Turn from those dim pavilions where it waves " Pollution and the bloody edge of war : " High even there Chaldsea's trumpet rings ; " Till night hides all, the dubious conflict raves " Awhile without spectators uninclined. " Neither did Cyrus follow when the host " Returned with trophies gathered by the way " Arms, garments, chariots, captives left behind, " And cups for divination gods were lost " As well as priests so vain their flight to-day ! " Bel's image meets the conqueror at his gates : " Loud music goes before, and herald's loud " To-morrow's feast proclaiming with the boast " Of ever-during peace henceforth. The towers " Are crowned with light some new procession waits : " Street after street encompassed by the crowd 34 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK I. " Matrons with hymns, and virgins bold as they, " Dance round the chariot wheels, or deck with flowers " The steeds which bring them victory. In their song, " ' To Bel the holiest, first, is praise assigned " 6 And, next, to him who fills our fanes with prey, " 4 To thee, Belshazzar, glory endless hours " ' Of youth and bliss for gods are blessed and young " ' Hail ! earth^s almighty Lord ! hail ! patron of mankind P * THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK II. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK II. HE ended here, and both awhile were still, As troubled by perplexing thoughts. At last, With eyes upraised, she spake " Our time is this : " The seventy years that Judah should fulfil " In bondage unredeemed have passed away " And earth has kept its sabbaths. Wrath holds fast " On sin through generations Moab's hiss] " Hath joined with Ammon's mockery loud were they ! " The strong may bruise us yet, the proud deride " God could remember all his threats and will 38 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK II. " The curse foretold beyond its years abide ? " His terrors still endure his love alone decay !" " O peace ! beware !" the offended Elder cried " Impute not evil to the Lord ! repent, " That grief provokes distrustfulness ! Is he " Averse from mercy heedless while we pray " Or less inclined toward grace than punishment ? " Alas, Ailona ! ill-ruled thoughts are these ! " His eye regards our weakness though we stray ; " He marks the contrite tears and loosened knees " Else woe to words like thine and fools so rash as we ! " Who shall reproach or limit him ? The plain " Where front to front earth's angry nations stood " So late, with all their kings, may hide its blood, " And soon confound the traces of the slain : " Where Median Cyrus heard his trumpets blow " An early salutation dvie at morn " O'er vacant fields Bel's wandering steers may low, " And songs delight its village hinds again ' The lover's lute resound, or peaceful shepherd's horn ! BOOK II. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 3<> " Ourselves change most yea, all things change below " Strength, wisdom, beauty, grandeur, riches, fame : " There is but One immutable whose will " Stands unreversed and unperverted still " Above man's thought, yet softening toward his prayer : " Part of that will it is which hearkens thus " Free, yet by lovers necessity the same " Most stedfast when the most inclined to us " Truth never stoops, and wisdom cannot err ! " These, if we mark or not, their task fulfil, " And go right on. " O shame upon the old ! " Whom gain hath taught to tarry patiently " Not faith or humble peace from God but gold " And foul usurious traffic ! Such as cry, " ' Behold a fruitful land a wholesome clime - " ' With means enough to live ! These walls deride " ' The wrath of armies or the waste of time ! " ' Will Media drink the ancient river dry " ' To search their deep foundations ? will she climb 40 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK II. " ' The thousand towers above them ? Tell her pride, " ' Beyond the arrows flight they rise, and far " ' Their needless bulk remote from injury " ' Stands solid in its structure, lofty, wide, " ' With waste of strength for wonder more than war " ' Sufficient in itself secure unfortified, " 4 If Cyrus, midst the plain, with all his host " ' Drawn forth to battle.' This since eve they say " ' Fought till the darkness, nor could then prevail, " ' Prolonging dubious strife with greater cost : " ' If he have seen no weakness no dismay " ' No flight before him only mutual wounds, " ' And more than equal slaughter will he scale " ' The city^s gates ? their bars were loosed to-day, " ' Belshazzar went to seek him." Louder sounds " The ill-omened tongue at such a time : we hear " Of straitness in the Median tents, and dearth " Which grows amain ; while prescient wisdom here " Hath gathered plenty from the lavish earth, fi Hoarding its fruits for years heaped garners high BOOK II. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 41 " With corn, and wine, and oil, till every street " Throughout the whole is filled with strength and bread, " c Israel"* they say 4 is sinful, stubborn yet " ' God, ill-approached by clamorous misery " ' Which will not wait, abhors the hands we spread, " ' Polluted as they are, and turns his face " ' From what we suffer -justly to defer " ' The promise that he made us, or abase " ' The proud who claim unthankfully P They err, " Scattering distrustful thoughts midst cautious words, " And numbering worse men's sins to hide their own. " Self-blinded hypocrites are these ! Of old, " Waters perchance as deep have dried elsewhere ; " Bulwarks as safe have fallen ; by spears or swords " Untouched, proud hosts have perished ! Let them groan " As if his arm were short whose flock we are " A remnant saved shall rest within their fold ; " Truth cannot lie and victory is the Lord's." Rising he spoke nor aught returned the maid Rebuked and meekly humbled : both went forth, 42 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK II. * To listen if now the city's tumult laid, There might be space ere daylight for repose. Lo ! eight slant lines of light divide the north, Whence distant bellowings riot to their ears Oblique, yet pointing equally, in rows, Eight arrowy streaks of trembling fire arise : Each less in length than that beneath, uprears Its western end, still narrowing as it goes Aspiring and ascending each appears, The first to rest on earth, the last to pierce the skies. Yet higher than even the highest, and brighter glows A crown, for such the sparkling summit wears. Like all heaven's stars collected : from her eyes Some mournful drops the wondering virgin clears ; O'er walls, and through the cedar-branches, he In conscious haste uplifts his sight, and cries, " We see their flames but not the tower accurst " Yet, Lord ! thine anger sleeps no lightening stirs ! " That mountain height threats heaven and wars with thee ! BOOK il. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 43 " They toil to tempt their Maker as at first, " Now worse since warned ! Bel's drunken worshippers " Gird with their fires his temple eight times round, " Stage after stage, long journeying up the side, " O'er those broad pathways which our eyes discern " So plain by day and carry from the ground " Lamps, cressets, torches toward thy throne defied. " Alas, how long ! would the huge bulk might burn ! " Haste let us hence." The virgin turned once more, Trimmed her neglected lamp, then smoothly spread The couch beneath him, placed the table near, Poured water for his hands, and strewed the floor With leaves aild myrtle-blossoms. Next unleavened bread In rush-wove baskets brought she of the year Figs, dates, nuts, almonds honey too, and wine Drawn from their homely flasks, she set before And would, so used, have added to his cheer The smile which sweetens food but in its stead. 44 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK II. Grief, mastering will, dispersed the transient sign Of peace, and tears burst forth. Perplexed, he gazed ; So one whose thoughts are earlier than the day, Intent abroad, looks wistful from his shed, And sees the watery dawn a moment shine Yet scarce a moment round the mountain's head ; O'er eastern woods the dusky veil upraised, And purer skies behind their edges gray Then girds his loins in hope, and speeds along : But soon those rosy streaks are hidden again, Mists climb about the mountain's side the gale Is white with sleet ill-perched on restless spray The drooping bird breaks off her early song More chill the wind, more sharply beats the rain, And swifter torrents riot through the vale The Elder's heart beat heavily " A curse " Seems strong against our peace to-night," he cried " Grief grows and generates grief; impatient pain " Augments itself; ill thoughts recoil on worse, " As dread runs back toward danger. Weak and old, BOOK II. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 45 " Yet still so rash ! what part have I with pride ! " If folly rave thus loud, God hears above, " And can rebuke, by wiser lips, the bold : " Why should I fret my soul at sin, and bear " The daily burden of unkindness home, " Provoking tears, and wearying what I love ! " Forgive me, child ! it is a night of fear " To both and both spake heedlessly but come, " Sit down by me and eat." The patient maid Who caused his sighs, seemed angry with her own, So hard to rule by force, or hide at will : His calmer brow she kissed, then meekly said " In solitude, or worse for not alone, " Nor without cause to fear I watched since eve, " Perplexed as thou by presages of ill " At once, and ill indeed. My spirit to-day " Has toiled, as do the sick, or they that grieve " Midst wastes or forests, in dreams, by difficult ways " Treading the sand knee-deep compelled to stray " Unwaked till morn and daylight come. 1 ' Amaze 46 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. HOOK II. Seemed rather through his eyes than lips, to say, If not alone, how else ? " Beyond the gate" With voice abated yet, the maid replied " When thou didst part, I stood a space, to gaze ; " And ere I closed it, tarried on the sill : " Whether its bars were fast or not, the thought " Has fled from that which followed but I sat " Self-tasked till eve for endless, as it seemed, " Delayed, resumed, neglected, cast aside, " As if time's lapse unravelPd what I wrought " That sabbath robe was left to shame me still. " At length the work sped swiftly, and toil so light " Bred light thoughts too, while prosperous fancy dreamed " I scarce know what, in furtherance of my pains " Truth, fable, both, with old and half-sung rhymes : " Such voluntary labour earns delight, u If nothing else remitted and resumed, " Those songs delayed me not. Our holier strains " And royal prophesies were mixed at times ; " Others of later grief God's house consumed, BOOK II. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 47 " Himself renouncing it the lion's might " Subdued, and Judah patient in his chains ! " One taught me by thyself I sang at last, " But still by starts imperfectly the same " Which tells thy father's triumphs ere he died, " When mailed in giant arms, with lighted brand, " That red Chaldoean, Bel's prime sorcerer came, " First through God's courts blaspheming, while the blast " Of heathen trumpets filled them, and the flame " Uprose o'er all even in his might and pride, " Azaiel smote him though his own right hand " Waxed feeble then, and death was o'er his eyes. " Midst this, which most seems ours of all our melodies, " The door closed softly, as if entering here " Stood one intent to hearken like the old u With feet dragged slow. My face meanwhile was bent " On labours which required both eyes and mind " Long braids involved, and plaitings manifold. " Thou, Sabra, oft hast tarried in secret near " While some such strain of Judah's punishment 48 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK I*. " Passed, as I deemed, unheeded to the wind. " To-day, midst broidered leaves and fruits of gold, " The setting sunbeam smote my web entwined " With flowers and intricate stems on purple soil ; " And from its twisted threads to look around " Had marred the whole, or wasted days of toil. " Again those footsteps moved, and close behind " Breathings but ill-suppressed, whose depth betrayed " Sorrow or haste hence too methought the sound " Rose from thyself, nor dreamed I but the shade " Which fell so darkly o'er my task, was thine. " ' Thus soon returned ?' I asked. No voice replied, " Though what was there stood near me. ' Lo ! thy cloak " ' If any need of that thy cloak," I cried " ' Lies on the bench hard by. 1 Nor word, nor sign " As yet made answer what I said was vain " That shadow tarried still. Once more I spoke " ' The Sun will fail me soon,' but not aside " Turned thence who listened, nor said aught again. X BOOK IT. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 49 " I looked at last, and scarce with more surprise " She whom rejected Saul compelled at night " In Endor, since all holier help was lost, " To call the prophet up ; beheld his shade arise, " And knew her king : or heard with more affright " < To-morrow thou shalt be with me thine host " c Shalt fall before thy foes T" She paused, and on her cheek, Despoiled of all its roses, pale and cold, Imagination wrought like death. " Still speak," Adjured the impatient Elder, while his eye, In desperate speed forerunning what she told, Was fixed on hers, and strained to extacy. " Here close as this," once more his child began : " Above the couch on which I rest me now, " A woman for her garments, hair, and breast " Looked most like woman's, else she seemed a man " In strength and stature, voice, deportment, hue " A woman stood behind, her right hand prest, " As if in pain, upon her burning brow ; 50 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK IT. " Her left, so withered, that the light blushed through, " Outstretched on high, had cut the sunbeam short, " And shadowed half my web. Loose waved her hair " Her vest was dark, but figured, like the night, " With clouds and crimson stars of every sort " From reptile tribes, were foul things imaged there " All creatures dismal to the thought or sight, " Some fleeing and some pursuing. Lizards asps " The snake the cockatrice what others dread, " She wore for ornament." The Elder clasps His palms, and lifts them groaning o^er his head : " Before I hear it, accursed be the charm ! " May all her cruel thoughts fall wide ! O child ! " I would make strong my soul with this !" he says And thus the maid : " She seemed possessed, or crazed " By some ill spirit there was no mind to harm. " Once, as I thought, that dreadful visage smiled, " And promises she gave of happier days " To us and Israel. Sounds by madness raised, BOOK IT. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 51 " And tuneless incantations, which the tongue " Uttered unguided, were her spells ! Afraid, " At random rhymes ere heard ! Are echos sorceries ? " For while I gazed she muttered back my song, " Mistaking or corrupting what I said. c O ! hear me, father haste ! O haste ! * The gates are burst the temple waste ! 6 Thy breath is lengthening to a sigh ! 4 Thine hands are weak, and dark thine eyes ; * The spoiler comes, the flames arise ; 6 God's courts are filled with blasphemies c The foe is in his sanctuary ! * Blood drops upon the pavement fast 6 Before the veil a victim dies ! * Thy blood runs there and thine the last * Thyself his latest sacrifice. 6 Repentance, mercy, life, are past : ' Now, father, haste ! O strike and die !'" She saw the Elder stoop, so spake no more : Can he too change and tremble ? Shame forbid ! 52 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK II. O ! faith and pious zeal forbid ! The sneer From poisonous tongues, even all life through, he bore ; Helpless old age, and solitude unblest, Better perchance than happier natures did. Perplexed and hedged about with much to fear, While some less tempted failed this impious pest Comes hell-directed last, and dreaded most ! His face he turned in misery toward the floor, Nor raised it when he answered : " Haste to fly ! " Remorse pursues her steps sin runs before " Who meets, or passing looks behind, is lost " For all that hear her, trust that trust her, die ! " " Sabra arise ! " the wondering virgin cried : " She hath not harmed me wherefore should I dread ? " Beyond the reach of help, I might have died, " And thou returned in time to find the dead, " With nothing in the silent house beside ! " Alone I sat who saved me from her then ? " These are but dreams in age's sleep awake ! " Drive out such shadows as the scorn of men. BOOK II. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 53 " Her hand was on my neck and o'er my head ; " She neither harmed nor threatened me but spake " Like one amazed or mad." Then Sabra thus : " I know her, what she is, and would not trust " Yea, though her lips rained prayers. The weak like us, " Encompassed by no human arts, partake " In impious mysteries of blood and lust, " Till witchcraft binds them soul with soul to her " So hell becomes more great. Those lips have power ! " Crazed, as she seems, such madness will not err ! " There is a pause near death, when men grown bold " Toward all things else, have struggled with her chain " Numbering the minutes of that fearful hour ! " Though sworn as slaves to sin, and sealed of old, " They knew that death must yield them back to pain, " If what they spake went forth, forced up by spells " Even from the grave, to endure her wrath again. " Yet have they told their children ere they slept " Such deafening tales of charms and sorceries " Practiced before them in her midnight cells, 54 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK II. " That innocent feet might turn from what they feared, " As none dare utter or think whose heart is kept " By Him that cleanses ere he sanctifies. " To shun, not follow, I sought and yet have heard " What vexed for years my slumbers with affright. " If thou wouldst keep thy thoughts more pure thine eyes " From shades that scare the strong, consume the weak, " And dreadful visions through the afflicted night, " Child never look that way !" She hears him speak, Long silent when his words have ceased. As light, If sun-struck mirrors shake upon the wall, Fluttering o'er floor and roof, a vagrant streak From face to face along the pictured hall, Illumines none, yet skims and touches all : Remembrance flashes through the virgin's breast ; Far more than wonder kindles on her cheek. Thus wheels the dubious sea-bird ere she fall, Nor hastes to leave, yet knows not where to rest. :c Extorted truth has dropped from impious tongues " The wicked have looked farther than the just, BOOK II. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 55 " And things as strange been learnt through words unblest ! " Those cannot sin who neither seek nor trust " She came unbidden a Sorceress with her songs ! " Charms let them be then if I heard the verse, " False oracles have answered wisely Hell " Hath made its forced confessions Balaam brought " From Aram in the East his purchased curse, " Which turned to prayers and blessings while it fell." As one that tarries till his heart o^erfraught, Can find no utterance through his lips, the Sire Watched while she mused bewildered : thus desire To learn the certainty of what men dread, Hinders their asking ; but like those who wake When some voice calls them ere their sleep is past, The starting virgin lifted up her head, Perplexed, a moment, and ashamed then spake : " That threatening face was o'er me where I sat : " On eyes hard fixed her eyes as fixed were cast. " Both speechless, breathless, motionless, we gazed : " And when upon my feet I rose for late, 56 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK II. " Through fear, I tried to rise, yet stood at last " She awed my lips from utterance with a sign, " Took both my hands in hers, and held them wide " High overhead, with parted palms, upraised : "' Then, while the roof-beams shook, her hoarse voice cried " * That song shall be remembered learn thou mine.' ' Daughter of captive Israel, hear ! c The time grows short, the sun will fail ; 6 Be strong, be glad, who hates may fear ' The Queen of Queens that robe shall wear ' Let Haza burn, Beari wail ! ' I see the trembling nations bow ' Chaldaea's crown is on thy brow : 6 Lo ! Judah rests in Jordan's vale ! ' Visions of glory bright and near, ' And kings that kneel to thee, appear ' The Queen of Queens that robe shall wear ! 6 Daughter of rescued Israel, hail !' " Thus, when the chaunt was ended, from her zone " A vial of gold she took, and o'er my hair BOOK II. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 57 " Unbraided then, poured ointment. Early flowers, " If gathered ere the dew goes off, or blown " While earth, at eve, steams warm with new-fallen showers, " I falsely deemed its sweetest things : there are " Who tell of bdellium and the Arabian spice, " Borne far by embassies midst robes and gems " To conquerors feared, as more perchance in price " Than all the pearls which stud their diadems " But nothing, sure, will equal that again ! " It filled the house with fragrance and before " My lips could move to question her, she said : " ' To-morrow thou wilt believe me peace till then.' " Even with her words I heard the closing door " And parting feet." " These rhymes are sorceries, maid ! " Hooks barbed beneath, and baited to betray ! " Replied the afflicted Elder : " Credulous ears " Receive with dread the whisperings of her art " With dread at first yet cannot turn away ! 58 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK u. " Would she report good tidings in our tears, " Or health to us ? of twofold sense be they, " And point as if toward truth, but all athwart " End far remote in fallacies. Our weal " To her were bitterness : of other clay " Than man's she seems an alien from his lot, " Touched by no human sympathies to feel " The slow relentings of the. obdurate heart " At last inclined. With us she worships not " Nay, more the very servants of her courts " And devilish altars, though they crowd them still, " Whose weary being she shortens or supports, " Enforced to watch and wait yet loath her will, " Hinting their curses in each other's ears : " Few ever went with equal speed aright " Sin runs apace, but hard the load it bears ! " These now would tread the backward path from ill, " And flee the imperious Mistress if they might. , " Men call her Maala, with encumbered breath, " Eyes cast in dread behind, and dimmed by tears BOOK IJ. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 59 " That sound can overtake the wings of time, " Stir vain remorse, edge sharper hopeless fears, " Apply, but all too late, the scourge and goad, " And urge the mournful memory of crime. " Hell's mightiest minister is she beneath " The huge foundations of that clay-built hill ; " Bel's blasted glory, stands her dark abode. " No human step unbidden may pass the sill, " Or trespass twice through passages and caves " Whose dreary mazes lead at last to death. " There crawls the impatient asp unseen the toad " Has room in which to hide the clamorous owl " Flits from strange fires the hoarse hyena raves " On slimy floors snakes hiss and scorpions sting : " All noisome beasts, all reptile tribes impure " Contend yet multiply ; while night's dun fowl " Beat the low caverns with continuous wing, " And fan, in restless flight, the sunless air. " Time lapses undistinguished still secure " Beyond the strength of brazen doors or walls, 60 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK II " As Queen she holds her bloody festivals, " And halves the hideous empire with Despair. " Nor yet the living only those misled " By spells and sorceries, approach her guests : " Beings strange to nature hear the unnatural call " Which lifts the slumberer from his painful bed " The soul that sleeps and dreams, but never rests " Whatever resembles death, yet cannot die " Shades of a thousand forms, and each of dread : " All images of impious thought, and all " Which thought could never image treacherous Fear, " Obdurate Wrath, relentless Blasphemy, " Hate, Envy, Vengeance, Pride in flocks appear, " To revel fiercely round the affrighted hall. " Impenitent Remorse suspends its sigh " And sins yet more Lust makes a truce with Pain " Things human also whether at her cry " They warm their dust and visit earth again " In corporal substance truly, or her skill, " Which rests its power so far on fallacy, BOOK IT. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 61 " Can stain their shadows to what hue she will " Mixed in tumultuous hymns, with impious din " Mysterious sabbaths keeping ; all things good, " Changed to their dreadful opposites of sin, " Pollute her banquets with offence and blood. " Here children, bound before the altars, wait " And listen wondering to her dreadful rhymes : " Rapt in tormenting trance the spirit stands " Which strives against her now, or mourns too late " Its past communion with forsaken crimes " Too late and far too feebly to repent " She feasts the while, and with accursed hands " Distributes where she lists her grace or punishment." He paused, when thus the maid : fi Our infant sleep " Ends with reproachful terrors, and the faith " Still lingers on till age disowned yet why ? " If, midst the unfruitful vales and tideless deep " Of that still world, whose nearest gate is death " For ever shut to all but those who die " Such beings as these, or worse, abide within 62 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK II. " Till incantations set their malice free, " And bid them from their dreary confines run, " The strong and ready ministers of sin ?" " We judge things hidden, 1 ' he said, " by those we see ; " This world were else scarce broad enough for Fear : " Darkness conceals what shown before the sun " Would blast our natural sight ; yet such appear " To those whose eyes are quickened by her power " Round midnight fires and lamps that burn for ever. " With desperate hands some move the unsocial door " Who watch suspense, through centuries, the hour " When time or nature changes these endeavour " To breathe awhile earth's freshness feel the wind, " And see the places where they dwelt, once more. ' " Others would pass from us toward them, and strive " Impatient while their steps are yet confined " Within the threshold of this visible world " Envying forbidden things, even while they live " Would wander through the sad and twilight plain " Which spreads 'twixt life and death whose frontiers reach BOOK II. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 63 " From light to darkness ; where, confusedly hurled, " All things are mixed and moving, false and vain ; " Gross shades and bodies substanceless ; so these, " From both worlds alien, come like spies to each, " Thence learn and tell obscurely. Daughter, here " Prevails the imputed curse, and sorcerer's reign, " Broad-fronted midst their fiendish deities. " What else were good, is hollow : vigilance, grace, " And wisdom blighted ere its fruits appear : " Thus sights half seen, foreknowledge out of place, " False prophecies part true unnatural ways, " Unholy mixtures ! Priests buy bread with praise, " And sell for gold their blessings Sorcerers dream 66 As kings instruct them subject nations bring " The tribute of unrighteousness, and teach " To worship Rach with dances by the stream, " Adrammalech with slaughter. Vainly ring " Though loud and frequent in regardless ears " From every street the widow^s prayer and cry : " All shun the fallen whose grasp endangers each : " So Babylon is choked with blood and tears !" 64 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK II, He ended here ; in thought the virgin sat At first, then spake : " But what avails to fly " If witchcraft move the interdicted gate " Which shuts this world from hell or she. whose breath " Can call the offending spirit from its rest, " To endure a harder punishment than death, " Forcing the dust to know its misery, " If she so swift pursue ?" The Elder thus : " Dread fraud, not force for God, who hears the opprest, " Will conquer strength with strength deceit and guile " He leaves to prove the wisest, search the best ; " And warning all, he helps the weak like us. " Ourselves seduce ourselves tempt not her snare " Where Sin hath power midst solitude. The smile " Of such a face blasts deadliest. Child ! beware " Henceforth ! it is for life. There rests, alas ! " Half yet to tell ; but sorrow, and the day " Now near, forbid. This heaviness may pass, " And God vouchsafe to hear us. We will pray : " Prayer cleanses what is tainted ; what is pure HOOK II. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 65 " Confirms and freshens still : our contrite sighs " Ascend to Him as incense, blessed in this " Beyond all gifts above all sacrifice " They do not fail or perish, but will endure " Till one great offering end all tears in bliss, " And make the altar holier whence they rise !" So teaching, from above, the grieved old man Reached harp and lute, and lightly o'er their chords In prelude brief, his practised fingers ran ; Then both, for both were skilled, gave sorrow words. STROPHE. Just Shepherd of a flock dispersed ! thy might Sustains us, or we perish ! pitying Thou Dost mark the captive's groan, the orphan's tear ; Preserve our thoughts from evil through the night, Our erring thoughts from sin, our hearts from fear ! Far scattered from thy fold, protect us now A captive exile seeks to pray aright : Father, look down ! an orphan child is here ! F 66 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK H. ANTISTROPHE. We have no strength or knowledge, righteous Lord ! Beyond our daily wants we cannot see Help Thou ! for Thou alone canst keep and guide ! Give us thy peace, enlighten us with thy word ; Frail as we are our might and wisdom be ! Ah ! what in worms that crawl the dust were pride ? But Thou art great ! O be thy name adored ! The powers of darkness cannot reach to Thee ! STROPHE. He makes his paths across the breadth of heaven Amongst the planted stars ! Ye stars declare, And thou, O sun ! for He hath placed you there To witness what his hands have freely given And see his judgments on the unjust and proud, How bright above your orbs his skirts appear, Yea, though obscured and darkened in the cloud ! ANTISTROPHE. Sovereign of Quick and Dead ! before His face The winged lightnings run, and swift behind BOOK II. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 67 The voice of thunders threatening in the wind : His steeds are as the whirlwinds ! who shall trace God's chariot-wheels tempestuous through the sky ! O ! who amidst the waters, who shall find The dark pavilion where he sits on high ? THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK III. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK III. WHEN Morn arose on Babylon, she came At first with dewy freshness, pale and chill : Like beauty yet uncoloured by the flame Which love soon lights and perfects with. The sun Beyond his orient confine tarried still, And in the misty azure, one by one, Were all nighf s fires receding. Toward the east Heaven kindles, and the tower which looks midway 'Twixt earth and sky whence Bel's expectant priest Sees ere the world yet wakes, his course begun 72 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. LOOK III, And hails an earlier dawn, a longer day Glows first among men's works, as most approved Or mightiest, in the brightness of its god. Safe on that mountain built with hands, her brood The eagle leaves, and o'er their home beloved, Where Bel gives all things refuge as his guests A sanctuary from human injuries Round and still round its crimson summit flies, Or poised above, on even pinion rests In the pure light and cool blue firmament City and plain unveiling to her eyes The marble dome, the many-coloured tent Dispersed upon a sea of mist as isles Illumined groves and palaces. In air, High as she soars, ascend earth's enmities As high : the daily carnage that defiles, Steams to her subtle nostril, with the scent Of last night's blood, not undistinguished there. Now speeds the turret's watchman from his post, And early sandals sound along the street : BOOK III. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 73 With robe succinctly girt, and resolute feet, Followed by kind upbraidings from his host, The traveller bids farewell, then hastes away : His home is on the city's farthest side, A full day's journey yet, though part be crost; Prayed to relent, and flattered to abide, He must no farther hear, he will no longer stay. There was a naked greatness in those times Hidden with the mist of ages, or descried Dimly at best by us from far divided climes Whence runs apace the never-refluent tide, Bearing their mighty wrecks beyond our ken . Parts and fair parts of this fair universe, Nearer to nature were the works of men, Themselves more like her children. Not averse, Estranged, perverted, reprobate as now The populous city wakes to pant and toil Midst loathsome trades, confused with noise and smoke : Across the imperial brightness of her brow There passed no cloudy stain, no sordid soil, 74 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK III. No shade impure when Babylon awoke, No scowl, O queen ! of care, no look like want hadst thou! Before their thresholds, in the ruddy light, Thy children swarm with fragrant boughs and flowers, Suspending bridal coronets above : The year begins, and spring is in her pride ! Spears are entwined with garlands helmets bright Gleam from the lintel war in those soft hours Reclines a willing guest at pleasure's side, And lends his arms as ornaments to love. The everlasting Serpent weds the Dove Thus idly dreams that old idolatry Bel celebrates a three-day's festival, While pale Astarte casts the Cestus by, Yielding the god her beauty. Earth and sky With both rejoice, whose blessings reach to all Two potent sexes all their realms supply, Whence nature hath its just fertility. Their procreant fire both earth and heaven pervades, BOOK III. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 75 Warming the watery shoals ; and from the air Its vagrant tribes, else free, to nest or hive With soft compulsion forcing : through the shades Of forest wild it spreads o'er deserts bare To make life multiply, and all things live : All but where life and death are one below The fierce accord, the fearful trust and pair, Angel for angel burns, and brute for brute On soils subdued the genial harvests grow ; Those which man's foot ne'er trod conceive and bear The seed becomes a plant, the blossom turns to fruit. Such Fables weave they shadowing truth, and this No time to question falsehood. Bel begins With larger pomp his customary feasts, Triumphant yesterday. Who shares his bliss Augments his glory who loves temperance sins, Envious against his honour and his priests, That prosper not unless men learn to give : The god is gracious when his servants thrive f " Bring wine, build altars, burn the fat of beasts 76 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK III " Three morns and eves, augmenting till they close, " Love may range wide at will amidst their pride " Bel has consumed his enemies ! to-day " Renewed in virgin youth, Astarte glows, " Blushing with rosier beauty from his ray " Behold ! the Bridegroom comes ! approach with gifts the Bride! 11 Thus teach they through the streets, where slowly ride Grave herald's scarlet-clothed with chains of gold, Deputed majesty, whose trappings flow Even to their earners feet. On either side Bareheaded youths the gilded sceptres hold ; Judges before, and bearded elders go Adorned with ivory wands and signet rings : Still as they move, their light-toned cornets blow, Then pause while thus the sovereign will is told : " All tribes, all nations, languages, and kings ! " Three days Belshazzar makes his sacrifice " The third he feasts with Bel. Ye princes rise ! " Before his throne your hands ye people spread, BOOK TIT. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 77 " Through whose good gift are spoils and victories ; " At whose rebuke the rebel Median fled. " Sing round the altar dance beneath the grove, " Go forth to meet your beckoning deities ! u They leave for these their mansions in the skies : " Atargatis ascends her golden bed ! "Let sighs be hushed, but prosperous lovers sighs ! " She yields to mightier Bel the Serpent weds the Dove!" Pleasure need call but once in Babylon : Heart of this breathing world ! whence hourly flow All lusts, all vanities the fire is gone Which made thy pantings glorious dimly glow The mightier passions that disturb thee ! Now Pride only keeps her everlasting throne, By cruel wrath sustained and impious hate ; The rest are warmed by luxury alone Lascivious love soon sated, jealousy As soon forgot ! The gods whose temple gate Thy fickle children throng, are such as they, 78 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK III. Impure, unjust, the blindness of a lie, Devotion kneels toward sin, prayer ends in strife or play- Faith must be fed with feasts, and plethoric zeal Asks wine for daily sustenance, or dies. The brazen doors stand wide within, the vow Without, the tumult : giddy dancers reel, Scattering licentious looks from half-closed eyes, While transient flushes tinge their breasts of snow, Whose sighs are sorceries. All are gathered now To mirth and revelry : boys, myrtle-crowned, Bear in their hands the censors dissolute age, With fillets coiled about the shameless brow, And broidered vestures trailing on the ground, Sings to effeminate lyres Belshazzar's rage, Soon quenched in victory himself a god Among their idols, has his priests and praise, Proud fanes and long processions. Some that trod So late in silence through the same broad ways BOOK III. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 79 With doubt upon their studious fronts, or stopt To whisper prophecies and number days Threatening the land that, while they spake, looked round With cautious mystery whose words were dropt Like stones in caverns ; ere another fell, The first was marked how deep, and what it found Hinting at signs in heaven themselves had seen, And others visions with sealed eyes in hell ; All evil auguries, omens, prodigies ! A serpent burst, whose dead length spreads between Belshazzar's throne and threshold twofold suns, Of which the brightest and the first in size Wanes, while the least grows largest, then is lost A fount whence blood o'er steaming ashes runs Chaldaea's ensigns torn subverted towers Beheld amidst the clouds through gulfs a host With steeds and chariots passing toward the north A mighty balance midst the stars for hours With beam inclined, whose nearest scale hangs light 80 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK in. Some that had seen the ill-resting dead come forth, Kings, princes, prophets, from their graves at night Men honoured once on earth, heard statues groan And cry, " Watch ! watch ! Woe ! woe J to Babylon !" Lo ! these be they the immutable, the bold, That sing their triumphs first that hurry on From street to street, that grasp the stranger's hand, And sware how well they knew, how long foretold i An end, like this, of safety to the land, To Cyrus shame and danger : these be they That build the altar, lead the sacrifice, Circle the bowl with flowers the slow command, The cold provoke, to merriment and play, Reading their former signs with clearer eyes. By granite terraces, on either side Hedged in, his sounding stream Euphrates rolled, Full to the brim deep, turbulent, and wide, Between Bel's temple and those gorgeous domes Which Babylonian kings had lined with gold, Squandering earth's wealth to ornament their homes. BOOK in. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 81 So spacious were they that the courts might hold Fair cities and high bulwarks ; in the halls Temples might stand, or royal palaces, Enclosed entire by marble-pannel'd walls, And roofed with fretted ivory. Lower and less Is Man's chief labour since ; yea, even the abode Long after famous in imperial Rome, Raised by usurping Caesars, though it filled The Palatine, and on its pavement glowed All forms of grace reflected whither come Wanderers from every land whence Princes build Their habitations, digging in the dust For sculptured cornices and capitals Buried a thousand years where nightly calls Through painted Vaults, whose keys were kept by Lust, Gilt Baths, and tessellated Chambers wide Half lost beneath the gem-strewn soil a cry Heard daily midst that Palace in its pride, But echoed now by Time with mockery : " Seest not how great and beautiful am I ?" * * Oi>x opaas otos Kayu /caAos T* fjieyas re. Suetonius Domitian. G 82 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK ill. Greater, and quite as fair, the house in which Chaldaea throned her monarchs farther spread Rank after rank its columned porphyry : All that the East could find most rare and rich Blushed on the floor or glittered overhead ; Unsceptred Egypt hewed her quarries deep To pave its halls with many-colour'd light ; India for emeralds searched the torrent's bed, For pearls the ocean fathom'd ; cave or steep Hid nothing unexplored. And royally That Palace bore aloft its gorgeous height, Fronting the wave for miles. Nine gates of gold, On which was wrought Chaldaea's history ; Nimrod and Belus, Gods and warriors old, Looked down a hundred steps ere reached the stream A hundred steps or stages each so wide That fountains rested on them, beasts and men Of huge proportions, such as sculptors dream, But nature never made of bone and blood, Or soon destroyed. Beyond the farther side, BOOK III. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 8 Highest 'hove Earth of all Earth groaned with then, Or hath sustained since then Bel's Temple stood Though incomplete the highest whence impious eyes Strove to profane the sovereign rest of God, And near at hand discern his mysteries Man's proudest thought and mightiest work ! his road To enter Heaven, his broad-stair through the skies ! These opposite : Euphrates flowed between, King among rivers yet the first subdued ; For none long afterwards beside had seen From bank to bank a highway o'er its flood A path through air dry ground aloof from land Above his waves, yet separate from his shores, A bridge whose many arches seemed to chain With links of adamant both stream a^id strand, To grasp his strength, his swiftness to restrain, And bind the struggling giant though he roars, While dry-shod thousands pass and pass again. Such common since, though less a wonder then ; Unrivalled yet in height, depth, breadth, or length : 84 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK III. Of stately symmetry and ponderous strength, Thronged by expectant myriads ! Never lay Stones by the surge more thickly strewn ; nor grass Grew closer when the fields were rank in May, Than these were crushed and crowded one quick mass Of heated flesh ! In vain both prayers and staves : Despatchful looks were vain and threatening speed Chiefs, princes, counsellors, were mixed with slaves : Loud sounds the scourge, and fiercely springs the steed. The bridge, the steps, the terraces, the waves The waves themselves are hidden so densely swarms That clamorous multitude o'er land and stream The barge floats fast with garlands at its prow, The snake-like gaily gilds its length with arms : Euphrates sees his scaly idols gleam, And painted monsters scare the shoals below. From infinite tongues one sound arises : so When morn first breaks in autumn, at his door The hind looks out toward heaven, whose winds are calm ; Scarce leans the dewy grain o'er-ripe; his trees BOOK HI. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 85 Sustain their fruit sore-burdened as before ; He sees the mountain oaks which skreen his farm But slightly shake their summits in the breeze, Yet not the more improvident of harm, Discerns, far off, that melancholy roar Continuous, deep abroad, above, around, On earth, in air sad prophecy of storms Soon perfected for ere he turns away With louder voice the struggling forests sound, Blast after blast his half-reaped field deforms ; His winter's cheer is lost his hopes are marred to-day. Such universal charm was deepening here, Till from those golden gates the shrill trump spake, And lo ! Belshazzar's ensigns blaze on high ! Sparkling in glorious mail his Chiefs appear ; Steeds taught to seem unteachable, and shake Their plume-trapped heads as if for mastery, With Median captives fettered in the rear ; Then loud as CarmeFs pines, or SidonY waves, Or storms on wintry Lebanon toward the sky 86 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK III. With eyes upturned that mighty concourse raves Belshazzar Lord ! Belshazzar Victory ! Before his face two sceptred despots ride, Arabia's tributary king, and he Who rules through Cappadocia : by his side, Each with his kingdom's diadem and robe The Phrygian monarch and the ordained to be While all men wish what almost all deride, And so for ever o'er this parceled globe, In every language, learned wisdom hath, A moral's close, a maxim's guarantee, A child's example when he tutors pride, A sage's proverb if he speak of death, Or preacher's text to warn how riches flee The Lydian Croesus blessed, till Death that bliss deride. Each would have seemed Earth's Sovereign if alone : In awful state and princely dignity Majestic all ; but o'er their brightness shone Supreme indeed the star of Babylon Midst alien kings a king his people's Deity. BOOK III. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 87 These on their war-steeds mounted, through the press Went proudly forth : above them, like a throne, His chariot bore the breathing idol high, Where millions gazed as if its lips could bless ; All knees were bent before the mighty one : In manhood's prime or youth's blown perfectness Ere strength usurps on beauty, such he rode, As poets sometimes feign imperious Jove, When Saturn dispossessed had fled his son Through Ida passing, like the sovereign God, Though young, nor formed for empire more than love. A thousand Princes sees he at his feet, Ten thousand slaves before him ; to his ears Uprise the shouts of that wide multitude ; While midst their gusty pauses, music sweet Extols with songs the sceptre that he bears, Incense is burnt, and precious stacte strewed : Yet, like the god they call him, on his seat He takes their servile offerings uninclined, A service due from lips scarce worthy this 88 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK III. Extorted awe, the breath of servitude ; His right, their debt, the worship of mankind ! Milder the next who followed Nitocris More gracious, not less awful. She had been The great correcting spirit, parental soul, Whose wisdom strengthened empire, and subdued With temperance, pride. Once dreaded as their Queen, She governed all uncircumscribed and sole ; As wife before, and since as mother, stood Beside the throne to make its justice feared, Quenching its cruelties : and thus far good, That nature, so elate endured control, Belshazzar, else obdurate, bent toward her ; Even when he hearkened not, he still revered. The populace waited till she smiled, then raised Their children to behold her ; midst the stir Some boasted to have reached her garment's hem, Others were sure her eyes looked down toward them : It was a claim to praise, thus to have loved and praised. BOOK III. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 89 Like Vesta with her towery diadem, She passed ""mid Virgin Choirs sublime, and rolled Her slow wheels warily. Behind her blazes Bel's empty chariot, framed of burnished gold, Lustrous, with gems embossed : on adamas light Sapphire and amethyst blent, the red sun gazes : Rings of alternate rubies, and the stone Serene, whose soft hues change to red or white : Pearl, beryl, emerald, as the spokes fly round, With rainbow glories from its bright wheels glow : The naves chalcedony and chrysolite ; Of ductile gold the harness chains ; but none Dare rein the steeds which draw it o'er the ground : Sacred are these, unsullied as the flake Which falls on windy Libanus taught to go, To turn, to stop, and governed by a sound Augmenting marvels lest men's doubts awake, And vulgar proof if faith seem scant or slow. Bel's victims next ; but ere approach the last The first have reached his temple. About its base, 90 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK III. Coiled round its bulk, the bright procession climbs ; Eight spiral circles narrowing as they rise. The Chorus faulters, and the trumpet's blast Toward all Heaven's regions turning all Earth's climes Sounds feebly scarce midway. That glorious belt Dissolves before it ends : beyond men's eyes, Both steed and chariot, where they rest at last, As summer insects in the azure melt : Nothing is seen so high but smoke of sacrifice. Far different worship where that old man dwelt, Long-exiled Sabra, midst the acanthus wild, In cypress shades and ilex silent groves Abhorred by those whose deity is lust He, and the orphan maid, his brother's child. With folded arms, and foreheads toward the dust Thither the Prince, the Priest, the Elder roves ; All save their chief and holiest to his sight Visions of changing empires, like the scene Of some great theatre, were brought and years BOOK III. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 91 Assigned, when each would perish from its might ! A voice too spake Ulais 1 banks between, And Daniel saw the angel. In his ears Were dreadful revelations, such as drew The astonished prophet's soul in fear away,* Though used to commune on Earth's mysteries With spirits from Heaven. The rest, while last night's dew Still hung on mossy briar and verdant spray, Threading those mazes with distrustful eyes So many paths alike seduced to stray The ancient and the just assembled there : And never since, in judgment, council, prayer, Met synod more revered ; though Rome may boast Her senate lords, mistook for deities, And Greece her schools of sages. Unadorned ~~ The roof, and bare the walls of skill or cost, But not unsanctified ; since God loves most The contrite spirit, the tear which pride hath scorned, And mute humility. * Daniel viii. 16. 92 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK 111 Subdued at last So far if weak, yet humbler in their need, The Elders sat ; while Cyrus with his host Remote, since dawn their rent pavilions cast O'er safer pastures undisturbed. Lo ! one Tells what his eyes had witnessed, that the Mede Where forked Euphrates flows with equal streams, Wide, rapid, deep, diverging as they run Narrows his armies to the space between, Then camps them warily ; nor this suffices, But that he builds what like a rampart seems From branch to branch, trenching the marshy green With pits in front ; discerned, but not begun Since day ; thus ever while the earth-mound rises, The depth it grows from deepens. Can he fear ? This great besieger doth he dread to be Himself besieged ? Is this the exile's trust ?. Whose bulwarks from the city's heights appear Like ill-fenced sheepcots on some dangerous lea Spoiled of the wolf last night ? Is God unjust ! BOOK III. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 93 Or Cyrus not his servant ? Faith perplexed Lives like a shadow to the things we see, And as they perish perishes. Awake, Dissembling Israel ! mightier signs come next That trench thou scornest shall be a snare to take Her feet who tramples on thee ; through those pits Shall flow deliverance. Safely, carelessly, Above mischance, Bel's laughing harlot sits ; But One she sees not, sees the impiety, Rendering her scorn even sevenfold back again, And laughs the while at her ! Bel's dissolute priests Were not unknown in Israel : Carmel drank (Loud though they called from morn till eve) in vain The blood which gushed so hotly from his priests, By voice or fire unanswered ! Many and rank On mountain height, dim grove, or grassy glade, His old pollutions while the widow's wrong Uprose to God. Then matrons undismayed Practised their sorceries ; oft to wanton song 94 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK III. They danced all day beneath the green tree's shade, Inflamed with idols under rocks and clifts, In the cool vallies, and by every stream. Elders were blinded by the oppressor's gifts To hold their balance with unequal beam Aslant from truth. Diviners learnt to dream Of gold, nor woke they till the cup was near That typical cup, the cup of wine and wrath, Which God in judgment made his Prophet bear Following their shadowy confines as he bade, To every king and nation through the earth, But first to Judah. They that drank grew mad ; Yet all did drink both Egypt and the lands Of Ekron, Azzah, Ashdod, Ashkelon : None might refuse whom idol lusts defiled, From Elam's pastures and Arabia's sands To Zidon's populous coasts or islands lone The realms of frost and fire the city and the wild.* This they remembered sorrowing. Sabra too, * Jeremiah xxv. 15. BOOK ill. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 95 Whose zeal till now, when others flag'd, benighted, Uncertain in their cheerless passage, grew Bright as a spark midst flax, whose hot breath blew Extinguished faith, enkindling what it caught, Who urged the tired, and led the dimly-sighted, Himself seemed ill-composed in spirit ; his thought Dwelt on the terrors of that destined Maid, A Queen if fraud may reach to fathom truth, Or Hell instruct by fallacies ! Alone So used were these she walked beneath the shade With others equal-aged for grief from youth Soon passes, and the spirit-healing morn Breathed peace. Around the Virgin, where she shone Too high for rivalry, their light steps thronging Brought early blossoms from the scented thorn With buds of Spring's first roses intertwined ; And gave that genial tribute which the free As nature points to nature's choice belonging Present nor envy. Thus the forest herd Feel when surpassing beauty decks their kind, 96 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK III. And instinct forces homage ; taught to flee, Or turn, as one may lead them : thus the bird Sports with its lustrous tribe o'er mead and hill, Or carries winged dominion on the wind, Followed by more than love. In grief, her soul Seemed like Bethulia's clouded waters still, Inscrutable, unfathomable, full : But light, in pleasure, as the azure air, Whose hues are those of space and purity ; So calm, men look for heaven through such a sky No earthly shade is seen, no threatening image there. But not from him who sat within his gate Departed grief so lightly. Midst the Old, Of Bel's detested Sorceress what befell, All he had heard with breathless dread so late, His lips at large to shuddering hearers spake How warned, how comforted both what he told Last night ; and much beside he feared to tell, Lest terror from the astonished soul might shake That strength, secure in ignorance of ill, BOOK in. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 97 Which profits oft, though wisdom's weapons break, And vigilance shields no longer. " In her face " Twice have mine eyes discerned the signs of woe," He said ; " nor tardier than her merciless will " Death once fore-ran once followed. Two remain, " This frighted maid and I, of all our race ; " Because the imperious threatened steps were slow, " I thought that they had passed us but again " She ends her circle, and with backward pace " Looks full this way. " There are of those I see " Some that may yet remember what I say, " And him who was my brother too, the sire " Of this poor child. Life's larger half from me, " Hurried by many cares was gone : the ray " Of his far calmer spirit maintained its fire " Unquenched, but duly tempered : in degree " We seemed to stand as son and father thus " In years we might have been for young was he. H 98 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK III. " Ezekiel dwelt by Chebar ; on the side " Of those great waters captive : to enquire " From God, through him, your will made choice of us : " Grace little merited yet not denied I " But Hazer loved to folly in excess ; " And now, so soon a father, quite to sin. " The year before had brought him home a bride " Behold the parents of this threatened maid ! " Yet was she such as made his frailties less, " Meek, gracious, innocent. His strife within " To quit the babe new-born and her that bore, " Was hard, but well endured so both obeyed " With many sighs the anxious man set forth. " A week sufficed to reach that river's shore " Apart from both its sabbaths: three days there* " God answered by his Prophet -on the fourth " A milder revelation met our prayer ; " We rose, brake bread, bethought us of our vow, " Then gladly turned our faces from the North. * Ezekiel xiv, 1. BOOK III. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 99 " My brother's heart was yearning toward his child, " And her so much beloved a mother now " Left ill at ease, yet joyful though in pain. " Bel's blasted summit all our haste beguiled, " Seen day by day before us, dark and high " Encreasing still, though slowly, o'er the plain : " At last we reached it. Night was near her noon " Midway on that fair belt which zones the sky, " Before we trod our starlit grove again ; " But through its well known mazes silently " We hurried as the tired are wont and one " Pressed by impatient thoughts of love and pride " Wondered to see his parting cautions vain, " The bolts all drawn, and outward gate thrown wide ! " Hazer went first, then paused awhile with eye " Turned back he beckoned : stooping down, we cast " The sandals from our feet while near his side " I heard the panting heart and ill-drawn breath " Yet neither spake. But when the court was past, " A lamp shone brightly where we rest us now : H 2 100 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK III. " In sleep for such it seemed in sleep or death " We saw reclined the mother with her child. " Some flowers had withered on that tranquil brow " Fair as it ever was one arm still prest " The babe, whose slumbers parted while it smiled, " And turned its small cheek from her naked breast ; " One loosely lapsing touched the floor beneath. " A woman, with her back toward us, stood by " Holding the light above them. She was not " Of Israel's daughters o'er her clouded vest " Were likenesses portray'd from earth and sky ; " Asps, snakes suns, stars as native in the place, " She seemed to wait our coming undismayed : " Nor when we entered, did her dreadless face " At first look round, or vary from the spot. " One finger on her hard-closed lip she laid, " Then slowly gazed upon us. c Lo ! they sleep,' " To Hazer whispered she and next to me " ' Do thou take this,' in louder accents said, " So gave the lamp. I heard the infant weep, BOOK ill. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 101 " The mother's arm lay stiff and heavily " Perplexed we feared to speak while both obeyed, " This fiend was fled. " His babe the sire released, " And strove with gentlest tones to soothe its cries : " Again composed, the feeble wailings ceased, " But she who seemed to rest, her long-lashed eyes " No more upraised. Guest, sister, solace, pride ! " Nor sounds disturbed, nor silence could awake. " Then first his thoughts misgave him at her side " He knelt with tremulousvoice her loved name spak " Paused, and where beat the heart, or used to beat, " Laid both his lip and palm its fount was dried! "It moved no more. Ah, wretched ! thus to meet ! " Alas, the mother ! woe ! ah, woe the bride ! " I knelt with Hazer near her if I tried " To rouse or comfort, grief my speech supprest, " And elder far than he his soul I knew : " The wretch gazed on that face till morning's prime, " Yet spake no more but thus : ' Thy will be blest, 102 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. HOOK III. " ' This, was mine idol ! it was I that slew, " ' Who loved so much and worshipped. 1 From that time, " Tired as he seemed, sleep never gave its rest " He turned away from bread. The grave was new, " Ye passed beside it in your path to-day, " A bank of moss, where palm and ilex threw " Their darker shadows round Zemira's clay " When those who loved us came to weep once more : " His spirit had burst its cords and passed away " So God was pleased to grant, whose ways are just ! "It was at night, by torch-light, that we bore " My brother's body forth : beyond the gate " Amongst our mourners tarrying, on the dust " Digged from that double pit, a woman sat, " Veiled, and unmarked, till o'er its brink we rested. " Then, as she rose, her wicked visage thrust " Again toward mine the same beheld so late " ' Watch well their child,' whispered that voice detested, " And she was gone." BOOK ill. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 103 The Elder ended here, But wisdom tried to ease his heart of fear, Lifting its thoughts toward Providence, and turning Grief from himself on cares which compassed all : Bel's mastering Hosts, or Zion's broken wall That ancient error, still in part the same The curse at length fulfilled, the Temple burning : Till sorrow wakened melody, and wrong S pake in alternate strains Hwixt grief and shame From many a voice and harp through court and hall And this the imperfect echo of their song. HYMN. Ye hills ! and O ye vallies ! fruitful hills, And vallies, in whose shady depths were seen By streams then hallowed, founts, and pebbly rills, The flocks of Israel graze his pastures green ; While mellowing harvests laughed and sang with corn, And olives waved, or vineyards glowed between O ! peaceful then at eve ! O ! sweet at morn ! 104 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK III. The nations round you point their hands in scorn, The Arabian wanders where your pride hath been ! FIEST SEMICHORUS. Swift flow thy waters here, and deep Those waters on whose willowed side The exile came to sit and weep Bel's walls are strong his waters wide ! The mighty spurn the base deride : Ah ! who shall teach to praise or bless ! In such a Land, midst strife and pride, What melody in heaviness ! SECOND SEMICHORUS. God's Priests and holier Prophets trod, O Zion ! once thy sacred hill, His earthly throne his blessed abode His pleasure then his pity still ! In joy or grief in good or ill If I forget to mourn and love, May this right hand forget its skill ! My harp to sound my tongue to move ! BOOK III. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 105 HYMN. Abhorred, afflicted, solitary, thou The seat which Mercy filled, the shrine she fled Till wisdom left thy king's adulterous brow, Earth's future trust its present gaze and dread ! Thy precious things are scattered as a prey, Thy pleasant courts with all pollutions spread, Thy children love thee still but far away, Idols accursed may boast thy spoils to-day ! Will God forget thee yet ? Will wrath pursue the dead ? FIRST SEMICHORUS. Chaldaean mistress ! in thine eyes No tear was seen no mercy shone, When Edom mocked at Judah's cries, And bade thee do as thou hast done ! She heard his wasted children's moan. Lord ! in thy wrath she strove to wound, " Regard not spare not let them groan," And u down ! down with them to the ground !" 106 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK III. SECOXD SEMICHORUS. Deep flow thy waters broad and deep Those waters on whose willowed side The captive exile sat to weep Thy walls are strong thy waters wide ! Thou drunk with glory ! mad with pride ! The weak oppress the poor despise- Till God shall rouse his strength defied, And wake thee to thy miseries ! THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK IV. THE IMPIOUS FEAST, BOOK IV. " PEACE and good will towards men !" Such, gracious Lord ! Thy Father's message when thou didst come down With great humility his Light and Word Incarnate Truth ! laying aside the crown, Before whose brightness all God's angels bow, And sinless make the sinner's curse thine own ! That holy head was shelterless thy brow, Circled with thorns, by cruel hands was smitten ! Yet uncomplaining Lamb ! no voice was heard 110 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK IV. But prayer for us so merciful art thou ; Yea, even for those, fulfilling what was written, Whose lips blasphemed thy patience, and preferred A murderer to their king " Father, forgive ! " They know not what they do !" It is through thee If hearts so far estranged have loved or feared, And through that Spirit who makes the dead stock live, Rendering it fruitful ! Let the rescued see How hard and hopeless was their servitude When Reason sold itself as slave to sin Tired of the truth Lust stooped its willing knee Before congenial altars, and imbued Their deities witli blood and luxury : All knowledge seemed perverted, instinct erred Bewildered where the brutes err not a lie Assumed that better voice which cries within, Conscience connived, and Nature spake unheard ! Lo ! thus the laughing populace reel along, Loud with lascivious jestings o'er the din BOOK IV. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. Ill Of giddy horn and timbrel. At their front Unblamed, unshamed, above the intemperate throng, On slow-paced mules, Bel's Priests and Prophets ride Ill-seated cavalcade. Thus sometime wont Thessalian revellers, midst mirth and song, Silenus old with Bacchus at his side Copies perchance of these ; when vintage ended, To crown their foreheads with the faded vine, Making their sin their boast, their shame their pride. So passed triumphant Cathura, attended By Assur-baladan, Belsyphirine, Rabphalga, Urr, and more, with garments died In purple grape-juice, or the lees of wine. These were Bel's holiest ! Vulgar ministers went On either side, each with his vine-wreathed wand ; Chaldaea's loose-zoned matrons danced before : The fairest of her boys and maidens bent Beneath their baskets with unsteady hand Maturer youth the half-spilt wine-pots bore ; And beauty, innocent yet, but seen no more THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK IV. From this day forth by love's delighted eyes, Toward home its still reluctant look addresses, Though worshipped by the crowds which swarm below. An ignorant part of sin's worst sacrifice ! Chaplets of costliest pearls confine those tresses , Broidered with gems and gold those vestures flow. Each in her chariot riding, like a queen, The flower of Babylonian virgins go : Incipient deities, whose eyes are seen To flash with hopes celestial, as the song Extols their glory midst heaven's thrones : " Where love " Immortal in immortals never ceases " Through time or change ; and beauty always young, " Mightier by far than wisdom, and above " All other strength else absolute, increases " On food which grows those happy shades among. " Atargatis and Bel ! the serpent and the dove ! " Bel hath his bride to-day in Heaven ; but who " Shall meet the glowing God at eve descending BOOK IV. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 113 " Earth's image of the Goddess, and imbue " Her spirit with divinity, by lending " Corporeal mould, henceforth eternal too, " As habitation to the Queen of souls, " And so surpass earth's loftiest glory who?" Accursed illusions of that devilish crew Whose fraud is hidden in luxury, and rolls Its serpent train midst flowers ! The mother brings Her fairest daughter to their open door, Panting for ever-during crowns in Heaven ; Still of Bel's golden bed the chorus rings Six chariots fraught with beauty pass before ; One void remains his will is bound to seven : At last the number and the choice are even ! A Bride is found ! approach her, and adore ! Behold love's Queen ! When greyly looks the morn O'er hills and misty plains, ere labour wakes, Or smoke from distant cot or sleepy farm Stains the chill ether ere the fragrant thorn 114 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK IV. Hath ceased to drip with dew from forest brakes, Tired of their darkness, and its lair still warm, The wandering herd advances roebuck old ; Pied hart with antlers broad, and dappled fawn, Midst hollies skirting round the foremost pine To graze in lighter pastures, and behold Man's world subdued ; affrighted if the kine Low from their stalls, or flocks their moistened fleeces Shake as they rise, and bleat within the fold : Soon reassured the treacherous space increases 'Twixt them and home large range for Death behind Whence ambushed slaughter lifts its sudden cry ; The hunter's tumult gathers on the wind, Shrill horns and clamorous hounds bray furiously ! Swift as their fears, but scattered and in vain, Back to that leafy wilderness, the hind Would lead her young : bearing their heads on high. Amazed, the panting tribe o'er path and plain, Bound, look behind, disperse, collect, and flee, Then trace their tangled steps, and trace again. BOOK IV. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. Hi So from the shadow of that grove, to see Belshazzar's triumr>hs round Bel's Temple winding Their homeward splendours as they rose ; a space Yea, but a little space with breath drawn in, Feet often turned for flight, and dubious ears, Went Israel's daughters listening to the din Far off, through empty streets. In every place New sights, fresh terrors, mightier wonders finding : And drunken lust thus urged the noisy chase, When innocence fled bewildered by its fears, Though fleet, soon captive, even to tardier sin. Ailona singly struggles midst the crowd, Her breast half bare, veil rent away, and face Suffused by angry shame, yet dewed by tears ; Imploring first, then threatening suppliant proud Wild and subdued by turns. Beneath their gaze, Whose slightest glance were injury, she hears Bel's choice proclaimed, while Cathura on the ground Descending kneels and worships her. " O ! raise " Those eyes to bless us ! From his towers above, 116 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK IV. " The sovereign God looks laughingly around " Through all Heaven's regions, for they all are his, " And^thine, from him, they will be ! He shall love, " Who led this way the bride himself had found, " Thou breathing image of Atargatis ! " To silence grief so beautiful in bliss : " The joyful Serpent comes ! O ! joyful be the Dove !" Once more toward home her scattered sisters fly, As plovers wing them from the loosened snare, Caught, not detained, with plumage discomposed, Regardless of their captive fellows'* cry, Heard but to quicken terror through the air ; Nor which is lost yet know they. One enclosed Strives with the toils her dark and frenzied eye Looks round for help ; and if indeed she were Human in birth alone, now deified Creature compounded 'twixt the earth and sky, From what in each is fairest, fiercer pride Could scarce have fired the wronged divinity, While fillets round her struggling wrists were tied, BOOK IV. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 117 About her knees long wreaths of roses twined A victim bound with garlands, by the side Of Cathura and Assur-baladan ! Again the concourse moved, the mirth began, Dances obscene before, and hymns behind ; Midst impious adoration forced to ride, She scared the city's triumphs with her cries, Till from Bel's gates sublime the broad steps ran, Flight after flight descending, and the last Received on earth his worshippers. Three faces They compassed of that Temple ; toward the skies Aspired the fourth, ere sovereign Wisdom cast Confusion midst its builders, or came down To separate speech, dispersing families, And baffle pride. The rest had portals vast, With porphyry porticos, where all earth's races Found entrance, all earth's languages, save one, Again were heard among them. Deities, Captive themselves, were gathered with its tribes From every land made subject, and adorned The majesty of mightier Bel. 118 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK IV. His throng Dismounting at the utmost step, with bribes Of honied promises adjured and fawned, So to disguise the force which darkens wrong, And leaves an omen midst plebeian fears. Unprofitable toil ! Ailona's ears Perceive not if the chorus swells or ceases, Nor aught of pomp or priest her eyes discern ; But steps on high, a Temple, tumult, crowd, Like visions while the sick man's thirst increases, And weary torments slumber though they burn : All else forsakes her, midst the cymbals loud Bewildered, but reluctant shame, a dread Of unknown sin, despair, remorse, dismay, Breath thick with agony, and eyes overspread As if they sought for succour through a cloud A tongue too swoln to speak, a soul too faint to pray. Look up ! behold who calls thee ! Ye that bear Yield to a mightier claimant ! From her face Bel's dreadful Sorceress draws the veil away? BOOK IV. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 119 Your noisy triumph needs must faulter there ! Her name they utter once, the noontide air Grows silent when its sound hath passed a space Recoils the nearest on the next behind If gales were stirring men might hear the wind : The chariot steeds start back even Cathura leaves His captive kneeling on the steps between : Wolf-spoiler of the weak ! that lynx-like glare Even at his den confounds him, and bereaves, Despite Seth-arioch's wand, Rab-phalga's prayer The abashed and feebler tyrant of his prey. Her bands are burst scarce touched " Now rise, O Queen ! " My last night's promise finds belief to-day. " Ye that pursued, it is your turn to flee " And thou still first where folly needs a guide " Away !" She spake, then stamping on the ground, Smote hard her palms above her head, in pride. " The vision that I saw, ye cannot see, " Your eyes discern not that her brows are crowned ! " Kings knelt before her, mightiest kings forsook 120 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK IV. " Their thrones, to bear the cup and bend the knee ; " Whilst every tongue, in every language, spoke, " Look up, ye nations ! kindreds, people, look ! " Who worships not the Queen accursed is he ! " I saw the pleasant tents, on Jordan's side " Their homeward flocks lay down ; Bethesma's field " Was filled with bleatings ; softly breathed the gale " While Judah sang his ancient songs again ; " Ten thousand thousands clapped their hands and cried, " His wrath is passed away, His terrors yield ! " Farewell those mightier streams, that broader vale " Behold ! the mountains where our hearts abide ! " Hills, vallies, rivers of our fathers hail !" " Accursed be they ," the trembling priest replied, " Accursed and soon to perish, who shall take " Awe from the patient sovereignty of Bel, " And at his gates despoil him of his bride." Her scowling visage cleared as thus she spake : " If one be wanting, this at least is well, " Thou wilt not suffer for thy master's sake, BOOK IV. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 121 " Six brides I leave his servants." Deadlier swell Rash thoughts within him, dashed by shame ; and pride Burns from rebuke more scorchingly : " Awake ! " Lay hold upon the maid that curse which fell " Shall rest on all who help us not !" He says, And first ascends the step Assyrian Gyre, Red from the wine-skin reeking, whose hot cheek Is flushed with thoughts of love beneath the rays Of cloudless beauty gendered, and the fire Blown high by Cathura's furious breath, to seek The praise of all Bel's worshippers. His hand Reaches the virgin's neck, and round his wrist Outstretched, in turn, the Sorceress lays her grasp ; Loud yells the dubious concourse ; one long shriek. Far louder, pierces Heaven. The red iron's brand, O fool ! were balm to this ; 'twere better twist A bracelet from the moulten ore, and clasp Thy flesh with liquid silver while it glows ! When south winds blow and sunny banks are warm, As one who plucks in haste the briar-fenced rose, THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK IV. But feels instead about his naked arm An adder's length coiled round, or gripes an asp Between mistaking fingers strives in vain To shake the angry reptile from his palm, That wreathes the more intense its circles manifold He bellows with affright, and stamps with pain : And when, at length, she frees him from her hold, To thrice its natural bulk the swoln limb grows, Glossy awhile, as if its skin would burst, Distained with putrid blackness ; and again, Ere wonder suffers that the eye should close Which sees its change far smaller than at first, Withers and stiffens round the fleshless bone, The bone itself distorting. Thus a scroll, Whose parchment lore is useless or unknown, Distends its folds, one moment, in the flame, And shows a grosser volume than its own, Till scorched and conquered o'er the furnace coal Its twisted form collapses. Whence he came The ghastly cripple turns his leprous cheek, BOOK IV. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. Blotched with consuming ulcers eyes half blind And lips extended to the ears. " Now go, " For Cathura's curse bear ours ; be just and speak, " O thou of giant strength and dreadless mind ! " Whose words weigh most," she says. The crowds below Flee from a spectacle so foul, and shun Him, hideous, following with unstable gait, As if in nature's scorn, despite of fate, Some plague-sworn carcass tottered from its grave, And bared Death's loathsome mysteries to the sun. She tarried not, but thus : " Leave we the brave ! " Virgin, our path lies higher." Up Cirta's coast, Escaped its thundering surge and far-pursuing wave, The shipwrecked seaman gladly speeds his way, Thankful, while all he had, or hoped, is lost, Beside the life God gave him that his feet - Stand on the solid earth once more, the day Shines in his eyes, and, weary though they be, His members have their use and feel its heat : At first regardless where he is unthinking THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK IV. That grief and death usurp both land and sea So toils from step to step the rescued maid, Whither she heeds not yet till near their height, On wall and door above, her young eyes shrinking, Discern the graven images arrayed : Idols part monstrous natural part ! a sight Whence older faces might look round afraid. " O mother dreadful in thine anger hear ! " She calls, a moment pausing : " Strong art thou " To ruin or save, who once hast heard my cry ! " I may not enter where those shapes appear, " Have pity still !" The Enchantress turned her brow, Then answered thus : " Ailona, what have I " With prayers and pity ? On thine head even now, " Anointed Queen ! the oil smells fragrantly " Which made thee mightier." " Let thy Servant die, " But mock me not," she said : " a captive child, " Alas ! and parentless." Those pale lips smiled, \ Then spake : "be strong and follow fearlessly 6 We seek who will not wait." In doubt, once more BOOK IV. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 125 / Ailona gazed upon the sculptured wall, And on the crowds behind her should she fly Toward those whose treacherous lusts she fled before : Or pass through idol symbols to the hall Where horned Osiris is a God ? Her eye Fills with its tears, while righteous hate prevails O'er both the abominations. " Send me home " Accursed and blasted like the wretch below, " And such as men remember in their tales "But free from sin ! there tarries till I come, . " Who yet will love me though in shame and woe ! " Let me flee hence !" She spake with loftier tone Replied the impatient Sorceress : " Take thy prayer ! " We will not enter follow where I go " Dost wring thine hands and tremble, faithless one ? " By all men dread in Heaven or Hell I swear !" Thus ending, toward the left she turns her feet Upon that broad step where she staid to hear ; Nor rising nor descending, till its point Looks diverse, and the Temple's faces meet : 126 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK IV. Another length she travels like the last, For each gives room, as when with bandaged joint The wounded shrinks from him that hurries past, Suffering untouched through fear. A voice subdued Numerous as insect wings, while sunny morn Swarms with delighted life o'er shrub and flower In cultured plot or heathy solitude A hushed and equal sound they hear, upborn From infinite tongues whose awe breathes health to power Or like some torrent's distant water roaring : Then, where the third front cast its shade, behold ! Midst tributary kings sublime in state More feared than Bel's itself Belshazzar sat As God enthroned, and all his Hosts adoring ! Arrayed with royal pall, and crowned with gold, Before his feet the subject monarchs wait ; Beside, sits Nitocris. In just degrees, Descending from the first step to the last, And hiding all his princes on their knees BOOK IV. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 127 Worship far off the effulgent Deity. A living hill, upon whose face is cast More than the rainbow's brightness, gloriously Appears that ample slope to shine, with vests Of all earth's hues or heaven's, when lordly sets The crimson sun at harvest time, and rests Pillowed by clouds such mingled radiance streams From gold-en woven robes and jewelled coronets. Nor space enough that mighty area seems Between the steps and river, to contain His congregated armies helms and spears - Thick though they stand and level, as the ears Of Egypt's barley when her prosperous fields Brought food by handfuls, and the unmeasured grain Was stored, till Famine's lean and blasted years, Foreshown in dreams, consumed it. Lustrous shields, And mail, whose burnished plates of brass or gold, Repel the arrowy sunbeams opposite ; O'er serried ranks of horse and foot, unrolled Chaldaea's ensigns glitter in the light : 128 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK IV. Crescents and stars the signs which men adore As Gods in heaven and beings of earth andi water Are imaged here with shapes supposed or true. Irresolute stops the maid to breathe, once more, But thus her guide : " Yet dost thou doubt me, daughter ? " One of their thrones is thine earth has but two ! " Dost linger still ?*" Then up those steps, and through Their prostrate crowds, the shuddering virgin bore, Light as a kid unweaned in hands like hers, Till at the thrones she placed her, in the view Of those who sat, where Monarchs bowed before, Herself erect. The startled God uprose ; And with him, from their knees, his worshippers ; Myriads of quivers rattled, unstrung bows Were bent, and lances shaken ; but her mien Seemed peaceful, and the uplifted hand outspread, Motioned as theirs that speak, while thus she said : " Dost gaze like one who knows me not, O Queen ! " Remember Nineveh," The Queen replied : " Woman, I do remember thee, with dread, BOOK IV. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 129 " But not unthankfully." " A captive maid," Exulting spake the Prophetess again : " A captive in the wilderness that cried " To taste of water, near the fountain's side, " And none would give ! I turned me from the slain, " From dreams I rose, and o'er her naked head " These eyes discerned the garland of a bride " They saw the crown of power, the canopy of pride ! " A leafless branch cast loosely on the sand, " A dying branch was found a broken spray 66 I raised the sapless fragment in mine hand, " To fertile streams I bore the lost away : " Its roots are deep as Hell the light of day " Rejoices midst its blossoms. Sea and land, " Morn, noon, and eve, are covered by its shade : " Belshazzar, from thy regal seat look down ! " A fairer plant beside its parent grows " Ere yet the fruit fall off, or verdure fade " Accursed is he that spurns ! seek thou to cherish ! " Chaldaea sends the Virgin for her Crown ; K 130 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK tv. " Thy Queen stands near thee with anointed brows, " I heard the words woe ! to Chaldsea, woe ! " If she shall weep woe to the tongue of pride ! " Woe to the golden city ! ere she perish, " The streams shall fail Bel's roofs with fire shall glow " Woe to the loftiest first ! the Bridegroom ere the Bride!" She said, and tarried not reply, but straight Passed by their thrones, none hindering, to the gate Of moulten brass behind, whose valves stood wide, Lamps never quenched and altar-fires revealing ; But where the Sorceress placed her, paused the Maid Aghast, with loosened tresses, eyes unveiled . Panting from flight and strife and yet afraid With beauty's tears to love, through grief, appealing And bosom still unconscious though betrayed. As if some being of happier worlds bewailed Its shame in earthly bondage from his place The astonished king beheld that trembler kneeling For soon she knelt: and o'er her innocent face, BOOK IV. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 131 Before so pale, celestial blushes stealing, A rosier hue and healthier lustre shed. Meanwhile the Sovereign Mother to the ground Descending whence she sat above her head A web like silver, from her own unbound, A filmy veil of precious texture spread. Belshazzar waves his hand, the trumpets sound Dispels, like mists, that mighty concourse still As leaves on summer groves at noon, or reeds On lake or fen, till gales begin to blow. When both awake rank marsh and woody hill, Touched by the breeze. The pageant as before Moves on august and slow with homeward steeds : But wearied wisdom sickens midst the show, And age endures its heat and cries no more ; The popular breath of slaves her great heart scorning, Less clamorous ways are best to Nitocris. She shuns the encumbered bridge oblique, and leads Where barges built of cedar touch the shore, Each with its ivory beak and silken awning. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK iv. In foam behind the whitened waters hiss, With practised cadence dips and skims the oar : Lost, rescued, frightened Captive, Queen, and Bride ! Well may she look beyond attaining this ; As lightly down that river's ample tide By ancient palaces she floats, and towers Whose heads are in mid air, 'twixt arches wide, Gilt domes, and groves of stateliest growth below, Her refluent spirit mounts again to bliss. The voice of pleasure issues from their bowers Sweet music, sweeter when its haunts are hid The careless laugh the light and sportive scream : And still she sees the granite portico, Fresh-sculptured obelisk, or pyramid With trembling shade inverted in the stream. Like streaks of fire the sister gallies glow, Gilt to their keels, and freighted deep with arms ; Sometimes abreast the rival banner flies, Nor yet too far for interchange of smiles, While playful beauty half unveils her charms BOOK IV. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 133 To traffic with divided love in sighs ; Till reverence checks the speed which hope beguiles. Strength yields to awe, and emulous haste grows wise. The thoughtful Queen sits silently ; her eyes Rest on the Maid. Now sound your clarions ! blow Your deep-toned horns ! the sovereign Mistress comes ! With costlier art her marble portals rise, To steps of porphyry turn the bounding prow Behind, o'er all o'er pinnacles and domes Groves bloom in air, and gardens in the skies. She that had tarried midst the noiseless hall From day to day, and watched the sunbeam creep With lengthening arc, in autumn, on its wall Whose sum of time was shared 'twixt toil and sleep, Truth's holiest teachings and the rest of God Following through chambers where her sandals trode On variegated pavements, and the crowd, Though Slaves within, were Princes at the gate, Saw ill at ease that while the Queen passed by Was every b'p compressed and forehead bowed ; 134 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK IV. Gracious, indeed, yet awful in her state, A Mother, but with dread and royalty. Within the shadow of that gorgeous pile Is compassed all which earth can boast elsewhere As broad to use as daylight. Feasts beguile The else vacant hours ; melodious choirs are nigh When Love shall call them ; fountains cool the air ; In crystal mirrors beauty learns to smile ; The couch is softly strewn for luxury ; And baths of jasper nerve the limbs of Care. To such her guides conduct her pleased and kind, Three garrulous maids, a laughing sisterhood, Whose charge she is, all eager to begin With offices of love their task assigned Chaplets are wreathed, robes chosen, odours strewed : They teach her how to bar the door within, Then bow their heads and leave her. Such a change Sudden and dubious still if evil or good, But in the extreme of one a portent strange HOOK IV. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 135 Believed, distrusted, disallowed, yet feared, Hath touched her soul ; and now in solitude, Whence eyes of late so kind have disappeared, Voices so bland have parted now it is That wonder finds a larger world begin ; One stunning thought misrules a multitude ; The spirit toils to sound its own abyss Error is twined with truth, and innocence with sin. Lonely she stands at last ; of figured gold The cieling glows above her ; on the ground, Inlaid with lucid shades and colours manifold, Birds seem to perch or flit midst fruits and flowers : In chariots riding kinglike warriors crowned Above their steeds mosaic sceptres hold : A vase of sculptured agate largely pours From level lip its sparkling waters round ; More spacious still the bason where they fall, From one fair stone scooped out. That Huntress chaste, Whose wrath transformed Actaeon, here had found Room for her heated Nymphs, where none molest, 136 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK iv. To sport at pleasure in its depth, if all Had bathed beside their Mistress. From her waist Its zone of silk the pensive Maid unbound. And drew the slender sandals from her feet ; O'er roof and floor, and round the sculptured hall, Her eyes still wandered, while the heaving breast, And cheeks distained by conscious nature's heat, High thoughts of power and love's first dream con- fest Dreams disallowed, and thoughts she feared to think Thrilling with cold ere felt, she made her seat A moment on the ceaseless fountain's brink, Touched the pure wave within, and cast aside the vest. Meantime the chamber of that awful Queen Her cool retiring-place, where pomp might rest Its chafed and jaded sovereignty unseen Is strewn with fresher roses ; fruits are piled In crystal urns the rarest and the best, That men spend lives in seeking midst the wild, BOOK IV. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 137 Or art, with equal labour, plucks at home. Far climes meet here, from Ganges to the fords Where nations cross on foot the infant Nile : Damascus sends her tribute ; some lone Isle, Which may possess a name in times to come, Unnumbered now, its single wealth affords : Whatever nature from her children hoards, Profuse in vain elsewhere, or freely throws To those who ask with patience moist and dry, Hard-rin'd, or candied in its sweetness all That gathered when the sun hath touched it, glows With purple clusters from its branch on high ; Or on the ground, before his hot beams fall, Is sought midst early dews beside its root. In golden vessels spice and wine stand by A fragrant altar, heaped with flowers and fruit Her table seems, on some great festival ; Herself enthroned its present deity, Who waits the approaching votaress. Lo ! she comes, 138 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK IV, Bearing the fountain's freshness on her cheek, And robed as those are feigned whose sacred homes Are caverns in the ocean like its green When least disturbed, or hues which sometimes streak The sunset skies with tenderest light serene, 'Twixt gold and azure mingling. Flowerets sweet The wreath whose twisted tendrils crown her tresses ; Pearls edge and bind the sandals on her feet ; More white than pearls that panting bosom presses The belt which ill restrains and half conceals. Happy are they that follow where she kneels ; In beauty's triumphs skill may claim a share The sovereign Mistress raises her, and feels That nature, when she framed a being so fair, Conferred the right to empire. Of the wine She tastes herself, and offers to her guest ; Spreads fruit before her soothes with gentle speech Commends Arabia's spice and Syria's vine, Then bids her matrons leave them. " Eat and rest," She says ; " take courage from the cup to teach BOOK IV. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 139 " Whence came ye both that Prophetess who blest, " And thou with her." The Virgin's lips obey Faultering at first, nor yet assured are they But pleasure lights her eyes hope glows within her breast. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK V. THE IMPIOUS FEAST BOOK V. AILONA^S words were ended, when the Queen, After short pause replied : " Thus much is known " Of Judah and his kindred tribes if time, 66 Whose weight hath crushed so many thoughts between, " Corrupt not knowledge more remote alone, " Unsocial midst earth's sovereignties sublime, " Not loved, they stood in solitary pride " Severe, with envied greatness. Some declare "That one impartial Father ruled at first " The worlds he made ; till weaker gods defied 144 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK v " Him, though their king poisoning this nether air " Once pure, with malice ; till the slakeless thirst " Of power or wisdom tempted to their side " Apostate man ungrateful who, in turn, " Forsaking was forsaken. Then the Sun " Became a prey usurped by envious Bel, " The Moon by Benoth ; while the Lights which burn " With nearer brightness than their fellows, run " Each as its Angel guides it. Earth and Hell, " The realms of Life and Death, are free to all, " For all are worshipped in the fanes of men, " O'er whom they watch with jealous sovereignty, " Answering by oracles. To these we call, " Ill-succoured, if we need their help, and when " We grieve or fear : but He whose rest on high " Was threatened by his servants, leaves mankind " Midst snares and terrors to their chosen guides " That rain upon our heads dissension, hate, " Envy of others' good, disease in heart and mind, " Remorse, and many-featured Death. He hides ROOK v. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 145 " His face from both, serene in cloudy state, " Creating happier natures. Stars which seem " " Less bright than ours to us, are suns as large " As that which lights this swarming earth, and beam " On soils with warmth as fruitful. Men descry " Them, or his glorious ministers, whose charge " They are, like dust upon the tranquil skies, " Spotting with fire night's blue infinity. " Our world hath lost its parent God but one " Stood firm, they say, of all its families : " This he regarded with paternal eyes, " Making just laws. Bel twice hath stopped the sun, " And once turned back before him once his hand " Was cast beneath the chariot flames outspread, " And interposed its shadow o'er the land " From Noph to Pathros, ere his people fled, " At mid-day darkening Egypt. Till at last " His own too changed him for less scrupulous lords " And service suited to their lusts. Then fell " Dominion, as a dream their glory past, L 146 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK v. " Wisdom decayed, before Chaldaean swords " They stooped, and left the vacant world to Bel, " Whose prey they are. Nor yet is light withdrawn " From all, nor ever doth his spirit flee " The heart it once hath sanctified : a ray " Unquenched endures his prophets still can warm " When fear overshadows mightiest kings. We see " One such at least, whom prosperous hours may scorn, " But shame and pride cannot forget. " To-day " I was, as I have been of old alone " In wealth, supreme in majesty, in power " Above all other women : never yet " Has earth beheld but one upon its throne " So high, nor one so happy. Now mine hour " Declines toward eve and darkness ere it set " Make thou a covenant with me : let us live " As child and mother should thy leaf shall thrive, " While mine dries up and withers. Dost thou fear? " We use no sorceries rise, beloved and blest ! " Content, and in good time, I yield my place / * BOOK v. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 147 " To thee soon mightier age inclines to rest ; " And she hath called me hence who brought me here. " What needs the drop which sparkles on thy face " To soothe or charm me ? less than such a tear " May perfect easily, what I with pain " Have wrought so far leavening Belshazzar's pride, " And henceforth softening cruelty. His heart " Has thoughts which turn toward pity ; but in vain, " While Haza beckons mischief at his side, " Beari sows her jealousies apart, " And many stir the furnace-flames again " Whose heat hath scorched so many. Both queen and bride, " Too high for these to reach thy state repress " Contentious vanity. Belshazzar hates " The thorns which fret his patience, when he wakes " From dreams of wrath to grief and soberness, " Yet still endures. Stand thou by mercy's gates, " And fill, with better heed, the place which age forsakes, " For blessed are they whose lot it is to bless ! 148 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. . BOOK v. " ' Chaldaea sends the virgin for her crown' " Dost only half believe this prophetess ? " For me had thunders witnessed to her voice, " Repeating word by word, I yet should trust " No more than I do now. The seed was sown, " We know not whence we know not if her choice " Preferred the plant, or mightier fate have thrust " A forced adoption on reluctant will ; " But judge thou whether that, whatever it be, " Which makes all hateful opposites accord, " All nature's covering in one web and still - O " Entwining prescience with necessity, " Most strongly when most strained have not some cord " Stretched from this Sorceress to ourselves, and tied " 'Twixt her and us. Now mark. " Above the ford " Of Chaboras dwelt I, at an age like thine, " Not far from stormy Orchoe. Such is pride " Our valley seemed a kingdom, and our home " A royal habitation ; yet the line BOOK v. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 149 " Required to mete BeFs Temple whence we come, " Would compass, with superfluous length beside, " Fane, palace, fortress, city. Poor were we, " Too weak, it seemed, for jealousies so just " That none could hate us and our eyes might see " Their little empire to its utmost bound, " Nor need deputed watchfulness. But lust u Looks farther than to find offence. At night " I slept as they are used who know not ill : " So ponderous were my slumbers, that the sound " Of feet which trampled overhead, and shook " The couch beneath me, waked me not. A light u Fell on mine eyelids, undiscerning still " The truth from dreams. At length one near me spoke, " A heavier footstep faltered on the sill u It was my father's voice ' We wake too late ! " ' I cannot help thee now nor force nor flight " 4 Avails the Spoiler rages in the gate " Where shouldst thou flee, my child ?' His bloody look " I saw, and when he reeled, I heard his groan 150 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK V. " But through the falling rafters, from his side, " They forced who never pitied. Court and street " Were filled with fire, where dreadful faces shone " In that broad light past human. Avarice tried " To gather rapine midst the smoke and heat " Itself had raised, and thirst of blood pursued " Through flames, from roof to roof, its fugitives. " With flakes on high our ancient temples burn. " At length the robber seeks his solitude " He hastes the first away who fairest thrives. " Beyond the gate I heard my mother's cries " Aloud she called that never might return. " Who else was spared I knew not all night long " We travelled, and from homes once blessed behind " We saw the red sparks mingling with the skies. " Then names were whispered round us, and the slain " Were called by those who wept ! Amidst the throng " Some met past hope short happiness ! to find " The arms which should embrace them fast, and hear " Impatient sufferance struggle with its chain. BOOK v. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 151 " On camels, late their own, a part were bound " Gray-headed captives seated midst the spoils " Themselves had furnished. Cruel that night of fear ! " More miserable still the dawn which found " No succour while it lit our shame, and showed " Whose prey we were ! " The scattered remnant toils " Through vales and mountains, till we see once more " Marked by its smoke our desolate abode : " River and misty plain behind us steaming " A desert spreads its pale expanse before : " Immeasurable wastes nor, whence we stand, " Remote appear their earlier confines gleaming "But height deludes the unpractised eye, and still " 'Twixt bare or tufted crags on either hand, " The rough descent slopes tortuously along " In shade at first, but neither fount nor rill " We find, nor verdant bank for rest, but clifts " Where never rings the amorous shepherd's song, " Herds never low, unless by rapine driven 152 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK V. " Precipitous as now, the ox uplifts, " His mouth 1 and fills the vallies with complaint. " Narrow the pass, as if through mountains riven, " By which we poured our noisy multitude " Beasts burdened, horsemen armed, and captives faint, " Urged on with clamorous haste though none pursued. " The sun was high before we reached that plain, " And smote upon our heads direct all day " Toiling through dusty wastes, we rested not. " Some had but part to travel with us pain " Or misery made them mad beneath the ray " On those bright sands insufferably hot, " 'Twixt noon and eve, they strewed the sultry track " Speechless, with froth-encumbered lips, at first ; " Then ceased in death. I raised mine eyes in vain " No respite saw they : from the camel's back " On which I sat, made desperate now by thirst, " I asked to stop and perish. Near me rode " Triumphant in his spoils and victories, " Proud of the steed which bore him, loud with mirth, BOOK V. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 153 " Tho' youthful, cruel one whose ill thoughts showed " Their ever-changing baseness from his eyes " The Son of our Destroyer. ' Maid, the earth " ' Here is accursed, 1 he said, ' but this it gives " ' To cool thy lips let this awhile suffice " ' The sun, before he sets, shall see thee drink u 6 Where water will be found for all our wives, " ' And then ourselves. 1 I feel my spirit shrink " To own that of the fruit he reached I ate, " So strong was misery over pride but still " The desert wilderness around us spread ; " The beast reeled wearily on which I sat ; " fields rayless disk descended broad and red, " When lo ! at length a little isle-like hill " Scarce fringed the else smooth horizon with its trees " Some few low rocks and verdant palms. The cry, " Or scented stream, awakened what remained " Of strength once more, and braced the camel's knees " To toil with quickened step thus far. We found " A fount of living water there we drained, 154 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK v. " Impatient that they flowed so scantily, " Both source and stream : while near us, on the ground, " Shadowed by rocks, with mantle o'er her face, " Lay one who seemed to sleep 'twas heavily, " For all our cries disturbed her not. Unbound, " A dromedary rested at the place, " Of that swift kind which men prefer to gold, " And none may buy. " The youthful Spoiler said : " * These too Adrammalech hath sent behold, " ' We both have gained since yesterday a Bride ! " 6 The fairest portion, Father, to the old " ' Mine is the beast alone, take thou the maid I 1 " Thus ended sportive, and in haste drew near, " Toward her who yet lay slumbering. ' Up P he cried ; " 6 Who sleeps so deeply needs to sleep the less " * Woman, awake ! we too must rest us here : " ' It is thy turn to watch the wilderness.' 44 Then snatched the covering of her face aside " Like one indeed surprised, yet not with fear, BOOK V. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 155 " From earth upsprung this scowling Prophetess " Of stature higher than women by the head ; " Her countenance then had beauty such in kind " As that, which gilding shapes we needs must dread, " Augments abhorrence though their burnished scales " Are brighter than the sardine stone, and wind " With hues of fire before the astonished eye " In reptile flexures swift and gracefully. " At once applause is hushed, and laughter fails " The captive that but now had prayed to die ; " And he, the tyrant, that had chained him, shake " Both shrink alike though neither yet knows why " All gaze, and reel confounded from her side. " She smiled upon the youth, while thus she spake : " ' What else ? who called me ? Yea the waste is wide " ' Thy slave will watch behold me here awake P " Scorn yet maintained its even gait with pride, " And in the threatenings of that dreadful face " Derision deigned to mock what hate defied. " The panther thus can fondle with her prey 156 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. LOOK v. " Turn round as if for flight resume the chase " Make terror sport protract despair with play " Then let rage loose. ' Go rest, 1 she added, ' now : " 4 Lie down to longer slumbers in my place."* " What followed next, I heard not on his brow " She breathed, and swifter than the sulphurous East, " From whose hot wings in hazy dimness blow " The swarms suffused, which feed and live on death " O'er summer flower a blast, ablight o'er man and beast " Smote deep the scalding vapour of her breath. " I saw that scorner stoop before her spell, " Even toward his father's feet : he would have prayed " For help or mercy, but the curse too well " Its charge fulfilled too quick her lips obeyed " Convulsed, deformed, distorted, swoln, decayed, " A corpse abhorred he blackened while he fell. " Some reined the unwilling steeds to fly some fled " Part looked bewildered round them for the spear : " The boldest knew not what he did or said " Whether to smite, to shun, to threat, or fear. BOOK v. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 157 " While all recoiled beside, the heirless Sire " Approached, but yet unsteadily so near " Did vengeance poise its trembling scale with dread ; " And terror halve the dubious thoughts of ire : " One hand was raised to strike one held outspread " Was lowered in supplication c Woman, hear ! " ' We too can -slay though not, as thou, with fire ; " c Have pity on him yet O ! spare to harm the dead f " She stooped, and in the hollow palm uptook " Of water from that fountain where it laves " The desert flowers, soon spent. More dreadful now, " In louder wrath her voice unmixed the look " Of hate her eye-balls and her cruel brow " Were red with fiercer threatenings. ' Peace, ye slaves ! " ' I have been merciful ! who lifts his eye, " ' Fixed by my curse for ever where ye tread, " ' Shall think them happy that may hide in graves, " ' Or envy rest like his, on such a bed ; 66 ' And pray for grace which thus permits to die ! ' " Their hands let fall their weapons; toward the dust 158 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK V. " Their faces bowed they on the ground they rolled " As if its sands might shelter them : they cried " In turns, for peace and pity, to her. ' Just " ' Art thou blood's winged inquisitor ! behold ! " ' We meet the faces of their gods again ! " ' Let this suffice he stooped, he fell, he died ; 66 6 Before thy feet he perished ! take our gold " c Accept, O Queen, an offering for the slain P " She cast the water from her hand, and came " Straight where I stood confounded ; yet till then " Her eyes had not been turned that way by name, " Beckoning, she summoned me as one known long : " Less fearful woke I midst the cries of men " Last night, to gaze at once upon the dead, " Dragged from my father's house than while her tongue " Pronounced it, and that outstretched palm undried " Lay chill upon my neck, as thus she said : " ' His part I take for mine keep what ye will beside.' " 111 things, when near to ill, may seem the best ; " Deserts become our refuge ; they whose sword BOOK V. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 159 " Had made us destitute, like friends appeared, " All other human shapes were less abhorr'd : " But those to whom I clung drew back the vest, " And struggled to escape me as defiled ; " Dread mastered love the eyes which pitied feared " And turned away less potent than her word, " Nature renounced her rights, and from the breast " On which life's dream began, a mother loosed her child. " If kings prepare for war by sacrifice " And Moloch feasts ; at first, with wondering ears " The infant listens to their cymbals loud, " Suspense in studious awe and meek surprise : " While every face is turned toward where he stands, " His own is gazing on his nurse's tears " High blaze the midnight fires, the dancing crowd " O'er reddened garlands shake their gilded wands " But thoughts perplexed by dubious terrors rise, " For still no yearling bleats, no kid appears ; " At length the priest draws near with lifted hands, " Again more loudly peal those horns and drums, 160 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK v. " The altar's flames are raging toward the skies " With hands outstretched the cruel claimant comes ! " Shrill heard through all ascend the struggled cries " His little heart is bursting ere he dies. " c Fool! wouldst thou live a slave with these? Wouldst pine " ' Midst caverns of the wilderness, and tread " ' Its sands, in thirst, for ever ? Shall the dust " ' Suffice for drink ? Will thorns produce thee wine ? " c Canst thou devour the desert-stones for bread ? " ' Be still, and hear me speak are these thy trust ? " ' Is it so hard to quit the hands which shed " ' Thy father's and thy brother's blood for mine ? " ' What if I smote the Spoiler in his lust ? " c Doth this afflict thee ? Shall the blessed repine ? " ' Sit down by me.' So spake she, while her strength " O'ermastering drew me helpless to the shade, " Ill-comforted but soon subdued. In woe " I knelt beside her, speechless ; till at length " To change seemed better, since despair could grow KOOK v. , THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 161 " No worse by changing, and the proud obeyed " Are sometimes merciful. Thou shalt be great ! 4 ' Thou shalt put out the eyes which watch thee now, " c The desert shall not hide them from thee wait ! " ' It is not long to tarry.' Thus she cried, " And from her scrip a little cruize unbound, " Water and fruit she gave me ; bread I ate, " Strong wine I tasted trembling at her side : " The beast alone lay near us on the ground " She made me sit above its loins, and sat " Herself before me, ere it rose. In vain " My mother calls and follows now too late, " Though well perchance for both, her fears subside : " Upborn, with strength refreshed, and easier gait, " In haste begins my westward course again. " Short seemed the space Hwixt sunset and the night : " The moon behind us in its fulness shone : " Of purest sand reposed that herbless plain " Under the purple firmament. Our sight " Reached far, yet saw no bounds but rock or stone M 162 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK V. " Half-buried in the drifting soil, and spread " With dreary intervals, appeared alone " On earth heaven's ever-wandering isles above. " Nor sounds were there the dromedary's tread " Passed noiseless marked in dust. But she who drove, " Watched not the yellow waste, or ether blue, " Nor paused, nor hesitated ; she went on " Silent and swift, till more and mightier grew " The shivered cliffs around vis, one by one, " High 'bove the horizon, in a thousand forms " On either hand distinct such shapes as fear " Might worship for relenting Gods, whose storms " Forebore awhile to vex the wilderness : " At first remote, but every hour more near, " With denser ranks, to right and left, they press ; " Narrowing the dismal vale through which we ride : " Thence cries the uneasy stork and wandering owl, " The leopard crosses to their shadier side ; " Or wolf turns back with half-suspended growl ; " Above our heads deep croaks the ill-resting raven ; BOOK V. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 163 " Behind, as if too late, the hyena raves. 66 And signs we see that men had once lived there, " Though shown in works of death continuous graves 44 Subverted urns huge stones and deeply graven : 44 The sculptured dragon guards its sepulchre : " A sphynx, broad-faced, looks calmly toward the moon. " Like regal monuments they seem, and some " Imperishable still, in night's clear noon 44 With trophied arms and granite warriors frown, " Bordering the road we travel ; till we come 44 Straight to some mighty city, whose high towers 44 Are broken, and the embattled wall cast down : 44 Her gates stand wide no living shapes appear 44 None waits to watch or question : brightly showers 44 That glorious radiance o'er deserted streets, 44 To all but us unprofitably clear. 44 Through grassy court and ponderous portico 44 We ride unchecked the dromedary beats 4i His hoof with quick and regulated sound. / 44 At length I spake in tones subdued and low, 164 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK v. " As fearful who should hear me : c Tell me this " ' Since ignorance such as mine such grace has found, " ' Thou yet wilt spare me if I ask amiss " ' What endless city spreads where'er we go ?' " She stopped, descended, helped me to the ground, " And answered, not indeed as one who feared, " Like me, to rouse the slumberers from repose ; " But so that Echo, loud at first and nigh, " Then far remote, repeating what I heard " Each time distinct, though lessening toward their close " Taught in that mournful name its history " Thrice sounded ' Nineveh? " Nor space for more " She gave, but left the panting beast unbound, " Then straight led on. I followed close, and found " All desolate : the wastes we passed before " Had less of sorrow than man's late resort, " Thus void, where what his busy hands had wrought, " His heart had feared or panted for, and all BOOK v. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 165 " His eyes were once intent on ; where he came " To buy, to sell, for business, worship, sport The Mart, the Temple, Palace, Garden, Hall " Where all things else remained, and most the same, " But he their Lord ! midst works of human pride, " No human soul. " In haste the Enchantress treads " What late were ornaments : on either side " Streaked by the golden moonlight where they cross, " Are other streets extending courts as wide, " As spacious Palaces and o'er our heads " Distorted shapes of men or beasts emboss " Yet loftier Temples undecayed. Mine eye " Glanced from their hideous prodigies afraid, " With faltering haste the tired foot hurried by : " She walked, indeed, as Mistress through the place, " Where nothing else had ever been since Death. " Huge pillars, rank by rank, with solid base " And flower-encircled capitals, arrayed " I saw, nor such had seen till then. Night's breath 166 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK v. " Scarce stirred the briar high-rooted hung its thorns " From some fair cornice light and motionless; " Or veiled the prostrate altar whose curled horns " Lay broken, piled midst heaps of sculptured frieze " And gilded architrave. " At length we press " With feet which ill-sustain the aching^knees, " One wide continuous flight of steps, so fair " They seem a road for Gods constrained through love " To pass from Heaven, and men ascend by turns " Drawn panting thither. Of bright-hued pavement rare " Resound the moonlit terraces above, " Quick smitten by our sandaFd feet : their urns " Are burst or fallen, and ancient fountains dry. " Beneath us, toward the left, mine eyes descry " A river, such as this, with banks as wide, " Tumultuous waters rolling : and on high, " From end to end, along the adverse side, " That mighty mansion where Assyrian kings BOOK v. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 167 " Two ill-enduring ages strength consumed, " Building its towers: there piled Earth's precious things, " The riches of mankind, the toil and cost " Of many generations. These presumed " Their seat was safe for ever ! it had lost " Its pleasant ornaments the doors were gone " The porch stood vacant roofs of ponderous stone " Were pierced, and twisted thorns hung through them ; yet "A look like ruined greatness unsubdued " Remained, reproachful majesty the mien " Of that which mourns, indeed, but keeps its state " Glorious though fallen supreme midst solitude. " A title still was there or such had been " Disjointed words appeared above the gate : " The moon shone full, but all I read was this : " ' Let Earth with awe rejoice before its Queen ! " < Grief never may approach S emir amis. "* " Both entered, and the Sorceress at my side, 168 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK v " With slackened pace through painted galleries, " Holding one hand in hers a silent guide, " Passed cautiously yet unperplexed. Nor there " Darkness so far prevailed but that mine eyes " Might trace the remnant of Assyrians pride " On floors of jasper-tinted marbles still, " Strewn from the flowery roof and cornice rare " While moonbeams lay upon them. By her skill " We trod that mournful labyrinth of halls, " And chambers built for mirth. The last was dark : " There paused she, whispering ' tarry on the sill/ " So passed within. Some voice beyond her calls, " Not hers nor answers she : against the door " I lean, and listen to her steps a spark " Drops from her hands, and kindles on the floor : " Thence lamps she lights along those Temple- walls, "But most above its altar. Piles of wood " Lay ready for the sacrifice behind, " An idol winged with axe uplifted stood, " Rack or Adrammalech : my search could find BOOK v. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 169 " Nor Priest, nor living victim there unless " Such, she and I ; but vessels, one of blood, " One salt, one oil, I saw. That startling guess " Myself might be the sacrifice appeared " Less dreadful then : tired Nature asked repose " The spirit grows patient which so long has feared, " And slacks its flight from death through weariness. " She knelt above the altar steps she rose, " Descended, sprinkled blood upon the ground, " And uttered prayers inaudible to me : " Then, beckoning, made me enter ; at her side " I stood, while thus she spake. ' The lost is found " ' A Princess from the desert fountain see ! " ' A captive maid shall this become the bride P 1 " So called and questioned she, but none replied. " ( Shall other blood be spilt ?' Then paused once more " The Temple soon grew silent when her voice " Had compassed it and passed away. In wrath " Those altar steps she mounted from the floor 170 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK v. " Took fire, and lit the wood ' Thou hadst thy choice ! " ' The aged and mighty yet a mightier hath " ' Chaldaea bears thy curse is this the maid ? " ' Can wisdom turn it back ?"* The idoPs hand " Let fall his axe forth from the altar came, " Midst sounds like sighs, a voice which cried ' she is 1 " ' How long ?' the Sorceress questioned ' While the land " ' Shall see its crown upon her brows," 'twas said, " ' Force, famine, fraud, avail not flood or flame, " ' Nor Gods, nor men, nor living things, nor dead, " ' Can touch its peace to harm it." 1 ' Tell me this "'By whom anointed? 1 'Thou! 1 'Wherewith? 1 ' Behold f " The Sorceress smiled, and from those urns of gold " Sprinkling both oil and salt upon my head, " Cried, ' Hail Chaldrea's Queen! Hail Nitocris! 1 " Then on the altar cast them, fiercely rolled " The augmented flames a noise like hosts which fled BOOK V. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 171 " Shook wall and roof mine eyes were fixed on her " ' Follow thou me,' she cried c swift, swift, away ! " ' Morn glows in Heaven be ever blessed the day ! " ' Assyrians gods are gone ! they flee from Nineveh.' " THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK VI. THE IMPIOUS FEAST, BOOK VI. WHAT can avail Earth's chill solemnities To those for whom her bosom is a grave Her last best gift some dust where grief may sleep ? Wealth, grandeur, empire, praise to him that dies ? These might be worth man's wishes, if to have Were to possess for ever ; or the deep, In which lie wrecked his thoughts and vanities, Would yield them back hereafter ; but to weep The things he cannot gain, or could not keep If they were his to covet, gather, save, 176 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK VI. And vex his soul in following that which flies, Or he soon must fly from thus to reap With those that sow the wind, nay more, to waive For such, his claim on lifers realities, And all which God hath promised ! Fool confest ! Pomp shall attend upon thee like the plume They bear before our coffins : it can last No longer thine than while the mourners rest, As Earth is given to Earth, around thy tomb, And then becomes another's thou dost cast Thy soul away ! Thus wisdom daily cries From street to street, and twice ten centuries Hath daily cried the present and the past Hear, and have heard, believing Nature's voice, All that we know, acknowledge, feel replies, Attesting this. O ! who with such a choice Would doubt, or not distrusting, take the worse ? Alas ! the young, the old, the great, the wise, The wise in secular wisdom such as shine High midst their generation, and are stars BOOK VI. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 177 Ambition steers by these prefer a curse, Confessing that it is one, and repine Alike be it gained or lost. The hero's wars, The usurper's tyranny, the statesman's toils, Are all that glory may adorn his hearse, Or dreams of power his slumber avarice soils Our peace for less and even the poet's verse Gains, if so much, no more ! They too of tardier spirit, Will run, and swiftly, in a race like this, Though none may win. The Christian mother brings Her child to God kneels by that fountain's side Which cleanses guilt, and whence the else lost inherit, As heirs regenerate now their hopes of bliss ; Then names, and in its name, abjures the unhallowed things Of this vain world pomp, lucre, glory, pride, All covetous* desires all lusts and by That mournful symbol of our peace the sign Of wrath dispersed presents to Him who died 178 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK VI Both heart and soul so, as he died, to die ; And so to rise from sin. Next, line by line, Instructs Christ's lisping servant at her side ; Yea, ere its tender lip can modulate The vows then made whose glorious banners shine O'er Death whose child she is whose name to fear, Wherewith to be content, and what to hate. Good seed well sown yet tares for fruit appear ! A darker radiance trembles in her eye ; With softer grace expands the innocent breast Love's warmth is chastened by its purity. Alas ! the world contemned till known, is dear, So rules at last- drives out one dangerous guest, And fills his place with seven ! That guide is near ; But different precepts suit maturity : Her daily lesson now is how to prize Enough the chance of greatness how to reach Wealth, honour, power for these to pant, to sigh, Contend with nature, change, retract, disguise, And make the world renounced a Deity. BOOK VI. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 179 Its maxims are her proverbs she can teach Equivocation even with God debate A casuist skilled in fortune's mysteries Of lying thrift, herself expert in lies Commend the broad paved way and open gate ; And mock the vows she uttered on her knees : This world's disclaimer soon grows worldly wise, The titled Atheist takes her if he please, Or missing him, some fool nor rich nor great. What marvel then if that young heart rebel, Whose frailties make the burden of my tale ? Her's is no trivial change if grandeur raise Its mists before her, pity while she strays : Prophetic signs accomplished witchcraft's spell The words of truth of falsehood both prevail ! Be youth's first wanderings wheresoe'er forgot ; In age, and more than once, the wisest fell. Ye shadeless spirits ! ye souls without a blot ! Unsullied, unattempted, spare to rail ! For strength, since strong, be praise to Him that gave : 180 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK vi. Angels have disobeyed so guard you well ! Though crowns will never move you, and the spot Your thoughts can compass seem in Fortune's scale But dust compared with all she yet may have, The wise sometimes are weak man's might at best is frail ! Whatever was of old, before the blight Which came with time o'er all we wish or dare, Smothering our aspirations, till despair Hath poisoned enterprise when Nature's light Unsullied on Earth's elder children shone, Engendering high conceptions, projects rare If profitless, and suited to the might They felt gigantic labours marvels shown By remnants almost more than human, still : Whatever was designed as great or fair And then the power to perfect tasked the will Hath had its lessened image since ; a shade Reflected feebly from the depth which gapes Between this world and theirs. We too have laid EOOK vi. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 181 Our wide foundations, and have borrowed shapes From those they left us measuring to a span Towers, columns, temples ; yet the mightiest fade, A late and sickly offspring, ere the sires Are touched by age immortal but for man. Their dead surpass our living and their tomb Is larger than our Palace ! Freshly spires The Memphian obelisk o'er twice-founded Home, Two thousand winters younger. Adrian's mole Scarce less surpasses in its might and years The old and strong with us. Crop after crop Hath risen to perish bulk without the soul Which godlike genius breathes in all he rears, Quickening against corruption. Daily drop Our works to dust ; but still men toil amain, And wisely toil they, suiting what they do With what they are. We have our wonders too Moles, temples, ramparts ; art extends her chain O'er earth and sea, pierces the mountain through, Paves roads above the wave, and scoops again THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK VI. For this Chaldaean kings had also done Broad paths beneath. One mighty work alone Hath left no shadow on the earth : it stood, A solitary hill o^er wall and plain, Between those rival mansions where abode Apart the sovereign mother and the son. On either side were they Euphrates flowed Through marble banks before it. High in air The adulteress Nature crowned her spurious child With ever- verdant leaves and flowerets rare : A living garland on his brows she laid To bloom for years in lustre undefined ; With spring to bloom and change, but never fade A hill of caves which human hands had made A garden lifted from the earth a wild Where roes unscared might range the forest shade Half-way toward Heaven while deep in grots beneath Mirth beat, with rapid heel, the vaulted ground, And stretched its feasts till midnight; Love's warm breath BOOK vr THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 183 In eager whispers mingling with the sound Of choral voices tuned themselves to love : But neither mirth nor music reached above There room to build the bashful ring-dove found ; i The hind in silence pastured midst the grove. Powers boast, arts wonder, glory's resting-place ! If Egypt's pyramids were piled as one, They still were less in bulk, and short in height. First from the loaded earth a level base, Like theirs, uprose compact of ponderous stone, With granite steps around it. Square and straight That lofty platform stood, and every face East, West, North, South, was equal. Wide the plain, Sufficient to have borne a conqueror's state, With all his hosts pavilioned o'er its space, Sheltered from summer's heat, or winter's rain ; Ere roofs were curved above the darkened floor, A hundred broad-ribbed vaults, in height and span , . Each like that caverned pass which joins the shore Of Posilippo to Pozzuoli, 184 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK vi. Near Virgil's tomb as spacious, lofty, wide, And twice as long, the twilight grotto ran, Ranged equal with its fellows side by side Cool haunts where beauty heard or breathed the sigh Impervious shades at noon and hushed obscurity. Once more behold ! the enduring toil began, A second stage on this ! Vaults arched as high, In length and number equal ; but that here So vast the imperious builder's heart and plan Each front recedes a space from that below, Where gardens blooming in the light of even ; Trees, fountains, terrace-urns, and steps appear ; Midst granite sphinxes, oaks and cedars grow : Again, a leafy zone, a loftier tier Like this benched in less wide as nearer Heaven : Still height o'er height, and range o'er range uprear Their shortening lines, where cooler breezes blow ; A fourth, and yet a fifth the number ends with seven ! Millions of busy hands, well-practised art, The whole world's wealth, a will imperial, HOOK VI. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 185 Peace, with long leisure after conquest, all Conspired to build : but chance supplied a Dart, Here, as elsewhere, surpassing all. The soil Produced the architect its substance lending To take what form he pleased ; and one day's toil Kneading its fat viscidity to shape, Equalled a month's from granite quarries rending Rocks piece by piece, less durable beside Than clay kiln-burnt thus tempered. Fissures gape, Bituminous chasms and wells through all that plain Gurgling asphaltic cement : such a tide, Exhaustless still, prolific l^ature pours, Concocting there her pitchy slime in vain. Thence Babylon's surpassing greatness towers, Walls, arches, temples, palaces aloof From earth, though earth-created. Scrupulous pride With gold and marble crusts her works again, Covering unsightly strength, till floor and roof Reflect each other's lustre. That warm sky Corrupts not winter with its winds and rain 186 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK vi. Smites harmless on the casing porphyry, Imperishable, stainless, smooth. Even here Midst these huge vaults, if less adorned, the sight Finds nothing vile though coarser blocks appear Ill-squared and roughly chiseFd ; still on high Green tendrils creep along Telassar's stone, Fronting the grotto's face with foliage light, 'Twixt cave and cave tenacious. Tufts adhere Within, of mossy verdure, thickly sown On walls which art had fashioned for delight, Distilling coolness through their porous sides : Arches are ceiled with stalactites depending O'er shell-strewn pavements, such as Ocean hides In coral rocks scooped daily by its tides Beneath the roots of some far promontory, Or nymph-frequented isle. Though near its ending, Chalda?a's aged protectress ere the rest Of that which shook her hearer's heart was told Paused as from weariness, A noise supprest, BOOK VI. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 187 Light-trampling feet, and voices awe-controuPd, In busier reverence fluttered through her halls : From galleries flowered with many-coloured stone Inlaid, and ivory passages, its sound Uprose, but soon was hushed again : o'er walls Mosaic, strewed with gold, the red sun shone : Faint rainbows floating midst the fountain's spray, Dashed light beneath on tessellated ground ; A crimson radiance issued from the throne. At length she spake : " What else remains to say, " Hereafter may be told thee this is shown, " If words fulfilled attest the Prophetess " That I till now have turned some curse away " Which henceforth points toward thee and Babylon ; " Darts of innocuous hate for she can bless " Above such threatenings, and hath showered to-day " Woes on his head that harms thee. Weaker, less, " Vile even amongst the vile a robber's slave " Captive to him that made me such was I : " She brought and placed me where I am she gave 188 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK vi. " Earth's sceptre twice, with joint supremacy " And power through all its realms to slay or save, " Once singly uncontroul'd. " But let us rest : " Eve's cooler fragrance woos us hence ; its gale " More freshly breathes around us ; and the west, " Mingling all hues, with softer light illumes " City and plain, Bel's arrowy glare restraining : " Hid in some spicy brake, the nightingale " Her song, suspended since day's prime, resumes ; " Till sorrow seem love's natural voice complaining " Of Grief to Solitude." She said, and straight Both rose, together up that breezy height From terrace steps to terrace steps ascending, On silken couches lightly borne along By practised shoulders changed ere tired for more, And swift as scarcely conscious of their weight ; Though half in fear her raptured gaze extending, The virgin sees fair feast, or feasted throng, BOOK VT. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 189 Whose sandals beat upon the grottoes floor Quick, yet in measured cadence just and even, Ruled by sweet melody ; long lines of light Not needless though the sun is yet in Heaven Tables, and happy guests within. The song A moment hears she, and the harp. But chief Those pendent groves delighted her the shade Of loftiest palms, huge oaks, and fragrant limes, Each stately growth according to its leaf, Pine, cedar, cypress, ilex, all arrayed In ranks that mix not alien hues and climes, Though all are here. Fountains disperse their spray Midst dusky foliage showering : undismayed Since nothing fears which knows not injury Their burnished plumes the sportive fowl display, As if they brought a sunbeam from the sky, Fluttering where love may call from glade to glade, Or perch beside their nests, and end in song the day. Stage after stage ascend they : every knee Before them bows the path beneath is strown 190 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. KOOK vi. With vests and flowers yet all the slaves they see Are sparks of glory round Belshazzar's throne ! Among those many thousand guests, not one Is less than princely ; each in his degree Ascends the appropriate grade, by right his own Of merit or grace to lose is to be lost ; They seldom fall but once ! Upon that stair Which rises highest from Earth and Babylon Now standing on that height, she looks beneath : Thus he whose footsteps climb some mountain coast, Stops giddily aloft with pent in breath, To watch the bursting surf and foaming shore As if his heart's vibration might suffice Perchance to shake him headlong from his post He plants, with special heed, one foot before, Then leans the way he gazes not, and eyes, With all his weight thrown back, the precipice. So poised the maid her body against her fears For never till that day those feet had been BOOK VI. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 191 Above the Earth's dull level nor her ears From hill or airy crag had gathered sounds Sent up by man or nature. Towers were seen Between the branches of her native grove, But all remote and seldom from its bounds She strayed or wished to tarry. Behold, outspread, Coloured by eve, the firmament above ! Arched till Heaven's confine and the Earth's seemed one Unbroken, but that still its blasted head Ambition's old offence o'er all upraising, Far loftier laughed at rivalry : around The whole world's wealth summed up in Babylon, Even to its gates entire ! She would have found The trees about her dwelling-place, and gazing Have sent her sighs toward home but redly shone Day's parting radiance on a hundred more Groves, thickets, forests in that spacious bound, As large, a hundred larger. Roofs like gold, And lustrous domes above their summits blazing, 192 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK VI. Vast ill-distinguished piles remote, that bore Their shapeless bulk, through changes manifold Themselves unchanged, from Nimrod down to Bel. Such saw the maid o'er oaks perchance as old Fabrics of dubious use and history, Fane, palace, sepulchre, or citadel Midst endless ranks of rounded porphyry, Huge shafts prodigious then in girth and height, Now ill-believed if told. With heart elate Though doubly warned as holiest records tell Their second founder more august, in bliss If bliss there be to solitary state Godlike above his works, hence cried, ere fell The bestial change predicted " Is not this My home my kingdom's majesty the great The beautiful this Babylon ?" And well Were arrogant boasts the sinless right of man Well might such glorying fall from lips whose breath Could work so far creatively ! Beneath, OOK vr. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 193 Within the city's compass proudly ran Euphrates, first of streams, his fanes reflecting, A long day's journey banked by palaces. Streets throbbed throughout with pulse-like life, collect- ing* Dispersing, mingling, changing crowds impeded, And spacious as they were, too narrow for the press. The house-roofs glowed with crimson revellers, Some new device or scurril sport expecting While crowned buffoons their claims of conquest pleaded, Or mimic Cyrus mourned his own distress. Walls seem to live, the plethoric city stirs ' Suburban idols lead their worshippers A busy hour is this for idleness. From dreams of speechless wonder starts the Maid, Recalled by Nitocris. A gate of brass Behind her sees she guarded, and a wall Crowned with fair towers above, to keep the shade Untrespassed on that kingly mountain's head, Where only two with those they bring may pass : 194 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK VI. Just bound prescribed by sovereignty thence all Unsummoned must recede beside. Outspread, The royal ensigns glitter at the gate : Armed eunuchs watch before them : verdant grass, Lawns far retiring, dark and silent woods, How much unlike the world beheld so late ! Appear within dispersed or clustered trees, And hills, for hills stand here the spicy mounds Which skreen again those gardens, whence the breeze Steals fragrance, and autumnal rain in floods Swells to its brim the unsullied lake below. There drinks the stately hart, the chamois bounds, All harmless creatures range its solitudes And thence the terrace fountains largely flow, The grotto roofs are dewed, the palace halls Refreshed with sparkling coolness. Art presides Conspicuous o'er the mountain's caverned sides, With statues, terrace steps, and many a row Of palms or cedars arched above ; but here, Hidden on its spacious summit, changed and shy, BOOK VI. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 195 Averse from praise, she works as Nature guides ; Least happy if her cautious steps appear, Or name be heard like bashful Charity, The fame she earns, she yields ; the aid she lends, she hides. To pity some ascribe her labours love And beauty's tears who tell of times gone by So far, they scarce know when a Median Bride, Youthful and newly throned, that wept the grove, The stream, and valley near her native home One whom dread Nature nursed in infancy And never weaned though great, ill-satisfied, She loathed the eternal plain, and longed to roam Through wilder shades upon the mossy side Of mountain heights sequestered hence uprose From human hands, love wrought so mightily, Hills seated in mid-air, a forest in the sky. Thus some declare, and most incline to those : Others assert an earlier cause, and trace The first suggestion to repentant guilt 196 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK vi. Grieved memory fixed on pristine innocence : These mount above the date of human woes Ere man was cursed, and all his spotted race To be, through him. The pile, they say, was built A record of his happier state, and whence He fell transgressing image of the place That once stood near, now lost. Ailona, raising Delighted eyes, those woods and lawns surveyed : Next scaled their grassy mound like Eve still pure Far o'er the world, then new, in wonder gazing - Toward all Chaldaea's plains, her paler face, With lips apart yet voiceless, turned the Maid From this its Paradise both too secure, Though duly warned ! But different what they saw : Here were no dreadless herds in silence grazing At large ! unshepherded no vacant fields Untilled no pathless solitudes : with awe The Maid of Israel cast her dazzled sight On earth, sown thick for leagues with helms and shields, BOOK vi THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 197 Assembled nations, armies infinite, The city round her feet beyond a world at war. Vast scene almost too glorious for delight ! Even to the tents of Cyrus reached her eyes, Though far away where cleft Euphrates yields, And guards on either side, broad space between Numerous as those white clouds on vernal skies Crumbling the freckled blue ere winds arise, And strewing Heaven with flakes. The silent Queen Pondered what seemed like labour in despite, Or shame that lingers yet, though courage dies Envy against the conqueror's joy disdain Which stops to turn and threaten ere its flight. Intent she looked awhile, then spake : " The plain " They inoat in front with trenches deep and wide, " Coupling its streams. We thought the Median wise, " But thus past hope he toils through shame or pride Perhaps both for such near opposites may meet. " There let him dig or build till winter's rain, " Sweeping his earth-made bulwarks from his feet^ 198 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK VI. " In floods unite those parted streams again " A day too late his tents are fortified : " Such tardy prudence bears ill fruit." O thou ! Before so vigilant that dost debate Of others' wisdom ! snares thou canst not see, Or seeing regardest not, are round thee now Alas ! the wise, the aged, the just, the great ! In tears thy race began, in groans its end must be ! They turn, descending to the still lake's side, And sit where myrtle branches whiten where The mossy turf is starred with half-closed flowers, Though moist, not yet forsaken of the bee : Past sunset now his drowsy sounds abide A little longer in the twilight air Both violet tinged and scented : lightly showers The temperate Spring her pearls on grass and tree. To one who sits, half nature's wealth is new : Ailona marvels at the shapes below Like spirits of fire unquenched midst that pure tide, Armed in bright panoply of burnished scales, BOOK VI. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 199 Vermilion streaked and azure. Here her view She fixes dubious on the stately roe Carrying her crest erect through woods and vales Fawn, or familiar hart, with antlers wide And golden collar round a neck of snow. But when the gentle beast draws near them woe ! Woe ! when it rests its head upon her knee, Stretching at length before her ! Shall she hide With breath supprest het terrors from the foe Whose broad eye watches hers so fixedly ? A little higher behind, the laughing Queen Sees one small foot drawn in prepared to flee, And marks how pale her cheeks then what a glow Suffused by shame hath tinged their ivory, And spread its roses downward to the zone : Soon flowers are plucked for food, with joyful mien The adventurous hand extended. Nor alone Well pleased, the gracious mother bends her eye Benign, and prone to love : another face 200 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. HOOK VI. Looks down, though near, midst playful cares unseen, Changed from its pride through beauty's potency. And chastened by the rays of that young grace Which lives and dies with innocence. At last The Virgin turns, and o'er her on the green Behold ! a brow whose cloudier moods have cast Sorrow and fear where spreads the human race Shame, with perplexity but now serene, Eased of its frowns and diadem. Submiss Her eyes declined, and bosom beating fast Ailona kneels before him on the place ; While thus, uprising slow, aged Nitocris : " The Gods are watchful for my Son in this " Glory his own hand purchaseth of old, " Wealth, empire, majesty, next theirs in Heaven, " Were sovereign rights inherited but bliss " To whom they will they grant, from whom withhold ; " No human might can reach, nor keep when given." So she ; in mirth the sportive king replied : " But yet with threats they send it woe on woe ! BOOK vi. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 201 " Accursed be he that spurns." The Sorceress cried : " Woe to the imperious city^s haughtiness ! "If she shall weep woe to tongue of pride !" " Why threats to me and terrors ? am I their foe ? " What need of forced acceptance ? this is well, " They did not give that dark-faced Prophetess, " And leave no choice but wrath, or one like her. " There might have been indeed a task for Bel, " If she had come both Queen and Messenger ! - " But they who sent thee, Maid, must mean to bless : " Thou shalt be happier than they bid as high " As they themselves could place thee thou shalt have " From me unasked whatever they confer " Whatever they retain but immortality." So spake he, gazing on her face upraised With looks 'twixt love and wonder. Gladly smiled Those lips parental first then changed to grave, Rebuked his heedless pride in accents mild. " Be such as love and bless us, blessed and praised ! " This cannot burden thankfulness. For me THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK vi. " All that I have, or had, that Sorceress gave " Life, glory, empire what could I repay ? " Our solitary grandeur yields but sighs : " Too high from men for human converse we ! " But blessed is love with one so fair and wise ; " How fair thou seest how wise I found to-day " It costs small labour here to walk with destiny." Once more the joyful Monarch laughed and said : " O still revered ! directress of mine eyes ! " Meek herald of my better thoughts and now " Their just interpreter ! be Heaven obeyed ' " Which sends a Goddess on its embassies. " Sometimes perplexed but ever patient thou ! " Three days Belshazzar strives to please the Skies " The first is almost gone to-morrow brings, " Till eve, laborious sacrifices toils " In bloody gifts to weariness the last " We feast in glory, served by captive kings : " And Princes great as kings were once, ere past " The flood which gathered empires with their spoils BOOK VI. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 203 " In heaps for us, shall eat as well as I. " It is the last great day to Babylon ! " Then, since thyself hath willed it, at my side " In equal honour seated on her throne " Above the injurious thoughts of rivalry " She shall be worshipped both as Queen and Bride." Thus said, he turned away the Queens descended, For stars appeared though few, and feebly shone With horns acute Nighfs paler lamp above. By still augmenting crowds to Earth attended They went but never from that Virgin's breast Did hope, or dread, or regal pageant shake Thoughts of the ancient Sire, and lonely Grove Beneath whose shade had been her childhood's rest : She could divine his terrors for her sake, And knew how rash the impatience of his love. Such told she Nitocris, then kneeling spake : " Gracious beyond my thoughts in all thy ways " Add this in pity toward the old bestow " The time which yet remains on both two days ! 204 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK vi. " For such a change how brief !" " There needs not now " That tremulous voice,"" she said, " or suppliant knee " Beloved betrothed it is thy will and thou " Art great as I." Those sportive gallies flee With arms and lights around her on the tide, Troubling its torch-lit surface in their race Again, behind the whitened waters hiss, While drops like liquid silver fall beside, Shook from the oar to melt upon its face. There princely Mirria waits a matron she, Revered as wise, and loved of Nitocris In silent awe observant near the Bride : That laughing sisterhood, when noon was high, So pleased, so fond, officious, proud, and free, Sit at the Virgin's feet demurely shy, Even smiles perplex the bashful company. Lo ! prostrate thousands meet her on the shore : Streets where the Captive passed, a public show, Since morn, or trod in hopeless flight before, BOOK VI. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 205 Pursued by drunken cries through these they ride Each on her couch herself a deity ! The sacred cymbals clash, the torches glow, While sceptred heralds bid their slaves adore. That grove seems blessed, at length, or purified Tamed Superstition hides her scruples here ; Its blasted trees can harbour death no more Who dreads the shade where Love and Power reside ? The fear of kings hath chased all baser fear. She finds not whom she seeks to threat to pray In turn to be derided and reviled Since morn, alas ! till now, from street to street, That wretched Sire explores the public way Hath any seen Bel's priests, or met his Child ? Who shall regard his tears? who stop to guide his feet? If good men pause and pity few be they ! " So young, thus lost ! so innocent, beguiled ! " May God reward the heart which grieves for hers to- day r 206 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK vi. In unregarding ears he threats and calls, Till sight swims sickly round, and reels the knee Unnerved by grief: not choice, but providence, Conducts the unconscious Elder whence he came : He sees the crowded grove, the guarded walls, Arms at his gate, and lamps from every tree Bewildered doubts he if the giddy sense Discern aright what yet appears the same : Lo ! crimson garments trail along his halls By this he knows that sight is mockery : At length a voice is heard which cannot shame The breast, which presses his, Ailona's breast must be. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK VII. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK VII. THREE days, of old, endured the sacrifice, From year to year ; a mighty festival Observed since Belus reigned in blood and scorn, When every heart indulged its own device All foul like this, but this far worse than all : / Mad with her last night's triumphs, at its dawn The Sorceress clamoured for her guests and twice Earth, Hell, Air, Ocean, listened to the call The drunken harlot riots on her throne ; In flocks her lovers speed from earth and sky ; 210 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK VII. Chaldaea's idols feast with victory " Three days,"" she called aloud, and almost two are gone. Above this empire of our treacherous clay, Where man had all things subject once, and still Maintains by craft his old supremacy Usurping what he lost where'er he may : With hands that never rest sits One to weigh The time God gives his creatures as he will, Years, months, days, hours, or moments. Close beside To watch their uses while they pass away, And seal in each the sum of good or ill, With eyes that never sleep or close, abide Man's grieved accusers to futurity These meekly just their dreadful task fulfil, And these shall speak in truth of all that die. O that his sight could reach so far ! his pride At last discern ! his heart awake ! that awe Might melt in time his cold obduracy, When cities swoln with insolence, deride BOOK VTT. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. Whatever God delights in, and abhor The few that serve him undefiled that now These swarms which settle round the house of Bel These multitudes of multitudes which hide Court, area, steps, bridge, terrace, all below Thick as Egyptian locusts when they fell A plague to cover and consume ; but white, With sacrificial vestures beautified,* As Oreb's manna, or Bethulia's snow : Millions which breathe, think, reason, plan, confer ; Feel hope, love, pleasure, could they lift their sight So high, or hear time's pitying angel say : " This and another night for mirth but woe ! " Long warned in vain thou worse than Nineveh ! " Woe Tyranness ere the second morning's light ! " There yet is given for sport or prayer a day " To finish, to begin, or leave undone " Once more the sun will set on Babylon ; " Those heedless millions then must pass away ; * 2 Kings x. 22. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK vil. " ' Three days, 1 thine heralds cried, and almost two are gone !" "Why are her courts so silent? Why so calm That sea beneath of worshippers where each Gleams like a wave which ripples toward the beach, Lost and dissolved ere marked ? That human swarm, Why are its murmurings hushed so soon ? The breeze Is moving o'er their heads, the sun is setting, All eyes are raised, but still no human speech A million faces gaze one way toward Heaven ; Before Bel's tower are bent a million knees ; A million hearts with one great thought are beating High on the steps, the platforms, porticos, To every lesser God are victims given ; Dread Nature's emblems, types of winds and seas, Earth, and prolific fire whatever grows, Breathes, lives, or generates life in shapes obscene, Brought from their groves to shame the light of even, And compassed by their priests as deities ! Before the temple gate stand thickly these : BOOK VII. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. Chaldaea's mightier gods are dimly seen Far off, within for on their altars yet No fire is kindled, and the pillared maze Ill-lit by lamps that ever burn between Looks roofless, limitless, while day decays. Bel's sceptred image once in Dura set, The whole world's worship still, with regal mien Asserts his ancient sovereigntyof gold And towering o'er his moulten guests. Like pines In height they rise first Benoth, crowned as Queen, With crescent diadem Moloch next and near Adrammalech Salembas Nebo old And Syrian Nisroch, fettered midst their shrines, Ill-reconciled, and winged for flight. In many a fold Its scaly length the aspiring serpent twines : The ever-present dove seems brooding here Reptiles and fish Phoenician idols hold A hundred monstrous shapes, and all of lust or fear. But deeply breathe the listening worshippers : Belshazzar stands in darkness by his throne THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK vn. The subject kings below as shades appear; Crowds press on crowds, but not a whisper stirs ! Earth waits the signal of its God returning ; His steeds have passed the mountain tops, and none Who move upon its even face can see More than the fading traces of his wheels ; But some are in mid-air who watch them burning A moment yet a little moment he Extends his radiance to that height alone ; He sinks, he disappears, the trumpets peals Wind down from stage to stage the psaltery, Lute, sackbut, cornet, dulcimer, reply ; All kinds of music, soft or shrill, descending Awake the silent votary whence he kneels : And now the censers smoke the altars blaze The roof is starred with cressets like a sky With gifts the priests before their shrines are bending ; The brightened idols seem to smile and gaze : Ten thousand voices mix their melody ; Ten times ten thousand more reply again ; BOOK VII. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. Each swells the choir, for all are skilled in praise: Beyond the gates, the steps, the bridge extending, General as winds or seas ascends the strain. STROPHE. Already hast thou waved thine hand, O Bel ! Thy children hear thee, mighty Lord ! A guest He comes who rules their thankful tribes alone At his rebuke the rebel Median fell ! Dread effluence of thy majesty exprest, Belshazzar scatters lightnings like thine own : Earth's subject gods shall worship while we tell Thy wrath when envious kings assailed his throne Thy glory, ever blessing, ever blest ! ANTISTROPHE. The year is full the Serpent weds the Dove ! Tarry to-night with us, to-morrow rise In brighter radiance from the couch of love ; All human sighs are hushed but pleasure's sighs ! Who shall unbar thy gates, and strew the skies 216 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK vu. With earliest flowers before tliee ? Love, revealed At morn among the fading stars above, Ere yet thy steeds go forth, or twilight flies With tender footsteps from the dewy field, And silence follows startled from the grove. EPODE. The vallies when they wake, and while the breeze Sweeps with its fragrant wing night's mists away, Receive from thee their fruitfulness the trees Are crowned with beauty, and the waters move With warmth and life CHORUS. They tell thy rising they Behold thee, mightiest wisest holiest best ! Ascending in the noontide blaze of day Heaven's towers alone, or stooping toward thy rest, Lord of the air ! with crimson light array The fforffcous ykifs and mountains of the west. BOOK VII. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. STROPHE. The Priests of Benoth. O circled by the stars ! when tired and still All things beside seem slumbering even the gale Partakes with night in Nature's peacefulness ! Their distant voices sing of thee, O Queen ! Enthroned amidst their multitudes the vale Cooled by thy breath revives the lighted hill Or forest glade, and fragrant bank between, Through thee seems sanctified ! She comes to bless ! The Dove is hovering near at length our hymns prevail ! ANT I STROPHE. Older than ocean thou ! thy full front gazes From Heaven delighted on his depths serene ; Drawn by its smile of love, the giant raises Near as he may, thine image on his wave. Those tender horns their potent dews distil, Crescent or waning, o'er the herbage green Mysterious virtues strong, if good, to save If evil, dreadful in their kinds for ill. 218 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK VII, EPODE. The Priests of Adrammalech. We see thee in the tempest hear thee call When the earth rocks, Adrammalech ! that chain Which binds the frenzied air the struggling main Involving all things, and sustaining all, From star to star from depth to depth again Shakes stricken by thy might : and when thine eye Pierces the forest shade, or echoing hall, O ! who shall hide him from thy wrath ? His cry Is lost in thunders rolling o'er the slain, Or louder threatenings round the ordained to die ! STROPHE. The Priests of Moloch. O visible in death ! the mountain pine Shows with its blasted strength, thy passing by ; Our groves, O Moloch ! reddened with the stain Of infant blood and this before thy shrine : The Median heaps unburied on the plain May all avert thy steps thy couch is in the sky ! BOOK VII. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. 219 ANTISTROPHE. The Priests of Bel. These rule with pride unmerciful ! their fire Is not of Heaven, nor kindled from the well Whose streams are life, and whence the almighty Sire Primaeval, endless, uncreated Bel Filled all he made, and sanctified the whole ! Mild patrons of mankind ! ye radiant five That watch the earth by turns, and nightly roll Your westward wheels for ever Sheshach, thou The shepherd's hope, and greatest still in Hell, Relentless Nebo ! by his power ye live, CHORUS. He framed our breathing flesh, and reasoning soul ! He gave the stars their glory ! on the brow Of every god, through all their hosts, a crown In brightness less, in nature like his own ! So they their sacrificial feasts began With songs to Bel : but elsewhere wonder bred 220 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. HOOK VII. Divided thoughts and blank perplexity From house to house the breathless Elder ran, Distasteful counsel meeting. Wisdom's cry If heard, was ill-discerned, by louder dread Overborn he hastes and asks, but cannot stay That impious Sorceress haunts the grieved old man ! Already part is certain that she said : The larger half fulfilled within a day Shows that the rest is not far off. At length From One he looks for help to whom he gave Poor as he was what fortune could not give Nor time nor partial nature more than strength, Dominion, riches, honour though they wreathe Crowns of no fickle hues to grace our clay, But follow from the cradle to the grave True knowledge of his truth through whom we live, Whose word received is Life despised is Death And both for ever teaching where to pray ; In what to hope. Toward him who sowed aright, BOOK VII. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. So well was that good ground prepared the seed Brought fruits of thankfulness. By nature blind, The Spirit regenerate gloried in its light, Zealous to persevere untired : with speed Quickened of urgent love, he never looked behind. Wealth Astath had, yet valued not the smile Of power his princely equals homage praise Which lingering holds us last ; a proselyte And given to God : though foremost in the file Of peace or war, his wiser soul inclined Toward them whose strength was in their prayers the ways Of God their boast, their glory to beguile With patience grief. A separate people they, Like vessels set apart of costlier kind To keep some purer spirit unmixed till One, (As early as the stains which still defile, Man's hope foretold) should wash all guilt away, And plead accepted at his Father's throne. To him the Elder went : his child meanwhile THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK vn. Whose portion seemed the sum of evil or good, As hope or fear were strongest more than Queen, Or less and lower than misery yet has been Had found, at last, an hour for solitude ; Left by her virgin fellows and their guide, The first with hearts brimful. To learn, to teach, To press injunctions and retract, they speed Perplexed by preparations for the Bride, So numerous in so short a space, yet each Momentous too ithey promise at the gate Despatch, with shorter absence than they need, Let loose till eve. She paced the silent hall, Restless both when she rose, and where she sat ; Replaced her harp now first unmusical, Wishing for those again she wished away so late. At length she yields to that which conquers all Tumultuous thoughts and painful lassitude Subside in sleep while hope, remembrance, dread, Remitted for a time but not subdued, BOOK VII. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. Their transient flushes o'er her paleness shed. One hand with rosy palm sustains her head, Beneath its braids and glossy ringlets prest ; Earthward the other lapses. More than death By far- since terror cannot reach the dead Is sleep like this ? Death heedless to molest, Smites hard, then passes on he stuns and leaves But mocks us not he bears no festal wreath To hide the worms that round his temples creep : His claims are just he neither wrongs nor grieves, Nor can he come but once. The couch beneath Shakes with our panting heart and hard-drawn breath ; In dreams we die and live, rejoice and weep, Are wronged, despised, abandoned sometimes blest, This never long ! But death perchance is sleep And life deaths dream if so, tired maid lie still ! The shortest error then were least and best : Thy slumbers may be gone too soon ! They came Where nothing yet hath staid an hour if ill : This is thy native roof remorse or blame THE IMPIOUS FF.AST. KOOK VII. Abides not here, but o'er that stainless breast Like clouds which leave no trace and never rest Dark thoughts pass swiftly unapproved by will, Absolved from guilt, and far remote from shame. Sleep long deferred will come, at last, with pain : The anxious toil in sleep, the wretched mourn To every heart that grieves its pangs return ; Smiles fade before him tears begin again. In his stained glass seem all things changed but care : Bright glows, at first, the laughing image there And heightened in that mirror bliss descries Its wanton roses fresher than of yore Love sees and hears with more than ears or eyes The past gives back its captives to Despair They touch, converse, and gaze who yet must meet no more. But soon the sultry breath they breathe, the sighs Which transport heaves so fast, and pours so near, Dim those fair hues surpassing truth before New shapes, that still confess no change, arise ; BOOK VTI. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. Or else distort and foul the same appear. Mysterious Sleep ! where life resigns so much, Yet quickens what it keeps reduced, comprest, But not impaired and half its faculties, The safer half, employed in flattering such We best might spare ! A late and treacherous guest So visits he that Virgin now ! The sigh Which parts thus hardly from her stifled breast Betokens grief or pain : and lo ! a tear Escapes beneath its long-lashed lid overflowing Far as her parted lips the languid cheek, Still undispersed, a pearl on ivory. Nor wakes she yet ; the sounds which fill her ear Are changed at once by Sleep to help his lie That sportive train, with pleased impatience glowing, Each carrying gifts, and all on fire to speak A moment hushed attend the abortive cry, The choaking gasp suppressed of agony, 226 THE IMPIOUS FEAST. BOOK VII. The smothered plaint yet loud and louder growing, At last, the call for help, and waking shriek. " O Mirria ! this was more than sleep," she said ; " Cruel to stay so late ! 'twere better die " Than see such sights as those again ! The dead " I saw, each crowned and seated on his throne " Like kings indeed they looked, but yet in misery ." Then closely clasped the matron's neck, that pressing A bosom uninflamed, unterrified, She might assuage the anguish of her own. As mothers soothe with gentlest words alone At first, if grief befall their young, caressing, Till louder sobs are hushed, and fears subside, Yet will be heard in turn whene'er they may : So Mirria gave that trembler leave to groan, And closely held her speechless where she lay Then mixed rebuke provoking strength through pride Gazed in her face to smile its tears away, Replaced her on the couch, and straight replied : BOOK VII. THE IMPIOUS FEAST. " O Queen, look up ! can dreams afflict thee thus ? " Left safe at eve, with arms before her gate, " Shall less than shadows scare Belshazzar's Bride ? " The dead, though crowned as kings, have fled from us " We came not empty back, nor tarried late." She spake, and next the Maid : " If this were sleep, " Do Thou instruct who speakest in dreams ! for good " Art Thou ! what truths they token to me keep " My thoughts, thus warned, from sin with patience wait " Till I can learn Thy will ! Such sleep as this " Comes not to bring us rest. In dreams I stood " Since I did dream upon that garden's height " Whose mossy glades flower-strewn, and pathways steep, " Were trod indeed last night with Nitocris. " The solitary spirit felt its bliss " At leisure thus a second time to gaze : " On high the Sun shone opposite, but red, " Reduced in size, despoiled of all its rays, THE IMPIOUS FEAST. HOOK vil. " With light diminished more than half. The Plain, " The City, and the River round me spread " Seen dimly through that thick and dusky haze : " A sound uprose behind me, such as rain " Rustling midst gusts of wind ; I turned my head, " And on the point next Heaven, with shoulders plumed, " Above me where I stood, had one alighted " Whose starry brow, irradiate by the blaze " Of beams which dazzled not, shone self-illumed, " And brighter than the Sun thus veiled. Serene " But sorrowful, it seemed I saw delighted, " For fear had not come yet. A summer cloud, " Crossed by the rainbow ere its colours fade, " Appeared his wings outstretched : the pine-tree green " With tenderer verdure freshened in their shade " If shade and from the gusty impulse bowed " Its summit, while they closed " Nor pine nor palm