SONG OF THE PRIESTS.

Where are the thousand-throned kings,
Beneath whose empires' spacious wings,
The wide earth lay in mute repose?
He rose-Chaldea's King arose !
And bow'd was every crowned head,
And every marshall'd army fled;
Before his footstool bow'd they down,
The all-conquering Lord of Babylon!

SONG OF THE SUPPLIANTS.
Where are the thousand-shrined Gods,
Within whose temples' proud abodes
The nations crowded to invoke ?
He woke, Chaldea's God awoke!
And mute was every sumptuous feast
And rite, and song, and victim ceased;
And every Fane was overthrown,
Before the God of Babylon!

PRIESTS.

Ammon's crested pride lay low,
And broke was Elam's horned bow;
Damascus heard the ponderous fall
Of old Benhadad's palace wall;
The ocean redden'd with the fire
From the rock-built strengths of Tyre.
False was fierce Philistia's trust,
Desert Moab mourns in dust.
Lo! in chains our Captains bring
Haughty Zion's eyeless King.
Kedar's tents are struck, her bands
Scatter'd o'er her burning sands,
And Egypt's Pharaoh quails before
The Assyrian Lion's conquering roar.

THE SUPPLIANTS.

From his high Philistine fane,
Sea-born Dagon fled amain;
Moloch, he whose valley stood
Deep with infants' blameless blood.
Chemos, struck with pale affright,
Left his foul unfinish'd rite.
Her waning moon Astartè veil'd,
When the Tyrian's sea-wall fail'd.
In vain Damascus' children meet
At lofty Rimmon's molten feet.

And vain were Judah's prayers to him,
Between the golden Cherubim;
In vain the Arab, in his flight,

Call'd on the glittering stars of night;
And vain Osiris' timbrels blew

Over Egypt's maddening crew.

KALASSAN.

Lord of the world, and of the eternal city,
That wear'st Chaldea's regal diadem
Wreath'd with Assyria's, wherefore art thou here
Before the Temple of all-powerful Bel?

BELSHAZZAR.

Chief of the Seventy chosen Priests, that serve
Within the Temple of our God, thou know'st
That the rebellious Mede, confederate
With Ashkenaz and Elam, and the might
Of Persia, hath begirt with insolent siege
Our city walls, and I would know what swift
And terrible vengeance is ordain'd on high
For the revolted from Chaldea's sway?

KALASSAN.

Live thou, O King, for ever! We are holding
This day our solemn rite. Our Priests and Seers
Each at his office stands throughout the Temple;
And all our eight ascending towers that rise,
Each above each, in heavenward range, are throng'd
With those that strike the cymbal, and with voice
And mystic music summon down the Gods
To give us answer.

BELSHAZZAR.

Priests of Bel, and thou
High mitred Chief, Kalassan! Lo, I bring
Gifts worthy of the Gods and of Belshazzar:
All that the world in its vast homage casts
Before our royal feet; the gold that flows
In the red waters of the farthest East;
The fragrant balm that weeps from glittering trees;
The ivory, and the thin and snowy robes
Of Egypt; and the purple merchandise

Of Sidon; and the skins of beasts that far
In the dark forests fly the sight of man,
Yet not so far but that Assyria's servants
Track them, and rend away their bloody tribute;
And slaves of every hue, and every age,
From all the kingdoms of our rule.

KALASSAN.

Great King,

What answer wouldst thou, which such sumptuous offerings May not compel!

BELSHAZZAR.

Declare ye to our Gods,

Thus saith Belshazzar: wherefore am I call'd
The king of Babylon, the scepter'd heir
Of Nabonassar's (1) sway, if still my sight
Must be infested with rebellious arms
That hem my city round; and frantic cries
Of onset, and the braying din of battle
Disturb my sweet and wonted festal songs?

NITOCRIS.

In the God's name, and in mine own, I answer! When Nabonassar's heir shall take the sword Of Nabonassar in his valiant hand;

Queen of Assyria, Nabonassar's daughter!
Wife of my royal father, Merodach!

Greater than all, from whom myself was born!
The Gods that made thee mother of Belshazzar,
Have arm'd thee with a dangerous license. Thou,
Secure, mayst utter what from meaner lips
Had call'd upon the head the indignant sword
Of Justice. But to thee we deign reply.

Is 't not the charge of the great Gods t' uphold
The splendour of the world that doth them homage!
As soon would they permit the all-glorious Sun
To wither from their palace vault in heaven,
As this rich empire from the earth.

NITOCRIS.

And therefore Be as the Gods, Belshazzar, and stand forth To sweep away the desolating foe! As when the thunders scatter all abroad The lowering clouds at midnight, all the stars Look glittering through the bright pellucid sky, And in the glorious calm themselves have strew'd, Repose triumphant the great Gods.

BELSHAZZAR.

O queen!

The mother of Chaldea's royal lord
Ne'er ask'd in vain. Myself this day will mount
The car of battle, and along the walls
Display my terrors, for Assyria's hosts
To kindle into valour at my presence;
And the pale rebels from their distant camp,
Like hunters that have roused the sleeping lion,
Snatch up their toils and fly-

NITOCRIS.

Along the walls,

And not along the dusty battle plain?

Yet 't is enough-the fire but sleeps within thee.
And as the war-horse that hath sported long
On the green meads, beholds the flash of arms
Bright on the fountain where he bathes, and hears
The martial trumpet sounding, start erect
His kindling ears, his agitated mane
Trembles; already on his back he feels
The gorgeous trappings and the armed rider,

And treads the sward as though he trampled down
Whole hosts before him: thus Belshazzar's soul,
At sight of Babylon's exulting foes,

Shall waken to the warrior's noble wrath.

What then!-the Gods hold festival to-night!
And shall the courts of great Chaldea's palace
Be silent of the festal song? At eve
Our banquet shall begin; and dusky night,
Astonish'd at our splendour, think his reign
Usurp'd as by a brighter day. Kalassan!
Whence are those golden vessels richly carved
And bossy with enchased fruits and flowers;
Goblets, and lavers, and tall chandeliers,
That, like to blossoming almond trees, branch out
In knots of glittering silver?-meet were they
To minister at great Belshazzar's feast.

KALASSAN.

King of the Universe! those vessels stood
Erst in the Temple of the Hebrew's God;
But when Chaldea's arms laid waste the City,
And from their Temple, with destroying fire,
Scared the unresisting Deity, the spoils
Were seized, and consecrate to mightier Bel.

BELSHAZZAR.

Let them be borne to grace our feast! KALASSAN.

Most honour'd

Sovereign of all the streams that flow
From hills of everlasting snow,
Through vast Chaldea's fertile reign,
Down to the red and pearly (4) main;
And ere thy giant course is done,
Through all imperial Babylon;
By stately towers and palace fair,
And blooming gardens hung in air;
By every glowing brazen gate,
Rolling thy full exulting state.
Proud River! strew thy waves to rest,
And smooth to peace thy azure breast,
While slowly o'er thy willing tide,
Belshazzar's gilded galleys ride.
Hear, King of Floods! Euphrates, hear!
And pay the homage of thy fear.

CHORUS OF SUPPLIANTS.

Sovereign of all the lamps that shine
In yon empyreal arch divine,

That roll'st through half the fiery day.
O'er realms that own Chaldea's sway:

O'er thrones whose monarchs wear her yoke,
And cities by her conquests broke;
Thou Sun, whose morning splendours dwell
Upon the Temple towers of Bel,
The quiver of thy noontide rays
Exhaust in all their fiery blaze,
Upon the cloud-aspiring throne
Where rests the God of Babylon!
So shall the God in glory come
Down to his sumptuous earthly home.
Hear! Monarch of the Planets! hear-
And pause upon thy fleet career.

The Quarter of the Jewish Slaves. IMLAH, NAOMI, BENINA.

ΒΕΝΙΝΑ.

Father! dear Father! said'st thou that our feet Shall tread the glittering paths of Sion's hill; And that our lips shall breathe the fragrant airs That blow from dewy Hermon, and the fount Of Siloe flow in liquid music by us?

IMLAH.

Oh, daughter of captivity, and born
To eat the bitter bread of servitude,
Benina, child of sadness!-yet the dearer
Because thou art the joy of desolate hearts
That have no joy but thee!—what knowest thou
Of that fair city, where our Fathers dwelt
While unforsaken by their God?

BENINA.

My father!

Have I not seen my mother and thyself
Sit by the river side, and dwell for ever
On Salem's glories, and the Temple's pride,
Till tears have choked your sad though pleasant

speech?

In the deep midnight, when our lords are sleeping,
I've seen the Brethren from the willows take

Their wind-caressed harps, their half-breathed sounds
Scarce louder than the rippling river's dash
Around the matted sedge; and still they pour'd
Their voices down the stream, as though they wish'd
Their songs to pass away to other lands
Beyond the bounds of their captivity.
I've listen'd in an ecstasy of tears,
Till purer waters seem'd to wander near me,
And sweeter flowers to bloom beneath my feet,
And towers of fairer structure to arise
Under the moonlight; and I felt the joy
Of freedom in my light and sportive limbs.

IMLAH.

My sweetest child, and thou that gavest to me
This deatest treasure, Naomi, thyself,
Even as thou wert in virgin loveliness
My plighted bride, renew'd to tenderest youth!
I will not say I hope not (though my fears
And conscience of our ill desert reprove me)
That God even now prepares the promised hour,
When Israel shall shake off Assyria's chains,
And build long-wasted Sion's lovely walls.
The sands of the a,pointed years are run;

Till but lately he was girt
With sackcloth, with the meagre hue of fasting
On his sunk cheek, and ashes on his head;
When, lo! at once he shook from his grey locks
The attire of woe, and call'd for wine; and since
He hath gone stately through the wondering streets
With a sad scorn. Amid the heaven-piercing towers.
Through cool luxurious courts, and in the shade
Of summer trees that play o'er crystal fountains,
He walks, as though he trod o'er moss-grown ruins,
'Mid the deep desolation of a city

Already by the almighty wrath laid waste.
And sometimes doth he gaze upon the clouds,
As though he recognized the viewless forms
Of arm'd destroyers in the silent skies.
And it is said, that at the dead of night
He hath pour'd forth thy burden, Babylon,
And loud proclaim'd the bowing down of Bel,
The spoiling of the spoiler. Even our lords,
As conscious of God's glory gathering round him,
Look on him with a silent awe, nor dare
To check his motion, or reprove his speech.