VISION OF BELSHAZZAR. I. THE King was on his throne, In Judah deemed divine The godless Heathen's wine. II. In that same hour and hall, And wrote as if on sand: The fingers of a man; A solitary hand Along the letters ran, And traced them like a wand. III. The monarch saw, and shook, And bade no more rejoice; All bloodless waxed his look, And tremulous his voice. "Let the men of lore appear, "The wisest of the earth, "And exhound the words of fear, “Which mar our royal mirth.” IV. Chaldea's seers are good, But here they have no skill; And the unknown letters stood Untold and awful still. And Babel's men of age Are wise and deep in lore; But now they were not sage, but knew no more. They saw V. A captive in the land, A stranger and a youth, IIe heard the king's command, The lamps around were bright, VI. "Belshazzar's grave is made," "His kingdom passed away, "He in the balance weighed, "Is light and worthless clay.' "The shroud, his robe of state, "His canopy, the stone; "The Mede is at his gate! "The Persian on his throne!" SUN OF THE SLEEPLESS! SUN OF THE SLEEPLESS! melancholy star! rays; A night-beam Sorrow watcheth to behold, Distinct, but distant clear-but, oh how cold! WERE MY BOSOM AS FALSE AS THOU DEEM'ST IT TO BE. I. WERE MY BOSOM AS FALSE AS THOU DEEM'ST IT TO BE, The curse which, thou say'st, is the crime of my race. II. If the bad never triumph, then God is with thee! If the slave only sin, thou art spotless and free! If the Exile on earth is an Outcast on high, Live on in thy faith, but in mine I will die. III. I have lost for that faith more than thou canst bestow, As the God who permits thee to prosper doth know; In his hand is my heart and my hope-and in thine The land and the life which for him I resign. |