Here wait, in silence like the dead, Above them flaps his wing unheard! They come that plunge into the water Gives signal for the work of slaughter. them now Had point or prowess, prove Woe to the file that foremost wades! They come a falchion greets each brow, And, as they tumble, trunk on trunk, Still o'er their drowning bodies press But listless from each crimson hand The sword hangs, clogg'd with massacre. Never was horde of tyrants met T All up the dreary, long ravine, By the red, murky glimmer seen Of half-quench'd brands, that o'er the flood From the toss'd brands that round them fly, "Twixt flood and flame in shrieks expire; And some who, grasp'd by those that die, Sink woundless with them, smother'd o'er In their dead brethren's gushing gore! But vainly hundreds, thousands bleed, To this terrific spot they pour Till, bridg'd with Moslem bodies o'er, And o'er the dying and the dead, Tremendous causeway! on they pass. Is smoking in their vengeful eyes Whose swords how keen, how fierce they knew, Crush'd down by that vast multitude, Some found their graves where first they stood; By sudden swell of JORDAN's pride 2 Long battles with th' o'erwhelming tide, 2 "In this thicket upon the banks of the Jordan several sorts of wild beasts are wont to harbour themselves, whose being washed out of the covert by the overflowings of the river gave occasion to that allusion of Jeremiah, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan."- Maundrell's Aleppo. So fought he back with fierce delay, But whither now? their track is lost, Their prey escap'd 1 guide, torches gone — By torrent-beds and labyrinths crost, Vain wish They rush, more desperate as more wrong: Yet glittering up those gloomy heights, Are dash'd into the deep abyss ;- Of ravening vultures, while the dell Those sounds-the last, to vengeance dear, That e'er shall ring in HAFED's ear, Now reach'd him, as aloft, alone, And IRAN's self could claim no more. His heart's pure planet, shining yet When all life's other lights were set. And never to his mind before Her image such enchantment wore. It seem'd as if each thought that stain'd, And not one cloud of earth remain'd Between him and her glory cast; As if to charms, before so bright, New grace from other worlds was given, And his soul saw her by the light Now breaking o'er itself from heaven! |