 | Mina, a dramatic sketch : with Other Poems |  |
THE PROPHET'S MALISON.
The apostate king of Israel's holy land
Was revelling in Samaria's idol bowers,
And round him danced and sung a harlot band
To soothe remorseful sin's long lingering hours;—
The fair Zidonian wandered through the grove,
The heathen queen of lawless faith and love.
Was revelling in Samaria's idol bowers,
And round him danced and sung a harlot band
To soothe remorseful sin's long lingering hours;—
The fair Zidonian wandered through the grove,
The heathen queen of lawless faith and love.
There Ahab lay, with pomp pavilioned round,
Couches of gold and gorgeous canopies,
And wanton harps of most melodious sound,
And robes that wore the rainbow's mingled dies;—
There nothing lacked of his luxurious show
Save God's approval as he looked below.
Couches of gold and gorgeous canopies,
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And robes that wore the rainbow's mingled dies;—
There nothing lacked of his luxurious show
Save God's approval as he looked below.
There wreathing flowers hung breathing rich perfume,
And fragrant fruit of every form and name,
And radiant beauty in voluptuous bloom
To Ahab's bower, a willing victim, came;
Not unobserved by Zidon's daughter, who
Plunged him in crime and gloried in the view.
And fragrant fruit of every form and name,
And radiant beauty in voluptuous bloom
To Ahab's bower, a willing victim, came;
Not unobserved by Zidon's daughter, who
Plunged him in crime and gloried in the view.
Yet oft amid the music and the mirth
His dark brow quivered and his eye grew wild;
Forms passed before him not of mortal birth,
And gleamed along his brain, and darkly smiled
With that prophetic look which probes and sears
The heart, and in a moment does the work of years.
His dark brow quivered and his eye grew wild;
Forms passed before him not of mortal birth,
And gleamed along his brain, and darkly smiled
With that prophetic look which probes and sears
The heart, and in a moment does the work of years.
Beneath the glory of his gorgeous show
A viper preyed upon his heart, and none,
Save his false queen, could soothe the awful wo
Of him who groaned—a slave upon a throne!
She o'er him held the power of crime and he
Bowed shuddering to her bloody sovereignty.
A viper preyed upon his heart, and none,
Save his false queen, could soothe the awful wo
Of him who groaned—a slave upon a throne!
She o'er him held the power of crime and he
Bowed shuddering to her bloody sovereignty.
Israel's grey fathers by the wayside stood
Communing mournfully on other days,
And oft they saw the awful sign of blood
Shoot o'er the wrathful sky its fiery rays;
And then they looked toward the groves of Baal
And shrieked to see the warning portent fail.
Communing mournfully on other days,
And oft they saw the awful sign of blood
Shoot o'er the wrathful sky its fiery rays;
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And shrieked to see the warning portent fail.
But save to eyes of faith no sign appeared,
And Ahab revelled on in deadlier guilt,
Nor Syrian king nor slaughtering angel feared;
And by his side she lay whose hand had spilt
The blood of God's high prophets and profaned
The temple where His visible presence reigned.
And Ahab revelled on in deadlier guilt,
Nor Syrian king nor slaughtering angel feared;
And by his side she lay whose hand had spilt
The blood of God's high prophets and profaned
The temple where His visible presence reigned.
And each had sinned till heaven could bear no more,
And mid their wildest riot, most profane,
A tall, majestic shadow stood before
Their blasted eyes—now downcast all in vain;
The sable garb—the hoary beard—the tread,
Solemn as death, shook Ahab's soul with dread.
And mid their wildest riot, most profane,
A tall, majestic shadow stood before
Their blasted eyes—now downcast all in vain;
The sable garb—the hoary beard—the tread,
Solemn as death, shook Ahab's soul with dread.
For well he knew the prophet of the Lord,
And awfully he feared to meet him there,
Amid those idol groves and bowers abhorred;
And his heart quailed in horror and despair
When with uplifted eyes and hands outspread,
The Seer of God his awful message said:—
And awfully he feared to meet him there,
Amid those idol groves and bowers abhorred;
And his heart quailed in horror and despair
When with uplifted eyes and hands outspread,
The Seer of God his awful message said:—
“Hear, rebel king! and thou, false heathen, hear!
Thus saith the Lord and thus it shall be done;
Oft o'er this land shall pass the death-winged year
Beneath the scorchings of the cloudless sun;
Nor rain, nor dew, nor vapour shall assuage
The burning heat in its wide-wasting rage.
Thus saith the Lord and thus it shall be done;
Oft o'er this land shall pass the death-winged year
Beneath the scorchings of the cloudless sun;
Nor rain, nor dew, nor vapour shall assuage
The burning heat in its wide-wasting rage.
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“All streams shall vanish and all fountains dry,
And still the mighty sun shall burn and burn,
Till stiffening lips can frame no dying cry—
Till withered hearts to cracking masses turn—
And chords and sinews cleave unto the bone,
And the flesh shrink and harden into stone.
And still the mighty sun shall burn and burn,
Till stiffening lips can frame no dying cry—
Till withered hearts to cracking masses turn—
And chords and sinews cleave unto the bone,
And the flesh shrink and harden into stone.
“Groves, gardens, vineyards—all green things shall fail,
And desolation reign o'er all the land;
Proud men—fair women, choaking, ghastly pale,
In vain shall struggle with impotent hand
To end their agonies;—all earth shall lie
Blackening in barrenness 'neath a burning sky.
And desolation reign o'er all the land;
Proud men—fair women, choaking, ghastly pale,
In vain shall struggle with impotent hand
To end their agonies;—all earth shall lie
Blackening in barrenness 'neath a burning sky.
“The lips shall feel no moisture in the breath—
E'en on the corse the famished worm shall die,
And death go slaughtering o'er the wreck of death,
Amid the still, unutterable agony;
The babe shall die—to the hot bosom pressed—
Pressing its withered lips unto its mother's breast.
E'en on the corse the famished worm shall die,
And death go slaughtering o'er the wreck of death,
Amid the still, unutterable agony;
The babe shall die—to the hot bosom pressed—
Pressing its withered lips unto its mother's breast.
“The prince and beggar, and the lord and slave,
Shall writhe and agonize and gasp for breath
And perish side by side—and one wide grave,
The lake's exhausted gurge, shall hold them; Death
Shall ride victorious, mid low girgling moans,
To slaughter o'er a nation's skeletons.
Shall writhe and agonize and gasp for breath
And perish side by side—and one wide grave,
The lake's exhausted gurge, shall hold them; Death
Shall ride victorious, mid low girgling moans,
To slaughter o'er a nation's skeletons.
“Amid the thick, intolerable glare
A dull, dead sound shall murmur evermore,
And flocks and herds pant in the sweltering air
And lie down in the channel that before
Held many waters, and devour the sand
That yet is moist. And Israel's sons shall stand
A dull, dead sound shall murmur evermore,
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And lie down in the channel that before
Held many waters, and devour the sand
That yet is moist. And Israel's sons shall stand
“Gazing until their eyes weep blood upon
Creation's fiery furnace to behold
The beauty of a cloud—there shall be none!
No more the shepherd need to watch his fold,
No more the vintager his vines—no more
The merchant hail his vessel from the shore.
Creation's fiery furnace to behold
The beauty of a cloud—there shall be none!
No more the shepherd need to watch his fold,
No more the vintager his vines—no more
The merchant hail his vessel from the shore.
“Yon holy mountains from their cloudy height
Shall waft no breezes to the burning vale,
But savage beasts shall yell in wild affright
From rock and cave till sense and motion fail,
And the black leafless forests mourn and sigh
Between the dying earth and all-destroying sky.
Shall waft no breezes to the burning vale,
But savage beasts shall yell in wild affright
From rock and cave till sense and motion fail,
And the black leafless forests mourn and sigh
Between the dying earth and all-destroying sky.
“Then thou, proud king! e'en in this idol grove
Amid thy host of deities shalt feel
The wrath of an offended God, and prove
His penal might; here thou wilt pray and kneel
E'en in the house of Baal—his house of crime—
And weary heaven for mercy in that time.
Amid thy host of deities shalt feel
The wrath of an offended God, and prove
His penal might; here thou wilt pray and kneel
E'en in the house of Baal—his house of crime—
And weary heaven for mercy in that time.
“But vainly shalt thou ask it—all as vain
As God did long beseech thee to return
And live—thou would'st not hearken then—again
Thou shalt not hear his voice! o'er thee shall burn,
And thy idolaters, his fiercest ire
Till Israel's sins are purified by fire.
As God did long beseech thee to return
And live—thou would'st not hearken then—again
Thou shalt not hear his voice! o'er thee shall burn,
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Till Israel's sins are purified by fire.
“All earth shall blacken in a sea of flame
Till years have rolled their desolating way—
Till God restores the glory of the name
That Israel bore beneath his holy sway;
Thus saith the Lord! Prepare to meet thy doom!
For vengeance o'er the idolatrous land will come!”
Till years have rolled their desolating way—
Till God restores the glory of the name
That Israel bore beneath his holy sway;
Thus saith the Lord! Prepare to meet thy doom!
For vengeance o'er the idolatrous land will come!”
The prophet vanished from the monarch's eye,
Who stood there, chained by agonizing fear;
His dark form towering on the crimson sky—
His voice still ringing in the false king's ear.
In waves of purple flame sunk the hot sun—
The years of wrath and terror have begun.
Who stood there, chained by agonizing fear;
His dark form towering on the crimson sky—
His voice still ringing in the false king's ear.
In waves of purple flame sunk the hot sun—
The years of wrath and terror have begun.
| Mina, a dramatic sketch : with Other Poems | |