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ON FIRE.
“The furnace is kindling,” Mohammed said,
As he stood on El Honein's height—
Through the black defile began to spread
Clink and glimmer, angry and red,
Of the fiery spears in fight.
As he stood on El Honein's height—
Through the black defile began to spread
Clink and glimmer, angry and red,
Of the fiery spears in fight.
Our spark is stricken!—how fast
The mighty furnace hath lit!
Or ever an hour be past,
'Twill roar, the terrible Blast,
Roar and seethe like the Pit!
The mighty furnace hath lit!
Or ever an hour be past,
'Twill roar, the terrible Blast,
Roar and seethe like the Pit!
Aye, many the day it hath
Stood, heaped with fuel o'ermuch—
Horrors piled for the flame's red path,
Wrath laid up for the Day of Wrath,
And Wrong, with its tinder touch.
Stood, heaped with fuel o'ermuch—
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Wrath laid up for the Day of Wrath,
And Wrong, with its tinder touch.
And, to-day, 'tis fairly ablaze—
Listen, ye that have laughed!
Hark, in stolid amaze,
'Mid the crackle of hate and craze,
To the low, dull roar of the draught!
Listen, ye that have laughed!
Hark, in stolid amaze,
'Mid the crackle of hate and craze,
To the low, dull roar of the draught!
It sparkles savage and dire!
The forky tongues flicker lithe—
How they grapple, faster and higher,
The greedy serpents of fire,
And the candent scales, how they writhe!
The forky tongues flicker lithe—
How they grapple, faster and higher,
The greedy serpents of fire,
And the candent scales, how they writhe!
The Furnace kindles! what hand shall tame
Its rage, till it roar at height?
Grant, O God, that from out the same,
The whirl and fury, the heat and shame—
Thy fierce Alembic of blood and flame—
A Nation's Soul come white.
Its rage, till it roar at height?
Grant, O God, that from out the same,
The whirl and fury, the heat and shame—
Thy fierce Alembic of blood and flame—
A Nation's Soul come white.
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