The works of Lord Byron A new, revised and enlarged edition, with illustrations. Edited by Ernest Hartley Coleridge and R. E. Prothero |
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TO BELSHAZZAR. |
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 | The works of Lord Byron |  |
TO BELSHAZZAR.
1
Belshazzar! from the banquet turn,Nor in thy sensual fulness fall;
422
The graven words, the glowing wall,
Many a despot men miscall
Crowned and anointed from on high;
But thou, the weakest, worst of all—
Is it not written, thou must die?
2
Go! dash the roses from thy brow—Grey hairs but poorly wreathe with them;
Youth's garlands misbecome thee now,
More than thy very diadem,
Where thou hast tarnished every gem:—
Then throw the worthless bauble by,
Which, worn by thee, ev'n slaves contemn;
And learn like better men to die!
3
Oh! early in the balance weighed,And ever light of word and worth,
Whose soul expired ere youth decayed,
And left thee but a mass of earth.
423
But tears in Hope's averted eye
Lament that even thou hadst birth—
Unfit to govern, live, or die.
February 12, 1815.
| The works of Lord Byron | |