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90
MACHŒRUS.
ENGLISH TRAVELLERS AT THE CASTLE OF MACHŒRUS, THE SCENE OF JOHN THE BAPTIST'S IMPRISONMENT.
I read how that dark prison they had foundBeneath the ruins of Machœrus grey,
Where John the Baptist languished many a day,
And his bowed head with martyrdom was crowned.
To those thrill'd travellers, methought, all round
That dungeon dim a glory seemed to play;
On every stone a tender radiance lay,
In vaulted roof, or walls, or pavèd ground.
For o'er that stonework favoured eyes had pored,
And honoured feet across that floor had trod;—
Eyes which had gazed with rapture on the Lord,
Feet which had gone before the Incarnate God;
And Earth's grand Fact more solid seemed and clear,
By means of that stone-vaulted dungeon drear.
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