 | The Poetical Works of John Scott |  |
THE MEXICAN PROPHECY:
AN ODE.
DE SOLIS, in his History of the Conquest of Mexico, informs us, that, on the approach of Cortez to the neighbourhood of that city, the Emperor Motezuma sent a number of magicians to attempt the destruction of the Spanish army. As the sorcerers were practising their incantations, a dæmon appeared to them in the form of their idol Tlcatlepuca, and foretold the fall of the Mexican empire. On this legend is founded the following Poem. The conquest of Mexico was undertaken from motives of avarice, and accompanied with circumstances of cruelty; but it produced the subversion of a tyrannical government, and the abolition of a detestable religion of horrid rites and human sacrifices.
Left her treacherous legions slain,
Left her temples all in flame,
Cortes' conquering army came:
High on Chalco's stormy steep
Shone their phalanx broad and deep;
High the Hispanian banner rais'd,
Bore the Cross in gold emblaz'd .
Thick the gleaming spears appear'd,
Loud the neighing steeds were heard;
Flash'd the musquets lightnings round,
Roll'd their thunders o'er the ground,
Down to Tenustitan's waves ;—
Spacious lake, that far below
Bade its lucid level flow:
There the ever-sunny shore
Groves of palm and coco bore;
Maize-fields rich, savannas green,
Stretch'd around, with towns between.
Tacubà, Tezeùco fair,
Rear'd their shining roofs in air;
Mexico's imperial pride
Glitter'd 'midst the glassy tide,
Bright with gold, with silver bright,
Dazzling, charming all the sight .
From their post the war-worn band
Raptur'd view'd the happy land:
‘Mark the spot that gives us these!’
Shunn'd the smooth insidious road,
Shunn'd the rock's impending shade,
Shunn'd the expecting ambuscade .
Motezume's magicians stood:
Tlcàtlepùca's horrid form,
God of famine, plague, and storm,
High on magic stones they rais'd;
Magic fires before him blaz'd;
Round the lurid flames they drew,
Flames whence steams of sulphur flew;
Thus his aid they loud invok'd:
‘Prompt to punish, prompt to kill,
‘Motezuma asks thy aid!
‘Foreign foes his realms invade;
‘Vengeance on the strangers shed,
‘Mix them instant with the dead!
‘By thy temple's sable floor,
‘By thy altar stain'd with gore,
‘Stain'd with gore and strew'd with bones,
‘Echoing shrieks, and echoing groans!
‘Vengeance on the strangers shed,
‘Mix them instant with the dead!’
Swift their fauchions' blaze appear'd;
Alvarado rushing near,
Furious rais'd his glittering spear;
Calm he mark'd, and stepp'd between:
‘Vain their rites and vain their prayer,
‘Weak attempts beneath your care;
‘Warriors! let the wretches live!
‘Christians! pity, and forgive!’
Sudden darkness o'er them spread,
Glow'd the woods with dusky red;
Vast the Idol's stature grew,
Look'd his face of ghastly hue,
Frowning rage, and frowning hate,
Angry at his nation's fate;
Fierce his fiery eyes he roll'd,
Thus his tongue the future told;
Cortes' veterans paus'd to hear;
Wondering all, tho' void of fear:
‘Mourn, devoted city, mourn!
‘Scenes of battle, scenes of woe!
‘Who is he—O spare the sight!—
‘Rob'd in gold, with jewels bright?
‘Hark! he deigns the crowd to call;
‘Chiefs and warriors prostrate fall .
‘Reverence now to fury yields;
‘Strangers o'er him spread your shields!
‘Thick the darts, the arrows, fly;
‘Hapless Monarch! he must die!
‘Mark the solemn funeral state
‘Passing thro' the western gate!
‘Chàpultèqua's cave contains
‘Mighty Motezume's remains.
‘Myriads throng Otumba's plain;
‘All the strong and all the brave .
‘Gleaming glory thro' the skies,
‘See the Imperial standard flies!
‘Down by force resistless torn;
‘Off in haughty triumph borne.
‘Slaughter heaps the vale with dead,
‘Fugitives the mountains spread.
‘More of battle, more of woe!—
‘Bright in arms the stranger train
‘O'er thy causeways move again.
‘Bend the bow, the shaft prepare,
‘Join the breastplate's folds with care;
‘Bid the captive youths expire ;
‘Wake the sacred trumpet's breath,
‘Pouring anguish, pouring death ;
‘Troops from every street repair,
‘Close them in the fatal snare;
‘Valiant as they are, they fly,
‘Here they yield, and there they die.
‘Mexico at last must fall!
‘Lo! the dauntless band return,
‘Furious for the fight they burn!
‘Lo! auxiliar nations round,
‘Crowding o'er the darken'd ground!
‘Down thy temple's lofty steep
‘See thy priests, thy princes thrown—
‘Hark! I hear their parting groan!
‘Blood thy Lake with crimson dyes,
‘Flames from all thy domes arise!
‘Launch thy troubled waters o'er?
‘Swift canoes that from the fight
‘Aid their vanquish'd monarch's flight;
‘Ambush'd in the reedy shade,
‘Them the stranger barks invade;
‘Soon thy lord a captive bends,
‘Soon thy far-fam'd empire ends ;
‘Otomèca shares thy spoils,
‘Tlàscalà in triumph smiles .
‘Mourn, devoted city, mourn!
‘Conquerors of my fallen land!
‘Avarice strides your van before,
‘Phantom meagre, pale, and hoar!
‘Discord follows, breathing flame,
‘Still opposing claim to claim ;
‘Kindred Dæmons haste along!
‘Haste, avenge my country's wrong!’
Loud as tides that burst their bounds;
Roll'd the form in smoke away,
Amaz'd on earth th' exorcists lay;
Pondering on the dreadful lore,
Their course the Iberians downward bore;
Their helmets glittering o'er the vale,
And wide their ensigns fluttering in the gale.
Cholula was a large city, not far distant from Mexico. The inhabitants were in league with the Mexicans; and after professing friendship for the Spaniards, endeavoured to surprise and destroy them.
The Spanish historians assert, that the walls and houses of the Indian cities were composed of a peculiar kind of glittering stone or plaster, which at a distance resembled silver.
The Indians had blocked up the usual road to Mexico, and opened another broader, and smooth at the entrance, but which led among rocks and precipices, where they had placed parties in ambush. Cortes discovered the stratagem, and ordered his troops to remove the obstructions. Being asked by the Mexican ambassadors the reason of this procedure, he replied, that the Spaniards always chose to encounter difficulties.
Bartholeme de Olmedo, chaplain to Cortes: he seems to have been a man of enlarged ideas, much prudence, moderation, and humanity.
Motezuma, who was resident in the Spanish quarters when they were attacked by the Mexicans, proposed shewing himself to the people, in order to appease the tumult. At his first appearance, he was regarded with veneration, which was soon exchanged for rage, to the effects whereof he fell a victim.
Cortes, in his retreat from Mexico, after the death of Motezuma, was followed and surrounded by the whole collective force of the empire, in the plains of Otumba. After repelling the attacks of his enemies, on every side, with indefatigable valour, he found himself overpowered by numbers; when, making one desperate effort, with a few select friends, he seized the imperial standard, killed the general, and routed the army.
De Solis relates, that the Mexicans sacrificed to their idols a number of Spaniards, whom they had taken prisoners, and whose cries and groans were distinctly heard in the Spanish camp, exciting sentiments of horror and revenge in their surviving companions.
The above author observes, that the Sacred Trumpet of the Mexicans was so called, because it was not permitted to any but the priests to sound it; and that only when they denounced war, and animated the people on the part of their gods.
When the Spaniards had forced their way to the centre of Mexico, Guatimozin, the reigning emperor, endeavoured to escape in his canoes across the Lake; but was pursued and taken prisoner by Garcia de Holguin, captain of one of the Spanish brigantines.
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