 | The poetical works of William H. C. Hosmer |  |
114
ASDRUBAL'S WIFE.
[“The flames spreading rapidly, they continued to fly from one part of the building to another, till at length they got on the roof.
“Here Asdrubal's wife appeared, uttering the most bitter reproaches against her husband, exclaiming:—‘Inglorious wretch! what degrading actions hast thou perpetrated to preserve an existence so dishonorable!’ Having stabbed her two infants with a dagger, she precipitated them from the temple's top, and leaped after them into the flames.”]
Upon the temple-roof she stood,
Unbraided was her hair,
And loud shouts from the multitude
Rose wildly on the air.
Pale terror in her fragile frame
Awoke no icy thrill:
She stood, as if the leaping flame
Was subject to her will.
Unbraided was her hair,
And loud shouts from the multitude
Rose wildly on the air.
Pale terror in her fragile frame
Awoke no icy thrill:
She stood, as if the leaping flame
Was subject to her will.
Maternal love each sinew strung
With more than mortal power,
For two fair infants trembling clung
To her in that last hour.
Did not their father, in his gore,
With thousands sleep below,
While haughtily that mother bore
Vile tauntings of the foe?
With more than mortal power,
For two fair infants trembling clung
To her in that last hour.
Did not their father, in his gore,
With thousands sleep below,
While haughtily that mother bore
Vile tauntings of the foe?
No!—standing by the Roman chief,
While fiercely spread the fire,
He heard his children for relief
Call vainly on their sire.
The Pride of Carthage lay around,
Of unclean birds the food,
And purple was the groaning ground
Whereon he basely stood.
While fiercely spread the fire,
He heard his children for relief
Call vainly on their sire.
The Pride of Carthage lay around,
Of unclean birds the food,
And purple was the groaning ground
Whereon he basely stood.
115
His well-known form the dauntless wife
Saw dimly through the smoke,
And sending up no prayer for life
Indignantly thus spoke:—
“Thrice happy they who nobly die
Beneath the steel of foemen,
And scorn, at honor's price, to buy
Existence from the Roman!
Saw dimly through the smoke,
And sending up no prayer for life
Indignantly thus spoke:—
“Thrice happy they who nobly die
Beneath the steel of foemen,
And scorn, at honor's price, to buy
Existence from the Roman!
“Inhuman wretch! the blush of shame
May well suffuse thy cheek—
Faint are thine infants, and my name
Their lips refuse to speak.
A red sea rolls its burning surge
Their utterance to choke;
The roar of Ruin is their dirge,
Their winding-sheet the smoke.
May well suffuse thy cheek—
Faint are thine infants, and my name
Their lips refuse to speak.
A red sea rolls its burning surge
Their utterance to choke;
The roar of Ruin is their dirge,
Their winding-sheet the smoke.
“The savage vulture will not fly
From his affrighted mate
And ‘unshell'd brood’ when foes are nigh,
But stay and share their fate:
But man, to guard a worthless life,
The tie of nature breaketh—
To save his little ones and wife
Not one brave effort maketh.
From his affrighted mate
And ‘unshell'd brood’ when foes are nigh,
But stay and share their fate:
But man, to guard a worthless life,
The tie of nature breaketh—
To save his little ones and wife
Not one brave effort maketh.
“The deed is mine,—but oh, the guilt
On your black soul shall rest!”
She plunged a dagger to the hilt
Within each infant's breast;
Then wildly to the hungry flame
Their bleeding corpses flung—
One loud, appalling shriek went up,
And after them she sprung.
On your black soul shall rest!”
She plunged a dagger to the hilt
Within each infant's breast;
Then wildly to the hungry flame
Their bleeding corpses flung—
One loud, appalling shriek went up,
And after them she sprung.
| The poetical works of William H. C. Hosmer | |