University of Virginia Library

And now once more, the spacious empire round,
War's fearful clarion ceas'd its shrilling sound;
Her voice harmonious, on subsiding gales,
Sweet peace resounded through the gladdening vales:
When lo, new fears the faithful friends await,
And other trials lour'd approaching fate.
Long through the monarch's soul the project ran,
(Grateful to proud and heaven-dethroning man)
To bind the soul, the conscience to enchain,
And force one worship through his wide domain.
Fir'd with the fond design, an image fair,
Rich with pure gold, and gem'd with many a star.
He form'd, fair image of the morning sun,
Acknowledg'd guardian of th'Assyrian throne.
To this, his soul decreed mankind should bow,
Each victim burn, and rise each sacred vow,
And bade his mighty lords direct their way
To meet their sovereign, on th'appointed day.
North of proud Babel's walls, from sky to sky,
The plain of Dura left the labouring eye:
There willows wav'd o'er Tygris flowery side:
There broad Euphrates roll'd his mighty tide.
This the dread scene the monarch's will ordain'd;
And hither throng'd the lords of many a land.
As now the destin'd morn her lustre shed,
Here o'er the fields a host immensely spread;
Kings, nobles, chieftains, every sage and seer,
And hosts of slaves, and warriors gather'd here.

Bright rose, in pomp divine, the imperial sun;
Light, life, and joy danc'd round his golden throne;
The heavens unclouded smil'd a fairer blue;
Reviving beauty cloath'd the world anew;
As on old ocean glows the sun's broad ray,
And lights his glassy fields with mimic day;
So, kindled by his beams, around the plain,
A new morn trembled o'er the unnumber'd train;
From helms, and shields, and steeds, and cars, aspires
A general glory of immingling fires:
The Tygris brighten'd in the golden beam,
And sweeter murmurs soften'd o'er the stream.
On a tall pedestal, before them shone
The sacred image of the rising sun;
In solemn pomp, a hero rose sublime,
His eye deep piercing through the scenes of time.
When first the orb, ascending from the main,
Cast his far level'd beams along the plain,
The form superb with every splendor shone,
Streak'd the gay fields, and seem'd another sun.
There the deep ruby pour'd a crimson ray;
The sunny topaz shed a rival day:
Of every hue the mimic rainbow came,
And join'd its varied lights in one transcendant flame.
Far round the plain the throng unnumber'd stood,
And gaz'd in silence on the imag'd god,
When thus the heralds cried, “With reverent ear
Your Monarch's voice, ye kings and nations, hear,
What time the notes of mingled music roll,
With magic influence on th'enraptur'd soul,
Before yon golden form, ye suppliants all
Prostrate on earth, with sacred homage, fall.

They spoke: as, borne thro' some far winding vale,
The voice of ocean leads the springing gale;
More loud, more solemn from the distant shore,
The slow, deep murmurs rise, and swell, and roar;
Propp'd on his staff, the hoary seaman stands,
And calls back happier times, and other lands;
Through his limbs thrills the youth-renewing charm,
And skies, and winds, and waves, his bosom warm:
So sudden, from ten thousand pipes and strings,
Loud, full and clear, the voice of music springs:
O'er the glad plain, the breathing sounds exhale,
And swell, and wanton in the rising gale;
Now deep, majestic in dread pomp they roll;
Now softly languish on the yeilding soul;
Now solemn awe, now lively zeal inspire,
Wake heavenly dreams, and light romantic fire:
Now sunk on earth, the unnumber'd suppliants lie,
And smoking altars cloud the fragrant sky.

'Mid the vast throng, the friends of Daniel stood,
Nor bent the knee before the golden god.
Alone they stood; for at the palace gate,
So the king bade, in judgement Daniel sate,
The Magi saw, and straight, by envy led,
Flew to the king, and thus impatient said—
(For tho' the youths preserv'd from death their race,
Their bosoms sicken'd at their rival's place)
O prince! regardless of thy dread decree,
The Jews, so honor'd, lov'd and bless'd by thee,
Before yon golden God refuse to bow,
Present the prayer, or pay the solemn vow.
They slight thy gods, despise thy glorious name,
Nor heed the vengeance of the fearful flame.

Fir'd at the tale, before their sovereign king
He bade fierce guards the sons of Judah bring.
Serene they came. And dare your hearts, he cries,
Against the terrors of my anger rise?
Dare ye refuse before yon god to bow,
Present the prayer, and pay the solemn vow?
Then know from me, vain youths, repenting know,
Before you flames of fearful vengeance glow.
Nor hope to 'scape. What man, what god can save,
When I command you to the burning grave?
Be warn'd; be wise, your monarch's god adore;
Nor tempt the dangers of resistless power.

He spoke. As cherubs, dress'd in robes of light,
To earth, on heaven's high errands, wing their flight,
With solemn, sweet, complacent smile appear,
And blossom in immortal beauty here:
So, rosy splendor purpling o'er his face,
With meekly dignity and matchless grace,
Whilst on the king he cast a heavenly look,
That half revers'd the sentence ere he spoke.
His lifted eye serene with solemn pride,
With gentle voice, the elder youth replied,
Well pleas'd, O prince! our hearts confess thy sway,
And all thy just commands with joy obey;
Faithful and patient, every toil sustain,
Unaw'd by danger, and unmov'd by pain.
But the great God who form'd the earth and seas,
First claims our homage, first demands our praise:
To him alone our knees in worship bend;
To him our praises and our prayers ascend;
His mighty arm his faithful sons shall save
From all the terrors of the burning grave;
Or bid the flames with harmless fury glow;
Or crown with endless bliss the transient woe.
But know, Assyrian prince! should ills most dire
Rend our rack'd hearts, and bid our lives expire;
Should virtue yeild to unrelenting power,
And heaven forsake us in the dreadful hour;
Still to his throne our sacred thoughts shall rise,
Nor heed the gods that dwell beneath the skies.

He spoke: Again, with ecstasies of ire,
The king's full visage flash'd infernal fire;
Fiercely he bade his guards the offenders bind,
And bear them forth, their feet and arms confin'd,
Through the wide host their guilt and fate proclaim,
And light the furnace with a seven-fold flame.

The guards obey'd. As near the seat of woe,
Their eyes beheld the fearful vengeance glow,
They claim'd, with fervent prayers, the pitying sky,
And fix'd their souls to suffer and to die.
Serene, they saw the dark and dreadful fires,
Felt the fierce heat, and ey'd the gloomy spires;
Serene, they heard the long, deep murmurs roar,
As distant, rising whirlwinds rend the shore.

Forth to the flames the unfriended youths they cast;
Nor 'scap'd the eager guards the scorching blast:
Far round them shot a long, infolding spire,
And wrap'd them helpless in the mantling fire.

Mean time the king, the storm of vengeance o'er,
His wrath provok'd, his will oppos'd no more,
Felt other thoughts, and passions more refin'd
Compose the settling tumult of his mind.
Softening, he thought on all their conduct past,
Their virtue spotless, and their wisdom vast,
The wondrous dream, to them, with Daniel, given,
And all their pillar'd confidence in heaven.
His will they brav'd, of pains nor death afraid;
But still with mildest meekness disobey'd;
With such firm truth, such peaceful words denied,
As spoke the soul of virtue, not of pride.
Who knows, he whisper'd, but their well taught mind,
Serves nobler gods, with worship more refin'd?
Who knows but he who could the dream restore,
May save his favourites from the furnace' power?

As thus he spoke, with wand'ring course and slow,
He turn'd his footsteps towards the seat of woe:
'Till, with unguided, heedless feet he came
Where full before him burn'd the dismal flame.
When lo, dread scenes amaz'd his wilder'd sight:
The youths walk'd peaceful through the horrid light:
Harmless around them climb'd the circling spires,
And mild as zephyrs play'd the lambent fires.
Hymns of sweet praise the adoring prophets sung,
And mid hoarse murmurs raptur'd warblings rung.

He gaz'd: at once, with light and beauty new,
Through the dread cavern sudden splendor flew;
A new dawn brighten'd o'er the dreary tomb,
Drown'd the dark flames and quench'd the sullen gloom.
So when the morn's bright face, in fair attire,
Through orient windows strikes the wintry fire,
The red flames wither in the etherial ray,
And all their earthly lustre dies away.

He gaz'd; when lo! a form of bodied light,
Sprung from the sun and like the parent bright,
In slow and stately grandeur, trod the scene,
And the dread cavern smil'd, a Heaven within.
Fair stars his wondrous crown, his strange attire
The lucid rainbow's many-colour'd fire;
Like threads of burnish'd silver, round his head,
His twinkling locks in solemn glory play'd;
In pomp divine above his shoulders borne,
And dipt in roseate beams of rising morn,
His long wings waving, fell: beneath his feet,
The unnumber'd streams of springing light'nings meet.
Full on the friends he beam'd a sun-bright smile,
Transcendent meed of all their faith and toil!
Complacence pure, all thoughts, all minds above,
That op'd the yearnings of redeeming love.
Such smiles salute th'unbòdied soul forgiven;
Such smiles improve the sainted race of Heaven;
Such smiles serene, with unextinguish'd ray,
Purpled the opening morn of endless day.
At once soft sounds of gratulation rung;
Strange music play'd, unseen musicians sung;
The solemn sounds with more than mortal fire,
Wav'd with mild warblings, o'er th'etherial lyre:
Marbled, on earth the prostrate monarch lay,
And swoon'd his vanquish'd sense and soul away.

At length resummon'd from the gloomy dead,
His opening eyes beheld the vision fled.
With strong, but plaintive voice, amaz'd he cried,
Sons of the sky and earth's transcendent pride!
Forth from those dreary flames triumphant come,
And quit the mansions of the destin'd tomb.

Forth came the youths; unsing'd their fair attire,
Their limbs unconscious of the potent fire;
The king, the nobles mark'd with solemn gaze,
And sighs and silence own'd their deep amaze.

Round the wide plain the saddening pomp decay'd;
The music died, the vast assembly fled;
The knee unbent, the image ceas'd to adore;
The extinguish'd altars shed perfumes no more;
The golden form apart forsaken stood,
And not a suppliant hail'd the slighted god:
Round the wide circuit brooding silence lay,
And clouds of deepest gloom o'ercast the day.

Then through his boundless empire Heaven's great name,
The humbl'd monarch bade his criers proclaim.
To Heaven's great God, they cried, your honors pay,
Let kings and nations own his sovereign sway;
With power divine to earth his angel came,
And sav'd his prophets from the sevenfold flame.

To Babel's walls return'd the royal train:
Their wonted honors cloth'd the youths again.
With transport, Daniel heard his friends relate
Their glorious triumph o'er the destin'd fate;
The flames by heavenly power innoxious made;
The solemn glories on the angel shed;
In dreams the labor'd pomp forever gone;
The tyrant vanquish'd and his god o'erthrown.

Belov'd, rever'd, the sons of virtue shin'd,
Heirs of the skies, and patrons of mankind.
Through all th'Assyrian world their bounty spread;
All Judah triumph'd; all oppression fled;
Their glad approach, instinctive homage bless'd;
Crouds bent before them, lords and kings caress'd;
To them the songs of every realm were given,
And ceaseless round them glow'd the light of heaven.