 | Poems of Freneau |  |
Canto III.
Once more the voice to humbled Jonah came
Of HIM, who lives through every age the same:
“Arise! and o'er the intervening waste
“To Nineveh's exalted turrets haste,
“And what to thee my SPIRIT shall reveal,
“That preach—nor dare the sacred truth conceal—
“To desolation I that town decree;
“Proclaim destruction, and proclaim from me.”
Obedient to JEHOVAH'S high command,
The prophet rose, and left Judea's land,
And now he near the spiry city drew,
(Euphrates pass'd, and rapid Tigris too:)
So vast the bulk of this prodigious place,
Three days were scant its lengthy streets to trace;
But as he enter'd, on the first sad day,
Thus he began his tidings of dismay:
Of HIM, who lives through every age the same:
“Arise! and o'er the intervening waste
“To Nineveh's exalted turrets haste,
“And what to thee my SPIRIT shall reveal,
“That preach—nor dare the sacred truth conceal—
“To desolation I that town decree;
“Proclaim destruction, and proclaim from me.”
Obedient to JEHOVAH'S high command,
The prophet rose, and left Judea's land,
And now he near the spiry city drew,
(Euphrates pass'd, and rapid Tigris too:)
So vast the bulk of this prodigious place,
Three days were scant its lengthy streets to trace;
But as he enter'd, on the first sad day,
Thus he began his tidings of dismay:
“O NINEVEH! to heaven's decree attend!
“Yet forty days, and all thy glories end;
“Yet forty days, the skies protract thy fall,
“And desolation then shall bury all,
“Thy proudest towers their utter ruin mourn,
“And domes and temples unextinguished burn!
“O Nineveh! the GOD of armies dooms
“Thy thousand streets to never-ending glooms:
“Through mouldering fanes the hollow winds shall roar,
“And vultures scream where monarchs lodg'd before!
“Thy guilty sons shall bow beneath the sword,
“Thy captive matrons own a foreign lord.—
“Such is the vengeance that the heavens decree,
“Such is the ruin that must bury thee!”
“Yet forty days, and all thy glories end;
“Yet forty days, the skies protract thy fall,
“And desolation then shall bury all,
“Thy proudest towers their utter ruin mourn,
“And domes and temples unextinguished burn!
“O Nineveh! the GOD of armies dooms
“Thy thousand streets to never-ending glooms:
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“And vultures scream where monarchs lodg'd before!
“Thy guilty sons shall bow beneath the sword,
“Thy captive matrons own a foreign lord.—
“Such is the vengeance that the heavens decree,
“Such is the ruin that must bury thee!”
The people heard, and smit with instant fear,
Believ'd the fatal warnings of the seer:
This sudden ruin so their souls distrest,
That each with sackcloth did his limbs invest,
From him that glitter'd on the regal throne,
To him that did beneath the burden groan—
Believ'd the fatal warnings of the seer:
This sudden ruin so their souls distrest,
That each with sackcloth did his limbs invest,
From him that glitter'd on the regal throne,
To him that did beneath the burden groan—
Soon to their monarch came this voice of fate,
Who left his throne and costly robes of state,
And o'er his limbs a vest of sackcloth drew,
And sate in ashes, sorrowful to view—
His lords and robles, now repentant grown,
With equal grief their various sins bemoan.
And through the city sent this loud decree,
With threatening back'd, and dreadful penalty:
Who left his throne and costly robes of state,
And o'er his limbs a vest of sackcloth drew,
And sate in ashes, sorrowful to view—
His lords and robles, now repentant grown,
With equal grief their various sins bemoan.
And through the city sent this loud decree,
With threatening back'd, and dreadful penalty:
“Ye Ninevites! your wonted food refrain,
“Nor touch, ye beasts, the herbage of the plain,
“Let all that live be humbled to the dust,
“Nor taste the waters, though ye die of thirst:
“Let men and beasts the garb of sorrow wear,
“And beg yon' skies these guilty walls to spare:
“Let all repent the evil they pursue,
“And curse the mischief that their hands would do—
“Perhaps that GOD, who leans to mercy still,
“And sent a prophet to declare his will,
“May yet the vengeance he designs, adjourn,
“And, ere we perish, from his anger turn.”
“Nor touch, ye beasts, the herbage of the plain,
“Let all that live be humbled to the dust,
“Nor taste the waters, though ye die of thirst:
“Let men and beasts the garb of sorrow wear,
“And beg yon' skies these guilty walls to spare:
“Let all repent the evil they pursue,
“And curse the mischief that their hands would do—
“Perhaps that GOD, who leans to mercy still,
“And sent a prophet to declare his will,
“May yet the vengeance he designs, adjourn,
“And, ere we perish, from his anger turn.”
JEHOVAH heard, and pleas'd beheld at last
Their deep repentance for transgressions past,
With pity moved, he heard the earnest prayer
Of this vast city, humbled in despair;
Though justly due, his anger dies away,
He bids the angel of destruction stay:—
Their deep repentance for transgressions past,
With pity moved, he heard the earnest prayer
Of this vast city, humbled in despair;
Though justly due, his anger dies away,
He bids the angel of destruction stay:—
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The obedient angel hears the high command,
And sheathes the sword, he drew to smite the land.
And sheathes the sword, he drew to smite the land.
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