 | Poems |  |
THE “EYES OF THE NILE.”
[_]
Rollin, in describing the fertility which the Nile dispenses to Egypt, remarks that the two small circular springs in Abyssinia, from whence it derives its source, are metaphorically called “its eyes.”
In ancient Egypt's fruitful realm
Joy made her most divine abode,
Light boats with pleasure at the helm
Amid her thousand islets row'd,
A thousand changing colours flow'd
Wide o'er her flowery meadows gay,
And on her lofty temples glow'd
The radiance of the God of day,—
From whence flow'd the gladness that kindled the smile?
It darted like light from the eyes of the Nile.—
Joy made her most divine abode,
Light boats with pleasure at the helm
Amid her thousand islets row'd,
A thousand changing colours flow'd
Wide o'er her flowery meadows gay,
And on her lofty temples glow'd
The radiance of the God of day,—
From whence flow'd the gladness that kindled the smile?
It darted like light from the eyes of the Nile.—
But now that beauty, life and grace
From those delightful scenes have fled,
Stern Desolation marks the place,
The humbled flow'ret bows its head,
The rose forgets its hue of red,—
The mouldering temple sinks in shame,
And all that majesty is dead
Which awed so long astonish'd fame;—
For freedom hath vanish'd and quench'd is the smile
And darken'd the light in the eyes of the Nile.—
From those delightful scenes have fled,
Stern Desolation marks the place,
The humbled flow'ret bows its head,
184
The mouldering temple sinks in shame,
And all that majesty is dead
Which awed so long astonish'd fame;—
For freedom hath vanish'd and quench'd is the smile
And darken'd the light in the eyes of the Nile.—
I meant not that from Egypt's brow
Each charm by nature loved had past,
No! still her genial summers glow,
And toying with destruction's blast
Her pyramids their shadows cast
O'er emmet man:—I only said
That liberty had breathed her last,
And beauty from the brave had fled:—
Ye may wonder and gaze, but can ye the while
Dry the tear of the slave from the eyes of the Nile?
Each charm by nature loved had past,
No! still her genial summers glow,
And toying with destruction's blast
Her pyramids their shadows cast
O'er emmet man:—I only said
That liberty had breathed her last,
And beauty from the brave had fled:—
Ye may wonder and gaze, but can ye the while
Dry the tear of the slave from the eyes of the Nile?
| Poems | |