poems.
85
THE DEATH OF THE FIRST-BORN IN EGYPT.
The land is desolate, each herb and flower
Has died before the great destroyer's power.
The midnight darkly spreads o'er Egypt's shore;
The hand of God shall smite it yet once more!
Has died before the great destroyer's power.
The midnight darkly spreads o'er Egypt's shore;
The hand of God shall smite it yet once more!
The moon has sunk beyond the rolling wave;
Loud, thundering winds o'er booming waters rave.
The cloud falls sudden o'er the sloop of war,
That shone but lately like a bright red star:
Deep groans resound:—the falling sails denote
The dead alone in that dark vessel float!
Loud, thundering winds o'er booming waters rave.
The cloud falls sudden o'er the sloop of war,
That shone but lately like a bright red star:
Deep groans resound:—the falling sails denote
The dead alone in that dark vessel float!
Now o'er the city broods the fearful pall:
It comes in silence. Ah, no voice, no call,
Forbids the timbrel! Soon the hand is still'd
Which those wide halls with sounds of music fill'd
Whose hand was that? the monarch's only son
Whose life was rich in pleasures but begun!
Who fall? who fall? the rich, the young, the gay,
No more to see the glory of the day!
The youthful band of brothers that remain
Cry loud in terror, seek for help in vain!
To the king's palace funeral trains pass on;—
There loud the anguish for the first-born son!
It comes in silence. Ah, no voice, no call,
Forbids the timbrel! Soon the hand is still'd
Which those wide halls with sounds of music fill'd
Whose hand was that? the monarch's only son
Whose life was rich in pleasures but begun!
Who fall? who fall? the rich, the young, the gay,
No more to see the glory of the day!
The youthful band of brothers that remain
Cry loud in terror, seek for help in vain!
To the king's palace funeral trains pass on;—
There loud the anguish for the first-born son!
