Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

Awake! arise! to speed the hour of Fate,
When Rome shall fall, as Carthage desolate!
Go! with her children's flower, the free, the brave,
People the silent chambers of the grave;

So shall the course of ages yet to be,
More swiftly waft the day, avenging me!

"Yes, from the awful gulf of years to come, I hear a voice that prophesies her doom; I see the trophies of her pride decay, And her long line of triumphs pass away, Lost in the depths of time—while sinks the star That led her march of heroes from afar! Lo! from the frozen forests of the north, The sons of slaughter pour in myriads forth! Who shall awake the mighty ?-will thy woe, City of thrones! disturb the realms below? Call on the dead to hear thee! let thy cries Summon their shadowy legions to arise, Array the ghosts of conquerors on thy walls! -Barbarians revel in their ancient halls, And their lost children bend the subject knee, 'Midst the proud tombs and trophies of the free. Bird of the sun! dread eagle! born on high, A creature of the empyreal-Thou, whose eye Was lightning to the earth-whose pinion waved In haughty triumph o'er a world enslaved; Sink from thy Heavens! for glory's noon is o'er, And rushing storms shall bear thee on no more! Closed is thy regal course-thy crest is torn, And thy plume banish'd from the realms of morn.

The shaft hath reach'd thee! - rest with chiefs and

kings,

Who conquer'd in the shadow of thy wings;
Sleep! while thy foes exult around their prey,
And share thy glorious heritage of day!
"But darker years shall mingle with the past,
And deeper vengeance shall be mine at last.
O'er the seven hills I see destruction spread,
And Empire's widow veils with dust her head!
Her gods forsake each desolated shrine,
Her temples moulder to the earth, like mine:
'Midst fallen palaces she sits alone,

Calling heroic shades from ages gone,

Or bids the nations 'midst her deserts wait
To learn the fearful oracles of Fate!

"Still sleep'st thou, Roman?

rise!

Son of Victory,

Wake to obey th' avenging Destinies !

Shed by thy mandate, soon thy country's blood
Shall swell and darken Tiber's yellow flood!
My children's manès call-awake! prepare
The feast they claim!-exult in Rome's despair!
Be thine ear closed against her suppliant cries,
Bid thy soul triumph in her agonies;
Let carnage revel, e'en her shrines among,
Spare not the valiant, pity not the young!

Haste! o'er her hills the sword's libation shed,
And wreak the curse of Carthage on her head!”
The vision flies-a mortal step is near,

Whose echoes vibrate on the slumberer's ear;

He starts, he wakes to woe-before him stands
Th' unwelcome messenger of harsh commands,
Whose falt'ring accents tell the exiled chief,
To seek on other shores a home for grief.
-Silent the wanderer sat-but on his cheek
The burning glow far more than words might speak;
And, from the kindling of his eye, there broke
Language, where all th' indignant soul awoke,
Till his deep thought found voice- then, calmly
stern,

And sovereign in despair, he cried, "Return!
Tell him who sent thee hither, thou hast seen
Marius, the exile, rest where Carthage once hath
been!"

SONG.

FOUNDED ON AN ARABIAN ANECDOTE.

AWAY! though still thy sword is red
With life-blood from my sire,
No drop of thine may now be shed
To quench my bosom's fire;

Though on my heart 'twould fall more blest,
Than dews upon the desert's breast.

I've sought thee 'midst the sons of men,
Through the wide city's fanes;
I've sought thee by the lion's den,
O'er pathless, boundless plains;

No step that mark'd the burning waste,
But mine its lonely course hath traced.

Thy name hath been a baleful spell,
O'er my dark spirit cast;

No thought may dream, no words may tell,
What there unseen hath pass'd:
This wither'd cheek, this faded eye,
Are seals of thee-behold! and fly!

Hath not my cup for thee been pour'd,
Beneath the palm-tree's shade?
Hath not soft sleep thy frame restored,
Within my dwelling laid?

What though unknown-yet who shall rest
Secure if not the Arab's guest?

Haste thee! and leave my threshold-floor,

Inviolate and pure!

Let not thy presence tempt me more,
-Man may not thus endure!

Away! I bear a fetter'd arm,

A heart that burns-but must not harm!

Begone! outstrip the swift gazelle !

The wind in speed subdue!
Fear cannot fly so swift, so well,
As vengeance shall pursue;

And hate, like love, in parting pain,
Smiles o'er one hope-we meet again!

To-morrow-and th' avenger's hand,
The warrior's dart is free!
E'en now, no spot in all thy land,
Save this, had shelter'd thee.

Let blood the monarch's hall profane,-
The Arab's tent must bear no stain!

Fly! may the desert's fiery blast

Avoid thy secret way!

And sternly, till thy steps be past,
Its whirlwinds sleep to-day!

I would not that thy doom should be
Assign'd by Heaven to aught but me.

[blocks in formation]
« AnteriorContinuar »